Paint and Decor

The shelves

We were plugging along getting our B Suite where we(I) wanted it, and then we got sick. But the stencil border is done, and the kitchen shelves are up, and I love them. A few more touches and I hope to host a tea.

One, this stick. It's a stick we got off the lawn at Southwestern right after we arrived, and used it to prop open our very old, very heavy, very broken bedroom window. A very ordinary thing, but somewhere along the way we got attached to the stick and it moved with us. Now it's going to be sanded and hung on the wall to look something like this:

The other very important thing is the backsplash. It just needs to go up for the sake of our kitchen wall, but I have to paint it first!

 This is just a start of the ferns and lilies of the valley I plan to put on the backsplash. It may take a while!

The Plans

We've been here less than two weeks and things are finally unpacked just enough to think about decorating projects. Here's the short list of the big things:

Up and down stencils

Stenciled wall borders. I've been reading a bit about stenciled walls in colonial New England, and it's really interesting: traveling artists would take their stencils from house to house and decorate the walls, since wallpaper was yet to be available. It really struck a chord with me, after living in a drab off-white apartment for three years- and I've always loved painting things around me. This site was particularly interesting. Anyway, while most of the reproduced stencils were too busy for my space, I found some that I felt went well and started going at it.

Across stencils

 Painted lampshades. Another something that appealed to me. I've been watching home decor shows ever since we started getting ready to move, and this clip mentions painted lampshades. The lady's house is waaaay to busy for me, but just the deep colors seemed so warm.

This is my first try. I think it's hideous.

Kitchen shelves and cabinet knobs-an obvious, immediate need.

The knobs need an adjustment but I like the handles

 A backsplash- another practical need. But I'm determined to make it pretty.

Wood for the backsplash waiting to be painted and sealed.

Also on the list, curtains, quilt display, a garden space, an attractive patio with hammocks for the girls, and a sewing space. New chair covers, organize the bookshelves, make a lace teepee for the girls' room. How long with all that take me?????

Decorating my new place

So our new apartment is a walk-out basement that was finished just for us! And since it's owned by my parents, I got a bit of say in a few things. Which was nice. Mom and I quibbled back and forth on various items and it's really pretty hard to pick paint colors via a computer screen, but the walls are yellow and the bedroom is grey and basically everything is a least a little like what I was hoping for.

Kitchen-Living-Dining Room, with sliding doors into the new second (Grey) bedroom

Considering that the walls were all unfinished(and covered in teenage graffiti), ceiling was open, and the floor was plain concrete, it's quite a change.

Grey bedroom- fresh paint!

Most of the work was in the big room. The bathroom also got a new floor, and the window trim got painted, plus a lot of little jobs.

New floor- with heating! Which will be great once it's connected.

So there's what I had to work with when we moved in. A clean slate and lots of Pinterest ideas which I hope to photograph as I go along.