Hi guys! Just to let you know Peter and I will be in and out for the next couple weeks. We have a lot going on and don’t have much time to post–But we’re not gone forever and I predict that I will be posting more soon.
Anyway, after Peter and I hung our chalkboard in our house we realized that we had a perfectly good cut of mirror glass that we didn’t want to get rid of. At some point we may want to put the mirror back into the frame, so for now we want to keep it safe and accessible.
(Yes, we still need to repaint the walls downstairs. They’ve been like this since Peter moved in.)
My fiance, being the smart man that he is, said the best way to keep mirror glass safe is to lay it down flat. We instantly realized in would make a beautiful base for a centerpiece. A simple vintage tablecloth added to the simple elegance of the vase of peonies that Peter bought me today.
If you look carefully at the peonies you’ll see a tiny bit of blue floral tape painter’s tape helping to keep the arrangement together. Since Peonies are such heavy flowers it helps to add a grid structure to the top of the vase. True florist tape would have blended a million times better but because were not entertainng and I’m trying to use things we have, painter’s tape worked great. Masking tape would have worked as well. Now as our flowers continue to bloom, thy’ll have a little extra support!
I’ll have to admit that I’ve always wished I was better at arranging flowers. It just seems like such a wonderfully hostess-y thing to know how to do. Do you have any great tricks to pass on?
A couple months ago I found the perfect ornate mirror at a thrift store. I had been looking for one for a long time, knowing that I wanted to turn to use the frame with a chalkboard and finally this one showed up in my path. It lived untouched on our fainting sofa until Saturday, the day before out engagement photos, when Peter and I decided we wanted it to be a prop. Of course, I swore I had a before picture and of course I don’t. Arghhh. I’m going to blame the fact that we were running around like crazy people.
The picture of the back of the mirror will show you the original color.
I removed the red ribbon and the screws from the back of the mirror. If you want to turn the mirror into a chalkboard then you can fit a piece of wood to the frame or you can just use the cardboard. I opted for the latter. Spray the cardboard and the frame with primer.
Follow up with the color that you chose for the mirror and chalkboard paint for the cardboard. The main reason that it took us so long to get around to this project was that we were’t sure what color we wanted the frame. We should’ve just done it since we can always repaint, but we were back and forth between a statement color, silver, trying to silver leaf, or white. I think this is a great choice for us for now.
Here’s the final product.
And here it is in action.
These are the sneak peak from our fabulous photographer Mary Sledd. If you’re in the Austin area and looking for a photographer I definitely recommend her. When I get a bit more time I’ll write more of a review.
What projects have you been putting off for awhile? Is there anything that you think would really motivate you to move forward with them?
Before Peter and I moved in together, I read a lot of articles about difficulties that many couples face when trying to merge their decorating styles. So when I moved in I waited and waited until eventually I couldn’t stand it anymore. I needed our place to feel like a home. We decided to pick one room and focus our efforts on making it feel livable. We’ve had some detours along the way but I can finally say that it’s finished, or at least as finished as a room can ever be.
Last night while looking back on the before photo, Peter exclaimed, “How did you even live here?!” The funny thing is that he lived here for three years like this before I ever moved in, except without the TV or the coffee table. It was really bare.
(Sorry, I forgot to straighten out the cover on the chair before I took this photo.)
I would love to add a rug but, unfortunately, one of our dogs can’t control his bladder when he gets excited. We love him anyway.
You can read more about what we did here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. *Deep Breath* On to the next room.
I’ve wanted an Ikea Mongstad for a long time but I’ve put off buying one because Peter and I are trying to concentrate on only decorating one room at a time.Thursday night I came home from work, ran upstairs to change into my painting clothes, and saw this with a note taped to it.
(It seems like a weird angle because every other angle showed a huge pile of clutter.)
Peter surprised me by buying a Mongstad as an early Valentine’s Day present! I’m so excited to have such a large full length mirror in our home. Now, I will have no excuse for leaving the house looking horribly. (Umm, should we take it back?) Plus, when we continue decorating our bedroom we will have this beautiful piece to pull things together. Several other home bloggers use large framed mirrors to create a functional elegance. I love the way that the Young House Love couple incorporated a similar mirror into their bedroom to create a chic dressing area.
{Young House Love}
So, tell us: what are your decorating tactics? Do you try to decorate one room at a time or do you gather bits and pieces as you see them? Have you received any fabulous presents that inspire you to jump around? Right now I’m staring at the wall thinking about how nice our Mongstad would look with some beige curtains…
I mentioned before that when I moved in with Peter he had absolutely nothing hanging on the walls. The biggest decision we had to make when decorating the living room was what we should put over the couch. The fact that this wall had been bare for so long pressured us into analyzing what we hung. Would it be a print? Who would it be by? Since we’re both “into art” we felt like we couldn’t hang anything unless it was perfect.
The pressure encouraged us to think outside the box, so instead of art we hung a mirror. I could be philosophical about this decision and say that we hung the mirror to capture living art but, in reality, we opted for the mirror because it added space and light to the room. Plus, we found it on sale at T.J. Maxx for only $60 (originally over $300). I like the darkness of the wood because when I look at it and then turn and see our black TV, I don’t think either one looks out of place.
Isn’t it a beautiful mirror? The lighting from our new shelf bounces around in the mirror to give the room life.
Look at how the room is coming together.
Can you believe that just a few short weeks ago it looked like this?
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