Category: Our First House

Our first house, a 1960 ranch home.

Interactive Art

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While browsing Etsy, I found this cool vinyl map wall decal from Tweet Heart Wall Art.  The decal usually measures 22 inches by 38.5 inches, but that was larger than I needed.  After a few messages with Sunny, we nailed down my order.  I got a 10 inch tall by 19 inch wide map in Brimstone Yellow.  It arrived three days later!  

Color me  impressed with Sunny’s help and speed.   

So, what did I do with this map?  I turned it into interactive art for the boys bedroom. 

The process was exactly the same to create this as it was this magnet board I made over the summer.  The only difference was the addition of the vinyl decal.  Because this was my first experience with a large vinyl decal, I rushed peeling if off and tore parts of Russia and Africa.  So, I peeled those off and smushed them back down. 

After making the actual map board, I made a few magnets.  To make your own magnets you’ll need magnet sheets (pizza magnets work wonderfully), printable adhesive labels (I used Avery full sheets with True Block, just to make sure the magnet design didn’t show through), a printer and scissors. 

Type out the continents, oceans and other large landmarks, (for my size map, I need equally small magnets, so I used 10 point font).  I also created a few arrows.  Then, print onto stickers, remove the backing to place on your magnet and cut to size.

Then, help your kiddos scoot the labels and arrows around the map. 

When we’re not playing, the map takes center stage on the art wall, right next to the customized Made by Girl alphabet print and our free Valentine’s day All You Need is Love printable.  If you’re afraid this is going to fall on Everett, don’t fear.  I placed a few dots of sticky tack behind each corner to keep it firmly in place.  Just a few more framed prints and this wall is done…for now. 

I know.  Another map in our house.  It’s an addiction.  To refresh your memory, here’s the other side of the room.  

So far, we have painted the bed sun yellow, painted a chevron pattern on a jute rug, created free magazine art, refinished and decorated a bookshelf, and made more DIY origami art.  Heck, we even reorganized the closet!  The bedroom redesign we started last summer is nearly complete.  What’s left?  A few more art prints and a new, to-be-determined light fixture and possibly a new set of light blocking curtains. 

With spring just around the corner, we are finally getting nice weather to tackle some lingering projects.  What are you preparing to do?  Yard work?  Deep spring cleaning?  Spray painting?  (Me too!)  Perhaps you’re a go getter and you’ve already finished a project or two?

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

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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

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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?

Simple Solution: Great Bathroom Lighting

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So, this might seem strange.  More than once, we’ve had people ask, “Why is the lighting in your bathroom so great?”  They weren’t referring to the actual lights, rather the quality of light.  Three things are going on to make that happen.

1.  Large mirrors.  Both of the mirrors in our upstairs baths are huge.  The main bath mirror is three feet wide and 4 1/2 feet tall, so it reflects a lot of light.  Our master bathroom mirror is about the same size, filling the wall both in width and height.  Mirrors are your friend, in almost any situation. 

2.  Light colored walls.  This isn’t a must, but again, it helps bounce light around the room. 

3.  Ditch the overhead light fixture which casts harsh shadows.  Opt for sconces on either side of the mirror.  By using sconces, you’re getting equal lighting from both sides, eliminating those harsh shadows.  It doesn’t matter much if you choose a down lit or up lit style.  Ours happen to be down lit, just because the fixtures we chose looked better hanging.  Height matters!  A rule of thumb for hanging pictures is eye level or 60 inches from the floor. 

We have sconces in all three of our bathrooms and all are within five inches of each other.  The main bathroom sconces are 70 inches from the floor to the center of the electrical box.  The master bath are 66 inches from floor to center.  By keeping the fixtures near eye level (even if it is someone who is 6’2″), the lighting is more direct.  This also means you can use a lower watt bulb and pitch the flood light. 

Anyone interested in changing out their bathroom lighting?  Do you have a design problem and would like our help?  Send us an e-mail at ourhumbleabowed@gmail.com.