the haystack needle

anna-wili highfield

 

After mounting Dan's flatscreen to a column in our loft (and welcoming more space in the apartment!) I wound up moving around almost every piece of furniture in our place on Saturday. While rearranging furniture, I caught up with our TiVo and found myself pulled in to a recent episode of Man Shops Globe. In the Australia episode, I sat completely awestruck by the work of Anna-Wili Highfield. She crafts creatures — like these gorgeous birds — from ripping, hand-dyeing and then sewing together bits of paper. Incredible! Anna originally thought of the concept when she wanted to make something for the blank walls in her daughter's bedroom. While these birds are totally out of my budget, I'm blown away with her collection for Anthropologie. How amazing to create something so eye-catching out of scraps of paper and copper pipe.  

shanna murray decals

  

I'm sure many of you have seen these AMAZING decals over on design*sponge, sfgirlbybay, or heard round the Twitter universe (I first found out about Shanna Murray's work through Abby.) But I had to share here as well because, frankly, I can't get her illustrated decals out of my mind they're so fantastic! It was one of those finds where I was instantly in love and instantly overwhelmed all at once — I adore so many of her decal designs (how to choose?). But you know you're meant to adopt something when you've been thinking about it for a month. So this week, I'm going to choose a couple that feel like a fit for our apartment. Wall decals have been around for years now, but none quite like Shanna's. The handwriting, the whimsical illustrations — and I love how the white decals look against a dark wall. This is the first time I not only appreciate the design of wall decals, but can't wait to have a couple displayed in my home. I agree with Victoria, Shanna's decals definitely have a vintage feel to them. Feel free to weigh in on your favorites. Here are just a few of Shanna's decals — the garlands are my favorite. Check out her shop for the full collection. 

  

styling makeover: part 2

The other big project accomplished in my friend Erin's living room was a gallery wall above her sofa. When we started, Erin's living room was four blank walls. And after shuffling some furniture around, it was clear that the sofa would stay on the big wall facing the fireplace. Immediately I thought a gallery wall would be perfect above the sofa. So we got to work. We started with one treasured print, a drawing of the little white chapel where Erin and her husband Mark were married (the print on the far left.) With a gallery arrangement, I like to hang mismatched frames of different sizes. So we raided Erin's house for options and looked through stashes of art and frames that had not found a home yet. Erin had a lot of great art to work with. I love the vintage photograph of a group of women taking a class photo. And we needed a pop of color, so those two vintage embroidery pieces in their little green frames were a sweet addition. I love how her gallery wall has some humor to it — art doesn't have to be so serious. 

The empty frame was a lucky accident. I was hanging the little green frames, and we'd forgotten to take down the other frames while I was pounding the nails in (bad Jen!) — so that gilded frame (which originally had a black-and-white photograph Erin had shot) dropped to the floor and the glass shattered. We decided it was meant to be as the new photograph didn't really mesh with the vintage style of the gallery wall, anyway. So a cool empty gilded frame was the finishing touch. I like how her gallery wall has room to grow. I'd love to see something round under the vintage photograph (maybe a small patterned plate or even a little round mirror.) All the more reason for another thrifting adventure!

 

I don't have any overall shots of the living room (ran out of time and needed to catch my train!), but one other big change was dispersing some lamps around the room. Come sundown, that living room was a dark space because there's no overhead light. I found this cool paperclip style lamp hiding in a corner of Erin's living room. The velvet chair and ottoman needed a light to make it a cozy reading nook — perfect pairing. The chair sits low, so none of Erin's side tables would have been the right height next to this chair. So I flipped a vintage crate (originally holding firewood) to serve as a side table for the lamp. We moved the firewood into a large terracotta pot. The little metal table behind the chair used to have a lamp on top (which looked too big in proportion with the table and wasn't by any of the furniture to help with lighting.) So I swapped in a little succulent, since that space gets great sunlight next to the window. Erin found those vintage cake tins on the windowsill while we were thrifting, and she's planning on using the tins to house some herbs in small pots. 

That's all for now on this makeover! I'm happy we were able to get the furniture and lighting in an arrangement that works for Erin and Mark to hang out and enjoy their living room. And the easiest way to make a room feel lived-in and welcoming is to add some art on the walls and bring some plants inside. Erin's hoping to have that sofa (in the top photo) reupholstered in a fabric that's more their style. And she has a fantastic Danish modern chair with two cushions that need a makeover. It's a work in progress, as is the case with most rooms. 

Thanks for sharing your space, Erin! It was so fun working on the little makeover with you. 

styling makeover: part 1

Here's more from the styling makeover I did on my friend Erin's living room. I hope you'll let me off the hook with using the word makeover (which I know implies before and after.) I didn't realize that we'd end up spray painting in her garage and Mod Podging in her living room when the weekend started. It was one of those things. We came back from thrifting and Erin started telling me about what she didn't like about her living room and what she wanted it to be. I started moving around furniture and then the next thing we know it's 1am and we have a shopping list to get at Michaels the following morning. But I'll describe what we did and some tips on what helps me give a room a facelift.

 

Erin has a gorgeous fireplace in her living room — it's the star of the room. She used to have a series of prints lining the mantel that were an Asian motif (that cut against the style she was shooting for), and they are quiet prints that blended with the blue of the walls and gave no pop to the room. Those were the first to go. On our thrifting hunt, Erin scored a roll of vintage toile wallpaper (for just $20!). It's a rather cheeky toile that's a more oversized pattern and black-and-white, which made it super cool in my book. I suggested we use the wallpaper to create art for her mantel. Working with frames Erin already owned, I immediately grabbed a vintage gilded frame (which I used on a horizontal to show one scene in the toile), and the only other large frame was this one above. This frame was the perfect size to highlight a vertical pattern in the toile, but it desperately needed a makeover with its sad, yellowed finish. 

 

Spray paint to the rescue. I cheated and skipped on spray primer and used a different brand of spray paint — we were in a rush and Michaels was out of primer and Krylon's white gloss spray paint. I'm a big Krylon fan, and I have to say after using this other spray paint found at Michaels — I'm still a Krylon fan. It took more than the usual number of coats to get a solid finish, and I didn't get the same gloss that I've seen with Krylon. But it was still a dramatic makeover. 

 

So much better in white! Here's how we mounted the wallpaper in the frames:

+ move empty frame around wallpaper until you find the part of the pattern you want to highlight in the frame

+ run pencil around the outsize of frame (for where to cut) and mark an x in each corner of the inside of the frame (where you want the pattern to line up)

+ using an exacto knife, cut wallpaper along your penciled lines 

+ flip over wallpaper and Mod Podge the entire backside of your wallpaper

+ take wallpaper piece and line up two of your marked corners with corners of your foamcore board (foam board should already be cut to fit inside your frame)

+ carefully smooth down your wallpaper on foam board using a wallpaper brush

+ pile a few books on top and let your board sit for 20 minutes or so

+ once the wallpaper has dried, flip it over and snip off the wallpaper overage with an exacto knife

+ add to frame — instant art!

 

If we'd had one supersized frame, I probably would have hung the frame centered over the mantel. Classic look. I actually prefer what we ended up with: two frames that together make a statement. I like the frames leaning against the wall, because it feels less fussy. And fresh flowers always give a lift to a room. 

instant makeover: giant map

I'm back from a very fun + full weekend up in Connecticut visiting my friend Erin. We conquered a bunch of junk shops and tag sales, enjoyed an amazing dinner of Afghan food, treated ourselves to homemade ice cream, and accomplished a complete styling facelift of her living room for less than $100. Rather amazing! I'm admittedly a little tired today. The biggest find of the weekend was most definitely this giant 5-foot map — for just $30! When I saw this map of Connecticut's Hartford County, I knew it needed to go home with Erin. Despite her home's frustratingly rock-solid plaster walls, we managed to hang the map yesterday. It's added one big wow to her family room. I love maps hung as art — what a score! 

julie & julia and vintage state handkerchiefs

I finally saw Julie & Julia over the weekend on my Netflix Instant queue. It was everything I wanted it to be. I especially loved watching the amazing Meryl Streep play the adorable Julia Child — all those scenes of her cooking in Paris were my favorite and left me wanting more. On the Julie side of the movie, I thought the set designer did a fantastic job in creating Julie's apartment in Queens. I kept straining to see what was framed above her bed — looked to be some kind of vintage map art. Thanks to this post, I figured out the mystery: they were vintage state handkerchiefs framed above her bed. I love this idea, especially for a state with which you feel a little sentimental attachment. Shelter Pop shared a source with an incredible collection of vintage state handkerchiefs (including a bunch you see above.) Plus, I spotted the vintage 1950s Montana Idaho Wyoming hankie on Etsy and the cool Florida hankie on eBay. I'm on the hunt for a vintage Maine handkerchief.

fey handmade

If you're looking for a little pick-me-up for your walls, Fey Handmade has so many lovely options for affordable art, with prints from $15 to $28. I'm stuck on Mr. Bear.