Bare No More

Since the basement has been getting so much attention lately, we thought it was time to spread the love and turn our attention to the large blank wall that lives above our couch in the living room.

Since buying the place, we have been back and forth on what to do with the space.  For a while we thought about putting a large mirror up there. We searched for something and when we came up short, we sort of shelved the project and turned our attention elsewhere.

Then I saw this photo and it inspired me.

I loved the idea of a gallery wall over the couch - I just needed to convince Ed that it was a good one. He is not a big fan of lots of holes in the wall - especially freshly painted perfect walls.  But after showing him this look and sharing with him the ways we could make it work, he happily came on board.

The first task was to source the photos and items to highlight on the wall.  We wanted to have more than just photographs to give the wall a little variety.  The first thing that came to mind was a piece of James art.  The kid comes home daily with armloads of artwork and of course because we are first time parents, we save everything!  After digging through the enormous box, we found this little gem and thought it would be perfect.

Another no brainer was the metal "M" that we purchased at a local art shop in Carytown, Richmond when we were there last summer.  It had been sitting in the bag in our coat closet waiting for the perfect place to live and now it is happily perched on 2 skinny nails.

During this hunt and gather phase, a Groupon for discounted canvas prints arrived in my Inbox so we decided to take advantage and order some of our favorites.  I love how even though they are photos, they add a bit of texture and dimension to the wall.

So, after months of months of collecting the frames and photos and keepsakes and then waiting for a day when both Ed and I were home alone with James occupied elsewhere, we now have a gallery wall above our couch.

We are really happy with how it turned out, and it wasn't without lots of planning.  We actually mapped out the frame positions on the floor to make sure we liked the configuration before nailing them to the wall.  

We knew that we didn't want a linear pattern - too hard to hang and get it right.  Instead we went with this collage-style look and are pretty psyched with the end result.  The best part was that when James walked in the house later that night, he went immediately to the wall and started naming everyone in the photos.  LOVE!

Oh - and since we had all the supplies out, we hung this lovely in the kitchen.  You gotta love Julia Child!

Bon Appetite!

What the Fuzz?!

One of my most favorite purchases for the house has been the rug in the living room. It's bold and fun and comfortable and has colors that really compliment the furniture in the room. I found it at Target - an internet return - and got it for a STEAL! Ed even came on board fairly quickly which surprised me since it is a bit bold for his taste.


So what's the beef? The darn thing is made of 100% wool and sheds more than my 2 cats on a hot day in August. It is not unusual for me to find wads of rug fuzz under the couch, behind the ottoman and even on Lucy's pretty face. It's like velcro - it sticks to everything and no matter how much I vacuum, I never seem to get it all.

Ed is over it and is ready to see it in a trash can. I feel more of an attachment to it. I do, however, think it needs to be relocated to a less trafficked location and replaced with something a little less fuzzy.

I've been scouring the Internet and some local stores to find something that is just as fun, just as bold, with similar colors and have come up with a few options. The first is a beaut from West Elm (my new go to for decorating ideas ~ love that store!). It is one that I have lusted over for quite a while - 3 years to be exact. I wanted it when we lived in Westbury and I want it again but alas it is a bit out of our budget range. Plus it is not quite right for the color scheme we got going on in the room.


This pebble rug popped up in my Inbox earlier in the week and I have to say, I am intrigued. It is also from West Elm and looks SO freakin' soft and yummy for the feet. I like the light blue color but I'm a little nervous about the loops. The fuzz fest we currently own is made up of little loops and I find myself on my hands and knees quite often snipping the loops that have unfurled. Not cute. But this one may be different and is currently on sale which excites me. It may warrant a trip to our local West Elm so we can see it in person and feel it under our toes.


Next up is another grey goose, but this one has a fun, big, BOLD pattern like our current rug. It's from Crate and Barrel and requires a lot of moola to own so I need to move on.

My new favorite blog, Young House Love, turned me onto a website where I found these beauties. These Bogart Flat-Weave wool rugs come in a variety of bright colors - 2 of which will blend nicely into our room (light blue and sage). I love the contemporary mosaic pattern and the best part is that they are reversible for double the wear! Houston...we may have a winner!


So what does everyone think? Of course I'm going to keep looking since I do love to beat a dead horse when it comes to choosing our interiors...especially rugs. If anyone has other good suggestions, we are all ears. In the mean time, you can find us over at Fair Lakes scouring the racks at World Market, Target and Home Goods.