Month: March 2011

Map Lovin’ Round Up

Published on by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

Yesterday, I shared a cut out road map I made of Savannah, Georgia along with other maps throughout our home.  Many of you seem to have a similar weakness, so I decided to share some of my favorite maps.  Check out Ork Posters for typographic map posters.

These hometown hearts map prints from CAPow on Etsy are too sweet.

This I’m So Happy print by Two Sarahs is perfect for those in Oregon.  If you like this, check to see if you can get a custom print of your state.

How about a state watercolor painting from Poppy and Pinecone?  Love!

While searching Etsy, I found another map cut out artist, Studio KMO also has map art prints.

City Sketch notecards by Architette could be framed to make an art piece.

Map letters from Little White Dog would be a fun addition to any home.

Do you have a favorite I didn’t mention?  Any new favorites?  Do you prefer vintage maps?  Typography?  Globes?  Art prints?  Have you made any map art recently?  On a similar note, how about constellation art?  I’m thinking I need to add some to our house.  Let us know!

All  images found via the featured Etsy seller’s listing as linked above.

Map Lovin’

Published on by Our Humble Abode31 Comments

Whether vintage or new, maps and globes are a weakness of mine.  Along with birds, built-in shelving, anything colored Sea Green (like our guest bedroom), and chocolate.  I have several vintage globes on a shelf in my office. 

This small United States map to share places Ben and I have traveled together sits on my bookshelf.  

A large, modern-day world map poster hangs on a wall in my office.  The colors are always fun and it’s interesting to see the landscape change over time. 

In a little more artsy fashion, I recently added a paper cut out of the Great Lakes, too.

Well, I did it again.  This time, a road map of Savannah, Georgia, where Ben and I honeymooned nearly five years ago.  I decided I wanted something bold and graphic, so I bought two large sheets of cardstock, one cream, one charcoal grey.  Then, I used Google maps and Photoshop to piece together modern downtown Savannah.  After printing my template (on several 8.5 by 11 sheets taped together), I taped my pattern to my cream cardstock.  Two days later, I had a complete cut out.  I didn’t have a frame ready, and I also didn’t want to damage the design, so I taped it to the wall.

Then I remembered that I had an empty frame sitting under the bed.  The only problem?  It didn’t have glass.  So I called a few local hardware stores and found that Ace Hardware cuts glass.  I ordered a sheet and picked it up later that day, excited to frame my hard work.  I wasn’t too excited when I realized it was about 1/8 inch too large for my frame.  So, Ben to the rescue.  He scored the back of the frame and cut the wood out for the glass to fit.  As he cut my frame, I cut a mat.  After attaching all components, we had a new piece of art for our guest bedroom. 

It hangs between the entrance and closet doors.

It’s not perfect, but I love how it looks. 

What are your weaknesses?  Do you share the same affinity of maps and globes?  Perhaps you like nearly everything from a specific store?  Any chocolate cravings?

A(nother) Productive Weekend

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

Last weekend, we made a lot of progress on our laundry room.  We tiled the floors and installed our new washer and dryer.  Yesterday, I shared our plan with you, but what I didn’t tell you was that we actually got some of that done over the weekend.  Ben built the cabinet frame-work, started the installation the laminate countertop, added an overhead light (with a switch, not a pull chain!) and installed the under cabinet task lighting.  I sewed a curtain.  Yep, seems fair, right?  Anyway, have a lookse for yourself.

Here’s a closer look at the lower cabinets.

We decided to have three cabinets.  Well, technically, two because the area closest to the washer and dryer will be a drawer stack.  The cabinet against the back wall extends behind the other bay of cabinetry. 

The upper cabinets will remain as open shelving due to a few low hanging pipes that would interfere with a cabinet door swing.  You see those wires?  Those are for the under cabinet lights I mentioned earlier.  Ben still has to add the decorative faces to the cabinets, including the shelf that will cover the wires. 

And here’s a look at the new overhead light.  You can also see the old light fixture in the back.  Ben has since removed it completely, wiring included.  I guess that’s a benefit of an unfinished area with electrical panel in the room. 

My contribution to the space so far?  This drop cloth curtain.

It’s nothing special, but it does a fantastic job at hiding away the ugly geothermal, pressure tank and other plumbing.  I won’t get into the particulars on how to make it as it was really simple.  If you’re looking to make a cheap curtain for your home, buy a dropcloth, hem the width, fold the top edge over to the back and sew a rod pocket.  Then, hem at the bottom.  In our case, we needed another rod pocket at the bottom to prevent the curtain from getting sucked toward the wall, so I sewed another pocket.  Ben bought two adjustable closet rods and mounting brackets to serve as our curtain rods. 

Pretty fancy, huh?  I’ll share more about building custom cabinets and a laminate countertop once we’ve completed those projects, too.

The Lay(out) of the Land

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

As you know by now, we’re about half way through the completion of our laundry room.  We’ve already sheet rocked our walls, installed a pin wheel pattern tile floor, and installed our new washer and dryer.  We have plans to build custom cabinetry, so I thought I’d share our {floor}plan with you.

{Not to scale}

We’ll have base cabinets with a countertop for a nice work surface.  Above, we’ll have upper cabinets with under cabinet task lighting, too.  We love crisp white cabinetry, so we’ll paint it white.  The cabinets will house all of Ben’s reloading equipment and supplies as well as our small tools (we have a lot), extra paint, and laundry supplies.  It will be fantastic to finally have a place, other than the floor, to store our tools and paint.  Of course, we’ll keep you posted on the progress, too.

For now, I’m on the hunt for decorative storage for laundry necessities.  Any creative containers used in your laundry area?  What are your favorite decorative storage containers?  Lidded apothecary jars?  Clear storage bins?  Wooden boxes?  Open shelving systems?Any storage you’re coveting?

Gimme a Giveaway: Cat N Photography

Published on by Our Humble Abode73 Comments

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries, Thank You!***

On Wednesday, we shared some of our recent Etsy purchases, including two photography prints from Cat N Photography.   Here I have a 5 inch by 5 inch Heart print in action in our guest bedroom.

As I was ordering my prints, I asked Cat if she would be interested and/or willing to take part in a giveaway.  You guessed it, she said yes!  Which means…one of you lucky readers will win $25.00 to spend in Cat’s Etsy shop!  Cat has a ton of great prints like Dream:

The Birds:

And Waiting, just to name a few.

Want a chance to win?  Here are the deets:

The Goods: $25.00 good for or toward anything in the Cat N Photography shop.

To Enter: Subscribe to follow Our Humble A{Bowe}d, if you’re not already.  To subscribe, click the “Sign Me Up!” button under “Be the first to know.”  Once you’ve subscribed, leave a comment, which can include our Just for Fun question.

Just for Fun: Comment on this post with the words “PICTURE OF” (think Def Leppard) and tell us your favorite 80’s hair band.

For additional entries:

1.  Add Cat N Photography to your Etsy favorites, then come back and comment telling us your favorite print(s) from the shop.

2.  Like Cat N Photography on Facebook.  Make sure to come back to comment and tell us you ‘Liked’ Cat.

Contest Closes:  Thursday, March 10 at 9:00 pm, central time.

Number of Winners:  One!

Ships:  Anywhere in the U.S.

Other Info:  We will select the winner using random.org and announce on Friday, March 11th.  Good luck!!

All  images found via the featured Etsy seller’s listing as linked above.