bits and bobs {part 2}

well ... it took me over a month to collect/create each piece. and another to find a round mirror - necessary for the perfect arrangement that i had in my head. and then even longer to find a free saturday morning to hang everything ... but i'm excited to finally share our very own bits & bobs wall with you all:

did you miss my earlier post w/ all kinds of inspiration? check it out here.
so what exactly does our wall include thus far?

a few links to my little creations:
* {PINspired} bouquet paint by number
* {PINspired}for the love of maps
* mix & match {clip}art

of course - i just said thus far. as with everything, our little bits & bobs wall is a work in progress. we're living on a budget people - so i planning to pick up additions little by little.  {in fact, i might have already ordered this adorable watercolor calendar from oh my deer on etsy.}

completely random ... but a huge hooray for this better homes & gardens tip: use kraft paper & painter's tape to determine your arrangement before you start banging holes in your walls! so very helpful!

{whatever wednesday} busy busy

i know i've been rather absent lately ...

in part because work has been extremely rough. so rough that the g.m. has put a bunch of new practices ... well ... into practice that will hopefully save me some time and major headache. thankfully each year the music business rests during the holiday season. and this year the holidays couldn't come fast enough!

in part because i might have bitten off more than i can chew w/ my 30 before 30 list. as an example ... last night after w + i returned from the gym, i spent an hour reviewing rosetta stone french followed by an hour practicing my penmanship. then i picked out a new book from time magazine's all time 100 novels --- animal farm which i continue to accidentally refer to as "animal house". while i keep reminding myself that i have ALL year ... quite a few of my tasks are monthly ... even weekly.

i did however finally finish + hang curtains in our living room and the bathroom! that means all of our rooms have curtains! and somehow that makes these rooms feel finished. of course ... who am i kidding ... there's no such thing as finished.

thanks for sticking around, folks. :)

more color please, part 3

mondays are proving to be ridiculously busy at the office this august. gah - who am i kidding ... i've been working late and through lunch all summer ... but mondays seem to be the worst. and so today i'm delaying my {hello munday} post again to tuesday. boo hiss.

until then ... what do you get when you combine ivory sheers + dark gold pompoms?

{target + m&j trim}

(besides an incredibly tedious sewing job carefully pushing each little pompom out of the way of the presser foot ... very tedious indeed!)

you get new curtains for the living room - and a bit more color! :) hopefully i can find a free minute this evening to finish the curtains and photograph. in the meantime ... my inspiration:

{tutorial & source: martha stewart}

more color please, part 2

remember these guys ... my inspiration for the armoire in the living room:

{source: better homes and gardens, living etc magazine, the decorologist}

well ... we did it! talk about a week of living room mayhem (we live in a teensy 1 bedroom apt - so our living room dbled as workshop). 2 coats of tinted primer, 2 coats of valspar paint in homestead resort olive, 1 buff w/ martha stewart's metallic glaze in muscavado and 2 coats of satin polyurethane - and i'm pretty satisfied w/ the result:

{the before - the after}

of course, new knobs from anthropologie were the icing on the cake:

{click to shop}

speaking of martha stewart's glaze ... have you worked w/ this stuff!?! i used the glaze as a buff to basically antique the armoire - but that's apparently not ALL you can do with it:

{source: click for DIYs}

remember that couch we bought for $150 ...

... well he's beginning to feel very much at home in our little apartment with his new friend bird floral rug.

we loved the one from pottery barn and found it (or a very close match) for a bit cheaper on bonanza - and voila!

happy home! :)

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going to look at a couch ...

round 2.

oh craigslist - please be magical this time around.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


*UPDATE*

it was a winner ...

{a little preview}

... and {drumroll} only $150 buckaroos. UNBELIEVABLE! (spending a bit more on a rug doesn't seem that bad now, eh? *hint hint*)

the leather needs a little cleaning + conditioning. so i'm currently googling DIY fixes - a new project for next week. but it's exactly what we were wanting ... comfy and well-worn just like the one at restoration ... however we didn't have had to pay bucko bucks for this look! SO THRILLED.

wade and i got it into the apt last night w/ only minor back pain this am - ha! and our friend dave is going to take our old couch. so it was a smooth transition.

okay this time i really do promise that i will update you with real pics on monday. i know, i know my promises are losing merit each day that goes by. but i was up until after 1am wrapping up my halloween costume and packing. i promise pictures of our finds from last week home in IL, a thorough review of our amazing bedside lamps and pics of our latest find - the couch!