Purple

White vs. Color. I can't seem to decide. My old apartment was an obvious sway in the color direction, but I found myself coveting the tranquil white rooms that are all over my favorite design blogs.

While I still swoon over pics of those amazing airy spaces, three things have happened since. First, I moved into a new apartment with white walls. Ok, apartment-off-white walls, but still. Second, I realized I can't keep my place clean and organized 24/7, and the purest white walls and furniture just aren't going to look tranquil with all of what I've got going on. And third, I started to swoon over the most colorful pictures on those same blogs.

Now this, for better or worse, was my entry way. I love having an entry way for the first time in my renting life, but this sad scene wasn't cutting it. So I did what I thought any self motivated and determined young person would do - I upholstered it. Purple.



Inspiration and starch recipe found here. Yes, this makes a great big pot of goo, but I used a whole lot of it and it's not expensive.



Step 1: Paint a bit of the wall with the starch. I slopped it on pretty thickly. Smooth your fabric up against the sticky section, leaving some overhang at all the edges. (The fabric will shrink as it dries, and you'll go back and trim it later.) Then paint again on top of that section of fabric, all the way to the corners, just to be sure everything is well saturated. I also used a couple of thumbtacks along the top to be sure the fabric would stay put, just because it was going to get heavy.



Step 2: Work your way down the wall in sections, painting the wall first, smoothing the fabric into place, and painting over the fabric. Don't worry if you need to pull up the fabric and adjust in spots. Just keep painting on the starch, and things will stick right back down.



Step 3: Let the whole mess dry. Trim along the edges with a utility knife. Enlist the help of a tall person, if necessary. Use more starch to paste those corners and edges securely onto the wall. It all dries clear, so touching up is not an issue. We had a hard time trimming around the woodwork, so we actually pasted on some extra patches to square everything up a little better. The patches just barely peek out from behind the main piece, and you really can't see they're there at all.



Step 4: Enjoy! The fabric pulls right off the wall when you're ready to move on. Supposedly you can then toss it in the wash and use it again for other projects. All the work involved took maybe 2 hours, from making the starch to trimming the edges, but I did leave it to dry overnight between steps. I bought 3 yards of fabric from Ikea for this wall. Total cost, under $10.

It's Official!

Remember this handsome guy?



Well, in about a year and a month I'm going to be his new Mrs!!!



Before I go overboard and dish about all of my plans and inspirations and diy's, let me just say two things. First, I have to acknowledge the amazingness of a groom who wants to help plan his wedding. Because discussing color pallets and stationary styles can't be top on his to-do list, but he's my hero for wanting this to be our big day.

And second, we want this wedding to be about people. We're trying to plan an event that honors our families and the marriages and friends we hope to follow and learn from. That, and of course we want all of our guests have to a blast. Yes, there will be much discussion of dresses and the like on this blog. But please, when I stray too far with worries about this detail or that, feel free to send some good sense back in my direction. My Dad's baseline for a successful event is, "everyone got a hotdog and nobody got hurt." Besides the hotdogs and adding a bit about getting married somewhere in the middle there, those are the priorities, no matter what the glossy wedding mags have to say!

Alright, one picture, I can't help it. My niece is on tap to be the flower girl. Or rather, the two-year-old of honor. She's not going to hold the rings, she's not going toss petals, her only job is to get herself up the aisle and look cute. So I think she gets to wear something along these lines...


I forget where I snatched this pic from, but credits and thank you!

Home

At least, my summer home. Gracious, I miss this place! I hope you all had a fantastic summer, and best wishes for the back-to-school season. We'll be in touch :)