Doc, I think it's Francophilia!

Hi!  :)

Now that the downstairs walls are all painted, I've been wracking my brain about how to decorate the otherwise bare walls.  I put up a metal giraffe family on a nail the old owner left for me... The best part of this picture is that Usain Bolt brought a little yellow-and-green cheer to the yellow-and-green great room.  As usual, this was not planned.  

When my dad was here a few weeks ago, I asked his advice about how to decorate around the television.  His reply was, "Well I'd at least hang some pictures."  And that's just what I did.  Over the years, I've collected a few Parisian calendars full of black and white photography (landmarks as well as other off-the-beaten-path scenes).  

I bought 18 frames at Dollar General for about $35.  I cleaned them out of their 11"x14", 8"x10" and even the weird 8.5"x 11" ones.  I wanted the clean lines of the skiiiiiiiiiinny black frames, although I may mix others in later.  The people at DG think I'm crazy because I always bring my own bags.  

Once I had everybody framed, I set the 11"x14"s in the dining room for hanging in there (more on that in a sec) and then trimmed computer paper to match each of the twelve other pictures.  With painter's tape to stick 'em to the wall, I plotted out where I wanted each picture...while I watched the Olympics...  Here was one idea:

Once I was satisfied with the placements, I laid out the pictures on the floor to decide exactly which would go where... and then went back to the wall!  I folded each piece of paper in half to find the exact center, then pounded a small nail in about 3/4" from the top of the paper (matching the nail hole location on the back of the frame).  

Then it was just a matter of tearing down the papers and hanging up the pictures!

I like that this is a random smattering to which I may add in the future, because I also have a boatload of pictures I took myself on two trips to Paris.  Soon I will be enlarging/b&w-ing/framing those, too! 

Next, I turned to the dining room, where I had the six 11"x14" framed photographs... I wanted something a bit more organized (I like to keep it neat in the dining room, manners and all).  I laid out the pictures on the table...

And put them on the wall!  Here's the cat's eye view.  They do look a bit small here and they are not.  Hmm.  However, I feel the photographs do a great job continuing the never-ending Francophilia right up to the walls!  Love it!!

What is/are your decorating themes?

Textiles and Glass

Remember the heavy curtains we put up in the Perkins living room?  A brown set layered with a steel-grey set?  So dark... so heavy... remember those?

Well, my bff World Market went and had a sale and lo and behold, the shower curtain I have in the dining room was on for $17.  So, I picked up another!  Just one because I knew I'd never actually close the giant living room window curtains...

I carefully cut the curtain in half.  Check out my scrumptious Fiskars sewing shears.  Did you know Fiskars have been around since 1649?  I have no idea if this is true.  I just read it in their wiki.

I own an iron yet we are notoriously wrinkly because...I don't iron.  Except my hair.  Fun fact - my flat iron makes a FAB hemming iron, because you can press both sides at once.

Lalala I pinned and hemmed the unfinished side of Panel 2.  The fabric is wrong-side-up here, btw.  

As the French say... voila!  Looks soooooooooooo much better... bright and airy... 

Wait!  What's that you say?  Where did I get the lamp on the left?  Here's a hint: the shade used to be in the bedroom on the one nightstand's lamp, and the lamp itself... was the old red base!!  I took off the red beads and strung about 8 zillion green beads onto green thread (tied to green bias tape).  Let's just say I have a lot of sewing/beading/crafting supplies.  Only one cat, though.

The extra dangles at the top (and also on the bottom of each strand) are from a bracelet I made yeeeears ago.  I didn't like it.  Beady beady...10 hours later (no joke):

Got out my trusty hot glue gun...

And made myself a little hula skirt:

Isn't that special?

Don't worry, the bedroom isn't too upset I stole the lampshade.  I mean, the lamp IS naked right now.  However, last weekend was tax-free weekend here in SC, so... :)


Shower curtains in the great room, flat irons for sewing... how do you think outside the box?

Daddy Do List

After I flew home for my delightful visit to Pennsylvanialand, my dad and I drove back down to the South C.   That was fun. :D Actually, the drive was long (13+ hours) yet a pretty good time!  Did you know the driver is allowed to sing as long as it's not Van Halen?  :D  The drive was also a good time for us to catch up about things.  For instance, I had no idea my dad was once in an elevator with JACKIE CHAN.

Anyway, my dad was here for about a week (my mom flew down Thursday and spent the weekend with us) and I kept the poor guy very, very busy.  I did not take pictures of everything because no one wants to see the two toilets he fixed... however, he also put in a peephole in the front door and pegboard/baskets/hooks in the garage:

My pop also helped me install a new-to-me washer and dryer - my friend Eileen moved and I got some of her appliances, including these darlings and a giant French door refrigerator:

We also put on a new seal on the patio door... Yay!  However, I think my favorite projects were when we replaced the clunky, giant old white ceiling-fans-with-boob-lights in the living room and master bedroom with sleek modern nickel fans.  They are identical, except we chose to put the light wood out in the bedroom and the dark wood out downstairs.  I'll share a picture of the downstairs fan later - I'm in the process of sewing new curtains and will share all at once.

Do you notice anything else going on in the bedroom?  The walls are painted!!!  When my bestie was here two weeks ago, she kindly agreed to help paint the room!  I chose Bay Waves by Valspar.  The room gets the afternoon sun so the color is juuuuuuust light enough and juuuuuuust dark enough.  Gorg.  <3

Speaking of my bestie, today is Alison's Birthday!  Happy Birthday, Ali!  


Who are your celebrity run-ins?