Category: Our First House

Our first house, a 1960 ranch home.

Top Projects of 2010

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Even though we’ve only been blogging since May, we’re here to share our top projects of the year. 

By far, our most viewed posts, thanks to Young House Love, are about building and the completion of our DIY welded steel and marble dining table. 

I have to say, it’s one of our proudest DIY projects, too. 

Another fan favorite is the coffee filter pendant that is in our guest room. 

A simple, affordable art from magazines is another favorite.

Our painted rug was an affordable solution to join the chevron craze. 

Rounding out our top five is how to update brass using Blue Magic cream. 

Did any of your favorite projects crack the top five?  What is your proudest DIY?  If you have an idea you’d like us to tackle, please send an e-mail to ourhumbleabowed@gmail.com for consideration.

Wishing and Hoping

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I’ve said before that I think I have some form of seasonal depression.  I really hope I’m not the only one who gets stressed out and annoyed by the clutter winter brings.  Seriously, four people, three of which accumulate tons of winter garb (you’re not looking at one) and one small entry closet does not equal love.  To thwart winter’s takeover of our entry closet, I have concocted a plan of attack.  Notice I said plan; I haven’t even begun the process.

The plan includes a sofa table with a drawer or two, a few storage cubes and some cute hooks.  Ideally, Ben would build a modern style sofa table similar to this. 

I would prefer a dark wooden top and deeper drawers, but overall, I really like the style.  The drawers would be great for keys, mail, stamps and any pocket change.

Two storage cubes like these would be great below, though I would really like to have a faux leather one.  One for each of the boys.

The World Market deer head hooks would be the perfect spot for guests to hang their coats.

I plan to hang one under each picture frame behind our door, so long as the hooks are shallow enough to not bang into the door.

I love the deer hooks, but I would really love bird hooks, mounted in the same fashion with equal detail.  Something similar, but more realistic than these.  Creating functional, space-saving storage in our entry closet is key, too. 

I had a chance to plan my attack when Jen from IHeart Organizing and I met up at IKEA, stay tuned for those details soon!

What is your greatest organization challenge?  Have you found any reasonably priced great solutions?  Any tips for my entry?  I’m still on the hunt for affordable storage ottomans.  What is on your organizational wish list?

New Friends

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I get by with a little help from buy my friends.  On a recent trip to World Market, I found a few more friends to add function and style to our home.  This cute owl doorstop had me at “Whoo” and for $6.99, the price wasn’t bad either. 

I want to spray paint him for more flare, but I don’t know what color yet.  Any suggestions? 

Then, I spied these adorable mounted deer head hooks.  I intended to use these behind our front door, but they may be too deep.

But, they would add instant charm and whimsy.

The deer were more expensive than I’d usually pay at $6.99 each, but I love the look, so I splurged on two.  Ideally though, the deer heads would have been bird heads, similar to these, but with more detail.

Do you have any hooks or cute animals on your wishlist?

The Stockings Were Hung…

Published on by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

By the plate rack with care.  Unfortunately, our fireplace is a stand alone wood burning stove, so nothing combustible can be within three feet of it.  Which also means, no stockings hung on a mantle.  So, the best option was the plate rack in the dining room.

To hang, I screwed eye hooks behind the quarter round and it works perfectly!  I snagged all the stockings last year on clearance.  The silver ones are from Wal-Mart and the white is from Target.  I also bought monogram pins on clearance.

Of course they didn’t have a V.  Rarely can I find a V monogram.  Oh, I also whipped up a quick centerpiece using evergreen clippings, an IKEA planter and origami. 

Remember how much I loved these porcelain reindeer? 

Well, I’m cheap and can’t justify the price, so I attempted to make my own using polymer clay.  That ended in complete and utter failure.  Then, I decided to make traditional paper origami reindeer.

I think they’re still cute, though not as modern.  Oh well.

Also, RedEnvelope recently added baby items, including really cute baby blankets.  And guess what?  RedEnvelope is offering our readers a discount!  Yay for savings!  Right now, you can get 10% off sitewide, 15% off a purchase of $80 or more, and 20% off a purchase of $125 or more.  Just use PRESENTS10 Promotion code at checkout.

Don’t have a mantle?  What clever places do you hang your stockings?  Do you have an initial you can’t seem to find a monogram of?  Are there any ornaments you’re coveting this year?  Just want to see more Christmas ideas?  Here are a few ideas to get you started.

2010 Gifting: Modern Portraits

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Are you still looking for that perfect, custom gift?  Maybe you have a really picky person or someone who has everything.  I’m pretty sure even the pickiest person would love to have a custom art piece.  Am I right?  Well, we’re just introduced our modern black and white portrait line, custom-made from your photos. 

To get one for yourself or to gift, simply send a few of your favorite photos to ourhumbleabowed@gmail.com.  Please send photos in the highest quality possible. 

Your photo will go from this:

Runny nose optional.  With a little artistic editing, your plain photo will magically be transformed to this:

Want to see that again?  Okay, here’s the original, straight from the camera shot:

And here’s a custom, one of a kind art print.

If you would like to place an order, please head over to our Etsy shop.  For a limited time only, we’re having a buy one modern portrait print, get the same for only $15.00.  Your modern portrait doesn’t have to be a print, how about stationery instead?  Become a fan of Our Humble A{Bowe}d on Facebook (and tell us before checkout) to receive 10% off your order, too!

Here are a few other gift ideas we love: DIY Silhouette Art, Holiday Gift Sets, and a 2011 Calendar.