Catching up on the Holidays

Yesterday I almost died of a heart attack:

2.5 weeks until Halloween

6 weeks until Thanksgiving
10 weeks until Christmas

The extent of my seasonal and holiday decorating so far?

A measly three mums, an updated door wreath, a scare crow, and a pine cone on the fireplace mantel. Wop-wop-woooooop!

So I decided to ramp things up a bit with the focus on Halloween since that's going to be here quicker than instant grits! I knew I wanted some vintage-y looking art for the still-bare walls in the living room, maybe some more things for the mantle and a little bit of Halloween gore in the front yard and on the porch. When I spied this beautiful gallery arrangement on pinterest, I knew I could create something like this with a Halloween twist!

[via pinterest]

I scoured the web for some vintage looking etchings and engravings fit for Halloween and discovered my favorites on the Graphics Fairy webpage. After downloading them I manipulated them using Gimp, the poor people's adobe photoshop. No kidding - it's free and versatile and fun and a great tool when it comes to image retouching and editing.



I lost my picture of the bat somewhere in the fathomless abyss of my computer's files so I'll have to re-do that one and the hot air balloon isn't really ...you know ... Halloween-y, but it's quirky and different and I loved it and that's all there is to it.

After editing them in Gimp which revolved mostly about rendering the background transparent, I printed them on regular white paper. I cut a few pages from an old bible that had been damaged beyond repair and copied the artwork right onto it. Since the pages aren't 8x11 letter size I needed to tape them to regular sheets of paper to run them through the fickle printer but in the end things worked out just great!

I also picked up this four pack of frames at Michaels for just $10 plus tax thanks to a coupon.

With the help of a bit of spray glue I mounted my prints on sheets of off-white linen paper rather than having mats cut to custom size to fit the document frames.



Here they are, all mounted and ready to be framed! I was a bit worried what the spray glue would do to the thin brittle paper of my prints but it worked surprisingly well.



Popping the matted prints into the frames was a matter of minutes, deciding exactly -where- to hang them took me the better part of two hours. I even moved furniture around in the living room considering a different couch placement and with it a new decorating scheme. Eh ...suffice to say, it didn't work as well in real life as I imagined it on paper. So, change of plans, different wall.

The area above husband's roll top desk looked like a good spot. It's in the corner of the living room, catty corner from the couch, and we'd get to enjoy my latest creation from all angles.


After some measuring, leveling and nailing 4 pictures hooks into the wall, the frames went up!

[Oh, look! Unpainted trim!]

Now I need some bats and crows and stuff ... maybe some blood dripping candles? Orange lights? Spiders? Do you have any Halloween favorites?

Mirror, mirror, on the wall

Isn't it the loveliest of them all?

[Look what I found!]

I discovered this pretty vintage and rather large mirror on one of my quests through the local thift and antique stores. (I should take you along one of my trips some day; that'd be fun!) I'd been searching for a suitable mirror to go with our vanity for a couple of weeks now. At first, had my heart set on the "Ung Drill" Mirror from IKEA but while the husband wasn't opposed I worried it might be a bit too frilly for his taste. Looking for a better compromise I decided to continue looking; IKEA is just a 2.5h drive away and if all else failed, we could just swing by and pick it up during a weekend trip.

This darling mirror with its curvy yet clean lines caught my eyes as soon as I set foot into the store.

I zoomed right in on it.

And then I saw the price tag.

[Quite a splurge ...]

Yep, that's $12.95, ladies.

Muahaha ... and it's MINE!

Score!

I lugged the heavy thing through the store and to the cash register without wasting any time on possible other treasures. Even if we didn't like it for the bathroom, it would still look quite delicious above the fireplace.

[Beautification in progress]

At home I went to work to beautify it. The finish of the frame had some unsightly blemishes, not to mention that I wasn't too crazy about the ...uh, aged finish of the silver paint. In keeping with our minimalistic black and white film noir color scheme for the master bath, I whipped out a can of black spray paint.

It looked like the mirror was putting on a little black dress: the curvy lines started to look classy and sleek, and after following up the coat of paint with a coat of glossy spray poly, the mirror looks like new! I did give the new finish a solid two days to cure before touching it. Patience, baby, I has it (somewhat ... a little .... you know, sometimes)!

I had to replace the hanging wire on the back, drill two holes for hooks into the wall by the vanity but after just a few minutes, some groaning and some grunting (this thing is heavy! And big!), I had it hanging on the wall!

Ohhh .... pretty!

Yep, definitely loving it!

With all of the major bits and pieces in place, it's now finally time for the decorative, finishing touches. Well, alright, that is after the door is finally framed out. Or maybe the husband will take care of that while I run off to say ... Calico Corners and Bed, Bath & Beyond and other places for fabrics and stuff. As you can see we also need a light to go above our vanity. I have a couple of ideas, but need to run them past the husband for input first, so stay tuned as the adventure "master bathroom" continues. (Heh, we're kind of like a bad soap - no end in sight!)

Master Bath: a sink, with feeling!

Good morning!

I just wanted to let you know that today's entry will be featured as guest post Over at Nette's "This Dusty House"Blog. You can check it out here:

"This Dusty House" is one of my absolute favourites, and checking in on Nette and her latest project is on my daily to-do list.

We both share that we're writing renovating blogs, not decorating blogs. While we occasionally take a break from the bigger DIY projects to toss in an adventure in hanging curtains, spray painting accessories and upholstering a chair, we're still up to our ears in bathroom remodels, total kitchen gut jobs and more drywall dust than we probbly ever wanted.

So hop on over and find out what's going on with this:

[Peekabo - I see you!]

Death by laundry

I guess one of the biggest lessons (finally) learned is that order only comes through having a space of its own for everything you own.

At the Ugly Duckling, laundry tends to accumulate quickly and infinitely. My normal state of being is "between piles": the unwashed pile o' laundry and the ready-to-fold pile. And once that is under control, you know, for that half an hour a week, the cord to the iron tries to trip you and the ironing board is lurking in the laundry room just waiting for the moment to whack you over the head good.

When I was over at the Blue Box today, I spied with my little eye this nifty little thing:

[Quick and easy laundry organization? Yes, please!]

That sounded like a quick and easy way of securely coralling the wicked iron and its board into a safe corner and a first step to creating some semblance of order for our laundry situation.

So it went into the cart and home with me.

[Before: Into the corner with you!]

Here's the corner I chose for our unruly iron and its partner in crime, the ironing board, before the installing. All that was required were two holes for drywall anchors and then the shelf was screwed into the wall with two screws. That took all of 5 minutes after locating all necessary tools (a drill, a level and a pencil and a screwdriver)

[After: All well-mannered and orderly!]

So much better! Now the iron has a place to go and hangs nicely secured so unexpected whacks over the head are now a thing of the past. The iron has a nice spot to sit and the starch can go right next to it. And me? I'm tickled about tidy it looks.

Now if I could only make the laundry vanish ...

Curse you, Restoration Hardware!

Good Lord! Have you SEEN the latest Restoration Catalog???


All that tufted glory?
The aviator chic?
The Steampunk sass?

I've been DROOLING over the catalog for the past couple of days ... yeah, well, really ever since it showed up in my mailbox, really.

[source: Restoration Hardware]

[source: Restoration Hardware]

[source: Restoration Hardware]


[source: Restoration Hardware]

Who knew that a monochromatic decor scheme could be so sexy?

I wonder if the husband would let me repaint and redecorate the house ....

Master Bath: trim and proper

And the saga continues (does it ever really end?): right now I'm tackling the basic trim-out of the bathroom with baseboards and some quarter rounds.

Only half an hour into the process, I'd learned my first lesson: shoulda done that -before- installing the toilet and moving in the vanity. Oh well, live and learn and improvise!

Here's what the transition floor to wall looks like without baseboard.

[Before: Something is definitely missing ...]

Yeaaah, not so pretty. Definitely can't leave it like that. We're sticking with the textured walls for now, for the most part because we're sick and tired of drywall dust. I'm toying with the thought of adding wainscoting or batten'n board which I already successfully installed in our master bedroom (read about it here and here). It looks beautiful and would leave us with a smaller area to de-texturize aka skim-coat and sand. We'll see, we'll see .... for now our project list is still plenty long; no need to add new projects just yet. A fresh coat of white paint did a LOT to clean up the look.

[Miter saw (How I wish I had an electric one!), measuring tape, baseboard and a pencil]

For the next three hours I measured, cut, measured some more, cut some more, finagled a baseboard into the tight spot between wall and vanity, maneuvered another piece around the toilet's plumbing and finally had all the pieces I needed for a full trim out. Go me!

Husband was amazed that not once did I cut an angle the wrong way. Maybe I'll be as lucky when it comes to crown molding? One can dream ...

[Getting there: baseboard in place but not yet nailed and caulked]

Nailing the pieces into place (yet another tool for my wishlist - I wish I had a nail gun) went quickly and then it was on to caulking for a nice clean transition between wall and baseboard. I will have to add quarter rounds to mask the fact that our walls aren't 100% straight (*gasp!* Shocking, I know, no straight walls in an old house) but for now I get to marvel at how proper this room is starting to look.

Now it's off to work! After work, I'll make a quick detour to the orange box to pick up the quarter rounds I need for part 2.

Peekaboo window

Now that our Master Bathroom is complete as far as typical bathroom fixtures are concerned - you know, like a sink, a toilet and a bath tub - we have slowly and rather gingerly begun to use it. No, the bath tub is as of yet still unchristened (can't have my brain go on its usual "Here're the things that I need to finish" spree while taking a bubble bath in my glorious clawfoot tub) but sink and toilet are being subjected to ..ahem, light use.

You know, we seem to forget that there is now an extra bathroom.

Like it's not on our inner house map yet, we gravitate toward the hall bathroom in the mornings and if that's in use, the first step is always toward the stairs to head down to the half bath.

We're hoping this will change once the Master Bath receives its final and homey-fying touches. I've just ordered towel rings, for example, I scored a nifty mirror that needs a few tender loving and caring touch-ups, we need a bath mat and of course, window treatments for a softer, less stark white atmosphere.

And that brings us - finally - to a whole other problem: Privacy.

While I enjoy living in the urban core and don't mind my neighbors up close and personal (and we have sweet neighbors all around us, and in general, the Springfield people rock my boat balancing the line between privacy and neighborly love with perfection), there're two windows that are even in my world of laid-back exhibitionism a bit ...let's say, "iffy". Especially after sunset.

You see, I was using the brand new installed toilet, musing about our DIY to-do list and dangling my legs, when I noticed that at night our brightly lit bathroom would provide an excellent entertainment of the scantily clad sort for the neighbors whose backyards border ours.

So not good.

Some privacy would be nice, especially when using the toilet. Toilet time is not off-limits in my family, but I'd like to keep it in the family and not include my neighbors. I'm sure they appreciate the thought too.

Anyways, on one of our regular trips to the orange box (or was it the blue one?), I picked up a can of this stuff

I've tried window film before and while it does do the job, it's always a big hassle, wrangling those sheets into submission and keeping them from rolling up on you while you're trying to measure and to cut. This sounded much easier (C'mon, it's 'spray' frost - woot!) and since it's removable, it gave me enough freedom to try it without having to commit permanently like with etching cream. If I don't like it or find something better, some nail polish and a razor blade will do the trick!

I wish I could show you a 'Before' picture of that window but it was dark when I decided to do this and I forgot to snap it. It's just a very basic 80s chicken coop window (and it'll be replaced with a proper and much nicer sash window at some point)

[After: Ahh, sweet privacy ....]

No more unwanted flashing the neighbors and I still get a peek of the sky and the tree tops in front of the window. Mission accomplished!

Feeling greatly encouraged I might proceed with my secret plans for a certain window downstairs.