Sunday, January 25, 2015

Frame Worthy


Our dining room has been a lovely, usable, mostly boring room for almost the entire time that we've lived here. 

Not long after moving in, Richard began the huge undertaking of building the huge farmhouse table. It's a glorious thing to behold. Really

Then we added the church pew bench. And I worked my magic (read: spray paint) on a set of Craigslist chairs. (I've been keeping my eye out for a few more the make the collection complete.)

We'd always talked about adding picture frame molding in that room, especially since the chair rail was already in place. There were a couple of spots on the wall that needed a little attention (sanding and treatment and priming and such), so we decided that we might as well add some architectural detail while fixing those spots. Richard even got so far as to draw out some of the lines and start on the measuring. 

Then we left alone for other projects. We both have a tendency to start something, with excellent intentions of finishing it, then move on to other things. Mostly the work week happens. 

Anyway, we've revisited the dining room. 





Richard has added the picture frame molding. We had a few little measuring and calculating issues -- mostly because we, very officially, only wrote things down on scraps of paper and cardboard. Also, because we had reached that point of wanting to get it done and decided to just move forward and do it and face the problems as they happened. Not the best plan, really.





We picked the wall with the longest uninterrupted space and started there. It ended up being the wall to the right when you walk in from the kitchen. We measured the whole wall and then split it into six even spaces. We chose six because the math worked and we figured that the boxes would be a good size -- not too small and not too big. We're very precise like that. 






We then marked the six spaces and knew that each space would need to accommodate the box itself, the dimensions of the actual trim that we used, and the space between the boxes. So each space was basically split like so: area from the corner/previous "space," the box itself, area to the next "space"/corner. 

Since word problems are fun, here are the actual measurements: 

- 13.5 ft wall = 162 inches = six 27 inch spaces
- 22 inch box
- 5 inches between each box
- 2.5 inches from each corner where the walls meet


Very official wall markings -- this shows the multiple measurements that we went through to get it just right. Or seismic activity -- could be either one. 



I don't think we actually used any of these lines...







We had a couple of spots where these measurements didn't work out -- mostly around the outlets -- so we would shift things just a little bit or make adjustments that worked for an entire wall. We knew from the beginning that we wouldn't be able to find one magic measurement that worked for all four of the walls. 

So, on one wall, the space between the boxes is 6", and on another wall, the boxes are all a tiny bit lower to account for the outlets. And then, on the wall with the windows, we didn't even use those measurements at all. We did make sure that those boxes were the same distance from the chair rail and baseboards though. 


That was our only one that turned a corner. We originally planned to make sure that none of them did this, but then it worked out best to do it this way. We're happy with it. 




We have also started putting a few paint color options up on the walls. More on that later, but that's not even all of them...







BONUS! A baby bump picture! Maybe I'll compile some of the pictures I've been tracking over the past 17 weeks. Well, like 5 weeks really. I haven't been taking mirror selfies the whole time. 

17 weeks 2 days!


Friday, January 16, 2015

Be Our Guest!

The guest room is finished! Mostly. 

A few weeks ago, Richard completely redid the closet shelving. Then we finally picked a paint color, and Richard painted the walls (and the closet). And now, I've contributed a tiny bit by rearranging the furniture and picking the bedding. 





Richard also built this awesome desk for Emmy since we knew that she would be the first (long term) guest to stay in the newly redone room. 


There's still a lot to be done to make it fit what I'd like it to be for a guest room, but it works great as a blank canvas for Emmy who will be staying with us for a while. 

We will eventually paint same of the wood furniture to make the room a little more cohesive, and we'll of course get something up on the walls. Oh, and curtains. 

It's a functional room with much more personality than it had to begin with, and Emmy will make it a fun, quirky space for the time that she's here. 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Gallery Wall Update (again!)

There have been a couple of things that I've wanted to change about our gallery wall -- namely, the one white frame needed to be replaced, and I was ready to replace some of the placeholder (aka Anthropology catalog pages) pictures with real ones. 

Once I started working on those things, I noticed that the top, left-hand corner could use some better spacing ("kerning" if this was typeface or "fenestration" if these were windows). So, that was a pretty easy fix, but it also used up my small, black frame that I was planning to use to replace the small, white frame that looks so woefully out of place now that I've noticed it's the only white one. 



I only switched out two of the placeholder pictures on this go-round, but that way I can have more to replace later and always be changing (and loving) the gallery wall! 

When I mentioned to my friend Shelly that I was wanting to switch out the one white frame for a darker frame, she suggested painting it gold to match the other two gold ones. What a brilliant idea! And then! She suggested dry brushing the paint so that you could still see hints of the white frame. I loved that idea. 

BUT when I went to makeover the small, white frame, I realized that I don't have any acrylic gold paint that I like. I have plenty of gold spray paint, but none for dry brushing. So I just used gold leaf instead. I am really a fan of gold leaf. It is so easy to do. 

To use gold leaf, you just apply the adhesive (sold in a kit with the gold leaf or separately) and let it sit for about 30 min then apply the gold leaf, shiny-side down. Then press the gold leaf on, peel back the backing, and voila! Gold! 




I love that the gold leaf is bright and that it doesn't completely cover the frame. It adds just the right hint of glint to make the frames seem more cohesive. 

There will certainly be more gallery walls to come!

New and improved! With two placeholder (read: catalog pages) replaced, a new small, black frame in the upper left corner, and a gilded, bottom-right frame!



Thursday, January 1, 2015

Rearview Mirror: 2014

It's been a good year. I feel like each year just gets better and better, and twenty-fourteen followed the trend. Here's to 2015 doing the same!

This past year:

- we painted six rooms in our house -- the kitchen and denthe billiard roomthe downstairs bathroom (plus the barn-wood plank wall!), the guest room, and our master bedroom (post pending). 


- we whitewashed the fireplace




- we traveled to Amsterdam and Barcelona (plus part 2)!



- we added board and batten (plus the update), redid the stairs, and created a gallery wall (the first of many, I'm sure). 



- we enjoyed our annual trip to Emerald Isle (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4)


- and we announced our biggest adventure of 2015!