Gallery Wall

ONE of my major projects this summer was making a gallery wall in my dining room. Because we live in a townhouse (long and narrow) the kitchen is followed by the dining room which is followed by the living room at the back of the house, making the dining room a passageway. The dining room is very small, so I wanted to make the hall wall visually part of the dining area.

I started by deciding which pictures I wanted to use. The only criteria was that each image had to make me smile or evoke a happy memory. I refused to use anything that I felt "should" be displayed. I am sorry to say that I have done that in the past. I decided to make my home truly "rise up to greet me" (thanks, Oprah and Nate) and that I would start with this wall.

Jack asked that there be no "posed" photos. This was difficult because I really wanted to use my mom's high school graduation photo which was a studio shot. I compromised by using mainly natural-looking pictures, even if the subjects were looking into the lens. I also wanted to do mainly black and white images. I didn't stay exclusively with b & w as my mom's picture was colourized. The pictures that were coloured I scanned, saved on a flashcard and took to my local Walmart store to be printed in black and white. A 4x6 photo is only 30 cents!!! Who knew.

I had frames stored in the basement - some empty and some filled with "beautiful" 80s images of flowers. Yes, that is how long I have been moving them house to house. Don't judge me. But I didn't have nearly enough. My goal was to "NEVER PAY RETAIL". I found most of the rest of the frames at Goodwill for under a buck each. Then I spray-painted each frame in Tremclad Gloss White and the mattes in flat white. Confession time: I did end up paying FULL RETAIL PRICE for some frames. I was at the dollar store and found 4x6 frames with a double mat already in white, so I bit the bullet and spent the $2 each for 6 frames. Sue me.

Now it was time to put my plan into action.

I laid the items on the floor until the arrangement pleased me.

Then I moved everything into the dining room. Duh. Why didn't I put everything on the dining room floor???? Because I like doing everything twice? Then I hammered indiscriminately. Don't look behind the pictures - there are lots of holes ;P (ssshh, don't tell anyone), but I like the freeform style.

You will notice I also used items that were not photos. This was to add interest and to pay homage to items that had been stored in boxes for decades. Seriously. Decades. I included a door knocker with Jack's family crest, the handles from his TV cabinet growing up - on which he saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, the M represents our last name, I have 2 pieces of my children's artwork (even though they're grown up), the lyrics to our song, a map showing where our horse ranch was located and, of course, a horseshoe!


The pictures include old photos of our parents, Jack and me as children, our cats, our horses, and our kids.
And I smile every time I walk by the wall.

And that is what it's all about!


Nadine

Blue Armoire Love

My favourite piece of furniture is my blue armoire. I love it! I love it because, not only is it beautiful, but it is useful as well ( much like my husband, Jack)!
I originally purchased it in the late 90s from Blue Moon Evolution. The link to their website is where they are located now, but back then, the store was in a very cool, very old, brick building in the historical Exchange area of Winnipeg. The owner imported this piece from Mexico and I fell in love with it as SOON as I saw it. It has SOOO much character. It is solid wood and VERY heavy.
And little did I know how much MORE I would grow to love it. This armoire has been in almost every room of every house I have lived in.
It started life as a television cabinet in our living room and then moved to the dining room in the same house as a china cabinet. In our last house, it started out in the (quite large) kitchen as a dish cabinet, and ended up in the master bedroom as clothes storage. Today, it is living in my condo as a front-hall closet. I do not understand WHY the closet was ever removed in the first place. Still scratching my head over that one, but I will build a built-in one one day.
When that happens, my trusty blue armoire will move from its current location, but it will always be somewhere in my home!




And on another note, a very happy birthday shout-out to our cats - Amelia, Belle, and Milo. They were born 2 years ago today on our farm (that's how I know their exact birthday).

Because no matter how much you love the things in your house, it's those you live with that make it a home.

P.S. These are the fur-babies getting their breakfast this morning!

Nadine

Master Bedroom Options

As a refreshing change of pace, we have decided to decorate our master bedroom NOT last. This is big. Unheard of, even. So, we were at the Home Depot on the weekend on an unrelated matter, and I saw lots and lots of wallpaper.
I would like to do a feature wall in wallpaper, with the remaining three walls in the background colour of the wallpaper. I am loving the colour turquoise right now, so I picked up some paint chip samples for the nightstands as well.
The existing comforter and accent pillows are a soft blue with a small brown stripe, and the shams are brown. They are from Nygard.com It is called "Zen".
So here are the top three contenders:

Option #1:
I like this combination. The brown paper is warm, yet modern. it goes well with the bedding, without being too matchy-matchy. The blue chip is Behr "Sunken Pool MSL126".

Option #2:


This paper is fresh and country-looking. I think it looks welcoming and comfortable.

Option 3:


The wallpaper is shiny and sophisticated. A little "upscale". The second photo features a paint chip by "Behr". The top colour is called "Gray Morning 490F-4". This is the chip suggested by Home Depot/Behr colour matching system. I placed the accent pillow in the machine and this is what I got. Not bad, considering it is pretty hard to match blue with brown stripes! But I am still having my love affair with turquoise...


So, what should it be?

Tune in later for a full reveal! (Don't hate me for keeping it a secret!) :)


Nadine