Wires & Windows!

Finally got all of my IKEA purchases from LAST year up! ( just before the trip this year lol! )

**Knife/magnetic strip

**Decorative/Recipe wire

.... and then my two windows from Hobby Lobby :)))

Looks amazing!

(Side note: the living room is still under decorative construction, it will not look like this in the future!)

All that jazz

Bought some new lamps from Target. 44$ each and then SCORE! 15$ off all home goods purchases > 75$ :)). ....they really give my living area a homey feel!

Oh and my new pouf is doing a great job of pulling the SW Watery color from my bathroom walls into the rest of my apt.

**Fun fact from BrianaLeeArt Home Division**
Put on a smooth jazz Pandora station or anything that sounds elevator music/dept store-esk. Then sit or walk around and admire your home! Especially if you've just purchased new home decor.  Do you feel like you're shopping in your own house? Or that your new room is a display in a department store?
Exactly.

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Iola chevron :)

Well I'm in Iola and this is the final chevron post. :)))) Ta DA!!!! I think it looks fantastic.

Paint colors are: 1) Walmart flat white (9 $$?) 2) SW Requisite Gray

Chevroning.

Yes, chevroning.  I know, I know, you're probably thinking.. "Well that's not a word".  But after days of tracing a chevron stencil on your wall, taping off those lines, you'll probably start using it.

Ex.

Day1
Bff: "Let's go get a drink tonight."
You: "I can't, I'm measuring cardboard to make a stencil to create this sweet pattern for my back splash."
Day2
Mom: "Let's go get coffee"
You: "I'm drawing lines onto my wall..... I'm chevroning."
Day3:
Friends: "Dinner? 

You: "sorry, Chevroning"

So yes, it takes awhile.  But it's SO worth it!! Just stick with it.

1) First make the chevroning tool. Here's a link to the blog I used: http://buildingthisnest.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/chevron-painted-backsplash/

2) Get a pencil and a level.  Stencil it onto your wall. 

3) Tape your lines!

4) Grab a paint roller and roll right over the top of your whole wall. A couple coats...  then peel off your tape before paint is completely dry.

5) Touch up your lines if needed. (I think if you press your tape down better than I did, you might be able to skip this step ;P). I use scotch blue tape..it's the best in my opinion.

6) Enjoy!!!

If you get really excited you might want to chevron a finger nail or two.

Yeah, I was SO not spending time on areas no one will ever see...

Cats are very..  ...unhelpful in the chevroning process. 

Árbol antiguo -- Custom order :)

Since this is my art blog, perhaps I should post a painting ;). This is my most recent sale.  Done for some good friends of mine.  Their bible verse for this painting was John 15:5. Quite fitting. So there ya go!

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Allen & Roth... De-friended.

Sooooo...the duck tape caused lots of wavys on my longer wall.  Disregard my earlier raves about duck tape being the way to go (even though I kinda knew it was wishful typing).  I don't recommend it haha.  I considered legit putting the wallpaper up but was reminded my friend @ SW that this wasn't a good idea (with a cringe and a "make sure you REALLY love it, cuz you are not getting it off" lol).  

So yes, Allen & Roth...although I had you cut into perfect pieces, we cannot be together anymore.

So NOW my next brilliant idea is painting my backsplash.  I am doing white and gray chevron :)  I'm using a crappy flat white paint that I got from Wally World to paint my filing cabinets/desk with and then I got Requisite Gray from SW for the other color (It's on the 'Softer Side' palette that I'm going with).  

I'll keep you posted.

My new friends... Allen & Roth :)

So. After much searching I found this wallpaper (paintable) @ the Home Depot and I have adhered it to my wall with duct tape. (After extensive measuring).  Now I'm sure there is a better way to do it, like actually applying it like wallpaper, but I want an easy removal.  And none of the 3m sticky products I bought stuck to the paper ...   I think it looks pretty good for 20 bucks and some duct tape!

Decorative Pouf

Bought a "decorative pouf" @ Kohls today. 20% off.  Hit a lady with it (I thought it was a center aisle display, but no!).  She said "it's OK! That's kinda like a big purse!".  *whew* lol. 

So happy pouf-y Friday!
It's super comfy, portable, and adds optional seating and style to my living room :)

5 O'Clock Friday!

Painted the living room last night -- SW Balanced Beige!!  It's SO pretty, I LOVE it :D

Nairobi modeling the new wall color ;)

A paint can opener is nice to have, they gave this to me at TrueValue with a small paint sample (which I didn't end up buying their paint).  Highly recommend getting these or some type of gloves when painting.  Helps prevent blisters as well as keeps your hands clean for when you want to grab a cup of water or turn up the country music :)

Off to get my friday on!!!!

Thrifty ...Tuesday?

To start off this blog post, I totally thought it was Tuesday today. But of course it's not.  It's Wednesday!  & These are some of my great rummage sale finds from last weekend!  I know I should have my walls painted and probably my backsplash done and all the basics before I start piling in the accessories...   butttt these were too good to pass up!

 

#1

An old Red Wing stone crock.  It has a couple chips out of it, but I got it for $20!  These things are apparently worth quite a bit :)  It'll look sweet in my kitchen.

 

 

  #2

How can you pass up a $1 item ;)  From the same rummage sale as the stone crock, this is like a plaster tool.  I figured I can use it for some larger textured paintings.

 

 

 #3

2 wooden (stackable) filing cabinets.  In a previous post I was considering some from American.  These don't glide quite as nicely as those do, but they were priced at $5 for both and my mom (always the bargainer) got them for $2.50 for the pair!!  I plan to pain them white.

 

 Ok so these are actually from St. Vinnie's.....

Dropcloths (aka cheap sheets!) for painting.  I particularily like my disney princess one! lol

 

These are also not from Rummaging... 

I got the small one from St. Vinnie's and the larger ones are from Michael's Craft Store (40% of course!).  I actually couldn't find them at any other craft store!  These will be painted white as well and hung on the wall.  For produce/fruit :)

 

 

The end! 

Saturday Selections

Today I stopped @ the local American store since it is going out of business.  Although I wasn't considering filing cabinets before (you know how that goes), I am now considering getting one for my 'office' area I'm going to make in my bedroom.

Also, I stopped at SW and picked up a new sample of paint.  The Balanced Beige color.  I actually prefer it to the Tony Taupe.  :D

SW Balanced Beige is the top color & SW Tony Taupe is the bottom color. (And my lovely SW Friendly Yellow is of course to the right <3)

Byebye!

Taupe it up!

Thursday has been fabulous thus far :)

Most recently I came home to find:

1. The picture I ordered from Pheifer Photography [http://www.pheiferphotography.com] arrived today of my favorite horse & I.  It is fabulous!!!  I thought I was simply ordering a floppy print but it's actually like a good 1/4 " thick and board-like.  Love it!!  Looks amazing with my thrift store $3 picture frame from St. Vinnies and the SW Friendly Yellow of my kitchen!!

2. Then I took a stroll to a nearby cafe (it's 53 degrees out in Wiscosin, duh) for a smoothie.  While there, I checked out their selection of nutrition products and they have many items I use!  For example:

Jojoba Oil

Tea Tree Oil

Gelatin

Sea Salt

So I got a smoothie and a walk and BONUS! found out if I'm in need of those items I do not have to drive like 15 minutes! 

3. And finally, I went to Sherwin Williams for a sample of Tony Taupe which I am considering for my living room.  It's a step darker than the Balanced Beige the HGTV Softer Side palette suggests.  I'm going to go paint that on my wall now.

Might look lighter once dried.  So far I like it :)

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Brick Backsplash Quandary

I was so certain when I got my 4 samples from Your 4 Walls that there would be a clear front runner, but now I'm not sure. I've narrowed it to these two options: Koziel brick and Brick effect (both in white).

In other news, Nairobi the cat actually ate ALL of her non-pureed wet food!!!  I've been weaning her off of dry food and at first she would only drink the liquid/gravy/juice and leave all of the chunk food in her dish.  So I've been pureeing it for about a week.  Tonight I thought I'd give her another chance and WAHLAH.  Cleaned the bowl.  Way to go Beebee!!

Feels like Spring!

Cleaned off my porch today....

...I dumped out all of my pots and swept the porch :)  Now it's all ready for new soil and some vine-y flowers of my choice!!

(Inside the pots are my misquito candles that have been hanging out there all winter.  Today they are serving as weights...  ...it's a little bit windy out, & I don't want all of my hard work to go to waste!)

 SPRING SPring spRING SpRINg SPRING!!!!!