Local Shelves and My Selfish Space

A while back, I received this wonderful little package in the mail... a beautiful custom wood shelf from John Sundberg, owner of Walrus Woodworking.  Walrus Woodworking is a local Utah business, and I'm all about promoting good local businesses.  Full disclaimer here - I didn't pay for the shelf, however, when I spoke with John on the phone we discussed that I was not obligated to blog about it, and if I did, I would be completely honest.  So, here it is:

Install was simple.  The instructions - plus a few basic tools - were all I needed, and I had it hanging and perfectly level in less than 30 minutes.  (No, not all my tools are pink, but my mother and sister discovered a company called Tomboy Tools so over the last few holidays I've built up quite a collection of pink.)

A simple drywall anchor holds the screw firmly in place, and then a cleverly designed nail pokes from the back of the shelf into the drywall to keep the shelf bracket level.  

Once the bracket is secure, the shelf easily slides into place.

I love the hand-made sculptural quality of the shelf, and the beautiful natural grain of the wood.  For other examples of what Walrus Woodworking has done (including better photos of similar shelves), see their listing at localfirst.org

Now to segue into my next topic... where I put the shelf and why... 

Being too small to stand alone anywhere in our home, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it.  But after my trip to NY for Brizo Fashion Week, I knew exactly where to put it.  

At Brizo Fashion Week, I met a wonderful woman named Jennifer Duchene, who has a book called "Le Chic Cocoon:  7 Steps to Creating your Selfish Space".  While Jennifer might argue that my chic cocoon should not be my office, at this point in my life, my office is where I spend a large part of my waking hours, and my business is my pride & joy because I built it and it's an extension of me, so it's important to me to have a piece of myself in my small office space.  With dreams of my own real chic cocoon sometime in my future, for now, my selfish space is this little office.  

I have these great thrift store milk glass vases, and my husband hates them.  But guess what?  This is MY space, so I can put anything I want in it, including my lovely milk glass vases!  And I realized the shelf would display them perfectly, so they now have a place in my "selfish space", right next to my 2012 vision board and stack of inspirational magazines and chair posters.  During a busy day, when it's so easy to lose my sense of self because of a daunting to-do list, all I have to do is look up at this wall full of my passion and personality and I remember who I am and what's important to me.  And then I can breathe deep and continue with the task at hand, rejuvenated by the reminder of why I do what I do.

A Different Point of View - My Home

The other day I was laying on the kitchen floor painting base trim.  I hate painting trim, which is why, after living in the house 2-1/2 years, it's still not done.  Anyway, I happened to look up and loved this view and how well the artwork in the kitchen coordinated with the piece we have in the 2nd floor stairwell.

I've been meaning to post a photo of this print for a while now.  This is actually an infrared photo that a family friend took (and edited) in downtown Baltimore.  I loved it the minute I saw it, and begged him to share the file with me so I could print it.  I was able to print the high-res version as a 12"x36" poster (waited for a half off poster printing sale at Staples and got a killer deal), and then we had a custom frame made.  It's one of my favorite pieces in our home.  I keep telling him he should start an etsy shop with all the great photos he's taken...

The image to the left is this "Saarinen + Poulson" print from Blue Ant Studio.  (If you love mid-century chairs, check out the other prints - I had a hard time picking which one I wanted!)

GIVEAWAY! - Custom Glass Art

I love that so many pieces of art in our home aren't generic pieces - almost everything has a special meaning or history.  This is our newest piece - by William Germain.  William works for Hallmark Cabinets and has helped me out with some incredible custom pieces and finishes for my projects, and on the side he does some amazing painting on glass.  After my ooh-ing and aah-ing over some of his work, he was kind enough to give me a painting of my own.  By painting on back of the glass, the painting has a lot more depth than a standard canvas.  And this particular paint has an amazing metallic shimmer that I just couldn't capture with my camera.


Here's the best part - William has agreed to let me give away one of his pieces!  

My giveaway is for a painting like mine, and the winner gets to choose a blue or yellow metallic background.  Overall size, with frame, is ±25" x 21"

Here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Leave a comment here on this post, to include which color you'd choose if you won - the blue or the yellow metallic background.
2. I was going to require that you "like" enzy design on facebook, but started looking online for giveaway/sweepstakes rules and it appears I can't force you to do anything, so I'll just suggest that you like me, though I promise this will not in any way affect your chances of winning.

Rules:

1. Entry comment must include items indicated above.
2. Winner must be 18 or older.
3. Winner must have shipping address in continental U.S. (which I will contact the winner for later)
4. Winner will be selected using random number generator (such as Random.org).
5. Deadline to enter is Friday, March 9.  Winner will be announced Monday, March 12.
6. Only 1 entry per person per household.

Here are other examples of William's work (taken from his facebook page):

Living Room Progress

I was going to wait to post pics of our finished living room, but realized it might be years before I get anything posted at the rate I'm going.   So here is what our living room currently looks like:

Things to do:

1.  Finish the gallery wall (i.e. add art to the frames)

2.  Make throw pillows, with the following fabric I have from Tonic Living:

Bella Porte, Citrine 

(yes it's the same print as Gate Citrine from Robert Allen for Dwell Studio)

Flatiron, Black

Stanford, Orange

3.  I have to do something about that ceiling fan...

Though it's unfinished, here are a couple photos of the various phases this wall has gone through since we bought the house.  I need this as a reminder of how much we actually have accomplished.

when we bought the house...

after a fresh coat (or several coats) of paint and some major cleaning (before the nasty carpeting was torn out):

the ksl sofa find I HAD to have, and grew to despise shortly after:

just a few weeks ago, gallery wall in progress:

More Free Downloadable Artwork

via Pulp Design Studios

I've been seeing a lot of symmetrical geometric prints framed and hung in groups.  People are especially loving this set of 6 from Crate & Barrel:

Others find that $ 369 is just too much to spend right now, and have been going about getting a similar look in more creative ways, such as framing 60-cent pieces of colored craft paper in Ikea frames:

via Young House Love

But I just discovered Sprik Space, where the wonderful Aimee offers free downloads of geometric patterns in several different colors.  

The patterns she offers include Circles, Leaves, Grid, Chevron, Diamonds, Houndstooth, and more.

She then recommends getting them printed on 12"x12" size from Costco for $ 2.99 each, and framing them in Ikea Ribba square frames at $ 17.99 each.   If you follow these instructions, a set of 6 costs only $ 125.88!

She also offers other great downloads in various color options, great for nurseries, gallery walls, craft rooms, etc.  Just a few examples below:

See more at Sprik Space, under the Freebies tab!

See an earlier post for more downloadable artwork from Feed Your Soul.

Using Photographs and Children's Art in Home Decor

Artwork can add a lot of personality to a home, but it can also be expensive to cover all those walls with art.

Believe it or not, you can make your own art, and even if you don't have a creative bone in your body, it can still look good!  The secret:  Use multiple pieces together in one big arrangement, so the individual pieces are just a small part of the whole look.

See examples below, and keep in mind that these would be great gift ideas if you're on a budget (and we all are!)

You can use this approach with photographs:

from raenovate

by Stuart McIntyre, via desire to inspire

Our dining room (I took all the photos, and the frames are all from Ikea)

  You can do the same thing with kid's art:

from Flourish Design and Style

from Nursery Notations

from Caitlin Creer (family portraits, painted by the kids)

Eric Cohler via vivafullhouse

I love the following images, where the children's art was scanned or photographed and made into a poster collage:

from Sixx Design via Little Green Notebook

from Living Livelier and Kristen Fitzgerald 

You can also use non-traditional display methods:

from Caitlin Creer (hanging wire from Ikea)

from houzz.com

Of, if you are somewhat confident in your creative abilities, try something like these resin art pieces :

from Design Ties (see step-by-step instructions here)