by ahhyeah

1. Before packing up anything, do a once through of all the rooms of your house, getting rid of things you don’t use, don’t wear, or don’t like anymore.  Sort through everything and donate to a charity of your choice.

2. Do a quick sorting of everything left, making sure everything is in their proper place.  Make sure all “office” things are in the office and all toys are in the toy room.  (Trust me, the worst thing is to think you’re done packing up the kitchen, only to find a extra cup sitting in the living room!)

3. Pack up least essential items first.  For me it’s usually all home decor items and off-season clothes.

4. Notice I didn’t mention winter bedding if it’s the summer in #3.  Before I go out and buy lots of packing paper, bubble wrap, etc. I use what I’ve got.  Extra beach towels, winter blankets, and guest pillows make great packing material for all your breakable items!!

5. Color labels are your friends!  Pick one color per room.  Yellow stickers go on kitchen items, blue for one bedroom, red for the living room, etc.  It helps out both you and your movers to have a quick visual about which boxes go in which rooms!!

6. Think through what you’ll need for the first few days in your new place and make sure you keep that box where the movers won’t accidentally load it up.  Things like cleaning supplies, paper plates, utinsels, etc.

Trust me, I know how impossible this is to do.  I work about 25-30 hours a week outside of the home {I do fancy elearning design for a local college and e-marketing with a friend of mine… and I LOVE what I do}.  By the time I get home, and make sure my family is tended to, I barely have enough energy to keep on top of projects.  I am so very thankful for this blog, and for you.  Being in this space motivates me to keep my creativity churning.

Because I really do love creating.  {But sometimes paying the bills must come first!}

Now is where I apologize for going off tangent.  This post really isn’t about me.  It’s about the amazing Rachel Denbow.  Seriously.  Take a look at her home.

You can see more pictures of her home on her flickr page and on her blog.  I hope you’ve enjoyed her space as much as I have!

This pool was designed by Andres Remy Architects.  Isn’t it dreamy?

{via mymodernmet}

Supplies You’ll need:

Dinner glasses.  I got 2 sets of 4 for 2.39 at Target.  $4.78 Spent

Glass Etching Cream.  Even though 3 oz doesn’t seem like a lot, I used less than half a bottle for all 8 glasses!  Around $8.  (If you use a coupon from Michaels you can get it at 40% off!)

Contact paper/Vinyl/Stickers etc.  Any of these will work to make your pattern with for etching.  Want to stick with stripes?  That’s easy too, just use tape!  (price varies)

Foam Brush

Directions:

Wash and dry your glasses so you have a clean surface to etch.

Lay out the shapes you’d like to etch and adhere them to the glass.  I made the shape I used in Illustrator and then had my Cricut cut it out for me.  (Here are the shapes waiting for the etching cream.)

Paint a heavy coat of the etching cream on the glass and let it sit.  I usually do 2 at a time.  You don’t have to let it sit very long, usually just 4-6 minutes.  (Don’t forget to place some old newspapers or a plastic bag on your work surface to protect it from the etching cream.  Also, please work in a well ventilated area, this stuff is dangerous if used in a closed, un-ventilated space.  We want you to be safe!!)

Rinse off the glasses and remove your stickers.  (I like to make my etching cream last as long as possible so right before I rinse my project I use my brush to scrape off as much of the etching cream as possible and put it back in my container.)  Let dry, and you’ve got fabulous new glasses!

Notice the wood framing on this building.

Wood shutters and entry way.

I loved that pretty much every house had the cutest little wooden flower boxes underneath the windows!

This area also has many stone castles.  This is Castle Neuschwanstein.  If it looks slightly familiar, it’s because Disneylands’s Sleeping Beauty castle was based off of this one.

Here’s an example of some of the painted on decor.  Many of the homes and buildings had this.

Another example of the painted on mural.

And we can’t forget the little strawberry stand.  The strawberries we purchased from this stand were, quite literally, the best I’ve ever had!

Symmetrical

A grid-like arrangement where the wall art is hung the same distance apart.  Symmetrical displays are typically hung using matching frames.

{Apartment Therapy}

{Isabella and Max}

{Ohdeedoh}

Asymmetrical aka Art Gallery Layout

Don’t be afraid.  This is actually one of the easier arrangements because it’s completely random.

{Princess Lasertron}

{Design Hole}

{ABC News}

{Young House Love}

Looking for help in hanging your wall art? Give this a try.  Before committing with nails, hang up pieces of paper the same size as your pictures using painters tape.  Painter’s tape will keep the paint on your walls safe.  Doing a test run on your wall will give a great representation of how the arrangement will look once hung.

{Better Homes & Gardens}

Another way you can do it is by laying the picture on the floor before hanging them on the wall.  You can also check out this handy tutorial full of tips from Design FormuLA on making a picture wall collage. 

In previous posts, we showcased various wall art inspiration and offered a tutorial on how to hang your pictures.

Isn’t the building decoration gorgeous?  Those were all painted on!

Bridge and market in Florence.

The northern countryside was all terraced farms.  I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it!

Central Italy.  This part of the country was filled with row upon row of vineyards.

Rolling Italian countryside, mile after mile!

Sunset one night over the Dolomite mountains.  (They are part of the Alps that are in Italy.)  These were the most gorgeous, breathtaking mountains I’d EVER seen!  We turned a switchback going up to our resort and saw this, so naturally we stopped to take some pictures and enjoy the sunset!  (Note:  There is no color editing on this photo!)

Fund doorway I ran across in Trento, Italy.  In Europe, most of the large entrance doors to the buildings have door knobs in the center, like the lion head ones above.  It’s very rare to find a doorknob not in the center of the door!

Dinner!  Wild Fungi (mushroom) pizza, Spaghetti, Calzone, Spinach and Cream Cheese Pizza.  All were delicious!!

Vineyards.  I think I want to retire in Italy!

Gondolas.  (Please let me apologize in advance for all the Venice pictures.  There were just SO many opportunities for great photos!  I think I’ll be doing a new decor project soon with some of my Venice photos!)

Solitary Gondola.  Notice how it’s curved towards the left…gondoliers only ever row on one side, so by making the gondolas curved towards the opposite side, they always go straight!!

I loved how everyone’s front doors are off the water.  Instead of driving up in the car, you have to park your boat out front!

Gondolas all in a row!  So quaint!

Old time Venice.  (Or at least how it might have looked.  You can thank Photoshop for the visualization!)

I loved this little hotel in Venice.  The bright, cheery blue made me smile as we boated by!

Next up in the Europe series is going to be Austria and Germany, be prepared for a different architectural look!

Basalt paver stones at the Roman Forum.  Julias Ceasar walked on these stones…so cool that they are still there after all the years!

Architectural ruins from the Roman Forum.  I LOVE architectural pieces!

Some more stone carvings.  Love the simple, but elegant feel to the flourishes and flowers.

The Colosseum.  I find it fascinating that at one point, they would put up sail cloths to shade the spectators.  I wonder how long that took them?

Metal stars on a square in Rome.  I wish all places in the US were planned with this much thought to the details!

Gelato!  Yes, it was delicious!  Once I get moved, I’m going to work on finding the best, most authentic gelato recipe I can find.  I’ll share, I promise!  (Did you know that gelato is more healthy than ice cream?  Well, as healthy as a frozen dessert can get!)

The pantheon.  Beautiful building.  Unfortunately they were doing some renovations on the exterior so my only pictures are of the inside.  The large bronze doors leading into the space were about 12″ thick.  Needless to say, they were huge!

Some stairs in the Vatican.  The Vatican was amazing!

Tomorrow I’ll show you some of Florence, Venice, and the Italian countryside!  (Probably my favorite part, other than the Alps, and maybe Paris…)

And it was a big fail.   

So now I’m back to square one. 

When I feel like I’m at square one, I like to get ideas down on paper to see if I like where my vision is headed.  {Because sometimes things look better in my head than they do on paper}.  The paper never lies, I tell you. 

In our master bedroom, I’d like to incorporate a little yellow.  {Note: I haven’t run this past the mister so we’ll see how well this flies}.

Here’s what I’ve envisioned for the room so far:

1. This is what is currently in the room:  {upper left corner clockwise} paint color, pillows, bedding, lamps, wood finishing on bedroom set.
2. I’d like to cover the white lamps with a print like this one.  I’m not sure if she sells it anymore as the color isn’t available in her etsy shop. 
3. I have about a 2′x2′ area between the wall and the dresser.  I would like to add a sidechair with some wall art hanging over it. 
4. This wall art might just do the trick, and it makes me happy. 
5. Above the end tables, I would add some simple wall art.  I would take these placemats and spray paint them white.  I think with the lamp shade covers, it would be a nice simple touch that would feel balanced.
6. I would like to accessorize the end tables too with lovely treasures like this birdie vase.  So sweet and cute. 

The one item that I keep going back and forth on is whether or not to paint the end tables white.  They are more of a cherry finish.  The mister says no — mainly because I have an obsession with painting things white, and sometimes it backfires on me.  I’m just sure it would make everything look a million times better.  What do you think?  Should I paint them white, leave them, or do something else?

I know what you’re thinking. 

REALLY?

Yes.  They are.  Go out and transition your bathroom tiles right away! 

Okay, not really.  Though I love ducks, I don’t know that I would ever want them staring me down in the shower every morning.  Our friend, Amy sent over this picture above and needs help masking her tiles. 

Enter stage left: 2Jane

They have some wonderfully designed tile tattoos that you can install yourself.  Aren’t they just beautiful?

And they are flexible too.  You can decide you’re own pattern and way of displaying them.  There’s nothing we like more than a little DIY around here. 

Have you ever had to transform tiles in your home?  If so, what did you do?