before and after: striped chair

I have been anxiously waiting to show you this chair. And wouldn't you know when I finally can, my pictures look terrible! I dropped it off at my client's house last night so I can officially share it with the rest of the world. The before shot does not give justice to the bad shape it was in.

Before

After {which doesn't really do justice either}

\I promise to take better shots next time I am at her house. But, dude this is an awesome chair. I wanted to keep it! More pictures to come, at least my instagram picture turned out a little.

I fixed up a few cracks, painted it in high gloss black, and reupholstered it myself. And I'm only a little proud of it ;)

ikea textiles

I think Ikea has really upped it's game lately. It's always been good of course, but now that I don't live by one I find myself wanting stuff more and more. I've especially been loving some of the new textiles. Here are some of my faves.

Kinda love this coloring fabric for a kid's room

Love me some buffalo check

Still love this little stripe

I better stop there even though there are some good curtains to be had. Check em all out here.

the five day makeover

What do you do when your client calls on Monday asking if we can decorate her daughter's room while she is at camp that week? You divide, conquer and do it! That is one awesome Mama! And the whole family pitched in for the surprise while she was away. It was quite an adventure. And we actually pulled it off except for a few things that needed to be ordered.

There are still a few loose ends to tie up but here are a few sneak peeks of our busy week.

Luckily, the dad of the house is very handy and also an extremely good sport. We asked him to build us this chalkboard headboard. And on Thursday night we asked him to make this parsons desk {to be ready for reveal Saturday morning mind you} and he happily did. Isn't it awesome?! Looks just like this one, but without the price tag.

The big brother painted the room a gorgeous light gray lilac. And they all pitched in with the dresser redo. Aren't the dry erase panels fun?

The cork board is on the wall now and we are waiting on the shelves for the books instead of underneath the dresser. And we had intended to get fresh flowers but it didn't happen in time :)

The easiest project was probably this one

It probably only took me 20 minutes and we used a lantern that was already in the room.

All in all it was a huge success! She was super surprised and she loved it! She is currently deciding between houndstooth and chevron curtains to complete the room. We wanted to let her pick them out herself since we had to order the fabric anyway. The entire room was a pretty big gamble considering what a fashionista this one is. We were so thrilled she liked it all.

Not bad for 5 days. I say job well done!

my new best friend

Nothing like patience, Craigslist and 30 dollars to finally get the perfect mirror! I am thrilled with my latest score.

I have company coming at the end of the month and my downstairs bath is going to be tricked out!

Here's another little clue until I get it all done. 

Hopefully husband will be as happy as I am. He isn't wild about the color so far! Come on it's super manly. He'll see :)

pinterest challenge summer edition

Silly me! I totally thought the Pinterest Challenge was tomorrow for some reason! Oh well. I really love what I did this time, unfortunately they look much better at a distance than up close. And they are not up on the wall yet. 

I started with these $3.50 hooks I found in June. 

Thinking of these Anthro stunners.

I cut my tape and got them all prepped and ready.

I painted them with oil based gloss black that I had on hand. And tried to be as careful as possible since the rounded edges left little dimples here and there. 

Here they are! Not perfect at all but at a short distance they look pretty awesome. In fact the hubby came home to see them and I said I painted them myself and he said "yeah right" he thought I bought them!! And then he tried to recover himself a little :)

I love them! I know they will look even better hanging in a row on the wall. I will update after I do so. And with the anthropologie ones coming in at $18 a pop and since I had all the supplies I needed it was a savings of $43.50! Not bad at all!

Make sure you check out the challenge at Young House Love, Bower Power, Centsational Girl, and Ten June!

boards

When planning the playroom at the end of May I thought it would be an awesome and easy to make some bulletin boards. It was. But it also came with a lot of stress and hard work. They had so many components that had to come together. In the end they worked out so well.

Well except that when I measured the short attic walls I had no idea one side of the room would be 3 inches taller than the other side. No biggie. 

After getting cancelled on for installation of a few things. I tried to figure out a way for me to install a few things without messing them up. Realizing how much money we would need to spend on tools or renting tools. And knowing I might do a second rate job. I had to let go. And that is a realllllllllllly short version of how it went and how I actually felt. I was devastated. But, I knew after explaining it to new contractor man that he was fully capable to finish even if I wasn't there.

So these are not hung on the wall, but they should be by the end of the day today. Not that I can guarantee pictures for you {me either!} or anything. 

We have a magnetic chalkboard

Bulletin board

Peg board

 And magnet board

Sorry the color looks different in every picture. I'm ashamed of my camera skills.

I got the frames locally in Boise at a discount frame shop for $36 each. The inside measures 24 by 30 inches. And the frame is clearly big and chunky. I love the color! It is Sherwin William's Gray's Harbor in their ProClassic semi-gloss paint.

I backed the metals with wood and adhered everything with fabri-tac and glazier points. And reinforced the bulletin with some wood stirring sticks in the corners. I'm nothing if not resourceful.

And while I am already talking too much I am about to blow your mind. Fabri-tac and Magna-tac are the exact same thing. I said it. I was blown away when I called the company to ask where I could find Magna-tac in my area. And the nice lady on the phone said that it is commonly sold as Fabri-tac on the west coast and Magna-tac on the east. But the product was exactly the same. Whoa. Isn't that crazy? Maybe you already knew that and I am just crazy.

10 points if you are still reading :)

Anyway! We couldn't see out the back window on our drive down. And maybe this was the second paint color. And no, they are not on the wall yet. But here they are and I still love them.

a tuesday adventure

Yesterday we had ourselves a little adventure! As you may know, our family just has one car. So that leaves me home...a lot. But every Tuesday we pile into said car at 6:20 and take Mr. Wallace to work. We come home and get ready. Get back in and have a morning appointment, then we try to function normally the rest of the day with tired kids. In short Tuesdays are always an adventure.

Well, since school is out we did this with the whole group all day. And for some reason, I thought it would be a great idea to take them all to my wholesale frame shop. And we did it! We turned a few heads in the process but whatever! I knew that if I didn't do it then I couldn't make it work until Thursday. In the end we piled in the car with one giant frame, {HUGE!} four large frames and two medium frames. Oh plus, glazier points and mat boards. A nice lady even felt sorry for me after my third trip and helped me out. Thank you nice lady. 

What troopers! The chocolate helped...

We had the four frames in the back. Two in the passenger seat. And the big one had to go in between the kids and me. Let's just say my right arm got pretty tired holding it all the way home. But I kinda like my kid's faces so it was worth it :)

And if you are wondering why this was so important that I had to cram it all in with these guys. The answers are pretty simple. For one, I'm a little crazy and two...

About a month ago I stayed strong and sadly walk away from this $45 beauty. But $25!!! I couldn't even believe it was still there. Look how big and awesome it is!

Have you ever seen my dining area? It's a little boring. But, it's mine! But back to the star of the day. Giant. Gold. Greek key. Cheap. I'm thinking score!

Me and this lover have big plans. I just have to wait for a few client projects are wrapped before I can think about it again. It will probably always be there in the back of my mind though. I think I'm in love!

Sorry for all the exclamation points!!

did i mention a budget?

After my excitement of my first official post is wearing off I realized I left out one major thing I will cover here at noted...decorating on a budget. Everyone should have one! Mine are small for now with dreams of growing someday in the future. I have a few client projects in the works currently. One budget is teeny tiny and one is quite glamorous for what the project is.

I will show you how I stick to my budget. Which at times is by not shopping anywhere for anything. When people ask me where I bought something I usually say "When in doubt I got it off Craiglist or at Home Goods!" I also make myself sound fancy by saying it is vintage instead of thrifted sometimes, depending on who I am speaking with. I like to feel fancy!

That budget thing can get in the way! But it can also be a big blessing. I think every room needs to start with one thing...HOW MUCH? This is more important than what style {that post is for another day}. Big or small, it's crucial to know what can be done and how to make the most of every dime. I would rather stretch my budget than my wallet any day!

One of my design idols is Kristan Cunningham. I loved Design on a Dime while it was in it's prime. It was especially fun for me because I lived in LA and I could shop at the places they shopped in segments. But Kristan's team was the only team I watched.

As a side note: I totally served Kristan a BBQ chicken salad in my serving days after she shot a segment at the mall by my restaurant. After serving dozens of famous people and keeping my cool, I made a fool of myself when I came to her table. She was super nice and by the time they got their drinks I was able to make fun of myself a little. And that table will live on in my heart forever!

Back to the post! I am still inspired at the images from Kristan's rental home she remodeled on a budget in 2009. Check out all the pictures HERE. Simply gorgeous! Her kitchen redo was $1000. One thing she has always been able to amaze me with is her space planning. That is something that money cannot buy {or maybe it can} but is perhaps the most important part of the room...oh wait I said that was the budget. Darn! Well it's all key to the best possible room.

What do you think a reasonable budget for one room would be dear readers {all five of you on day 2!}?  And what are your favorite ways to stretch your budget? I'm interested in your thoughts. Do tell!