Not quite a spring mantel

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Despite the snow flurries that fell thick enough to coat the ground this weekend, I’m pretty sure it’s spring. Easter was early this year, but not that early, right?

It seemed like it was time to update the mantel for spring. We still light the fire most nights, but the snowshoes on the mantel seemed to be a bit out of season.

For me, styling a mantel is like styling a bookshelf–challenging.

I replaced the snowshoes with some green glass bottles. I separated the pair of antlers and spread out the trio of spherical tealight holders. But I’m not sure it’s working for me.

I’ve learned I really like the pop of black from the lantern–and the glow of the candle at night–but I’m wondering if maybe I should do without it for the spring.

The glass bottles seem a little small to me. And I think their watery blue-green tone says summer more than spring.

I’d love your input and advice on what you’d do. Here are your constraints:

The stone needs to be the main feature of the fireplace. That means no covering it up with a huge painting or mirror, although something smaller might be acceptable.
I want balance, but I don’t want symmetry. Matching topiaries at either end of the mantel with a perfectly centred hurricane are not me.
Bigger is better when it comes to tchotchkes. The fireplace is 8 feet wide and 9 1/2 feet tall and close to 4 feet deep. It’s a monolith. From the mantel to the lowest point of the ceiling is 40 inches. The accessories need to be equally large scale so they don’t get lost.
I’m cheap, so there’s no way I’m spending much money on decor, especially if it’s going to change seasonally.

This post from Kim at Tidbits and Twine has an easy formula for styling a mantel. I particularly like her layers of anchor, weight and filler. However, I’d have to put my anchor off centre. 🙂

Here are some of the things I’m thinking of:

Something living (or more likely, given my luck with plants, a decent replica of a living thing)
Large crocks or bottles (or urns or tarnished trophies?)
Candles or lanterns of some kind (maybe an oil lamp or a candelabra could be fun)
Some appropriately “farmy” accessories (wagon wheel hub, grindstone, antlers)
Something appropriately seasonal (is there something that says spring besides the obvious tulips and hyacinths?)
Art (even though I don’t want a central painting, a smaller scale painting or sculpture or mirror might be nice)

This picture speaks to me. Even though the fireplace is a completely different style from ours, are there some lessons I can apply?

Source: Verdigris Vie

Help me bring spring inside, even if it hasn’t arrived outside yet. What are your styling secrets for mantels? What accessories would you use?

One Room Challenge – Master bedroom makeover

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

It’s One Room Challenge time again. This will be my second time participating in the Challenge, and things are a bit different this time around.

The room I’ve chosen to make over–our master bedroom–is already part of the way there. Yes, I took a head start. But those who have been around here for a little while know that I stalled. The One Room Challenge is my motivation to finally finish it.

For those that are new here, here’s where we started–our former guest room. Pretty, ain’t it?

Here’s the inspiration (from another ORC participant, no less):

Source: Chez V (found via Little Black Door)

And here’s where we are today:

Without a deadline, I’m finding it very easy to dilly-dally my way through this makeover. So the plan is to draw up a schedule and feed off the enthusiasm of other ORC participants and get this room done.

Here’s the plan (I’m reusing some of the text from previous posts so that those of you who are new can follow along):

~~Buy a queen size bed~~ – Done, except we decided to really upgrade and went for a king size.
~~Remove popcorn ceiling~~ – Scraping the ceiling was not the funnest way to spend a day, but this job is done.
~~Patch ceiling and walls~~ – Also known as, “how I spent my Christmas vacation” (yes, Christmas. I told you this makeover has been going on too long). Patching took such a long time. Done, thank goodness.
~~Paint ceiling, trim, doors and walls~~ – I had such a hard time picking a colour, but this one is done. Chez V’s makeover made me decide to go dark and dramatic with Hale Navy.
~~Make/find window treatments~~ – This was the when the makeover stalled. I discovered I do not like making curtains. So boring. But I’m finally done.
~~Build some hookboards for behind the door~~ – Extra hanging space is always a good idea.
DIY a headboard – No idea what I’m going to do here. White? Wood? Upholstered?
Relocate light switch – Oddly, the light switch is behind the door. It’s perfectly positioned if you used the mirrored pocket door from the other bedroom to enter the master. Weird.
Replace light fixture – I have a hand-me-down brass and crystal chandelier just waiting for a home.
Paint dresser and replace hardware – We have a beat up black dresser that we bought at a garage sale. I think it can be freshened up with some nice white paint and brass hardware.
Sew a bedskirt – I have some material left over from the curtains. A bed skirt can’t be as tedious as the curtains, can it?
Refresh dinged up closet doors – It appears our closet doors spent their past life as bulletin boards, except with tape rather than pushpins.
Come up with a jewelry storage solution – Notice I didn’t say a new solution. I’ve had no solution, and tangles of necklaces are getting really old.
Decorate and personalize – It will be nice to finally personalize a bedroom. Although the giant pink ape you saw above probably isn’t the personalization I’m looking for.

And finish it all by May 7 in time for the ORC finale. Stay tuned. And be sure to check out Calling it Home for all of the fabulous makeovers–or this week the plans for fabulous makeovers.

Master bedroom move-in

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I mentioned at the beginning of the week that we made a wee bit of progress on the master bedroom makeover.

Here it is.

Yes, we have moved into our new bedroom. And obviously, Baxter is exhausted from the journey across the hall.

It’s still not done, but having our bed in the room and our clothes in the closet–and our dog on the bed–feel like major progress to me.

You may recall that this makeover started 3 months ago. Right after Christmas, I scraped the stipple ceiling. That was honestly the hardest part of the project. There’s no good reason why this is taking me so long.

The master bedroom is one of my Home Goals for 2015. One of my other Home Goals is to take it easy on the projects and not hold myself to such strict timelines as I did last year.

Obviously, I’m succeeding at the latter of those goals.

For some reason, I’m just not getting excited about this makeover. I’m hoping that will change soon though. The spring One Room Challenge launches next week. I’ve decided that finishing the master bedroom is going to be my entry.

I was super excited about the laundry room makeover that I did for the Challenge last fall, and I really enjoyed participating with all of the other bloggers.

So I’m reverting to my old ways. There will be detailed timelines, regular updates and lots of progress. (Please, let there be progress).

Until then, commiserate with me, please. Do you have a long-running makeover? Have you ever undertaken a project that didn’t seem that interesting? Any tips for pushing through?

Laundry room rug – Ikea hack

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I finally found a rug for the laundry room… or rather, three rugs.

It was hard to figure out the exact dimensions that would work in this room. With jig and jogs around cabinetry and laundry machines and the drying rack, the rug could only be so wide. But it was a relatively long room. Did I want the rug to go just in front of the washer and dryer? Just in front of the sink? All the way from wall to wall?

I eventually decided that it made sense to have a rug in front of the sink, the washer and the dryer.

But then came the question of material. I liked the idea of a natural jute rug, but I wasn’t confident I’d find one that met my measurements for a price I was willing to pay. I’ve seen some great antique and vintage patterned rugs on other blogs, but, again, price was a factor and availability is always challenging

Then, during an Ikea trip, I came across Signe.

It was a fairly natural tone with pops of black and red, two accents I used a bit in the laundry room.

Plus it was cheap: $2.99.

The downside was it was short. One rug was less than 3 feet long. But for $2.99, I could buy three.

At home, I laid them out in the laundry room. This just might work.

After an afternoon spent ripping off fringe and some time spent with my sewing machine, I had a runner the exact dimensions I needed–8 feet long by 22 inches wide.

I used a wide zig-zag stitch to join the rugs end-to-end, doing my best to match the stripes.

The result was the right colours, the right size and the right price. It’s a nice finishing touch in the laundry room.

Lighting fail

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Have you seen the Barometer light from Ikea?

I love its traditional form. I really wanted it for the basement. In fact, I wanted it so badly that I braved Ikea on Dec. 27 to buy it.

Ikea during Boxing Week. Oy vey.

We have a corner at the one end of the couch that needs a lamp. When we set up the basement, Matt put an old round wooden crate from his grandfather as an end table and stuck one of our garage sale brass lamps on top.

I love the crate, but the lamp has always bugged me. The table’s short, so the shade sits right at the arm of the couch. The metal in the rest of the basement is shiny chrome or closer to oil-rubbed bronze. The brass just doesn’t work.

Unfortunately, the Barometer doesn’t work either.

I mean, it’s pretty. The silver finish works. The height works… kind of. It’s a good task light if I was going to be sewing or reading in that corner of the couch. However, my usual activity when sitting on the couch is watching TV. We need a lamp that sheds just a bit of light so the basement isn’t lit solely by the glow of the TV.

The light that the Barometer sheds is closer to an interrogation. Just looking at this picture hurts my eyes.

We tipped down the shade, slid the light farther away from the couch, adjusted the arm. We just couldn’t make it work. No matter where we sat, we were squinting from the Barometer’s glare. 😦

So back to Ikea I went, this time to brave the returns desk. That’s nearly as much fun as shopping on Boxing Day + 1.

And it’s back to the drawing board on the basement lamp. Honestly, I think Matt had the right idea. As wonky as the low lamp looks, it gives the light we’re looking for. Now just to find something better than the brass.

Sprout

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I’ve had a post sitting in my draft folder since December. Back when we were deep in the fireplace redo, I wanted to think about something prettier. So I wrote about styling the mantel. In that post, I listed some of the things I was thinking of for decor.

At the top of the list was something living (or more likely, given my luck with plants, a decent replica of a living thing).

Well, it turns out that I may not be able to keep plants alive when I want to, but the mantel is taking care of the something living all on its own.

In the joint between the two barn beams, a little plant has sprouted. I thought it was just a cobweb, so I “picked” it before I realized what it was.

The barn beams had been laying outside for who knows how long. There are some worm holes, some soft spots and, obviously, some seeds. The indoor climate is apparently just what this little sprout was looking for.

Not quite what I had in mind when it came to mantel decor, though.

Grandma’s chair

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I’ve mentioned before that I have a bit of a thing for chairs. Meet the newest addition to my collection.

I don’t know what the proper name is for this type of chair. It’s kind of bar or counter height, and it has a little step ladder attached. I’ve been looking for a chair like this for awhile.

My grandmother had one in her kitchen. Honestly, growing up it never made that big of an impression on me, but when I got my own house, I thought, “Hey, that step-stool chair would be kind of neat in a library.”

When my grandma’s house was sold, the chair ended up going to another family member. I’m not heartbroken about that, but I’m glad I’ve been able to find a chair of my own.

This one could use a little bit of work. Obviously some new upholstery would be helpful. The rubber feet need to be replaced. There’s a little bit of rust that either needs to be sanded off or painted over.

It’s still a nice memory of my grandmother, and I’m happy to add it to my collection.

Add just a shade of grey

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I absolutely did not know what colour I wanted to paint the master bedroom. Something light and soothing? Maybe a shade of green or grey? Was this my moment to finally just go with white?

If you take a look at my master bedroom Pinterest board, you’ll see I was all over the map.

When I finally settled on navy blue, it was a snap decision. There was no sampling, no questioning, not even a paint chip. I walked into the hardware store and asked for a can of Hale Navy.

I’d seen it on a couple of other blogs. I liked all of the rooms I’d seen it in. Might as well give it a try.

But when I opened the can, I wasn’t sure. It looked so grey! I thought I’d chosen blue!

Now that the room is painted, I couldn’t be happier with the colour, and I’ve learned an important lesson. Whatever colour you’re thinking of, go a little bit grey.

This insight isn’t anything new. Young House Love did a great post a couple of years ago showing how the colour you envision might not turn out the way you think it will once it’s on your walls.

However, experiencing it myself in front of my own eyes was different than reading about it on my computer screen. I’m going to share my lesson on your computer screen nonetheless.

Here’s the Hale Navy chip from Benjamin Moore’s website. Very grey to my eye.

Here’s the paint on my brush. Still very grey in my opinion.

And here’s the paint on the wall. Thanks to natural light and the vagaries of photography, this looks very blue. (Ignore the random furniture. We haven’t set up the room yet, so we’ve just stuffed some of the guest room furniture back in the room. Although I do love how the wood desk pops against the blue).

Here’s the paint up against the bright white trim. This is a bit truer to how Hale Navy looks IRL.

We’re plodding along ever so slowly on our master bedroom makeover. With my promise to be more flexible this year, I haven’t set any deadlines for myself. But that means we’re still a little ways away from moving into our new room. Here’s where we’re at:

~~Buy a new bed~~
~~Remove popcorn ceiling~~
~~Patch ceiling and walls~~
~~Paint ceiling, trim and walls~~
DIY a headboard
Relocate light switch
Replace light fixture
Make/find window treatments – In progress
Paint dresser and replace hardware
Refresh dinged up closet doors
Decorate and personalize

Do you have any projects on the go right now? How are you doing on your 2015 to-do list? Do you have any tried and true strategies for picking paint colours?

Once upon a time, I went insane

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Back in September, I lost my mind. It was just for a moment, but it was a definite psychotic break. And it’s taken me until now to talk about it.

In my normal state, I don’t

Shop online
Make impulse purchases, especially not over $20
Buy much decor

These aren’t formal rules. I’m just very frugal and tend to avoid purchases that I view as “frivolous.”

Well, in a moment of insanity, I whipped out my credit card and bought something that is the very definition of frivolous.

Behold my papier-maché goose head.

Goose Faux Taxidermy wall decor by Macheanimal

I first saw it on Lindsay’s blog, and it was pretty much love at first sight. Although, in all fairness, the goose wasn’t a complete impulse. I did think about this purchase for 24 hours before I finally pulled out my credit card and logged in to Etsy.

When the box came, I couldn’t even tell Matt what was in the package. And once I opened it, he still didn’t understand why I had to buy it (and Matt knows my history).

And I think it’s time you know this bit of my history too. Next week, I’ll share the story of Bill.

Master bedroom makeover plans

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

We’re already down to just one more week yet in January. It’s definitely time to get moving on the first project on this year’s Home Goals list: the master bedroom makeover. You saw the inspiration picture last week in my Home Goals post.

Source: Chez V (found via Little Black Door)

You also saw the fancy-schmancy room we’re going to be using as our master.

So there’s just a little bit of work to do to transform this former guest room into a truly fancy master bedroom:

~~Buy a queen size bed~~ – Matt and I have slept on a double ever since we first moved in together. The mattress was my old bed from my grandma’s cottage. It was on its second life when it went up to the cottage, never mind when it came to our first house. We were truly due for an upgrade. In the middle of shopping for a new mattress, we decided to really upgrade and went for a king size. Those extra six inches in the fancy master will come in handy.
~~Remove popcorn ceiling~~ – Scraping the ceiling was not the funnest way to spend a day, but the popcorn is gone and so are all of the cobwebs that were stuck to the stipple.
~~Patch ceiling and walls~~ – Also known as, “how I spent my Christmas vacation.” Patching took such a long time.
~~Paint ceiling, trim and walls~~ – I had such a hard time picking a colour. Finally, I found Chez V’s makeover, which made me decide to go dark and dramatic. Trendy blogger favourite Hale Navy it is.
DIY a headboard – No idea what I’m going to do here. White? Wood? Upholstered?
Relocate light switch – Oddly, the light switch is behind the door. It’s perfectly positioned if you used the mirrored pocket door from the other bedroom to enter the master. I wouldn’t really call this feature fancy. It’s just weird.

Replace light fixture – Anything’s better than the ceiling fan that was there before. I like the brass and crystal in the inspiration picture.
Make/find window treatments – We haven’t had curtains since we moved in. We don’t need them for privacy, but it would be nice to sleep in past dawn some summer weekend.
Paint dresser and replace hardware – We have a beat up black dresser that we bought at a garage sale. I think it can be freshened up with some nice white paint and brass hardware.
Refresh dinged up closet doors – It appears our closet doors spent their past life as bulletin boards, except with tape rather than pushpins.

Decorate and personalize – It will be nice to finally personalize a bedroom. Although the giant pink ape you saw above probably isn’t the personalization I’m looking for.

Someday, when we do our major house renovation, we will build a beautiful master suite. At that point, there will be no mistake as to what bedroom is the master. Until then, this makeover will give us a nice–and a little bit fancy–space of our own. I’m not quite sure yet where the ape is going to end up sleeping.