Gallery Wall Is Up!

After two years of living here, I have made a LOT of holes in the walls. After patching some up and not wanting to do that again, here's what I've learned.

Be patient. Instead of rushing to hammer in a nail to put up that new frame, play around with everything first. Lay it all down on a large table or on the floor, like so.

Those large canvases are a diy, one inspired by the West Elm version. I wanted to make them cohesive, so they all use black, gray, white, and gold. I'm constantly adding more art as I find it/create it. 

Also, 3M tape! Their velcro strips hold up to seven pounds each for the medium size so no more holes! 

Pieces of the Living Room

Fireplace, rug, swan textile via topshop (no longer available but could be replicated on Spoonflower), and Richloom Dixon fabric in graphite

The tripod lamp is already in there with the modern black sectional. I'm going to pick up on the orange bills on those swans and get a few solid orange pillows just so things aren't all black on black (which I LOVE - check out my closet). That Dixon fabric you might remember from the bedroom post where I'm using it in black against my upholstered bed so as you can see, my spaces are pretty monotone. I'm still working to get some basic pieces like a rug which I always go neutral just because it's easier to change out accessories or pillows later when I suddenly have a fascination with a new color. 

Oh, and I went with a large white shade - the Ikea Jara shade which was just $20 for an 18" drum shade! The white lights it up better since our living room has no overhead lighting, plus the larger shade just makes the entire lamp look so much more expensive. 

Curtain Call

When I moved in, there were no curtains anywhere and on a time crunch and limited funds, I got these for $3.74. I know, cheapest curtain rods ever. Of course, when the curtains went up it was only a matter of time before the weight of the fabric was too much and the whole thing bent and I had saggy curtains. Last week we headed back to Target after some time researching on the internet for the best option.

Umbra Loft Drapery Rod. 

It's clean, simple, modern and comes in an ORB finish and looks way more expensive than what I paid for. Plus, it holds up to 25 pounds! I can hang a hollow core door off this thing. Seriously. That's all we have in this house, crappy hollow core doors with holes in them from previous tenants. Anyway, up they went. 

They match the patio door frame finish and the middle piece totally helps with the no-bending-rod thing that was going on before. Sorry for the lame photo, it's from the phone and it was oddly bright here in Seattle last week. Happy Tuesday! 

It's Mine!

Two days ago, World Market had a lighting sale, 30% off any and all lighting. The telescope lamp I wanted was now $83 down from $120 and because the very last one available at our store had a screw that wouldn't thread correctly, we got it at a further discount for $70. On top of that I had a member's coupon for  10% off and a previous store credit for $30 so in total, I spent $35 for this giant floor lamp!

But alas... we came home and tried to assemble it but it also had a broken screw at the top where the bulb was supposed to go so it just kept flopping around. Determined to make this lamp a part of my apartment, I called another World Market, told them the situation, and put one of theirs on hold. I told them I got mine at a discount cause the unthreadable screw but they were super nice since we had to go through all this trouble to get a new one which we would have to pick up from the next city over that they just exchanged it right there. Now I just need to buy a lamp shade a la Nate Berkus.