Hallway Reveal!

As previously mentioned, I've been trying to get the lighting better on these photos, but oh well. So here we go, here's our completed hallway...enjoy!

Before:

and after...

A special piece that Mrs. Hunt found for me. It was scrap art paper that Larsen and I would clean our brushes on during art class. Lar then had us both sign it on our sides that we used and then matted it. Again, a very special piece.

Made this one using leftover fabric from the piano bench, and some photos from our wedding...

An art piece from Etsy...we love this guy.

Another art piece from Etsy...love this one too. (Also pleased with how the frames conceal our ac temp unit and alarm unit which stick out like sore thumbs in the before picture)

And another print from Etsy, along with some card art.

Another one that I made. A good verse for me to remember. I found the free image online and typed the words over it in publisher.

When I think back to all that I did to this hallway, I'm surprised I found the motivation. I guess I just took everything one step at a time, which usually is the way to go. Yes, that is the way to go. Here's all that was done:

• Painted hallway (changed it from the blue color to a grayish color using leftover paint - Shale by Martha Stewart)
• Spray painted door knobs and hardware (for the whole house too, there just so happens to be 5 doors in this hallway, two that aren't seen in these photos)
• Spray painted frames white (only ended up purchasing two of the frames from Goodwill, everything else was sitting in a closet)
• Created 5 homemade art pieces
• Purchased 4 prints from Etsy
• Hung frames/mirror/porthole
• Collapsed with relief once all was complete

Overall, collages can be scary to start. But I found myself just keeping the larger frames evenly spaced out and sprinkled the smaller frames around it. I think the overall flow of it sits well with me. That's the scary thing about collages, what happens if you hang everything and the whole flow just feels wrong? Thankfully it worked out.

I did start by using the tip where I cut out the shapes of the frames using brown paper and taped it on the wall to give me an idea. However, painters tape wasn't holding well so it fell off shortly. Thankfully I took a picture of the layout before it all fell.

So this concludes the hallway. I had a few more ideas for it, but you know what? The hallway and I need a good break. So this will do, lol.

Have a great day everyone :)

Diggin Up Bushes Under The Brutal Sun

Welp, today we attempted to dig up our bushes in our front yard for our landscape makeover. Even though I knew it wasn't going to be easy...I didn't quite expect it to be that hard either. With wasps and snakes and thorns and stubborn roots, we only got so far (with an extra helper!) (yay, Kenny, yay) Looks like we're gonna need a part two...or three.

Let me also state, Florida sun is brutal.

So here we go, we started with the goal to remove all the bushes or old roots starting from the big front window down to the right.

We started by chopping off the branches of the bushes...

Then Rob got stung by a wasp on his hand... :(  (hard to see, but trust me the puncture is there!)

Then as more chopping continued, we found this little guy hanging out in a bush...he then proceeded to go into our siding...eek. At least they eat bugs. :)

Then we came across a bush with mambo jambo thorns...we placed those choppings in a different pile so we'd know to handle later a little more delicately.

So these are the bushes mostly chopped up...remember it feels like 100 degrees out...this looks like a moment of cloud coverage. (thank you, God!)

And well, here is where we ended...not completed, but hey, it's progress!!

We have two bushes (stumps/roots) left to dig out of the ground. At least we got two. The sun was beating down hard and we eventually found ourselves inside laying on the floor loving a/c and cold travertine tile.

Here's the before again...

and after

So, I'm thinking during the week, Rob and I will pick at these bushes (roots) when the sun is almost gone. It was just too brutal today...there was no way we could have continued. MAJOR RESPECT for roofers and manual outdoor laborers in Florida.

I. do. not. know. how. you. do. it.

So that's all for today. Progress to be documented! Oh and I will also mention my final print arrived from Australia for our collage wall! I'm now just editing the photos (lighting in our hallway is so baddd) and will have pictures of that soon! (maybe bad lighting and all!) lol

Had a great rest of the day (post bush uprootal) with my sees and dad at Miguels restaurant (oyeh! Cinco de Mayo!) lol. And then at Lifequest. Still fighting off this heat headache.

Anyway, everyone enjoy your evening!! Couch time callllllllls. (I am coming, akee akee!)

Plants Plants Bo Blants!

With our landscape makeover in sight, I thought I'd share some photos of some plant ideas I found at a local nursery here in Tampa (shout out to Manny's on the Bay!) These were just some of the ones I was drawn to. I don't have any rhyme or reason or plan or anything right now. I'm hoping this post will help me narrow some things down.

So sit back and enjoy some pretty pictures of this virtual garden! (please excuse the fact that I have no idea what any of these plants are named)

I'm seeing a possible combination of the above plant/bush with the purple bushes below...

The below reminds me of a Christmas tree...which makes me likey

I'm really liking the two plants below...I like how structural the leaves are. Maybe in the empty bed in front of the big window?

These next three pictures remind me of something I would find in an English garden...especially the second plant. I like how it's natural and kind of weed-like.

pretty...

For some reason the one below doesn't look like it would be easy to maintain...but I love it.

I'm looking forward to getting some of these planted in our front yard. It's really going to make a difference getting rid of those weird bushes and filling that empty plant bed in front of our large window. I'm praying that I can keep whatever we plant alive. I think with the money and time invested in it, there's no way I'll let these babies go.

As I'm not knowledgeable about a lot of this, I do thankfully have my friend and my mom who will help us make the final decisions and what will do best in our yard. I keep hearing how gardening is therapeutic for a lot of people, I'm interested to see if it affects me so. We shall see!

Stilllll waiting on the art print from Australia. Anxious to take pictures of the hallway to share, however, trying to maintain patience and control and not take the pictures until it's truly finished. I almost caved today. lol :)

Well, happy Thursday evening everyone, got any gardening projects on your mind?

This Is A Story, About A Lovely Porthole

...dee dee daaaaah daaaaah do dee dee dee dee dah (anyone else able to sing along with this?)

So I had the idea for our collage wall to add a sweet porthole. We are suckers for the nautical theme, however don't want to be the type that go themey overboard. (lol, no pun intended) So the plan was to find a real-ish looking one, not a plastic one with a mirror backing.

Well a friend of mine is a professional garage sale shopper and had known about my desire for a porthole. Lone and behold she found one (yay Hope!) And she haggled it from $20 to $5. Woop! Woop!

So here is our new friend, Mr. Porthole. He originally came with a frame backing. When I first received it, I didn't notice the blue picture was actually a picture of something swimming at me. Can you see it?

It's Mr. Dolphin! And he has a friend swimming behind him. So realistic looking, huh? :)

This was before I removed the frame backing and cleaned him up real good. Even though it has the frame backing, we like to believe that this was actually salvaged from a boat. It's pretty heavy and solid feeling. It's probably far fetched to think it's actually from a boat, but that's what we wanna think. :)

Here he is all hung up in the hallway. It was a little tough figuring out a way to hang this. We settled on some heavy duty picture frame "hooks" that grab the lip between the outer frame and the door/window.

I love his brassy-ness.

Well, I'm just waiting on ONE more print to arrive in the mail (from Australia!) Once I get that up, I'll be sure to take the final photos of our completed collage hallway. Definitely happy that I took the plunge with this project. The little hallway has already turned into a conversational piece and it really is a little reflection of Rob and I.

Welp, that's all for today. What about you, is there anything you're doing to add personal touches to your home? Any new ideas rolling around in your head?

Happy Tuesday to you all! :)