another mantel to scape

Danabeach house, before and after, coastal, collection, furniture, living room, mantel, mid-century, shutters 2 Comments

Yes, you heard right. There is another mantel in my life. No, I’m not cheating on my first mantel.

art deco coastal mantel

I firmly believe you can never have too many mantels. And you don’t need a fireplace to go with said mantel. A really great mantel will add character and speak for itself. Like this art deco one that I alluded to on Monday. Check out the lines. And the subtly distressed wood. Love the imperfections.

art deco coastal mantel

As promised, beside the mantel sits my new favorite mid-century tweed swivel chair with brass tips. And a box of driftwood for good measure.

mid-century tweed swivel chair

This vintage/coastal vignette is the new focal point of our beach house living room. As our home should, it feels like the perfect mix of both Ryan and me.

vintage coastal living room/mantel vignette

This room is large in scale and was in dire need of further updating to get to this point.

Here’s the back story and before shot.

I’ll be honest, I had a mini-bridezilla moment a few months ago when I realized Ryan would be getting ready here for our wedding which means photographers would be set up in THIS ROOM! It wasn’t ready! This is what the furnished space originally looked like when we moved in 3 years ago…

living room before

It is like a time warp of someone’s grandmother’s house in 1992. I began tearing down the thick vinyl wallpaper about 2 days in. I couldn’t take it. We did however embrace all of the wood trim. I know most people would have walked in and painted everything white and called it a beach cottage. We are going for a “rustic boathouse” look in this bungalow hence natural woods, brass, blues & greens.

D for drywall & dana

After removing the wallpaper, we painted (and discovered a hidden D!). I believe the blue we chose is called January Frost by Valspar.

painting

And from there, we just moved those hideous couches back in their places and went to the beach for the next couple of years I suppose. Slowly the side tables and things got changed out but the couches stuck around for far too long. Ryan tried to convince me that they were vintage but they weren’t what I had in mind and we both agreed that they were very uncomfortable. Last fall we found a comfy sectional for the space and then things really started to evolve around it.

coastal cottage living room

A lantern turned lamp with a modern shade got added to the mix.

vintage lantern turned lamp

Green shutters from Phantastic Phinds flank either side of the window. There are lots of aqua touches throughout the room. I will share the other half of the space in the near future.

art deco beach house mantel

I found this cage 2 summers ago and turned it into a coffee table with casters and a piece of glass. It houses an anchor and other rotating coastal treasures.

vintage cage turned coffee table

Let’s get back to the mantel though. The inaugural coastal mantelscape is a bit monochromatic. I already have some plans to brighten it up for spring but let’s review…

vintage ship wheel

I found that large picture at a consignment shop a few years back. It is actually a woodburning of a lighthouse scene.

lighthouse woodburning

The vintage bookends are new to us. We seem to be collecting ship captains around here like our Gorton’s Fisherman painting that now hangs across the room. And the old man Ryan needlepoint. I love them all!

fisherman bookends

But doesn’t it look like this captain is wearing lipstick? Hey, whatever floats your boat! Ha, get it? Boat. Captain. Ok…

ship captain bookend

That wraps up where we are with this space at the moment. More to come I’m sure! I am already looking for an updated lamp shade for the ship wheel sconce on the left that I purchased from another vendor at West End Garage.

art deco coastal mantel

What’s currently on your mantel?

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February 2, 2012home

i’m floored

Danadiy, living room, reclaimed, salvage, trash to treasure, wood 5 Comments

We’ve got a new addition in our living room. The space is really starting to come together. I’m so happy with it. It is filled with lots of warm colors, woods and rustic accents. Just a few more tweaks and it will be perfect…and then I will probably start all over again. Kidding!

Did you spot the new addition? Hint…

It all started back in September with a beautiful afternoon on the lake. And my obsession with that set of adorably worn vintage chairs. A photoshoot quickly ensued that afternoon and we ended up with a perfect picture of us, the chairs and the season – all growing old. Tear.

In December I edited the photo to highlight the warm colors of the natural backdrop and ordered a large print with the intention of hanging it over the loveseat there.

Once the photo was in my hot little hands, I labored over what frame to display it in. I went back and forth to box stores trying to find the right frame. I came up short more than once and finally realized that the look I wanted was not a cheap mass-produced frame. They were so overpriced for the quality. It was disappointing so I took to what I know…junking.

A handmade wood frame was more up my alley which brings me to my post on Monday about my trip to Philadelphia Salvage last weekend. Once I decided that reclaimed wood was the framing material of choice, I thought why don’t we just make it? Ryan was on board (ha get it? board) with making it so I happily salvaged away for the perfect pieces. I climbed the top of that pile with my Mike Wolfe picking prowess. (Not really.)

I had barnwood in mind because I wanted a rough, worn texture. But would you believe me if I tell you that the frame is made of old wooden floor boards and trim? I know I still can’t believe it either! Floor boards as in walked all over for 100 plus years and then salvaged from an old Philadelphia house and now hanging on my wall making art.

Ryan crafted my vision into a reality with a miter box and saw. The scratched up pine flooring makes a perfect frame with shoe molding serving as the white matting inside and corner molding accenting the exterior. Plus the red undertones subtly match the living room. Insert glass and done!

I love it! Move over barnwood, old flooring has made its framing debut!

Check back tomorrow for more reclaimed wood in the 2nd follow up post on the pallet wood backsplash.

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Treasure Hunt Thursday

December 20, 2011home

my Christmas home tour

DanaChristmas, collection, dining room, friends, house tour, kitchen, living room, mantel, sunroom, Wilson 3 Comments

Christmas…just 5 days away.

If you read other home design and vintage blogs, you may have noticed that everyone has been posting their own version of their Christmas home tour. In my attempt to keep up with the Joneses of the blog world, I had planned to post my holiday decor house tour 10 days before Christmas. You would think that wouldn’t be too difficult considering the place has been decorated for Christmas since about Thanksgiving. Well, that self-inflicted deadline came and went. Over the weekend, I tidied the place up with the intent to photograph each room and get the aforementioned post up on Monday. Yesterday. That didn’t happen either.

A co-worker once told me “life happens while you’re making plans”. So true.

Without further adieu, photos of life happening in our home decorated for Christmas. No staging. Or bright natural light that I was holding out for…

Most of our friends come in the back door and enter the sunroom. They’re greeted by a table top tree made of bells and some white pine from the yard.

The sunroom leads to the kitchen. No matter the house, everyone always seems to gather in the kitchen. Am I right?

And this time there is a sing along in progress with our friends children.

A little girl sings along in her party dress.

Overnight guests hang out in matching PJs.

Let’s leave the jam session and check out the dining room where snacks and a game of Apples to Apples were just abandoned. There is our Fraser fir tree centered in front of the window.

On the adjacent wall is the card display that is now bursting with photos & holiday greetings.

Of course the living room is empty because everyone is squished in the kitchen! The mantel is the focal point of the room and has been a big hit.

Pull a seat closer to the fire. Vintage of course.

Oh wait, the living room is not empty. There is just one Scrooge who chose not to join the holiday festivities. Bah humbug Wilson!

The living room built ins also got a touch of Christmas with the addition of white pine clippings and vintage candles…

…and subtle, rustic, Christmas decor like this galvanized funnel tree. This idea came from a similar one I saw on pinterest.

Every nook & cranny is outfitted with a collection of old ornaments.

Christmas sweaters are optional but certainly encouraged over here.

Thanks for stopping by our Christmas home where life is currently in progress.

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September 9, 2011home

harvest mantel

Danafall, farm, living room, mantel, plants 7 Comments

Greetings loverlies!

Have I mentioned how much I love fall? LOVE! Particularly pumpkin picking, lattes, crunchy leaves, tall boots, strawflowers, autumn colors. I could go on and on. There’s just something in the air. And oh so much color to admire.

Right now I am finding inspiration at my local farmer’s market. Everything is so abundant and colorful. I decided why not just layer the mantel with all of this glorious natural color?

I started with this oil painting that I already owned. It establised the color scheme for the display. It was easy to layer on the natural beauty from there.

I’ve been collecting orchard baskets all summer. Green apples in this one.

Crab apples in the red one. Here’s a secret: the red basket is not filled with apples. It’s actually filled with tissue paper and just the top layer is apples.

Ornamental pepper plants always seem to be drawn to me this time of year. Or maybe I’m drawn to them. They’re so fun! They come in multiple colors from cream to orange to purple. I put a couple of these in my collection of yellow McCoy planters.

I didn’t have a third yellow McCoy so I improvised with the remaining pepper plant. I decided to just wrap it in brown paper.

And accented it with some leftover burlap.

I think the kraft brown goes well with the orchard baskets.

What else do we have? Ryan and I made this chalkboard a while back. We used a shabby old frame and some chalkboard paint. I wrote on it in lavendar similar to the sunset in the sunflower painting.

I bought the apple farm sign last year. I didn’t make it but wish I did!

But my most favorite part of the harvest mantel has got to be the mini pumpkin display! This was also the splurge. There are 21 live pumpkins. I selected each one individually. They’re in a wooden bowl on the vintage cheese box I brought home a few weeks ago. I threw in the industrial scoop for good measure. Hello there little guys!

There you have our fall harvest mantel. Love?

If you’re hungry, stop by the mantel for a fresh snack. Never thought I’d say that.

Where do you find inspiration for your home?

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July 25, 2011home

place setting art

Danabefore and after, crafting, diy, living room, tutorial 7 Comments

We had a little problem. In the form of this big blank wall in the living room.

Ok, maybe problem is a strong word. We’ve lived here for nearly 4 months with nothing on this very main wall in our otherwise cozy home. Finally, Ryan asked what we were going to do with it. I had thought about antique ceiling tiles but never came across enough in the right colors at a good price.

We scored big on the couch when we got it for free. Otherwise we probably would have selected a more neutral color knowing us. But the couch has treated us well so far and it’s time we treat it to some complementing wall art above. Afterall, the couch faces the much groomed and tended to mantle all day long.

I went back-to-school shopping. Not really. I just hit the back-to-school display and picked up some of these cork tiles. The texture is so warm – just what the couch could use. The 12×12 cork tiles mimic the shape of the antique ceiling tiles I originally pictured but cost much less at just $5 for a 4 pack. Done and done.

I picked up some fabric remnants at my local thrift store where they are always just 99 cents. Plus a tea towel from the dollar store and some felt totalling another $5. Wonderful.

At our yard sale, Emily’s shower curtain did not sell. I snagged it figuring I’d find a use for the paisley cotton blend sheet. It occurred to me that it matched the couch perfectly. I wondered what Emily would think if her shower curtain became part of my living room decor. Weird? Hmm. We’ll find out!

Next, I pulled a place setting from my kitchen cabinet, hence the name I came up with for this project “Place Setting Art”. Sort of a place setting anyway but “Sort Of Place Setting Art” doesn’t sound as good. I wanted 4 different size circles so pulled various size dishes.

I traced them on the fabrics and cut ‘em out.

Mixing and matching the different sized fabrics was my favorite part. I laid them out on the floor to rehearse the possible patterns. The paisley fabric formerly known as Emily’s shower curtain is the recurring fabric in each combination. Perfect!

You will notice that I didn’t iron any of the fabric, partially because I didn’t feel like it and partially because I thought the wrinkles would help give some dimension. Which it does.

Then it was time to take it to the wall. I hung the cork tiles using the sticky adhesive that came with them. Only one tile would not cooperate so I nailed it on. I did what I had to do. Once the tiles were in place. I put the fabric up using tacks from the dollar store. I may upgrade the tacks later. I also hot glued the fabric in a few places on top but tried to as little as possible to keep the dimension of the layers.

(If you’re seeing that blue spot, it is on my wall. Not your computer screen. Don’t fret.)

I am happy with the outcome. It really warms the space up and gives some color to that side of the room. And for less than $20! I’m envisioning changing out the installation on the cork occassionally. We’ll see…

What do you think? Emily?

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The Lettered Cottage
Between Naps on the Porch
The DIY Showoff
House of Grace
Beyond the Picket Fence
House of Hepworths
Freckled Laundry

July 13, 2011home

au naturale

Danadiy, living room, mantel, nature, plants, tutorial, wreath 10 Comments

I hate to be the bearer of bad news here folks but summer is a flyin by…it’s unofficially halfway over. Where has the time gone?

Ok that was very negative of me. Let me try this again…I just love fall! I really do and guess what! It’s only about a month and half away. I can’t wait for a chill in the air, the leaves to change colors and some hot toddies by the fire.

Did somebody say fire? Oh right that brings me to my whole point in today’s post. The fireplace…

With Memorial Day and Independence Day behind us, it was time to dismantle the patriotic mantel.

The bricks are still painted brick-red and I still dislike it. I haven’t decided what to do about it just yet.

But let’s talk about the theme of the mantel. As we approach the 2nd half of summer, I wanted to bring nature inside. I had Ryan in mind because not only does he love the outdoors but we will be celebrating his birthday in the 2nd half of summer.

On with the elements. Let’s start from the ground up…

The fabulous retro suitcases from a recent hunt made their debut on the hearth. They are meant to represent summer travel. Ok I admit they are not any part of nature but they’re cool, right? And I added some cacti to keep it natural.

The other side of the hearth is accented with a yellow banded snake plant in an antique egg basket. The bland nursery pot is covered with a vintage burlap potato sack that I picked up. I chose a snake plant because it is tolerant of interior light and low water. Not that I plan to ignore it but you never know. Oh and here’s a random factoid for ya. The “yellow banded” version of a snake plant actually came to be from a mutation in breeding. Since it was a pleasant mutation, growers kept it going! And now we have yellow banded snake plants…

Remember the vintage birdhouse that I picked up a few weeks ago? I used wood glue to repair the broken pieces and now it is a welcoming home for summer birds…in the living room. The birdhouse is accented with some birch branches from our tree primarily because I needed a lighter color in the display and also because I wanted to add some height. The birch’s texture was just a bonus to the natural display.

There are quite a few moss elements on the mantel. Ryan has been into moss lately and keeps suggesting that we grow it. I thought that bringing some moss green decor in might curb his moss enthusiasm for now.

I picked up these oversized faux-moss flowers at Michael’s earlier in the summer. At the time, they were 2/3 off so I literally got 3 for the price of 1. I wasn’t sure what I’d use them for then but the color and shape were just too fun to pass up. Now they are arranged in and among an old glass bottle that was in my vase collection.

There’s been a lot of hub-bub in the blog world lately around moss wreaths. I decided I wanted my own! It was totally easy to assemble.

Here’s how…

Pick up an 18 inch floral foam wreath and a moss 4 foot “table runner” from Michael’s. It is preserved real moss and smells like chemicals at first.

Cut the table runner in half length wise.

Cut those in half again so you have 4- 4 foot x 3 inch strips of moss.

Then wrap evenly around the wreath and hot glue the ends as needed. If you wish, accent however you want! The moss balls and pinecones are simply placed in the wreath – no glue.

It wouldn’t be a summer theme without a hint of the beach. We picked up the perfectly muted driftwood on a recent coastal walk. There are a few green glass globes randomly filled with decorative shells that I’ve had in my craft drawer for years.