Guest bedroom

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Frame by Frame Style

Prior to the arrival of our July 4th guests, we made a few updates to the guest bedroom.

We added curtains, which previously resided in my office and we also arranged a collection of West Virginia postcards on the wall.

fbfs_guest_bedroom_updates1

BJ and I both lived in West Virginia for many years, and although I wasn’t born there, it definitely feels like home. If you haven’t been to West Virginia, it’s worth a visit, especially for the beautiful scenery and great people.

While at a family reunion this summer, I picked up a few postcards honoring West Virginia’s 150th birthday. I carefully taped each card into place in a mix of white and black 4×6 frames from Ikea.

Our guest bedroom now contains a mix of furniture that we will eventually replace. In the meantime, the furniture is serving its purpose. For bedside tables, we are using two old end tables that came with our previous couch set. I think we may keep these end tables, but they desperately need sanded and finished. I’ve added them to my list of fall projects once the weather cools down.

I’m still debating if I want to try my hand at painting the dresser. It is a hand-me-down dresser from BJ’s college years family and he does not have any sentimental attachment to the piece. Because it is veneered, it will be difficult to paint, or even spray paint. I will have to score the surface before any paint will stick (if it even does). If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I’m interested to know if there is a more effective/easier way to paint veneered furniture or if I should just let it go and buy a different dresser for this room.

We have a few more projects slated for this room, but here is our progress to date:

1. ~~Hang curtains~~
2. Add a headboard to the bed
3. Add throw pillows
4. ~~Hang WV postcard collage~~
5. Update dresser
6. Refinish end tables turned bedside tables
7. Paint?

Two down and five more projects to go! We are well on our way to completing the look of this room.

Photo Finish, Part 2

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Frame by Frame Style

Last weekend, I started planning the addition to our foyer photo collage. As you saw in our last post, Photo Finish, we added a few new photos to our stairway wall leaving our two collages looking a little disconnected…

To connect our two collages, I chose three different frames from our “stock pile.” I chose one 11 x 17, one 8 x 10 and one 5 x 7 frame. Next, I made patterns of the frames using white printer paper and painter’s tape.

After I finished making the frame patterns, I started the process of arranging the photos on the wall. Of course, this proved to be more challenging than I planned because it felt a bit like I was playing Plinko on The Price is Right. (I love that game!)

Okay, I’m kidding, but that would be fun!! (Well… Until all the frames crashed to the floor, right?)

To place the patterns on the wall, I leaned over the upstairs half wall and taped the patterns down using more painter’s tape. Once I taped the pattern to the wall, I ran around the upstairs hallway to the other side where I could see the entire collage. I did this several times before I was happy with the patterns’ positions.

As you can see, I went through several arrangements before I was satisfied. After staring at the collage for awhile, I realized that I needed something at the bottom. To balance the overall collage, I took the 8 x 10 pattern and added it to the bottom right corner of the foyer wall. Perfect! Now that I’ve decided on the locations for the frames, I need to choose new photos and decide if I want to change any of the existing photos. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Do you like to hang photo collages in your home? If so, what is your favorite type of photos to hang… portraits, scenery, flowers, etc?

Holy ginormous wall, Batman!

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Frame by Frame Style

It’s no secret that the wall in our foyer is large and rather daunting. I’m always trying to come up with clever ways to decorate that huge wall. So far, I’ve decided that whatever we do has to be made up of small pieces. The thought of hanging something large and heavy that high makes me queasy. I would be so afraid that it would come crashing to the floor just as someone walked underneath of it.

One idea BJ and tossed around is similar to this picture I found on Pinterest:

Our thought is to take one of our favorite pictures of a mountains landscape and break it into several smaller pictures. Like a mosaic.

We also thought about several wall sculptures, like these:

One concern is that we do not not want to take away from our photo collage on the other side of the foyer.

We’re still tossing ideas around. Once we finally decide on a plan for this wall, implementing it is going to be a bit of a challenge. Because the wall is so large, it will require a very large ladder and more bravery than it took to put up the photo collage on the other wall.

Until we make a decision, I’ll be working on my bravery.