I've Been Framed

Or at least my front room wall has!! Ahhhh, the front room. What a transformation!!! Here is what the blank sofa wall looked like before...



Here is my inspiration photo a la Pottery Barn...



And here is what it looks like now after my trip to Ikea!!



I wish I would have taken some "during" photos. I used brown packaging paper and traced each frame before hanging them on the walls. It was quite a process but I think the end result is fab! Now I have the fun job of finding photos to put in all of these frames. I'm planning on making it a "Kevin and Molly" wall. Each photo will have something to do with us or where we've been or lived. Or what we do. Should be cool! I am still planning on making a piece of art for the upper right part of the wall above the one frame - maybe a black beat up board with the "312" area code on it??

Here's a look at some of the other parts of this room....


Ahhhh, the fireplace. It's such a hard thing to decorate given it's oddness. I will make it happen!!!


Da bar. This bar is one of my fave pieces of furniture. We make some good drinks here!!!


Notice how there isn't much wine in the wine rack?? I guess we drink it too fast to keep any there!! Want to know what my new fave wine is?? The Barefoot Sweet Red. It's amazing! And I don't normally even like red wine as much as I do white. I also love their Moscato. Amazing!!! Ugh. And don't pay any attention to the stairs. They are messed up AGAIN. The paint didn't stick. Why why why do I have so much trouble getting these stairs right?? I think I need a glass of wine......


I'm still collecting pillows from etsy for the sofa and chair. And I'm also on the lookout for a cool tray for the ottoman!!! Oh and there will be another photo over the chair. I just have to get to target for another one!!

I love how the wall turned out. Once we get some photos up in the frames and finish a few other things in here, I'll have more to share. Until then I'll be searching for the perfect photos!!! :)

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep....My Master (Bedroom) Plan

Well, it finally feels like spring (and sometimes summer) here in my neck of the woods!! Yay! There is nothing like spring sunshine. All of my plants and flowers in the backyard are starting to come up, there are tiny little buds on all of my trees and the grass is the prettiest shade of green.

While there's a lot to be done outside, we were able to get a few things done the past few days. The garden is ready for all of our vegetable seeds we'll be planting within the next month - probably Mother's Day weekend. We took down the kids' wooden playset and gave it to a very nice family with two sweet little boys from our home town. And we've cut back some of the dead stuff from last year to make way for all the little green growth that's happening. I've also been spring cleaning and washing windows inside. We've made lots of donations to our local Good Will Store. It feels so good to get rid of all that extra stuff!! After all, less is more right? More or less. :)

As I was spring cleaning my master bedroom, I got to thinking about the changes I've been wanting to make in there. We are so happy with how the main floor renovations have turned out, I thought, "What the heck? Why not get started in here??" Haha. Nevermind the fact that we aren't technically "done" downstairs yet. I mean, we're done with the major stuff. But there's this....

I need to put another coat of the black on the stairs and then do the other ones, but I have to do it after the kids go to bed at night so they won't walk on them. And lately I haven't had the time!

And then there's this.... I still need to find an end table and some throw pillows (green like the office) and I can't decide what to put on the wall over this sofa....


Or this one actually.....still looking for the right pillows (green ones) to complete the look on the big sofa and make up my mind about wall art/pictures....


So many little things to finish up!! Really it's just wall art related. Nothing too tricky. So!! I decided to just go ahead and sell the orangey oak matchy matchy dressers and nightstands that we've had for the past few years. And the wrought iron bed. I listed them all yesterday on craigslist. When I spoke of my plans to my wonderful husband he just laughed at me. So I took that as his enthusiastic blessing!! :) Basically the plan is to do built-ins in our walk-in closet to maximize the space. We're making them ourselves rather than buying a closet system because they're just too freaking expensive. Once we get the closet done, we won't need so many huge dressers and chests. Right now there is just too much furniture in a not so big room. Here are some inspiration photos of where I'm going with this...









Aren't they gorgeous? I'm thinking - dark wood canopy bed + white bedding + lots of comfy throw pillows... maybe some second hand nightstands that I can paint white.... maybe an armless chair in the corner with pillows and a throw.... and a little round table next to it. There it is! My master bedroom plan!! Stay tuned for photo updates of that and also maybe some progress on the other crap I haven't finished yet. Hopefully.

New Music Monday 4/4/2011 'Faded Paper Figures'

Can it really be Sunday again?? The weeks go so fast I can hardly keep up!! I'm going to have to type this out fast because I just checked the weather map and it looks like we're in for a pretty decent spring storm. Those of you who know me well know that storms are not my favorite. Guess I will be taking the weather radio to bed with me tonight!

The band I'm writing about this week is an indie electronica group called 'Faded Paper Figures' that hails from LA. The trio consists of John Williams and Kael and Heather Alden. They started writing music back in 2007 and ended up putting a few songs up on myspace under the name Machine Discourse. Obviously, they later changed their name to Faded Paper Figures or FPF.



FPF's first album titled 'Dynamo' was well received and described as "a balance of upbeat and soothing electronics.' They've been compared to The Postal Service which certainly shouldn't hurt their feelings. I personally love the balance of chill and fun these guys offer up in their songs. And not only are they musically talented, they're smart. Heather is currently a med student at UCLA and John is a professor of English and media studies at Yale. But they've still been able to follow their passion and make great music. Here are a few top picks from their 2008 album....

'North By North'


'B film'


'Logos' :) maybe my fave of all


'Polaroid Solution' sooooo Postal Service-y & yep it was played on Grey's


'I Fell Off My Name'


'The Persuaded'


Despite how busy they've been with school, FPF came out with a second album last year called 'New Medium.' I freaking LOVED the first album, but this one is amazing. I love everything! It's too hard to pick which songs to share here, but are my faves....

'Invent It All Again' LOVE


'Limelight'


'You Know What I Mean'


'Small Talk'


'One More Crash'


'The Cold Wars'


'New Medium'


If you're looking for fun and upbeat music, neither of these albums will let you down!!! Happy listening and Happy New Music Monday!!!