My Fall Mantel...Finally

Hopefully you haven't been waiting on the edge of your seat for this post.  Life with twins is B-U-S-Y and I cannot promise how often or when I will be posting ever again.  Ha.  If you are interested, you can sign up to receive my posts (when they go up) via email.  Just type your email address in the right sidebar under "Subscribe to this Blog" and hit submit!

So....our fall mantel.  I kept it simple and used mostly all things that I already owned.

I placed some cotton that I got from work last year in a small thrifted brass vase.

The white pumpkins are plastic ones that I spray painted (also from last year).

The gold candlestick is last season Target and the felt leaf garland is another project from fall 2013 (excuse the awful pics from back then).  

I just love the colors in this print.  And at $1.50, it's hard to beat.  I printed it on some card stock and popped it into a frame.

The bird in hand print is a postcard that Clare Elsaesser included in one of my orders from her Etsy shop.  

Happy Fall, guys!

The Evolution of Our Living Room

Ever since I added the new woven bench and pet silhouette art to the living room, it has felt almost complete.  Of course there are a few small project ideas still tumbling around in my head that may get tackled one day, but I would estimate that the room is 90% done.  In honor of its near-completeness I decided to take you on a journey through its evolution (and remind myself of how far it's come).

We'll start at the very beginning.  Here is how she looked on move-in day:

Ahhh...a hideous ceiling fan and TONS of cream.  Our first project was painting the cream colored brick fireplace.  We chose a bright white.  We also painted the walls (for the first time) - light gray with a darker gray accent wall (ignore the light blue rectangles in the photos below - I had already nixed the gray).  

I wasn't loving the gray so we repainted the walls a nice classic light blue (Benjamin Moore's Woodlawn Blue).

We sold our brown microfiber sofa on Craigslist and purchased our first grown up one.

We then moved the television and installed a gallery wall around it.  (This is also one of the last pics of our garage sale floral chair that served us well for over three years.  See it there on the right?  I know you're jealous.)

We switched out the ugly brown ceiling fan (see the third pic in this post) for the chandelier that we had removed from the dining room and spray painted white.  

But then we found this larger chandelier at a local antique store for $8.  I can't say I've ever seen another one like it.

We then tackled the built-ins and my wonderful parents hired painters to paint all of our crown molding, baseboards, window molding, and interior doors bright white.  (SOOOOO grateful and glad that Seth and I didn't have to do this.)  The bright white trim completely elevated the look and feel of the entire house!  The cream colored doors and trim looked so dingy.

We purchased a couple new chairs, two dark orange poufs, and a new fireplace screen.  We also nailed down the best layout for the room and moved the TV back to its original location (it was causing too much neck strain).

We built a floating fireplace mantel just in time for the holidays.

We styled the built-ins, hung a bamboo roman shade, and added some curtains from Ikea.

Next, we made a wooden "topper" to extend the length of our console table, made some art to hang behind the sofa, and purchased some new pillow covers.

I made over an Ikea Vittsjo coffee table with gold spray paint and a piece of corrugated tin (still one of my favorite projects to date).

I also took some time to "neutralize" the built-ins by turning almost all of the books around and removing some of the more colorful accessories so they wouldn't compete with the mantel decor.

I found a new television stand at TJ Maxx that worked better in the space (note the mess of cords underneath it).

And hung another gallery wall around the television.

But it was too busy and detracted from the fireplace and mantel decor (I was trying very hard to keep the fireplace/mantel the main focal point of the room) so it had to go.  In its place, I hung Fred the cardboard moose and added our West Elm floor lamp to the corner.  Much better.

Recently, I cleaned up our mess of TV cables and cords using a cord cover (later painted to match the wall), zip ties, and industrial strength velcro.

We also flip flopped the living room and master bedroom rugs which helped break up the sea of blue and gray.

Lastly (as I mentioned at the beginning of this mile long post), I figured out a solution for the remaining blank wall.

Projects that I'd still love to tackle include artwork for the blank space on the built-in wall,

and a DIY wooden kennel for Amos.

Now for a few before and afters...

Thanks for sticking with me through this lengthy post.  I'm so happy with how far this room has come!

Colorful, Layered Art Spring Mantel

I finished decorating our mantel for Spring and I love the way it turned out.  I've long been a lover of layered artwork (like this, this, and this) so I decided to incorporate that into my Spring mantel.

I left my DIY antiqued mirror as the base layer and added a new print by Britt Bass over the top of it. To keep with the decorating rule of threes, I added a postcard sized print that Clare Elsaesser included with my most recent order (thanks, Clare!).  I used a piece of washi tape to secure it onto a wooden picture frame that I recently picked up at the thrift store.  I then attached the frame to the antiqued mirror with 3M picture hanging strips.

  

The turquoise vases are from Target.  The yellow flowers are my first attempt at coffee filter peonies. (I  roughly followed this tutorial and I think they turned out pretty well.)

The garland is another DIY project.  I used this finger knitting technique to make it one night while watching television.

To augment the bright, colorful look, I switched out the sparkly silver candles from Christmas for some fun orange ones that I found at Marshall's.

The cheer that the newly styled mantel brings to the living room is just perfect for Spring.

Here's a peek at a seldom viewed corner of our living room.

We still need to clean up the electric cords and I'd like to freshen up the storage inside our entertainment center but the living room is quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms in the house (and one of the closest to being "finished").

I hope everyone is experiencing some milder weather as we head into Spring.  I am ecstatic to feel 60 degree temperatures again.  (I really really dislike cold weather.)

I am also happy to report that almost all of the perennials we planted along our driveway last year appear to be making a comeback!  I'll share some pics in a couple months when they start blooming again.