Begin Again

(Yes world, I am still alive. Thanks for asking.)

I have recently been revamping my apartment. Shocking, I know. Some of you may ask yourselves, "Self, hasn't Julie been 'revamping' her apartment since she moved into it a year ago?" The answer my friends would be yes. Yes she has been.

Little did I know at the time, but in hindsight, I had no idea what I wanted to do in my very little space I call home when I moved into it last August. I thought I had an idea or two, I even went so far as to custom paint some fabric for a chair I recovered. Finally, about a month or so ago, I realized that everything wasn't coming together like I wanted and I wasn't satisfied with the way any individual element was headed in. Add in the frustration of an unfinished apartment, still, after almost a year, and you have a complete redo of the partially done place. (Question- can you technically 'redo' anything if you never finished 'do-ing' in the first place? Hmm.)

Since I've re-evaluated and set up a different game plan, things have moved along much more swimmingly. Projects have come together quicker, rooms are no longer looking mismatched, and I am finally seeing an end in sight. Soon, the money I've been spending on decorating can be spent on more practical things... like clothes... or maybe shoes...*cough.* Anyway, the point is, I am thrilled to see my vision taking form so nicely and smoothly.

For my kitchen, I have gone with a more vintage/shabby chic feel, I have quite a few projects I've done already and a few I'm finishing up in there, but today's post is more about my living room/bedroom/study/movie room/dance studio (hey why not?). To keep things simple we'll from here on out refer to it as my 'Main Room.'

Now, in my main room, I have stepped a little bit outside of my comfort zone and have adapted a more modern theme to the space. I would say it's still a very mild modern, and probably would be rejected as such by connoisseurs of that sort of thing, but it is the best label that I can come up with right now. I have always had an appreciation for modern styles but never really felt like it was my ideal for my own house. I have found though, that it has been a lot of fun to decorate. I feel like I've been able to take a few more risks and play with things a bit more than I normally would have. Its allowed me to see how I can have a little more creativity in my style too and that adapting modern styles doesn't have to be sterile. I've also noticed that it's even fairly easy to combine certain styles to make it my own (ie-a few modern elements with a generally traditional style room, or vintage with a modern twist...) I have found the whole process so far very refreshing. Once I realized that the only rules are the ones I make, I felt much more confident in my decisions and thusly, my creativity took wing and has created a much more livable space.

So, without further ado (sidenote- anyone else realize how ironic the name of my blog is? Since when do I ever write the nutshell version of things? Wishful thinking I guess...) Anyway, without any further, further ado, here are some projects I have under way in my main room:

First up, a frame collage. I happen to be a bit of a picture frame collector. I love picture frames. So, I pulled out my stash of frames and set about arranging some of them into a collage. I laid them out first on my floor, then painted them, then laid them out again on a large sheet of paper (newspapers taped together, actually) marked where each one was on the paper, taped the paper to the wall, nailed nails, took the paper off and then hung the frames. I was a little excited about getting the project done so I didn't stop to take too many pictures in process. Also, my only working camera right now is my EVO and I didn't think that handling it with painty fingers was really the smartest thing to do. Also, the only working camera I have right now is my EVO so picture quality below is less than ideal. Just squint and they won't seem so blurry...

Before:

After:
I painted the frames white, light grey, and one or two dark grey. I wanted them to blend in fairly well to the wall, to keep the room looking as open as possible. I felt that if the frames were too dark, it would close up the already small room too much. I'm really happy with the way it looks. I just need to get some art in them and it will be done-done.

I picked up the lamp below at TJMaxx. When I found it, it had a glorious clearance tag on it knocking the price from $65 to $13. Despite it's ugly, clear, orange and brown color I knew it would be perfect in my space. It came with a shade too but it's too ugly to be photographed just yet. I spray painted the base a metallic silver. Looks muuuuch bettah. PS- WHY in Sam Hill are lamps so expensive? I'd like a 500 word, double spaced answer on my non-existent desk by Monday. Thanks.

This next picture is a close up of the "A" in my collage. I initially painted it a dark glossy grey but then had an idea to jazz it up a bit. I used one of those paper doily things that usually go under sheet cakes, laid the lacy edge across the long sides of the A and then sprayed on a lighter grey paint through the holes and it left the lace pattern when I removed the doily. I could have executed it a little better but it was an experiement after all. Overall it turned out pretty cool.


Stay tuned for other news in my redo/do. I've still got a few things up my sleeve. Perhaps even some more fabric painting in my future? I think the chances are likely.

*For those of you who read this whole thing: Bless you. I shall try to nutshell more. Maybe. No solid promises.