Gallery Framing

 I have been spending a lot of time gathering new and antique frames for different gallery displays throughout the apartment.  I have started collecting old family pictures and new photos of us and our friends as well as interesting prints to hang in different parts of the apartment. 

The first project I actually ever did for the apartment was making and framing quotes for the front hallway.  I decided early on that the front hall way would be a mix of some prints, quotes and current photos whereas above the buffet in the living room will be a mix of old photographs. 

 The quotes were inspired from a quote log that DP keeps online.  Whenever he hears something that makes him laugh or think he writes it down.  I decided to take some of these and design them and frame them in antique frames for the hall.  I thought it would be a fun way to tie the colors in from the living room and I think are a cool representation of who we are.  These are a few of the pieces I designed (there are about 5 more).  I will of course post the finished framed versions once they are hanging in the apartment. 

Week 3: Construction

This week brought about some hiccups in the process.  A pipe leaked water into the woman's apartment downstairs, debris is seeping into her apartment and our neighbors space but its now ended and we are onto another week.   We did finish most of the electric though and they actually started placing ply wood in places where it is needed and sheet rocking the open walls.  Plumbing starts this week on Tuesday. Hopefully this one will go a bit smoother.

Guest bedroom closet and closed wall

Guest Room Ceiling

Hallway Celing

Wall where the TV will be installed

How To: Make a Mason Jar Light

There was a lot of activity this weekend in apartment land. We went shopping all over the tri-state area and bought a counter top, toilets, sinks, and all the tile we need in the apartment. I feel very accomplished; DP, I think, just feels poorer. I also went on an awesome Michael's trip and saved tons of money and bought tons of stuff. This weekend, in terms of crafts, I made pillows (of course) and DP made this amazing kitchen fixture. We originally saw the piece on Pottery Barn but because of the size and price we decided it was better to custom make it ourselves. Above is a picture of the piece from Pottery Barn.

You will need the following:

* Mason jar with metal lid x 5

* 40 watt mini light bulb x 5

* Porcelain lamp socket x 5

* 1" long steel nipple x 5

* Hex nut x 5

* 15' of rayon covered lamp cord

* Snap on lamp plug (to test the lights)

* Wire cutters

* Drill and 1/4" bit

* Sharpie

I got most of the supplies from Home Depot, but ordered the lamp cord online. (See the supply list above.) The fabric covered cord will fray when you cut it. To avoid this, wrap the cord in clear packing tape where you are planning on cutting.

1. Measure and cut the cord into the appropriate length. Since I am making my fixture roughly 2' long, I cut each length between 18" and 24".

2. Place a piece of masking tape over the center of the lid and mark the exact center.

3. Drill a 1/4" hole through the tape.

4. Thread a piece of lamp cord through the steel nipple about 2".

5. Strip 1" of the fabric off of the short end of the cord.

6. Strip the insulation off the white and black wires.

7. Cut the green wire off completely; since the bulbs are not grounded you don't need it.

8. Insert the stripped wires through the metal ring of the porcelain socket and connect them to the screw terminals.

9. Screw the steel nipple into the metal ring on the porcelain socket. This has to be in several threads because it will be holding the weight of the jar.

10. Screw a bulb into the socket.

11. Run the jar lid over the unattached end of the cord and secure the nipple to the lid with a nut.
12. Screw the lid onto the jar. 

That's it! We decided to do this 5 times because we wanted a large wattage fixture and something similar to the Pottery Barn fixture.   We also tested the light with a wall socket to make sure if works but if you are not comfortable with that get an electrician to install and have him test the fixture.   We have only finished 3 so far but we will update the post with the final photo and steps to connect all of them when it is completed. 

Countertops

We had the pleasure of going to Gardenstate Soapstone on Saturday this past weekend. DP had done a ton of research on counter tops and we decided that soapstone was the best for us. It is actually pretty incredible and the guy that owned the place, Jay, gave us a full tour and explanation of every stone there. Apparently, soapstone can be used as ice cubes and as a cooking material because it retains temperature for so long and is chemically inert. It also will never get scratched or stained; you can just sand it smooth with standard sand paper if anything happens to it. It is also less expensive then granite which is something that we were definitely looking for. We ended up choosing a really beautiful piece that is actually the last of that exact type of stone from its specific quarry. It is not the classic stone with white veining but rather a very dark black with touches of dark green marbling. Here is a picture of a small piece. We are very excited about it and think it is going to look great in our kitchen.

Week 2: Construction

Today is one of those perfect winter days. Last night it snowed, not in apocalyptic proportions, but the perfect amount - where snow is just lying on the branches and sprinkling the ground. It is also Presidents' Day, so I like many people, did not have to work today. There is no work in the apartment today because of the holiday, but I figured it was the perfect time for me to go take some shots of their progress last week. Enjoy!

Pillows

I know I already posted the other pillows I made, but I literally have plans for about five more throw pillows, placements, and roman blinds (although my mom advised against this project). Two weekends ago I finished two more throw pillows as well as cut out all the squares for my friend Joy's baby quilt. It was a sewing spectacular Saturday night but I need to not be spending money now anyway so I decided that was okay.

Here are my pillows. The navy and white one is for the guest bedroom and the Aqua one is for the master bedroom. DP has limited the amount of throw pillows I get to put in the apartment but I did give him veto power so I have to respect that. I figure three per room is an acceptable number. The living room will probably get more-- but he doesn't know that yet :-)

Demolition Video Tour

DP did a video tour last night so everyone could see how the demo is going this week.  Enjoy!

How To: Make a Fabric Covered Bookshelf

I have become obsessed with fabric--- I literally just keep buying it and am running out of things to use it for.  I came up with this project because I had all this extra gray fabric and I couldn't figure out what to do with it.  I had bought a very inexpensive wood build-it-yourself shelf and I figured why not cover that.  I am going to use it in the master bedroom as organization for my sewing stuff so I thought it worked perfectly.

1. Gather supplies.  You will need the following

* Mod Podge

* Sand Paper

*Wet Towel

*Brush/ sponge/ towel for applying Mod Podge

*Scissors

*Fabric

*Shelf pieces

*Ribbon

 

2. Sand the pieces of wood.  Not too much but enough to make the mod podge soak into the wood.  After you are done wipe thoroughly with a wet towel and dry.

3. Cut fabric to the size of the pieces.  Some pieces I covered both sides and some I only did one side- predetermine if you want any exposed wood and cut a piece of fabric for each side.  This can be approximate size because you will have to trim once it is attached. 

4. Cover the wood in mod podge.  With my self I had to be conscious of where there were pre-drilled holes.  When I covered them in fabric I made sure to immediately poke the fabric with scissors as to not cover the holes. 

5.  Now you have fabric covered pieces.  I trimmed the fabric very close to all the edges that would need to attach to other pieces.  The front exposed edges I folded over about 1/8" of fabric so there was a finished fabric edge on each piece. 

6. Follow the manufacturers instructions about how to assemble the shelf.  (This was seriously the hardest part of this project).

7. Cover the edges in a coordinating ribbon.  If you remember the master bedroom is going to be grey and yellow with aqua accents so I figured the aqua ribbon would work wonderfully.

8. Admire your work!

Week 1: Construction

Before: Bedroom Closet

After: Bedroom Closet

Before: Bedroom Ceiling

After: Bedroom Ceiling

Before: Dumb Waiter

After: Dumb Waiter

Before: Kitchen Entry

After: Kitchen Entry

Before: Kitchen Entry

After: Kitchen Entry

Before: Kitchen Floor

After: Kitchen Floor

Before: Master Bathroom

After: Master Bathroom

Master Bathroom

Yay!!! We start construction on Monday. I cannot explain how excited I am. Now I will be able to post real updates of progress which is going to be great since this is my final room inspiration post.

When I first moved to New York, my apartment was a 300 square foot studio. I didn't really have a lot of room to do anything too creative. I did however paint my bathroom bright royal blue. I have always loved dark blue in the bathroom. I think it is such a great color with white and it is so calming. In our new apartment, I figured since the bedroom was going to be yellow and grey with touches of aqua, doing yellow and navy in the attached bath would be perfect. A true complement without being too "matchy matchy". The master bath is very small so we are doing subway tile throughout the space (like the photo) and then painting the walls above navy. I have already purchased the yellow accents (a rug and towels) and we just need to buy our fixtures and we will be all set.

We also have decided to take the fixture from the kitchen and put it in the master bath. I always love a good pop of color so we figured it would be perfect. Originally, we were going to try and hang this over the dining room table but when DP took it down the other day, he discovered that it was indeed plastic and not wrought iron like we thought. So although we still want to keep it around, we probably shouldn't feature it so predominantly in the apartment. We will enjoy it every night when we brush our teeth.