The Secrets to Creating a Beautiful Heritage Gallery Wall

When I was thirteen, I got a new piano teacher.  Once a week, I would go to her home after school, take my lesson, then wait for my mom to get off work and pick me up. While I waited, I would explore her home. I loved her home. It was full of handcrafted items and mementos, all beautifully arranged.  My absolute favorite thing was the heritage gallery in their main hallway.  I loved how all the generations were sort of jumbled together and none of the frames matched, and yet it looked really cohesive. It even contained items that were meaningful, but weren't actually portraits or photographs.

I eventually talked my mom into letting me create a heritage gallery in our dining room.  I studied lots of shelter magazines and gathered up nails and hammer and, of course, lots of pictures.  I gathered some unusual things, too -- like a round copper shadow box that I filled with grains and stuck a little sepia toned school photo of my Dad into.  My mom thought that was a little weird, but she liked it in the end.

That was the beginning of my obsession.  

How to Weave a Rush Seat

A few months ago my beautiful mother-in-law passed away very suddenly.  She had many beautiful pieces of furniture -- mementos of her travels and of a life well lived.... aaaaand she had a few not so beautiful pieces.

In the days before her funeral, her seven children flew out from every corner of the country and began the heart-breaking task of sorting through her belongings. The children took turns selecting items they wanted to keep, then they decided which items to donate and which items to put in the huge dumpster that had been delivered to the house.

High Chair Makeover

Several months ago I found this little wooden highchair at a local thrift store.  We do a lot of entertaining at the beach house, and our guests often include babies and toddlers, so a good sturdy highchair has been on our list of things to get.

When I saw the price of this highchair, I knew it was coming home with me.  Are you ready for this?  It was $4.99!  I loaded that baby into my shopping cart!

A Little Seattle Tudor

I recently did several paint consults for this little Tudor. This was going to be a big project -- repainting the entire home interior, plus plaster repairs. Basically, this meant that over the course of a few weeks, my client was going to have to move his furniture around over and over again, and move some of his belongings temporarily into storage. As you can see, however, repainting was long overdue!

(I suggested addressing the light fixture while we were at it.)

{Inspired} Ideas for Pretty Painted Beds

In a couple of days I'm heading back to the beach house -- hopefully to paint some bedroom furniture! For inspiration I've been scouring catalogs, websites, and furniture stores. I don't know about you, but I love color. I have these conflicting voices in my head, saying "paint your bed a cheerful pretty color" and "paint your bed a safe color"....  Guess which voice is winning?

I know, I know, it's been two years since the major part of our remodel, and I am still working on finishes and furnishings......  

If You Don't Do Anything Else When You Visit Seattle

Do this:  See our city from the water.

What You Should Know Before You Start Your Kitchen Remodel

This is a re-visit of a popular House Revivals post, with a few updates. Enjoy! 

A popular topic in on-line forums and on blogs is kitchen design.  All the amazing new cooking shows have contributed to the interest, as have many of the real estate and decorating programs on cable TV.  And, I have to tell you, there is a lot of great stuff out there!

7 Pretty Ways to Re-Use Vintage Books

I adore crafting and decorating with vintage books.  Vintage Book pages are probably my all-time favorite crafting medium.  

Here is a collection of seven projects made from vintage book pages from around the web:

This darling apple from Cheeky Magpie  would be a perfect edition to a fall mantel.

This garland was a Valentine's project, but it is totally adaptable to other holidays.

Etsy seller BookBW,  makes these beautiful folded book page ornaments.  I love how they are displayed on vintage candlesticks.

Joan, at Anything Goes Here, used almost an entire paperback to create this lovely wreath.

This garland was inspired by spring flowers, but again, the idea can be adapted to any season.  How about creating a similar garland of fall mums?

This bedroom wall is to. die. for.  LOVE.  Find the tutorial at A Well Dressed Home.

This rolled book page star looks great on a Christmas mantel.  

So, how about you? Do you love creating new things from old?

P.S.  I know I've been absent for a while.  Our family just needed a little time to grieve and re-adjust.  We're doing well. Thank you all for your kind words.  Lots has happened since my last post that I can't wait to share.

Upcycle a Skirt into a Cute No-Sew Apron!

I've been wanting to up-cycle a thrifted skirt into an apron like the one I shared about here.   But, for some reason, the idea of dragging out the sewing machine had me dragging my heals.  Does that happen to you?

Some would call that lazy, but I prefer to call it "energetically challenged"  :)

So, I devised a way to up-cycle a skirt into an apron without sewing one single stitch!  The trick is to find a skirt that has belt loops.

Before Pictures of our New Project

Are you ready to see some interior shots of our newest project?  I can't promise you your eyes won't burn.  This condo has some truly ugly spaces.  Did I mention that there is pretty much not one finish in this condo that I like? 

Here is the fireplace wall.  Somewhere along the line, someone gave it a make-over by tacking on a tiny little mantle that is totally out of scale and out of place.  But, it is a real fireplace, and that cosmetic stuff can easily be addressed.

 This is the bank of windows adjacent to the fireplace wall.  A great view can make up for a lot.