Monday, February 27, 2012

Frame wall and The Homies

So, as you can read this post is all about the frame wall in the Master Bedroom and what I finally found to put in the frames!  You can read all about the process of arranging the frames here but this is what I ended up with:


I was really happy with (and I still am) how the arrangement turned out.  I only had one picture so far that I was committed to and the rest of the frames were empty.  By the way, I've had lots of questions about where I bought the big "B" and I got it several years ago, probably 5-6, at Hobby Lobby.  Since then initials have blown up so I am sure there are many many places that you can buy all the letters that your hearts desire.
So here are the frames one by one:

First is a vintage postcard from the early 60's. In the fine print on the front it says, "let's go home, I'm exhausted." I thought it was really cute and also really reminiscent of how we feel after trips. Matt and I are constantly on the go and sometimes we get back needing a vacation more than before we left.



Underneath the postcard is a silouette.  Don't laugh, but I tore this off of the front of a composition book.  It's from Target (surprise, surprise) and it's when they had a line from John Derian last year.  I LOVE office supplies and this line was so cute and vintage-y I bought several pieces.  I loved this cover and the notebook is full and put away in a cute basket so I just tore off the front and framed it.  I love it...enough said.  Also, I am NOT a photographer and you will have to excuse the glare from the light fixture and any shadows you may see from here on out. 



The next picture is very special and more than a little personal for us.  Matt and I are were going to have a baby in July.  July 3rd to be exact, but during a check up appointment it was found that our baby did not have a heartbeat.  While it was incredibly difficult to deal with (still is), we find a lot of comfort knowing exactly who holds our daughter.  This was given to us by one of our very sweet friends and is very precious to us.  I also want to put out there that if anyone knows who this artist is I would love to know. 


Okay, enough with the heavy, this next print is from Lovely Little Snippets, and it is actually something that Matt and I say all the time.  For example, when we are having a Harry Potter Weekend one of us might say, "I love us!"  It comes out sometimes when we are at our sweetest, silliest, most fun.


Here is a close up of the "B":


Last, but not least, this next print from Making it Lovely will have you singing (I'm so sorry).  I love this print, this song and how it helps me remember to take things as they come:


For the fun of it....





Now that Que Sera is stuck in your head for the rest of the day (you're welcome) I wanted to say thank you for all of the sweet comments about the blog and about Matt and myself.  I have a lot of fun writing and sharing our home with everyone.  Have a wonderful Monday (is that possible)!

P.S.  Baker's House is nominated for Best DIY Blog on Apartment Therapy for a "Homie."  Follow the link here, scroll down to the bottom of the nominees, log-in or sign up if you aren't already registered with them (it's three steps by the way...so easy) and vote for us.  

Friday, February 24, 2012

Cleaning out my closet

I don't know about you but we NEVER have enough storage. Our home has 6 closets, which sounds reasonable, but somehow we have filled them all and I am still scrambling for storage.  I've always tried to be a good steward of our storage spaces but upon recent inventory I have somehow fallen short...waaaaay short.  In addition to the closets, I have stocked our house with handy pieces (3 armoires, a buffet and hutch in the dining room, etc.) that have two functions: whatever and storage.  Okay, maybe that doesn't make sense, but take our T.V. "console" for example, it holds the T.V. and has 6 drawers for me to fill with junk.  It is an old desk what was used as a receptionists desk at a local municipal court building which I love.  Yes, that is Grey's Anatomy on the T.V.


Basically, we have a lot of stuff that I have tried to fit into small creative spaces.  That being said, I have been wanting to condense even more and really pair down to things we use and need as opposed to things we have not looked at in years and think we might need one day. 

Meet our hall closet...

It is a measly 24 inches wide and 20 inches deep.  It is a standard 7ft tall door, but it is skinny, skinny and not very deep.  It certainly was not maximized to the best potential see...





I hated getting in this closet. I almost always knocked over a roll of wrapping paper or got tangled in one of the four dog leashes we had hanging up (that we do not use...) while trying to get something. I was over it and decided to start my purging this with this closet. I immediately started sorting into piles.  A keep pile, a donate pile, and a garbage pile. 


I ended up with one garbage bag full to donate and one grocery size sack full of garbage. I was sort of on a roll and didn't get a picture of the completely empty closet...sorry.  Next, I had to figure out what I was going to do with all of those rolls of wrapping paper.  I had gotten several ideas from Pinterest and other blogs and decided that I would attach a basket to the door to hold everything.  I had the perfect wooden box for the job.  It has three sections and is pretty sturdy so I thought that it would hold the weight well.  I started by drilling three holes in the back...


I couldn't get a picture while I was drilling the pilot holes in the door and attaching the box to the door, it was a little tricky...so tricky in fact that Matt had to help me!  I was really trying to do everything myself this time, but I ended up needing a few extra hands in holding the box in place and screwing it to the door.  I also could not get a picture of the wrapping paper falling all over the place because I was trying to hold them all together.  I needed to attach something to the top to wrangle the tubes.  Matt attached two hooks to the door and I tied a pretty ribbon across them...viola!



Here is a shot with the items that survived the purge.  I used boxes and baskets that I had on hand.  They all ended up white for the most part which was freaky and unplanned!  It works though.  On the top shelf is a basket of yarn, string and ribbon.  The large two white boxes have an assortment of table cloths, runners, and placemats along with fabric remnants for future craft projects.  The second shelf also holds extra tea-light candles, and my sewing kit. 

So there is my first step in organzing and purging all our unwanted/not needed items.  What about you?  Any deep cleaning or organzing going on this weekend?  Happy Friday!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Sports Room

Sports Room
Behold, the Sports Room.  You may be wondering...what is it?  The Sports Room has the same function as a man cave, so you get the general idea as to why we have it. Another reason is that Matt is obsessed with sports. Crazy for sports...some of you can probably relate and are either obsessed yourself or have a family member with the illness. While it is a completely foreign concept to me, I love my man and therefore he gets an entire room devoted to his love of athletics.
The problem with the Sports Room now is the fact that it looks like a college dorm. No offense to anyone living in a dorm, but you understand what I am saying. You know, the mismatch furniture that is either "found" or was a hand-me-down from upperclassmen or your siblings. Instead of frames on the walls there are posters taped up. In addition to the posters, Matt is a collector of "things." A lot of it is sports memorabilia: signed jerseys, footballs, basketballs, etc, but also it includes an innumerate amount of bobble heads, baseball cards, and pennants. 

My thought is that with the rest of the house coming together and looking a little more "grown up" we want the Sports Room to fit in with the over all feel.  So here is the number break down...

1. Two words: Sofa Bed.  We gifted our guest room bed and are hoping to turn our guest room into a nursery in the near future, so our family and friends will need somewhere to stay when they visit.  I'm not crazy enough to put guests in the same room as a baby, so the Sports Room will need to function part-time as a guest room.  This particular model is from Ikea and comes with a full/queen mattress.  It's a good size and our guests will not be too cramped on it. 

2. A low profile television console and a very large television.   The console is small enough for the space and has clean simple lines. As for the TV, Matt wants a flat screen in the Sports Room more than anything, but I am holding out until the current television dies.  It's not happening soon enough for Matt and he's threatening to pour water down the back of it.  He's desperate. 

3.  Paint colors!  I love the taupey-grey hues on either side of the picture, and the dark blue for accessories. 

4. Side table.  I loved this side table, and it reminded me of the modern touches that Matt wants in the room.  His design aesthetic is "leather, steel, and pointy edges."  That is exactly what he says. 

5. Nice sports memorabilia. and accessories.  Matt has some great pieces that are signed and deserve to be on display.  I am looking for nice display boxes for them as well as frames for his jerseys to go in.  Also, Matt hunts (boo, I know) but as an alternative to an actual animal head, Z Gallerie has a plaster cast substitute that I think is pretty cute.

So, there you have it!  That is the new Sports Room.  Now I have to start cleaning, organizing, shopping, and getting ready to switch things up. 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

T-shirts, Shmeshirts...

Matt LOVES t-shirts, see...


He does not discriminate either.  Whether it is a t-shirt he picks out himself from a merch table at a concert, or one that comes free with a credit card application (this happened at a Reds game, he applied just for the shirt!), he loves it just the same.  Why am I telling you this?  Because his love of t-shirts is so strong that he never wants to get rid of them.  They can be riddled with holes and he is just as happy to wear them as when the shirt was brand new.  Early on in our marriage I threw out an old t-shirt three times.  The same shirt.  I thought I was going crazy and that I just thought about getting rid of the shirt.  No, Matt had dug it out of the trash each time.  By the way, he STILL has that shirt, almost seven years later.  It now serves as a sleevless undershirt. 

So what is a girl to do?  Let my hubs go along wearing ratty shirts, or throw them away and break his cotton t-shirt loving heart?  Neither!  I sneakily started hoarding Matt's favorite shirts that were well beyond their wear and was planning a craft for them.  I have seen so many t-shirt quilts (like this one) that I had pretty well decided on that as a gift for him.  I was going to need a lot of t-shirts and I was okay with that as he has many to spare.  Also great was the fact that Matt didn't seem to be missing the shirts that I was putting aside, bonus!  It looked like my surprise was going to work!  Then I had an idea...(an awful idea, a wonderful awful idea, sorry...I love the Grinch).  I would frame some of the shirts instead. 

I was looking for something to group with this canvas in our master.


I picked it up from Kirkland's for something like $3.  Matt loves architecture almost as much as t-shirts, so this seemed perfect for him.  The canvas stood alone for months and after I finished the frame wall on the other side of the room I was dying to add something for balance on Matt's side. The t-shirts proved to be just the ticket.  I had some black frames on hand and along with the t-shirts, this craft technically cost me nothing.  There are not a lot of steps to this project...

1. I started out with empty frames
2. Then I cut out the logos I wanted to frame
3. I arranged them in the frame (which takes me foooorrrrreeeeeeeevvvveeerrrr.  It always looks straight and then I put the back of the frame on and it's crooked).

And here you go...




He loves them!  These two shirts have a special meaning for Matt which is why I saved them from being rags.  The top picture is a shirt from the concert he went to for his bachelor party a few days before we got married.  He and a bunch of guys piled in his car and went to see one of his favorite bands, The Ataris.  The bottom picture is a shirt he picked up at Wal-mart while we were visiting his grandparents in Kentucky.  Where his grandparents live there used to be a Wal-mart and that was all, so you if you needed anything while visiting that is where you went.  He thought the shirt was so cool and bought it just so he would have a piece of his grandparents here in Ohio. 

I'd love to hear what you all think!  We love them, and the idea that we can switch out shirts or prints for a different look or be "themey" if I want. 

Happy Sunday!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Casper the Friendly Ghost Chair



So, no sooner than I posted about the dining room makeover did I stumble upon this ad on craigslist: (Please forgive my terrible iphone picture of the computer screen)




Two Ghost Chairs!  I love Ghost Chairs.  There, I said it.  I have been admiring them for months and considered purchasing chairs like them (knock-offs if you will) due to their price.  What is a Ghost Chair, you may ask?  Well...as Interior Express states: The ghost chair was designed in the early years of this century by Philippe Stark, one of the most prolific designers of the modern age. Made of polycarbonate, the chairs come in a variety of styles and colors that will appeal to any taste. Injection-molded, they are constructed in a single piece, flowing from the designer’s imagination through technology and into reality. They lend an air of lightness to a room, never impeding the view of more important focal points like picture windows or fireplaces. "Real" Ghost chairs will not have any seams where several pieces are glued/screwed together. 

I was so excited that I emailed the seller right away!  Sadly, she emailed me back saying that someone was already coming to look at (and probably buy) the chairs.  Picture me doing this...



 After I dried my tears, I saw that the owner emailed me back and not only did that person not buy them, they didn't even show up!  I mean how could they stand up these chairs...they're so preeeh-taaay.


Also, you may have noticed the price for TWO chairs was $100.  I know that may seem like a lot, but consider this:  THESE CHAIRS ARE $400 EACH RETAIL.  Sorry, I had to yell, it's exciting.  So 2 chairs = $50 a piece which = a $350 savings each.  Basically, chairs + me = Happy! 


So this afternoon Matt and I drove out to Oxford (bonus, we got to go through Miami, our Alma Mater) to get the chairs.  Barring some sort of major deformity, I was coming home with these chairs so we drove the truck.  I wanted Matt to go with me for safety (hello, Craigslist Killer anyone?) and so we could get lunch in "our" town. 

We met Ginny the owner at her beautiful home to pick them up.  They had a more traditional (BEAUTIFUL) home and didn't think that the chairs went in the space any longer (lucky me).  We looked the chairs over for a milli-second and saw that there were no seams and the Louis Ghost Chair and Stark stamp on the back.  SOLD!  We paid for the chairs and left.  I was perma-smiling of course, and Matt was laughing at me the whole way home. 

When we got them in the house Matt immediately started looking them over to figure out how they "work."  Matt says, "they look like that have two main plates with a slide to form the arms working together to make one seemless piece." He also said that he could tell that by the "parting lines" which are teeny tiny barely visible lines where the metal comes together but doesn't leave a perfectly flush service. The Hubbs used to work in injection molding design, so he has some expertise. 


Here they are in the house....sigh....






I just love how they mix with the traditional pieces that we already have, and I am excited to add new modern touches to make them "feel" at home. 

That's my Saturday morning for you, what did you guys do?  Any other acrylic chair shoppers out there?  Any furniture buying going on at all today?  Happy Saturday!

*Casper the friendly ghost image from silverscreenclassics.com, Tantrum video from Youtube.