Seeing spots

Since we're still waiting for our new couch to arrive, I've put the living room redo on hold and moved on to the master bedroom. I found a quart-sized can of flat white paint leftover from the last owners of our townhouse. I figured since the ceiling was already white this would be enough paint to give it a quick refresher coat. Wrong. The ceiling sucked up that paint like a milkshake. I got about half of it finished when I ran out of paint. I basically painted over all the dirty and patched areas and hoped they blended with the still-looks-pretty-good part of the ceiling when everything dried. Then I found a second quart-sized can of white paint, this one in eggshell finish instead of flat finish. In hind sight, I probably could have mixed the two together and possible had enough to paint the entire ceiling. Oh well. At this point I should have stepped away from the ceiling and let it dry completely to see if the streaks went away. Instead I convinced myself that since this was eggshell instead of flat maybe it would spread farther. Wrong again - as you can see by the huge shiny white splotches all over the ceiling.

Half a day waisted and not much to show for it. Not to worry. I went to Home Depot this morning and bought the cheapest can of flat white paint I  could find (under $8). It's the crappiest paint I've ever worked with. I'm definitely going to have to apply two coats but that's OK. It was cheap and it will do the job just fine.

Focus...wait, what?

Okay, I know I said I was working on redoing my bedroom, but while I was up in NH visiting the fam, hubby decided to order a super cool chair that he's been eyeing for a long time (plus it was on sale.). So this set the wheels in motion to redo our living room first and then revisit the master bedroom later.

We started talking about making changes to our living room over a month ago. The space was really starting to feel very dark and our sectional, while very comfy, just seemed to weigh down the space and make everything feel heavy. So we set to work photographing our couch and putting it up on Craig's List. A week or two later, we sold it to a lovely couple. I always feel better knowing my stuff is going to a good home (funny how that works). Then we ordered a swanky new Mid-Century style couch from Dane Decor (also on sale - yaaa for us!).

While waiting for said couch to arrive, I've been painting the walls and built-in book case. Painting the built-in was a HUGE undertaking, but it looks great, so I think it was worth the extra effort. The space isn't quite done. I still need to paint our coffee/end tables and hang some more pictures and straighten up a bit, but I'll leave you with some photos to keep you interested.

Starting off with a couple before shots...

And now for some after shots...

The Incredible Paper Clip

I found this pendant lamp online today while looking for a tutorial on how to make a diffuser for my camera flash (I don't know why my husband thinks I'm addicted to the internet).

Designed by Gary Ponzo, the light is made out of paperclips and pretty much nothing else. The chicest DIY project I've ever seen.

Fabric Envy

I'm absolutely in love with this gorgeous Daisy Janie fabric designed by Jan DiCintio. Unfortunately at $56/yard, it's a bit over my budget. The fabric hunt continues.

At Home: bedroom redesign

Recently I've become obsessed with all things relating to interior design. There are some amazing room transformations on the web done by everyday people on a budget, and I for one am super impressed. So I've decided it's time to properly decorate my bedroom. We've been living in our townhouse for almost five years, and I still don't feel like any of the rooms are complete. Since the house was built in the mid seventies, you won't find any hardwood floors tucked beneath the carpets. No, I'm stuck with carpet, so I'm just going to have to take some advice from Tim Gunn and "Make it work."

Anyone who knows me knows I don't like to spend money, and true to fashion, I don't want to spend much on this bedroom project, so I'm on the hunt for fabric to make a duvet cover for our bed since bedding is SOOOO expensive. Of course, I never make things easy on myself, because even though I'm thrifty, I'm not cheap. I'd rather buy a higher quality item once than a piece of junk that I'll have to replace again in a few years. I'm also concerned about health (hubby has really bad allergies), and I'd love to support a company that still produces their fabric right here in the good ol' US of A. So I've already set myself up for failure. Oh, and did I mention I have VERY specific ideas about the fabric design I'm looking for? So let's recap: I want an organic fabric, made in the USA, with an amazing design, for under $8/yard. Stay tuned to find out how well that works out.

Before I sign off, here's a few photos of our bedroom in its current state. I wish I had taken a photo BEFORE I had cleaned it up (Yes, this is the cleaned-up stage. I'm married to a technology geek. There's only so much a girl can do to de-clutter when everything has a cable attached to it!). The excessive clutter almost sent me to the looney bin (in all fairness, I'm equally responsible for the clutter that existed in this space.). Even in it's relatively de-cluttered state, I think the photos still give you a good idea about how desperately this room needs a makeover. Stay tuned.

Piecing Pillows

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything here because I've been busy posting daily photos on Project 30. But I thought it might be nice to show what I've been working on lately. I made this pillow last night with leftover fabric from other projects and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Matthew Haly's Book of Upholsterysays the trick is to make the pillow cover two inches smaller than the pillow form. That way you get a nice smooth, plump-looking pillow. I think he's onto something.

Spring Tulips

I promised my mom I'd post a photo of my front yard so she could see my tulips in bloom. Here you go Mom!

3, 2, 1....Happy New Year!

It's that time of year again; time to declare our new year's resolutions. Typically I don't get caught up in the frenzy, but this year I've decided to give it a whirl and see what happens. To that end, I've selected a unique, never-been-done-before resolution - I am going to maintain a photo blog. Okay, so I won't be getting any points for originality, but hopefully I'll improve my photography skills and learn more about lighting and photographing candid shots of people. If you're interested in seeing my progress you can head over to my Project 30 blog at:

fiercegirldesign.wordpress.com

Each month I'll select a new theme to photograph and at the end of 2010, if everything goes according to plan, I should have 365 photos posted.

Anyone else out there have a resolution they would like to share? I'd love to hear about it.

Happy New Year everyone!