Seasonal Evolution.

So we all know how I'm loving my not-so-new-anymore console. It's proven to be an excellent investment (or lack thereof, thanks to Ikea) and it's been the center of my attention ever since it entered my apartment. Now, I know I'm a complete amateur, but I have to say I'm proud of how I've managed to keep it seasonally updated over the last year. Look at how far it's come!

Please, excuse my sorry-excuse-for-photography skills :)

Summer 2010

Fall 2010

Here's how it looks today with the help of a quick Pottery Barn pot purchase for mama Freck's hand-me-down plant. My first one! Wish me luck at keeping it alive. I can unbelievably kill hydrangea's within hours.

Remember my favorite candle?

Plant closeup. Any tips?

All small changes, but I still dig 'em. Thanks for listening!

Happy decorating :)

Remember This?

This? From Field Trip on Etsy?

I finally found the perfect frame for it! See?

Also, check out the Ransom vino {on the left}! TBF is really into Ransom gin {on the right} and when he found out they made wine he picked up a bottle! It is a delicious pinot noir, I highly recommend it, it was delicious!!

Altogether now! :D

Happy Monday!!

Living Room Revamp Project :: The Console

Hooray! Thank you so much for your awesome comments and guidance throughout my Living Room Revamp Project. I'm thrilled with how it's turned out and I hope you are too! The last post was all about the new photos, this post is about the new console!


I still want to put legs on the bottom to give it some height and to get it off the floor, but I got a little too excited to share :)


Here's how bare it looked before,


and now after :)

Bookcase/Bar: Ikea Expedit bookshelf turned horizontal
(again, here was my inspiration for this!)
Left mirror: DIY'ed, found in parent's basement
Right mirror: found at Marshall's
Candles and candlesticks: Ikea
Frame: Ribba Ikea
White elephant tea pot: World Market
Green E: Urban Outfitters
Lemonade bottle and fruit on top right: Trader Joe's
Pitchers in top left cube and bottom second to right cube: Crate and Barrel
Books all over: mine from over the years
Stemless wine glasses top second to right cube: Riedel, gift from TBF
Multicolored E on top right: Anthropologie
Bottles on bottom second to left cube: TBF's Ransom Gin bottle and a leftover green wine bottle I liked :)

Did I forget anything? Any questions? I hope you like it!

I'm thrilled with it :) Special thanks to TBF for helping me put it together!

Next up? Eventually a large massive mirror to put in the corner!

Happy Wednesday which is kind of my Thursday :) I'm taking Friday off because of a last minute visit from my parents!

Living Room Revamp Project :: The Pictures

Another productive and lovely weekend!

I finished 2 of the 3 items I wanted to do for the Living Room Revamp Project!

Unfortunately, the one item I did not cross off the list was purchasing the massive leaning mirror. How could that happen!? It was the focus of my Fancies last Friday?! Apparently my brain did not register the word massive because when we arrived at Ikea all chipper (okay not chipper at all after that drive and waiting for it to open), we (and by we I mean TBF) took one look at the mirror and said, "There's no way that’s going to fit in Bernie." Bernie is the name of my car. So I had to pass... for now.

Sniffle.

BUT!

Fear not though dear Freckles, the trip was not completely lost as I picked up the bookshelf and some fun candle sticks to create the bar area and boy did it turn out nicely. Pictures to come tomorrow, I’m in love with the finished product!

What I can share with you now is how amazing the two pictures I had blown up look!


Don’t they look lovely? With your help, I chose the photo of the Papa Freck look-a-like boats from San Diego and Mr. Wrigley because, well, they make me happiest when I look at them.



Of course I adore miss Emma, but after much thought, I decided the boats and Wrigs were the winners. Thanks again for your help!


So how did I put it all together? I purchased these 16x20 frames, about $10 each, and the 11x14 matting, about $6 each, from Michaels (and on sale!). I went to my local Kinko’s on Saturday morning and handed over my memory stick with the two black and white photos on it and requested a matte look for them. They were ready in less than an hour and only $5 for both! That's it :) Easy peasy!

The bar/bookcase will be revealed tomorrow! Insanity must have helped TBF and I because we put it together pretty quickly and fairly easily. However my right tricep and thumb were hurting yesterday from all that cranking!

Happy Tuesday!

Living Room Revamp Project

As I mentioned yesterday, I did some cleaning and rearranging last weekend. Because I live in a studio, it didn't take long and I'm always looking for a new layout to make the small space more enjoyable. (It's like living in a new apartment!)

So here's what we came up with...

This new layout makes my studio feel almost empty, and large! Yes, most of the furniture is from my college ikea days and recovered.

Do you notice the Dolphin Fin wall where the couch is placed?! :D

Here's my dilemma though: Do you see the wall to the left of the tv, above the couch and where the mirrors are? Yeah. Me too. They're so empty!

Yep, that's my kitchen behind and around that wall to the right.

Help! I'm so bare! Neither of those mirrors were there before, I placed those there last minute because I couldn't stand how bare the wall was! Remember the mirror revamp?

So, let's fix those bare walls. Shall we? I was thinking of blowing up and framing two black and white images and hanging them above the couch, and placing a large floor length mirror on the left of the tv to balance out my China painting. Have I ever told the story behind that China painting? I don't think I have...focus, that's neither here nor there.

Then, on the wall (image directly above) with the black mirrors, I'm thinking of placing a sofa-table size bar that would double as a book case. Not only will it fill that area nicely, yet not overwhelm it, it will also cover that ugly cable! Something needs to go there, it's so bare! Any other ideas about what could go there?

And did you see this pillow post? Are we still thinking the gray pillow? Maybe the sunglow?

Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? Grumble-doodles?

Happy Tuesday :)

Freck's Friday Fancies LII

Hooray, it's Friday! (Pssst, and my last day at this job!)

My fancies are a little different this week. They include activities that I'll be completing during my entire week off until my new job begins July 12.

So! All next week I'll be performing what I like to call DIY madness.

This will include but is not limited to:

Painting TBF's desk which I think is an eyesore in my apartment. Sorry dear. What do we think? A nice glossy white? I think so.

Painting potentially my bathroom and closet Dolphin Fin (seen in picture above via), which was inspired by a fellow Chicago blogger's apartment, Alaina, from Live Creating Yourself. Watch out, don't click on that link unless you have 30 minutes to spare, because I always find myself staring at all over her inspiring pictures!

Finding a cheap stool on Craigslist to paint and use as my vanity chair. I'd love to get a comfy, tall stool, but I have a feeling I won't find one on CL, we'll see. Fingers crossed. If I do find one that I'm able to re-cover, I'd use a fabric like...

this, and paint the stool a gray or black.

Thoughts?

TGIF!