Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Adding Striped Wallpaper to our Primary Bedroom
Other than our laundry room, the primary bedroom suite was the only room in the house with white walls before the recent installation of the wallpaper. There wasn't really anything wrong with the way the white walls looked, however a special collaboration came up with Sandberg Wallpaper which is a Swedish wallpaper company with beautiful designs and great quality. I thought this would be a great excuse to do something special in our primary bedroom. After all, every bedroom in our home has wallpaper so why not continue the trend in our bedroom.
I ordered 5 samples from Sandberg to see what they would look like in person. I wanted to make sure that the pattern I chose wouldn't compete with the toile black and white bedding in the room because I will definitely NOT be changing the bedding since I absolutely LOVE it.
From left to right:
FIG GARDEN in charcoal; ESTELLE in graphite; TRELLIS in graphite; MOA in sandstone; LOFSTSAD SLOT in graphite. All from Sandberg
My wife and I both fell in love with "Fig Garden". We loved the warm tones of the botanical print against the charcoal background however we thought that it would be too busy with the bedding so we decided that "Estelle" in graphite would compliment the bedding nicely and plus, we both really love stripes. Our bedroom went from having basic white walls to now looking like it belongs in a posh boutique hotel!
I installed the wallpaper myself and it was pretty straightforward. Wallpaper is pretty simple to install but it's definitely time consuming and if you're not careful it's kind of easy to make mistakes, and I am extremely prone to making careless mistakes like cutting a strip too short or not putting enough paste or not butting up the seams close enough. I do recommend you give it a try if you're on the fence about DIYing wallpaper installlation because the transformation is absolutely amazing and beautiful. Just make sure to do some research about wallpapering and work slow, be careful and give yourself plenty of time.
Saturday, May 1, 2021
Framing Wallpaper To Use As Oversized Art
*this post was made possible by Rebel Walls, my go-to source for wallpaper and murals.
I'm not exactly sure what brought the sudden craving for a bit more color in my home. Now that I think about it, it could possibly be that this necessity for a more cheerful, more feminine and brighter space could stem from my somewhat stressful and chaotic work life. There's been some recent changes in my job that for the most part has been good, but has also brought on some challenges that have left me emotionally wiped out at the end of the day. I needed to make a few decorative changes that would help lift my spirits through the use of soft colors, beautiful patterns, order, and cohesiveness. Oh, and all of that had to be achieved at a really low price.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Installing a Wall Mural to Dress Up a Desk Area
A special thanks to this post's sponsor, Rebel Walls. A huge thanks for collaborating with me on this project ♡.
Last summer I redecorated my daughter's room with items I had collected for this space for almost a year. I'm in love with the transformation (see that post HERE) but what I didn't love was her desk area. It was all work and no fun. In other words, that area of her room had zero style whatsoever. I know the walls needed some dressing up and my initial thought was to add shelving but I felt that doing so would make the space look even more messy. I could already imagine all the crap that would end up on those shelves creating a bigger eyesore than it already was. Plus, my daughter has other places in her room to store all her things that will keep them out of sight. With all the wires and screens all around, I needed this wall space to be more "beautiful" and less "utilitarian".
Monday, February 11, 2019
My Attempt at DIYing Fancy Sketch Art
FYI I changed my furniture layout again.
I get bored with my surroundings from time to time and when that happens I get the itch to go out and shop shop shop! But, unfortunately I can't really afford that and even if I could that would be very wasteful so instead of going on a shopping spree I use what I have and just move it all around. Not only is change therapeutic for me, it also helps me appreciate what I already have. Sometimes my plans of appreciating what I have backfires on me and I end up finding out that I “need” a few other things…like art.
I've been seeing a lot of figure sketches being hung up in homes and I really love how elegant and simple they look. I've been praying to the thrifting gods in hope of finding some vintage sketches for myself but unfortunately I haven't had any luck.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
DIY Entomology Cloche with Dollar Store Bugs
Ever since I can remember, I've been fascinated with curiosities like bugs and other things displayed behind glass. There's something eerily beautiful and mysterious about these oddities and seeing them displayed in a beautiful way is really enchanting to me.
 |
| VIA ANNIC.COM |
On a recent trip to IKEA I noticed that they carried a variety of cloches (or glass domes) and at very affordable prices. I decided to pick up a few and create a fun project for Halloween.
 |
| glass dome, about $12 at IKEA |
I wanted to display creepy bugs inside my cloches so I visited my nearest Dollar store and picked up a few rubber bugs and some butterflies. After spending just a few bucks at my nearest Dollar Tree, I was on my way home eager to start on this simple project!
 |
| Can't go wrong for a dollar! |
 |
| The size of the bugs are pretty big! |
Here is what you need to make a bug cloche:
-Cloche or Bell Jar
-Rubber Bugs
-Fake Butterflies
-Styrofoam
-Wooden Skewers
-Moss
-White Spray Paint
-Hot Glue
The process for making these bug cloches is pretty simple. I mean, based on my pictures alone I'm pretty sure you can figure it out but I'll go ahead and explain it to you anyway in case you're not a visual learner ;)
- Determine how high your bug should be standing inside the cloche and cut your wooden skewer according to that height. Attach the skewer to the underside of the bug using hot glue.
 |
| This pic grosses me out |
- Take all your bugs outside and spray paint them with white spray paint
- While you wait for the bugs to dry, cut some Styrofoam to fit on the base of your cloche and attach it with a little bit of hot glue and cover the Styrofoam with moss. Us a bit of hot glue to attach the moss too.
- After a few hours your bugs should be dry. Stick the skewer right in the middle of the Styrofoam, put the glass dome over it and you're done!
*Note: The butterflies already come with wire attached to them so all you have to do is stick the wire into the Styrofoam. No skewer needed!
These beauties are currently adorning the desk in my living room. I'm going to add some webs and other creepy things to really make this vignette come alive for Halloween! Can't wait! I really love the way these bugs came out! I know they aren't realistic-looking because they are white, but I still love how stricking they are. Because the bugs are white, they almost look sculptural -like little works of art. I can totally envision a bunch of these bug cloches filling a mantel...OMG that would look AMAZING!
All that's left is to put up the webs! Actually, I already did put up the webs but I'm getting that post ready for you! Stay tuned for some tips on getting your Halloween webs to look more realistic cuz nothing annoys me more than webs that look like SNOW!
***EDIT!***
WEBBING POST IS DONE! CLICK ON THE PIC BELOW TO READ IT!
***EDIT!***
WEBBING POST IS DONE! CLICK ON THE PIC BELOW TO READ IT!
Till' next time!
-Oscar
Friday, October 20, 2017
Friday, August 18, 2017
Monday, July 31, 2017
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Monday, February 6, 2017
Installing a Pendant Light - The Easy Way
I have ZERO electrical skills, little patience and a home upgrade budget to match.
So when I got the urge to do a little something new to the kitchen, it needed it to be easy and affordable. I have always envisioned a pendant lamp in my kitchen and I had finally found one that I really loved, and was affordable!
Well.. that's not the one I ended up with.
At the time, West Elm was all sold out :( so I searched the internet to find something similar. I wanted my pendant to be: Round or bell-shaped, have a clear glass shade and brass hardware.
I ended up loving this one! And the price was definitely right!
Along with the pendant, I ordered a recessed light converter kit. This kit allows me to easily change any existing recessed light into a pendant light!
I watched this detailed step-by-step video on how to install the kit. It was super helpful.
Remember how I said I had zero electrical skills? Well, this kit was a cinch to install!( I mean, I have switched light fixtures on my own, like the one in my dining room, but that's about it.) But, yeah super easy. The only issue I came across was screwing the base of the pendant onto the ceiling. The base has the screw on the sides so getting the screws into the holes was a bit annoying and took a few minutes longer than it should have to tighten 2 screws.
After about an hour, my new pendant light was up!
After using the recessed light converter kit, I would definitely recommend it.
During my online searches for pendant lights, I came across pendant lights that you literally screw into an existing light socket! Sounds a lot easier than the method I used, but the downside is that there is an limited choice of pendant lights. Here are a few that I like:
Decorative lighting really adds personality to any space. It can come in the way of pendant lights, chandeliers, sconces and lamps. No need for them to be super-expensive either. Just do a little searching and I'm sure you can find a good deal.
Thanks for reading! `Till next time!
-Oscar
Friday, January 20, 2017
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)