The Happy Hallway

I have long been tortured by our long, plain, windowless, featureless upstairs hallway.  After "finishing" the space once with unhappy results, I have had MANY ideas for the space, most of which were either prohibitivly expensive, relied on DIY work beyond my ability, or fought desperately with the rooms attached at either end.  I was also trying to avoid the obvious.  It almost did me in.

But then, I had a great conversation with a client who said she is trying to put her resources primarily to things that will make her family happy or improve their relationships and general well being.  A pretty solid plan, but one that too many of us forget to follow.

Lately things have felt a bit heavy.  Like we all are just a little crabby most of the time.  I decided that we all need some lightness, to be reminded of the silly side we all have, so I went through some old photos and printed out the ones that made me smile.  People making crazy faces, being silly, or doing something we don't normally associate with them--like my husband surfing.  I want us all to remember that we have many sides, that we have wonderful people in our lives, and that we are loved.

$12 in photo prints at Walgreens and one hour later, I had this.

All four of my kids' grandparents were here this weekend, and my, oh my, did my girls LOVE to look at these pictures with them!  I do a big photo book each year that tells a chronological and somewhat event-based story of our lives, but this one?  This one is purely emotional, and we all just love it.

To make it easy on myself, I printed the photos in black and white so I didn't have to worry about a color story.  To put them up, I grouped the loose prints by people--each of the girls, the girls together, the girls with parents, with grandparents, great grandparents, etc--then just sort of distributed them on the wall.  It was fun to make some connections between pictures, too, like having someone look out of the frame in one photo at something silly happening in another.

Now, of course, I want it to all feel a little more "finished."  I'll be back with ideas for that!

Tell me: are you a family-photos-in-the-house type?  Or do you just keep them in your phone, like I used to?

Sneak Peek

Ages ago, I shared this design board.

Last week, we finally installed the major pieces in the dining room, and it is so, so pretty!

We are working in stages, and the living room (open to this space) will be next, along with window treatments, art, and possibly new carpet.  This will all take a while, and goodness knows I am impatient, so I just had to share the progress.

Dispatches

Little peeks into some goings-on around here.

An awesome chandy goes up in a historic townhouse.

And amazing cement tile goes in to a teeny powder room and front entry

Gorgeous wallpaper over an antique mantel.

More wallpaper, this time in a sunroom.

A living room in progress  (sectional, pillows, and TV were existing, everything else = new!).

A (now complete!) girl's room gets a sparkly chandy.

Progress shots of a tiny, funky nursery

Hmmm.....I guess I like color!

So fun to share these little peeks into projects I am excited about!

Dunzo. Teeny tiny sunburst mirrors.

I shared a sneak peek of a bedroom lo these many years ago.

Since then, the draperies were installed (dusty lavender silk dupioni!)  and the custom throw pillows were made (Schumacher makes everything better!), but it was still missing just one little thing.

To balance the high ceilings and the wish-it-were-slightly-bigger painting over the bed, I wanted a pair of small gilded sunbursts on either side, but I didn't want to pay a mint.

Ask, and HomeGoods shall deliver.

Someday I will photograph the whole room, with a real camera.

More proof that sunbursts belong anywhere!

Here are a couple of other spaces with tiny sunbursts:

Get your tiny sunbursts here.  Or if you're cheap like me, here.

Don't ask me why they all come in sets of three!

Progress

You know how sometimes people say that everyone should work in food service if they are to be allowed to eat in restaurants?  Well, something similar could be said about services like re-upholstery and furniture refinishing.  Until you have done it yourself, it can be difficult to appreciate the labor that goes into it, or price tag associated with the work.

Remember when I started refinishing a desk?  It is harder than it looks.  But progress has been made, folks, and there's something to that.

I stalled out when the temps dropped, and this project has been taking over the garage, filling up the rightful place of the CAR these last few months, until finally the polar vortex kindly delivered an exploded tire and my husband brought the desk inside when the weather was frightful -45 or so.  And now it is sitting in my kitchen where I can admire the progress but I can't access the tupperware.

Anyway, the before:

And the Progress shots:

Yup, there it is in my kitchen.

SO much prettier, right?

Now, the hard part: make a mess of sawdust in my basement, or wait until spring to finish it up.

The girls, of course, think it is just fine like this and are trying to convince me to put it back in their room.

Have you gotten in over your head on any projects as of late?

Do tell: misery loves company.

Transforming a photograph by staining the frame

Another day, another progress shot.  Isn't this fun?

This one is from the office I'm almost done with, the one with this major gallery wall.  We had some art to work with that the Foundation had been given over the years, pieces that related to the work of the Foundation but had seen better days.  Rather than start from scratch, we worked with what we had.

Before:

After:

This black and white vintage large-scale photograph of Notre Dame was done no favors by the pickled wood frame, which just further washed out the faded colors.  Several thin coats of black stain brought it to life, and a goldleaf pen on the inside edges saved me from getting stain all over the photo.

Of course, a custom bench in a Schumacher wool doesn't hurt anything, either.

A custom coffee table in the finishes below is the final piece to come in to the room, and I can show you the whole shebang!

French gold frame and heavily burnished glass top.  It' going to be a stunner!

Sneak Peek

In-progress on a sweet girls' room.  We did the paint, custom window treatments, headboard, chandelier shades, paint and bedding in the spring.  We're gearing up to finish the room with rugs, seating, art, etc.  As I gear back up on this project, I'm getting excited for a VERY fun room that will grow with the girl.   

Can't wait to show you the final result!