Tuesday, February 28, 2012

when the cat’s away. . .

Patrick has been traveling a lot lately.  Which means I have been busy.  You see, it seems that I always have a few projects in the works—whether they are actually in progress or just in progress in my head—and when Patrick is gone for multiple nights in a row, I feel a lot less lonely when I have a project to work on.

You may remember back when I posted the “basement tour” and said that I wanted to improve on the toy storage situation.  Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I was at IKEA and saw what I knew was the perfect solution.  It is called the STUVA line and it is a modular system that can be configured in an infinite number of ways and colors, so I knew I’d be able to find the one that worked best for our space.  Here’s one example:

I went home that day and started looking up reviews for it.  It’s made to be especially kid-friendly and when I found tons of rave reviews, I was sold.  I professed my love for it to Patrick and after working up the price (about $500) and realizing that I had recently sold enough stuff on Craigslist to equal that amount, he gave me the green light.

I’m still working on finishing it all up, so the pictures will have to wait.  But isn’t your curiosity piqued?

The other thing that has been driving me crazy in that basement ever since we moved here is the huge bare wall with a random cabinet door on it.  That door is the access to our main water shut-off, so it’s kind of important, but I didn’t want it to to be so “Hi, look at me!  I’m a cabinet door in the middle of a huge wall!”  So a long time ago, I came up with a plan, but just finally got around to doing it.

Here’s the before:

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And here’s the after:

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Where did the cabinet door go, right?  Obviously, it’s still there, but now you don’t even realize it’s a door because I painted the inside with chalkboard paint, so it just looks like one of the many frames on the wall.  I love the end result, and like most easy projects like this, wish I would have done it sooner!  Most of the artwork is stuff that the girls have done, with a few other things sprinkled in from Etsy, thrift shops, and Zulily!

I took the pictures while the chalkboard paint was still drying, but now I can write cute stuff on it!

11 comments:

Stephanie said...

That is a clever solution. In my parents' house it was always just painted the same color as they painted the walls so it would sort of blend in. But I like this grouping of frames.

Unknown said...

I LOVE how it turned out! Gallery walls are so fun and full of personality. I never get sick of them. I can't wait to see the new toy storage system! I'm a little envious that you have an Ikea nearby. Our closest one is Chicago, which is about 4-5 hours away. Have fun with your projects while Patrick is away!

Shirlee said...

Love the photo collage. What a great idea. The chalkboard paint is a fun idea.

Be sure to post the basement pics. I AM curious. One thing we do have in Malaysia is an IKEA.

emilyaaa said...

That looks amazing! i LOVE the beatles poster! nice work, lady!

meredith said...

Looks awesome mer. Very clever.

Marliese said...

It's perfect. I would have been nervous to throw in the wood and black frames, but they look great. I am quite sure we did not inherit the same artistic genes. Isn't that contemporary pencil sketch one you did in high school? Very cool, Mer.

jan said...

How much do you charge for your services? This is amazing and so clever. Love it!!!!

merathon said...

marliese-- good eye! it's no Mara Lisa, though...

jan-- my ideas are few and far between so when i get one, i run with it!

Unknown said...

This looks awesome! Such a clever idea. Love the way the callage furned out too. So fun!

The Dahle Family said...

That is a beautiful way to display your kids artwork! I'm going to remember to save the best stuff for something like that. Did you include any of your own artwork?? Current or from back in your art classes days?

jessie said...

It looks wonderful! I can't wait to do a gallery wall downstairs... I just need to find the motivation, lol. And I can't wait to see your toy storage either. Sadly, there is no IKEA here. :(