Planked Walls

The previous owners of our house left us with an empty hole above our fireplace mantle.

Here is the family room before we moved in. 

We have had many discussions over what was over the mantle - fish tank, stained glass, we will probably never know...

 

In case you can't tell from the photo, that is a hole that is trimmed out and has a fluorescent light fixture inside.

This is how we have been functioning with it over the last two months.

purty huh?

We knew that we needed to cover the hole and I knew that I wanted the TV mounted over the fireplace.

so first the hubs removed the trim and the light fixture (those planks are just sitting there for size FYI)

next he wired in an outlet for the TV

and built a brace with 2x4s to mount the TV to (in this photo we had already started the planks)

then we started mounting the planks. 

we measured our wall and divided the space evenly and came out with 11 planks each measuring 5 1/2" tall. Our trim pieces are 3 1/2" tall.

We left an opening to access the outlet and also to wire in the cable in the future - our TV will be covering the opening so we were not concerned.

FYI the planks are just 1/4" plywood that we had Home Depot cut into strips for us. Then we measured at home and cut the lengths to fit.

To space out the plywood we used nickels and attached them to the wall with a nail gun.

after all of the planks were in place we mitered our trim pieces and rounded the outer edge to give it a finished look. since our fireplace wall is angled you would be able to see the boards from the side and we wanted it to have a rounded return into the connecting walls. Then we measured and mounted the trim pieces and hung the TV.

That top piece was really tricky since our ceiling is angled. I do not have any advice or tips on that, just refer to good old math and measurements. 

So this is where we are for now, everything is sanded and ready for paint. cant wait to share the final reveal!

We go together like

dip da-dip da-dip doo-wap da woo-bee doo

well i finally did it, i took the plunge into dipped furniture that is all the rage right now. 

we have been in our house for two months now and i have done my fair share of projects but for some reason i am just now getting around to start sharing. yesterday i did a revamp to our work space area in the living room library (yes my husband calls it our library)!

TA-DA!

Before, err kinda:

I gotta get better at this before picture thing. At this point I had already done the following

• changed out desk hardware
• taped off two of the legs
• removed chair seat
• cut in on those horrid blue walls

After:

I am trying to be real here and not cast some make believe home, so please ignore my lovely wires that are strewn about below the desk.

Alright, so here is what I did:

• Artwork: This was in the Dining Room of our previous house. The size and scale of the painting and frame are rightbut I am not sure if those are the colors I want in this space - there may be plans down the road to paint over that painting and/or to paint the frame. 
• Chair:  I gave it a new coat of white spray paint and recovered the seat with some scrap Kravet fabric I had lying around.
• Desk: I taped off the legs and painted the bottom portion with gold leaf to give it the dipped leg look. I also changed out the hardware.
• Wall: This room was a horrid country blue before with creamy yellow ceilings. Painting the ceilings with a fresh coat of white paint made a huge difference. Now I am tackling the walls one at a time with Porter Atrium White and it really makes the rrom more clean and fresh feeling!

I can't wait to keep working on this space and share photos of the progress!

DIY//Ottoman Pouf

i have been wanting to make an ottoman/pouf for who knows how long.  friday i spent some time pinning other diy ottomans in search of a swift kick in the a** inspiration.  saturday during wren's nap time i felt the need to get crafty, i opened my craft closet, and much to my delight i had all of the supplies i needed to get to work on my ottoman!  i was filled with pure delight.  why hadn't i already done this?

and best of all, i completed all but clean-up during nap time, this took less than two hours folks!

and did i mention FREE, zippo, zilch!!!!

first things first; gather your supplies.

-scissors

-sewing machine

-pins

-thread in your color of choice//i used white

-fabric (approximately 1 yard)//i used leftover kravet fabric from a client project(make sure it is upholstery weight fabric)

-velcro//i used black

-foam//i used 2"

-batting or down//i used a combination of both

step 1

lay out your fabric with the right side facing down.  trace two circles to desired size//i used an 18" table top.  cut out your circles at least 1" outside your trace mark

step 2

hem one of the circles, set aside for base of ottoman

step 3

measure how tall you want your ottoman and cut fabric accordingly.  you will want to cut it about 6" larger than desired height//i made mine taller than my sofa seat to make up for the "give" when placing your feet on top.  it is surprisingly pretty sturdy, so you definitely do not have to do this.

i just cut a long strip at desired height x length of fabric.  

then hem one of the long sides of the strip

(sorry no photo)

step 4

pin the circle that you did not hem along the other long side of the strip (the side you did not hem), then sew.

sew the ends of the strip together to close up the ottoman.  remove any excess fabric

step 5

turn fabric right side out

step 6

cut out a circle in your foam, same size as top and bottom of ottoman.

place inside ottoman, push snuggly to top.

cut a strip of foam to desired height of ottoman minus 2"

place inside of ottoman

step 9

get to stuffing!

i first filled mine with batting, and TONS of it!

step 10

i actually then shoved a down filled eurosham in mine.  it game me the weight and firmness that i needed.

other options would be more batting or more foam circles.

(sorry no photo)

step 11

remember how i told you to cut your strip for the sides 6" longer?

well you used up 1" or 2" when sewing the top on, and 1" or 2" when hemming.  the rest will be used to attach the bottom.

take your hemmed circle and attach velcro to wrong side

i definitely recommend sewing the velcro to the circle

step 12

pull the hemmed end of the sides taught to the bottom and attach the circle that you just applied velcro to.  once in place i recommend hand sewing the velcro to the sides.

now when it needs washed you can just pull apart the velcro and it is washable.

VIOLA!

Meet Celerie Kemble.

Celerie Kemble of Kemble Designs has a truly impeccable eye for taking traditional elemts and tweaking them to create spaces that are modern and eclectic with just a touch of humor.  Her spaces are elegant yet livable and I think I could get comfy in any of these spaces!

I am in love with these yellow walls, but that mirror reflecting that blue wall is brilliant, I LOVE IT!

I love the antique look of the lamps with the huge black drum shade and where oh where did she find that incredible sofa with the gorgeous fabric and such elegant curves!

Hello awesome light fixture, gorgeous desk and stool, awww struck!

What a wonderful cabinet to display beautiful china or your cheerished belongings.

I feel like naughty things will happen on this staircase.

I absolutely adore the colors in this room!  That wallpaper is magnificent.

Cutest chandelier and chairs EVER EVER!!!

This room screams party time!  What a beautifully put together space and I am so curious about the sequence looking wall decor, RARR!

Great spaces Celerie!!

Incredible Ikat.

On Friday I made wonderful little programs for Julie.  She found my Ikat Invitations on my Etsy store and asked me to use that design to create the Programs for her Violin Recital.  She had a lot of information to fit on them considering they are programs rather than invitations so we had to tweak the size and design a bit, but I think they turned out wonderful!  She thought she was more of a pink and navy girl than a pink and green girl, so we made that change as well.........:)

For those of you who have not caught up on all the rage of Ikat, straight from Wikipedia!

Ikat, or Ikkat, is the method of weaving that uses a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp or weft fibres.  The dye is applied prior to the threads are woven to create the final fabric pattern or design. 

Double Ikat is where both warp and the weft are resist-dyed prior to stringing on the loom. Traditionally, and still commonly, a back-strap loom is used, though any variant or modern loom may be used.

Here are other examples of Ikat.

Wedding Inspiration: Yellow