The Staircase

There are some areas of our home that I know exactly how they should look and there are others that I have no clue about.  One of these areas is the portion of empty wall above our staircase.  See the following (and please excuse the poor quality of the photos, the mirror that needs cleaning, and the dust on the fan, mmmkay?)

 

You can kind of see the top part of one of the sofas in the last photo. Other than the mirror and one other framed picture on the wall to (your) the right, the walls are pretty bare.  My problem is this:  The area that includes the stairway, upstairs hallway, entry way, and living room is very open.  I don't want to overdo it with pictures/stuff, but at the same time it looks so empty as is. 

Also, whoever build the house we live in did a horrible job of sealing the drywall joints.  If you squint in the top picture, you can see a little line that's in between the fan blades- trust me, it's far more noticeable in person.  So the second purpose of putting something on the staircase wall (above the stairs) is to draw attention away from that monstrosity.  I also, feel like I'm limited to what I can put on both the wall above and below the stairs because they are in the same line of site.  

I stumbled across this before/after post on Design*Sponge today and fell (hard) in love:

Design Sponge

I think this would be the perfect solution for our stairway wall, but I don't think my husband will be as easily convinced.  So now, I'm thinking of adding symmetrical, organized elements or one large element to one wall (probably above the staircase) and a mismatch of smaller items (sans mirror, it will move to a new location) to the wall below the staircase.  My first thought was to line the top staircase wall with mirrors.  Somewhat inspired by this:

Elizabeth Martin Design via Katherine on Pinterest

Apartment Therapy via Emily on Pinterest

Country Living/ My Sweet Savanah via Nikki on Pinterest

I think I like the simplicity of the second picture best, but using mirrors instead of framed art.  I picked up some cheap round mirrors from Target (on clearance) and I'm experimenting with them right now to see if really like the look or not.  Hope to have some results soon :)

The Staircase

A New-To-Me Chair

My husband owns these two bar stools (I think he's had him since we first met, which was a really long time ago) that were quite plain.  Instead of throwing them away/giving them away/setting them out on the curb and buying new ones, I decided to try to make them a little more presentable.

Before:

After (and much better IMO):

One down, one to go.  Details to come :)

Don't forget to enter the final Lupus Awareness giveaway!!!  I'm donating $1 for each entry to the Lupus Foundation of America!

A New-To-Me Chair

A Dog and His Bench

Homeboy loves his bench.  Or at least he thinks it's his bench.  I think he likes the extra height ;)  I've been working on renovating said bench for a while, but it's just soooo hot outside- it makes the job very unmotivating.  I still need to touch up the black paint in some places and paint a final varnish coat after that.... I'm done!  Hooray to another project being *almost* finished.  There are some more items that are in the works, but in the mean time I'll leave you with this:

A Dog and His Bench

Love Affair with Alice

I recently stumbled across a series that The Black Apple is debuting on Friday and I'm pretty sure I have to have this painting.

I ordered some prints from her shop a while back, and I love the quality of her work.  Needless to say, Emily is a very talented artist.

Love Affair with Alice

Lupus Fact of the Day:

May 24: More than 90 percent of people with lupus will experience joint and/or muscle pain. Treatments are available that can help to control the pain associated with lupus.

May 25: The malar, or butterfly rash on the face, is present in about one third of those with systemic lupus.

May 26: Discoid lupus (most common skin lupus) accounts for approximately 10 percent of all cases of lupus and occurs in 20 percent of those with systemic lupus.

May 27: Approximately 95 percent of people with lupus suffer from some form of oral involvement that will affect their mouth or gums. Ulcers on the roof of the mouth or in the nose can be a sign of lupus among people who are not yet diagnosed with the disease.

May 28: Eye disease occurs in approximately 20 percent of people with lupus. The disease can affect the eyeball, the retina, and the muscles that control eye movement.

May 29: Lupus can be expensive to manage and live with. A study found that the average annual cost to provide healthcare for a person with lupus was $12,643 and was nearly $21,000 when lost productivity on the job due to illness is included.

May 30: Successful treatment of lupus often requires a combination of medications. Nearly two dozen clinical studies are underway to develop new safe, more tolerable and effective treatments for lupus.

May 31: As many as 80 percent of people with lupus experience fatigue. For some people with lupus, fatigue is their main symptom and can be debilitating, even to the point of forcing them to stop working.

via the Lupus Foundation of America 

Lupus Fact of the Day: