e.louise: decor

Showing posts with label decor. Show all posts

Wall Decor- Animal Busts

July 23, 2012

The living room is slowly (and I do mean slowly) coming together, but I hate the wall that is just below our stairwell. I have since replaced the black and white canvas picture with a canvas wedding picture, but it still looks very, very bare.

I originally wanted a collage of pictures/artwork, but thought it may be too much with the hanging mirrors that are on the wall above the stairs. Now that I've been living with a bare(ish) wall for a while, I've decided it needs more.

I have a few items that are part of an art collage in our study, but I think I'll just leave that one there (and take a picture so I can blog about it) instead of moving it to a different wall. This will give me an excuse to collect some new items to add to our new collage wall. And now that I've looked at the above picture again, I think I'm going to go with a solitary color scheme or maybe white with a few variations (like beige or grey) so that it doesn't feel too cluttered or overwhelming.

The first item I would like to add is an animal bust... I've wanted one for a while, especially after seeing the one in Kelsey's awesome dining room. This was further confirmed when I finally went into the new Z Gallerie in Austin. The only thing holding me back is my indecision!

Option 1: Ceramic. I should note that these are much smaller in person. I envisioned them to be a bit larger for some reason...


Ceramic Rhino Head \|\| Z Gallerie

Option 2: I love that it's abstract, but hate the color. Perhaps spray painted white? Although, I'm not sure how recycled cardboard would hold up under spray paint... (And also, I can't really see myself paying ~$50 for cardboard)

Cardboard Deer Bust || Urban Outfitters

Option 3: Resin Animal Busts. To be honest, these are my favorite, but I'm a little unsure of how the resin will actually look- I would like to avoid putting up something that looks plasticy or cheap, as doing so would definitely instigate questions from my husband about my decision to put one of these on our wall ;)

White Resin Rhino || Mahzerandvee

White Resin Lion || Mahzerandvee

White Resin Lion || White Faux Taxidermy

White Resin Buffalo || White Faux Taxidermy

ETA: I'm not sure which one of these shops opened first (it appears the one cited in the first and second photos- based on their etsy shop opening time/sales history, but one them appears to be blatantly ripping off the other one's ideas/art/creations- a major pet peeve of mine.). For an even better example than the lions... see the wolf (1) and wolf (2). I actually found the second shop first (confused yet?) and was *this close* to ordering from them on Friday, and then I found the first shop today. SO now I'm not sure what to do- what would you do? I don't really want to make assumptions about either shop, but it makes me very sad :/

These are pretty neat, but stray from my "all white" goal:

Wall Paper Deer || Ruby's Lounge

And of course, being a lover of all things DIY, I could always paper mache my own or create one from this foam template...

Let's Talk Paint

June 26, 2012

On Sunday, I went to Lowe's (my favorite of the two big box hardware stores..) to look for some paint. It is for this project, which is coming together quite nicely :) First I looked at the spray paint section, and was utterly disappointed by the lack of color options. I had really hoped that a hardware store would have a better selection of spray paint than Michael's, where I had also been to that day. Frustration settled in as I realized I would have to hand/brush paint this project if I wanted a decent color *sad face*. I finally narrowed my choices down and picked samples of Valsapar paint:

Gypsy Teal

Danish Blue

I sanded. I primed. I painted with the Danish Blue paint using my purdy brush. Meh. I loved the color, but I wasn't getting the evenness or color saturation like spray paint. I think the important factor here was the quality of the wood I was trying to paint- it is a plywood/oak (maybe?) consistency, which made every. brush stroke. visible. NOT the look I was going for...

On a second trip to Michael's, for some other craft supplies, I wandered over to the art supply section and was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon the mother load of spray paint:

Liquitex

I have used other paint products from Liquitex and love their quality, so I was quite happy to see that they 1) make spray paint and 2) that Michael's now carries it!! It's a little on the pricey side (as far as spray paint goes) at $12 a can, but with a Michael's coupon from my phone, it dropped it down to ~$7, which was a little easier to swallow. Plus I found a color I LOVE.

This paint is usually used by grafitti artists... but I decided to try it out on furniture anyways. My project is in the last stages of drying, but I'm hoping to give an updated with pictures of a COMPLETED PRODUCT later this week!!

Gold Leaf + Furniture: Part I

June 20, 2012

I'm not sure when I decided that gold was such an awesome color to have on furniture. I used to think it was kind of tacky, and only belonged in stuffy estates. No more, I tell you!

If you remember, a while back, I scored two awesome end tables on craigslist for $50 (I am still excited about this!!). Originally, I was going to paint them with a white or black lacquer. That was before our coffee table arrived and I discovered that the stains on the end tables + the coffee table top almost nearly matched. AND I loved it. There were only two problems: 1) There was some damage on the table legs- nicks & scrapes- where the stain was uneven or coming off, so I really wanted to re-stain them; and this lead to problem 2) The tops of the side tables are laminate, meaning I can't re-stain the tops (or I could try, but I don't think it would end up looking right). I really did not want to leave the tops as is, with a new coat of stain on the rest of the table... because that would probably look off too.

For a while, I thought about painting the tops. Sort of an inverse of these (because I've found it nearly impossible to find any images of painted table tops, with wood stained bottoms):

Pink Postcard via Pinterest


Perfectly Imperfect via Jill on Pinterest

Modg via Apartment Therapy

Or, like this (ahem, after further googling, this was the ONLY image I found that depicts what I'm trying to accomplish):

via Rachel Bishop Designs

Anyways, after deciding the end tables would be stained with some sort of painted top, I had to decide on a color. I didn't really like idea of a black, gray, or white top (it doesn't go with the overall look/feel of our sofa + coffee table). I was leaning toward a shade of blue or green, but as much as I love these brightly colored pieces:

via Centsational Girl

via House Candy L.A. on etsy

via Nice Thing on etsy

via Young and Broke on etsy

(almost the exact same table!!) via Mint Home on etsy

I wasn't sure I could commit to having such a dominant accent as a permanent fixture in our living space (even if it was just the table top I was painting). Decisions, decisions....

Full Circle

June 19, 2012

Once upon a time, long ago, I started sewing curtains for our master bathroom. There used to be curtains hanging made from this fabric:


Joel Dewberry \|\| Aviary-Sparrows (Almond)**

I love this fabric in the fall (Joel Dewberry is one of my all time favorite fabric designers!!), but come spring it was a little too, um.... fallish? Great description, huh? I thought so too. So, thus began the search for new fabric(s).

**Note Bird is not as creepy in person

I ordered several yards of fabric in an array of blues and greens, with the intent of creating something like this:

Turns out I was not patient enough to sew these strips into a cheveron pattern, and they became this instead:

Then I found this great cheveron patterned home dec. fabric (from here), and decided I would sew that into curtains:

Premier Prints || ZigZag (Village Blue/Natural)

I have one panel half way finished and hanging in the bathroom. I'm thinking that maybe I haven't finished sewing them because I've lost interest in this pattern and want something different (yet again).

So today, while browsing through fabric online, I discovered that this store carries fabric by designer Thomas Paul. *Cue a chorus of angels*

I am seriously smitten with all of the furniture I've seen upholstered in this fabric. And today, I came across this bird yardage:

Thomas Paul || Perch (lilac)

Five minutes later, four yards of this fabric were in my shopping cart ready to checked out. Hopefully it will be on it's way to me soon!! Maybe some curtains will be hanging in the bathroom by next month :)

ETA: Oooh and I found a pic of what it looks like in action:

Lonny || via Dana on Pinterest

A Table for Coffee

January 17, 2012

For a while now, we have been wanting to upgrade the coffee/end tables in our living room to better fit our updated sofa. This is what our living room (kind of) looks like now:

I fell in love with this coffee table, and I went to look at it West Elm. (I may have even purchased it because it was on sale and on back order.)

industrial coffee table | west elm

And now I'm having second thoughts (to cancel or not to cancel my order...). X thinks we need end tables that match the coffee table, which I'm not so sure about, but it has led me to continue the seemingly endless search for a table. I'm looking for something structurally light (in appearance, if that makes sense). I think anything too bulky will make our room look tiny again, which I'm really trying to avoid. I'm also obsessed with mixing wood and metal elements. OBSESSED.

Here are some other options that I came up with:

pia coffee table | crate and barrel

I love that this table looks almost invisible in this room. However, X nixed this one because of the glass. Sad face that my anti-glass views have rubbed off on him.

hammary "intrepid" cocktail table | wayfair

I like the color combination of this table, but I'm not sure how I feel about the marble top. Yes it looks like wood, but will it look cheesy? Is it just as durable?

tfg "wabash" cocktail table | wayfair

tfg martini coffee table | wayfair

I think this might be my favorite. Not sure how I feel about the shape though- I think a rectangular/square table may fit the space better.

rand natural steel cocktail table | room & board

riverside "logan" cocktail table | wayfair

There is a fine line here between rustic and modern. This one leans more on rustic I think, but I like the dark wood + dark metal combo. And actually, the more I look at it, the more I don't like it. Blah.

So that's it. Some of these are out of my price range, and I really would like real wood, not veneer. I also prefer bronze/dark steel. I have looked on almost every furniture site under the sun, but can't seem to find something *just* right. Any further insight or suggestions are appreciated!

Career Art

August 31, 2011

So, I'm still in the process of gathering prints and photos for our photo wall, and I thought it would be nice to include some prints that subtly hint at the careers that husband and I spend a majority of our time working toward.

I purchased this print {for me} and I love it! I'm so excited to hang it up in our house :)

via etsy seller Megan Lee

I've also been looking for some bear/bull prints {for the husband- to represent the stock market/ finance} Perhaps these:

Although, it's actually harder than I thought to find a bear and bull print. Maybe I should look for something entirely different? Or brainstorm to DIY some art...

Framed: Black or White?

June 16, 2011

I've been having this internal dilemma as I start organizing items for my array of pictures (of which I'm still deciding the location). What is this debate you ask: Do I go with white frames or black frames? I figure worse case scenario, if I change my mind later on, I can always go back and paint them one way or another.

black