#decorating projects

Rome Wine Cellar Large An illustration of a sizable, minimalist wine cellar with racks for display and a terra-cotta tile floor.

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Whatever. Here it is. And i like it. So there. Okay, so maybe it's more girly then I bargained for but at least I live alone and am not inflicting its awesome grandma-ness on any boys. And this photo is awful. My cabinet door is open in the kitchen and I need to unplug the power drill. I'm only showing this to you because we're friends. Okay? Okay.

Okay, okay! No more posting about blue and white china after today, I promise. After a round of flea markets this weekend, my pile of collected china could no longer be ignored as it threatened to topple at any minute. But before I could find a home for the pieces I'd already found, I needed to do a bit of rethinking my space. Here's the wall across from my bed before the shift occurred. Cute, but so busy and cluttered and I never did get the spacing right on the gallery wall thing. Trying to find a better arrangement, I moved my beloved empire dresser off to the right to let some more light in and brought in a fireplace mantle (acid green, yuck!) to center at the foot of my bed. Once the mantle was painted to match the trim in my bedroom, I drilled holes and screwed in into place in the wall. I bought 13 plate hangers from my local hardware store to hang my 13 plates above the mantle. Attaching the hanger to the plate was so easy and the hanging hardware was included, too. I swear to you, I was a bit intimidated but it was a snap. I worked out the general outline on paper first and just eyeballed placement, having to rehang some of the more wonky ones. Some of the plates are from the 1890's, some are from the 1970's, some are chipped, some aren't. Some cost 99 cents and some were $25 and you'd be surprised which is which. In the beginning I was a little fussy about only buying beautiful old, old, old plates but in the end it didn't matter, they all look wonderful together. Yay, hopefully I can refocus my energy and money away from china now!

Here I go again, shamelessly stealing ideas from Elmwood to use in my Brooklyn homey home home. This amazing paper mache owl decoy has stood sentinel on a bookshelf in New Hampshire for years. I've coveted it for as long as I can remember and only recently had a light bulb moment. Instead of sulking about what you can't have, haunt ebay till you find a similar one. Not only did I find a similar one, I found the same freakin' one for only $15. To sweeten the deal even further, I recently saw another of the same at the amazing antique store Darr in Boerum Hill for $175. Yikes! My wise old owl is standing guard on my kitchen shelf, bringing some much needed toughness to my girly collection of all things yellow. Thanks again, Emerson ancestors, for wealth of ideas just waiting to be pilfered!

BEFORE: A few tumbles off my ladder trying to reach my 20 lb cast iron crock pot was all it took to force me to rethink my space usage. Also, my huge philodendron plant was blocking out a ton of light on top of the fridge, getting dusty and generally making me cranky. AFTER: Yay, I feel like a grown up, living a slightly less cluttered life. Or at least a more cohesive life. Shelving my smaller plants freed up valuable table and counter space through out the kitchen so now I can access the things I use everyday without fear of falling! My beloved toy sailboat, the inspiration for the kitchen. The new arrangement makes watering time much easier, everything is in one place. The plants on the higher shelve require less water, so i won't have to be making a trip up the ladder everyday, either! A utilitarian stack of terra cotta pots look pretty, too, while they are waiting for my next new plant brought home from the farmers market. BEFORE: Across the kitchen, a little bit a wall goes from useless home for knickknacks to actually functional after several incarnations. Cute and a bit bare, but serving no purpose. Very cute and holding a lot of useless decoratey things. Pretty, but not a good use of very limited space. AFTER: With my vintage pots and pans at arms reach, cooking is a million times less stressful. Having my glasses and bowls on the shelf frees up space in my tiny cabinets so I can hide my trader joes cereal boxes more effiecently. Dinner, anyone?

Ok ok, so I know drawer liners made from wallpaper isn't exactly reinvention of the wheel, but the exciting thing here is I actually followed through and finally did it. *I think it was my new old cutlery caddy and and shiny new old silverware that were the inspiration for a kitchen drawer makeover. Before: ICK! Ink stains, ancient dust, lord knows what else covering the bottom of my drawers. I've had this roll of vintage wallpaper in my closet for ages. Wallpaper from the 60's onward works the best because it's pre-pasted and most likely washable. So when the drawer gets icky again (which it will), all you need is a swipe of a sponge. No paper damage! You've just got to measure and cut a properly size piece, then completely wet the pasted side and gingerly drop it into the bottom of your drawer, smoothing out air bubbles as you go! Yay, organized drawers! Now if I could just master the art of keeping them organized.