Monday, April 23, 2012

Just putting holes in the wall..

"Oh just putting more holes in the wall," this is what my response was when my husband yelled from the dedicated "man cave," when he heard banging around in our entrance way.
Our house doesn't have a formal entry, you basically walk in and bam your in..That being said, our entrance (or lack thereof) was looking pretty plain and a little boring. On top of that, because a different table used to be there, the shelf was hanging way too high, and had been like this for almost a year. We needed some impact as well as better scale...
 
  (I am going to warn you now, this post has probably the worst quality pictures you've ever seen, but my camera was dead so most were taken with my cell phone)
I was super inspired by this photo...
This is Emily Henderson's old living room, and I am completely in love with it (and her), I love the eclectic collection of frames with fun prints mixed with the asymmetrical order.

This is how my entry looks now:



Still not done, I would really like to replace some of the pictures with some fun prints or art (the hubby thinks it looks like we are too full of ourselves (or as he puts it "all we need are some candles and we'll have a shrine")..I would also love to find a vintage map of New Orleans (our honeymoon spot), for my map obsessed hubby. Race if you're reading this I am totally lying and will never buy you another present again...but I digress, eventually I'll find some cool prints or art but for now it is what it is.. But for anyone wanting to do something similar here's my horrible tutorial..for a much better one go here 
Now to start off you should probably be drinking wine and have a great movie in the background (my choice was The Nightmare Before Christmas, and yes this was in April).
I started by laying out a bunch of frames on the floor (I would definitely like to replace some of these frames soon, but I had these at home so this was a $0 project) to decide with arrangement I liked.
Then I used newspaper to make templates for each frame...don't feel bad if you don't have a leopard print pen, I didn't always have cable....
Next, I measured and marked on my template exactly where the hanging apparatus (aparatus? aperatus? hmm.)  was with an x. Then, I just hung up the newspaper on the wall with tape until I got the exact arrangement I wanted in the right order. Then I simply hammered nails into the x, removed the template and hung the pictures, making sure to use the level to make sure they were straight along the way.
Wow that's a bad picture...yikes
There were moments like this...
Yes, the picture would not hang flat, so I tore the back off, in hindsight not a great idea, but it may have been the wine sitting next to the frame that caused this over reaction...Eventually I got here...

Also it's worth noting, that in the pictures some of the pictures look crooked, but I promise they are not, it must be the weird angle I had to take the pictures in mixed with the quality of a camera phone..

I'm pretty happy with the theory of this project, but definitely want to bring in some color in those pictures. I would also like to replace the small gold frame on the bottom with some antique keys...hint Jon and Candace...What is it about antique keys that makes me happy? hmm..Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes that is a random postcard with a peacock on it, and sorry but no matter what anyone says to me it's staying..he/she makes me smile. The white elephant, was my great grandmas, it was pink, purple, and red and it pained me to spray paint it white, but I wanted to actually be able to display it in my home. Oh, and the random blue tray on the ottoman, I know its not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it is where I put my keys, because this lady loses her keys EVERY day and I mean EVERY day...I was going to take it out for pictures, but figured I should try to reflect real life...or I forgot. Plus it has a great blue Moroccan print on it that I love. The bird print is from here . It's personalized with our wedding date and initials, and was only $5. I'm not usually cheesy enough for things like this, but I have a weird thing for birds (and peacocks apparently), not real birds by any means, I actually hate them, but pretty ceramic and printed ones. The small brown candle holder is from my sister and she got it in Greece, because she's that awesome. Oh, and the great pictures of my baby boys, Harley and Dakota were a gift from the hubby. 
And just for those of you who happen to be as ridiculously clumsy as I am, I should tell you that picture frames are made of glass (who knew..right?), and when you drop one, but try to catch it before it falls to the ground, while leaning from a kitchen chair (even though, as your husband points out, there is a step ladder in the garage) it can cause deep lacerations. If you're lucky though, you will have a sweet man around the house to take care of you...
...why yes that is a batman band-aid...jealous much?...I'd love to blame that on the kids, but as most of you know, we don't have kids....
Any fun projects you guys are up to this week? Any balancing acts result in a pinky injury?...Talk to me people...I'm off to shop Etsy for maps and great prints..

P.S. I definitely need a new camera and am now accepting donations :)
P.S.S. I'm of course kidding....kind of


4 comments:

  1. Hi Ashli,
    I just came across your blog and was so excited to see my Two Birds print hanging on your wall! Love it!
    I really like the inspiration board you put together for the baby girl's nursery too! So pretty!
    Good luck with your business and your blog! :)
    ~Michelle
    http://michellekirsch.etsy.com

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    1. Hi Michelle,
      That's so funny! I don't know if you remember me, I'm the one that messed up the initials and our anniversary (oops lol)..I get compliments on that print all the time! I was just thinking about ordering another one for a friends wedding gift :). Thanks so much for stopping by!

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    2. Also, just to be clear when I said "cheesy," I just meant because I'm not a generally sentimental person! :)

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    3. Haha no worries! I am the same way ;)

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Nothing makes me happier than seeing your lovely comments...except maybe wine...yeah wine makes me happier...but still I love your comments :)