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?

Gimme a Giveaway: Cat N Photography

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***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.

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.