Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Our office/guest room is slowly but surely shaping up and I should have some almost-completed photos by next week. But for now, just a quick update on the space.

I'm a big fan of making small changes to items you already have to make them work in new spaces. When you move as much as I do, you have to get crafty, or you'll get bored with your same old stuff. Case in point, I have this old IKEA shelving unit I picked up a few years back for about $25, that just wasn't working. I am also using a few other random storage pieces in this catch-all-room in the hopes of turning it into a nice home office and craft space that's at least a little bit inspiring. 

As a reminder, this was the sad "during" shot. All that dark wood just wasn't doing it for me. And obviously the clutter was killing me.

To keep things simple, I  decided to go with a white and silver color scheme as most of the storage pieces I had on hand were these colors. Except for sir IKEA. However, with a couple coats of bright white spray paint, this guy is feeling much more at home with his newly acquired brothers -- they're all in the same color family now. 

And here is a sneak peek of how the room is shaping up. Ignore the artwork on the wall, I was just throwing anything I could find up there to add a little color. This is most definitely not staying. It still has a LONG, long way to go, but isn't it looking much cleaner just by changing out the dark colors? I'm loving the progress so far.

Please be sure to tune in tomorrow for a special Valentine's Day Tuesday Ten! Hope you all have a wonderful day. 

Creating a Gallery Wall

I love gallery walls. I always have and I always will. Especially when they're filled with fun pieces that offer a variety of texture and color and are specific to the home in which they live. Those were my criteria when creating this small gallery wall in our living room, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I incorporated old and new frames in varying colors and finishes as well as mirrors and sconces and began layering them in. I played around with a few layouts on the floor before putting any holes into the wall and decided on a general oval shape for the gallery.

Once I had my layout perfect on the floor, I started placing items on the wall from the center out to ensure an even arrangement. (I could have sworn I documented this step, but the pictures are nowhere to be found, sorry!) I'm not someone who measures things out, but I seem to have a pretty good eye for spacing. If you're not good at eyeing it, then you'll want to measure your frames and pre-mark where your nails or screws should go or else you'll end up spending far more time than necessary and tearing up your wall.

Here's a sneak peek of how our living room is shaping up. Don't mind those crazy-hanging curtains, I'm trying to decide if I can work with fabric I already have or if I need to make a trip to the fabric store. All of the pieces I used in the gallery wall were things I had lying around my house, mostly thrift store finds throughout the years. That chair is also a thrift store goodie I scored in North Carolina for $5, and it folds up.

I plan on changing of few of the colors of the frames with paint, replacing most of the pictures with photos of John and me -- except for the high school picture of my dad in the bottom right green frame; it's one of my all-time favorites. In addition to the changes on the wall, I need to decide on curtains and possibly recover and paint the chair. Stay tuned next week and I'll share with you guys the finishing touches.

Tuesday Ten: Bold Rugs

It seems everyone these days is drawn to natural fiber rugs for their neutral hues and low maintenance. I love them for this reason too, but lately I've really been looking to branch out from the traditional beige and gray into something a bit more fun.

Rugs are great for making a space feel warmer, so let's talk practicality here. I'm not saying go crazy and purchase something with an extremely bold pattern when you already have pattern in your drapery, patterned pillows and loud art on the walls, but why not have a little fun in more neutral rooms? When paired with an otherwise neutral palette, a bold rug is an extremely fun addition. Here are a few of my favorites.

*All of these images were pulled from Pinterest and original sourcing is unknown. If you have questions about where to purchase a specific rug, email me at trimmedandtailored@gmail.com and I will do my best to find it or something very similar for you.