Places I've Been - US & World Travel Pin Maps

I’m about to share one of my favorite projects to date!

For the past couple of months I’ve been looking for a large piece of art to hang on one of the walls in the office, but I just couldn’t find anything that I liked for that space. Coincidently I’ve wanted to create a travel pin board for awhile now…probably since I saw this one in Young House Love’s gallery hallway, so this seemed like the perfect solution.  I wanted a US map and world map, so my original plan was just to buy couple maps, back them with cork and hang them on the wall. Turns out it’s hard to find matching US and world maps that aren’t massive. So I moved on to Plan B – the DIY version.
 
I started with this corkboard from Hobby Lobby. It was originally $69.99, but it was on sale so I only paid $34.99. Actually I had a gift card leftover from my birthday, so I didn’t pay anything for it.

Then I used my Silhouette to draw the United States and world maps. I bought this shape for the states and this shape for the world (99 cents each from the online Silhouette shop). I also bought the Silhouette sketch pen starter kit from Amazon for $15.50 (although now it’s $19.99) for this project. I have to say that I absolutely love the pen set. I never really thought about using the Silhouette to draw things, so my mind was blown watching it draw out my maps!

I cut the maps to the same size and used double stick tape to hang them on the corkboard. 

To mark the places we’ve been I just used sewing pins. Places I’ve been are marked with fuchsia pins, places my boyfriend has been are marked with navy pins, places we’ve been together are marked with teal, and home is marked with a yellow pin.  I only marked places if we actually spent time visiting or sightseeing…airport layovers didn’t count. 

I love how it turned out, plus it was fun asking my boyfriend about places he’s been. I didn’t know he’d been to Mount Rushmore! I think it’s funny that my pins are mostly around the coast and his are mostly inland. 

I decided to use the rest of the space on the board to add pictures from our various trips. I cut them all into 4”x4” squares, so they’d be uniform. I missing some pictures from trips I took pre-digital camera days and I don’t have pictures from my boyfriend’s trips, but it’s a start. There’s still plenty of room to add more pictures too! 

Seeing all of those blank states really makes me want to hop in the car and road trip up the west coast and through the mid-west. Too bad I don’t have enough vacation time to do that!
 
Since we are talking about vacation plans - this seems like the perfect time to share the news about our next “teal pin”.
 
...*drum roll*….
 
ALASKA!
 
Yep, we’re headed to Alaska in July to fish the salmon run! We are flying in a day earlier than our friends so we’ll have an extra day to do some sightseeing around Anchorage. Then we are all off to the Kenai River to fish (and sightsee) for the week. I’m not really an outdoorsy person, so this is a little out of my comfort zone, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for an Alaskan adventure!
 
Have you ever been to Alaska? Any trips/recommendations?

Office Finishing Touches – Part 1

You may or may not have noticed that I only posted once in February…and it was about a project I’d done in December. I was crazy busy and stressed out at work (plus the recent loss of my uncle) – yeah, I’ve been in a funk. I didn’t want to do anything after work or on weekends other than lay around in my sweats and watch TV. I realize now how unhappy I was and how I really let myself go downhill. Long story short – I’m out of my funk and ready to get myself back together and start working on projects/blogging again. Oh, and I also got a new job! It’s with the same company and still in finance, but I’ll be in a different group and working on a different program (United Kingdom). I’m excited for the change, but I’ll miss my current group and manager.  Hopefully the new group will be just as fun…

All of that to say, I’m back! Today I’m sharing a few recent updates in the office. First off, I bought a new pair of pillow covers. I ordered them off of Etsy from Skoope Home. The owner is closing her shop, so everything is on sale – 2 pillow covers for $25! Usually I make my own pillow covers, but with the cost of fabric plus the time I’d take me to sew them, I’d say $12.50 per pillow is definitely a deal! I do want to add that they are made to order, so it took about a month from when I placed my order to when they arrived on my door step. The quality is great, but don’t order if you are in a rush…although, I don’t know why you’d be in a rush for a pair of pillow covers...

Anyway, I’m also working on styling the end table. I found this lamp at TJ Maxx for $29.99. I had a $25 gift card from my credit card points, so it only cost me $7.40 after tax. I love it! 

I’m still deciding on the rest of the accessories – like the plant that needs a new pot (I haven’t found one that I like yet). I love how this room is turning out and I can’t wait to finish it. Right now I’m working on a travel pin board for one of the walls. Hopefully I’ll have that post later this week or early next week. 

Light Blue Lovin'

Today I was planning to share another project that I finished during Christmas Break, but I couldn’t wait any longer to show off my newest piece of furniture!
 
As you know, I’ve been looking for an end table for the office since I started the room makeover back in March/April. I even considered building one myself, but I wanted something with drawers and my carpentry skills aren’t that advanced yet. I’ve been checking out thrift stores for the past few months, but nothing caught my eye. Anyway, last weekend I decided to stop at a nearby antique mall to see if I could expand my ironstone collection and I found this table.

It was marked $39, but they were having a storewide sale and this booth was offering 20%-off all items. I ended up paying $31, which I think is a great deal for a piece of solid wood furniture. At first I wasn’t sure about the light blue, but it’s growing on me. I think that if I can find some pillows that tie in the navy from the curtains and light blue from the end table I’ll leave the color as-is. 

I’m currently on the hunt for a lamp for the table and pillows for the couch. I’m getting so close to finishing this room…I can’t wait!

Clean out room
Paint stripes
Build desk
Paint chairs 
Buy file cabinets

Additional artwork
Sew curtains
Buy sleeper sofa

Mount TV on the wall
Create a gallery wall around the TV

Sell old desk on Facebook

Replace outlets and switches with white ones
Cords/modem/router solution
Build pallet artwork
Buy end table

Sew pillows
Add accessories

Selling My Desk/Office Progress

I’m officially crossing the first project off of my Christmas break to-do list! I sold my white desk…finally!

You probably remember the desk from my original office. I loved that desk, and still do, but it wasn’t practical. We each have a laptop so we really needed our own space, plus my boyfriend’s legs are too long to fit comfortably under the desk. We ended up building a farmhouse-style desk with enough room for the both of us earlier this year. So, my little white desk has just been taking up space (and collecting crap) for the past six months.

I’d been putting off selling the desk because I hate dealing with people on Craigslist. Seriously, if you say you are going to show up at a certain time, SHOW UP AT THAT TIME! Anyway, I decided to list the desk for sale on a couple of the Facebook sale groups that I’m a member of. (Side Note: Are you a member of any of those groups? Have you bought anything that way?)

But before I listed the desk I removed the glass knobs/pulls and put the original hardware back on the desk. I knew I wouldn’t get my money back with the pulls, so I’m saving them for another project. Luckily, the old pulls covered the holes I drilled for the new hardware, except one drawer. I puttied the holes, sanded it smooth, and then painted a fresh coat on that drawer. Easy peasy!  

I wanted $100 for the desk, so I listed it at $125 knowing I’d get offered less. I had a lot of people interested, but no one ended up following through on the sale…until I was about to pull the listing because I was leaving for Christmas at my parents’ house the following day. The lady said they lived at the same cross-streets as me, so they could come by that day if I’d take $100. Um, YES!

So, later that day the entire family showed up to look at the desk. Grandma was buying it as a Christmas present for one of her grandkids. The girl quickly looked over the desk and said she liked it. Grandma paid me and my boyfriend helped the grandpa load the desk into their truck. I’m so happy the desk went to a good home and that it was special enough to be someone’s Christmas present!

OK, enough about the desk…let’s talk office progress (I’m almost done!):

Clean out room
Paint stripes
Build desk
Paint chairs 
Buy file cabinets

Additional artwork
Sew curtains
Buy sleeper sofa

Mount TV on the wall
Create a gallery wall around the TV

Sell old desk on Craigslist/Facebook

Replace outlets and switches with white ones
Cords/modem/router solution
Build pallet artwork
Buy end table

Sew pillows
Add accessories
Buy dresser/Paint dresser – removed (not enough room for a dresser)

His & Hers Gallery Wall

It’s finally done! I feel like I’ve been working on this gallery wall forever!

When I first started planning the room I really wanted to make the office a place my boyfriend and I could both enjoy. Since we decided to build one long desk to share (more details here), I figured that would be the perfect place to incorporate both of our interests. So I decided to hang a his/hers gallery wall over the desk – items he loves on his side and items I love on my side, separated by the TV.

My boyfriend loves fishing, so on his side I hung a large fishing lure from Hobby Lobby, a picture of the lake, and an “I’d Rather Be Fishing” sign (more details here). He’s also a big Nebraska football fan, so I added a Huskers parking sign that I found at the swap meet. The number 14 sign represents his high school football number (more details here). He was the quarterback in a small town, so those were definitely his glory days.

My side of the wall has a few pieces with special meaning, but mostly they are just pretty/fun things - such as the metal bicycle from Hobby Lobby and the butterfly specimen art from IKEA. I made the Eiffel Tower wood shim art (more details here) in celebration of our Paris trip and the framed picture of the Palace of Westminster/Big Ben/Westminster Abbey is from our time in London. I finished off my side with some cute bunting because who doesn’t like bunting?!

 

I added our initials and an ampersand above the TV to tie our sides together. I love how it all turned out!

It’s been awhile since we looked at the ol’ to-do, so let’s see where I’m at now:

Sell old desk on Craigslist

Clean out room
Paint stripes
Replace outlets and switches with white ones
Build desk
Paint chairs 
Buy file cabinets
Cords/modem/router solution
Mount TV on the wall
Create a gallery wall around the TV
Build pallet artwork
Additional artwork
Sew curtains
Buy sleeper sofa
Buy end table
Buy dresser?
Paint dresser
Sew pillows
Add accessories 

Craigslist Couch

Actually, the title should probably be ‘Craigslist Loveseat’ but that doesn’t flow nearly as well as ‘Craigslist Couch’. 

ANYWAY… 

For the past year I’ve been searching Craigslist listings for a sleeper sofa/loveseat. I was looking for something neutral, about 6 feet long, like-new condition, and less than $400. Most of the couches for sale were either really dated/worn looking or too large for the space…or too expensive. Finally last week I came across this picture: 

 

At first glance it wasn’t much to look at and I almost dismissed it, but the “like-new La-Z Boy, bed never used” description and $250 price tag caught my eye. Looking closer I noticed it was 2-cushions wide (so it’d probably fit my space) and the arms had nice clean lines. So I sent an e-mail asking how long the couch was, if it was a non-smoking home, and what was under the blanket – any stains, rips, holes. The reply said it was 6 feet long, he didn’t smoke, and the blanket was just to protect the couch and the fabric was in excellent condition. It sounded perfect, but with Craigslist you never until you see it in person.  

As it turns out, the couch really was like-new and the seller was one of the nicest people I’ve ever dealt with on Craigslist! We bought the couch without hesitation and he helped us load it in the truck (it was WAY too heavy for me to lift). My boyfriend’s brother met us at our house and helped carry it into the office. And just like that – new (to us) couch!

 

Of course I still need to replace the throw pillows, but I love it! It fits the space perfectly! Plus it opens up into a full-size bed! It’ll be so nice to have an extra bed when we have friends or family stay over.  

 

And most importantly, it’s Ringo-approved! I found him sleeping on it the other night while we were all watching TV in the living room.  

 

And with that, I’m one step closer to finishing the office! 


 

I’d Rather Be Fishing Sign

Cue the applause! I actually created something that I pinned!

(source)

As you all know, I’m putting together a gallery wall in the office. My boyfriend and I both use the room, so I want both of our personalities to be reflected in the space especially since I don’t ask for his opinion anywhere else in the house. I thought a his/hers gallery wall would be a fun way to do that, so I’m hanging items he likes over his side of the desk and items I like over my side. I love how it’s turning out…plus my boyfriend actually likes it too.

My boyfriend LOVES fishing and we are only about 15 minutes from the lake, so he takes his boat out at least once a week. He spends a lot of time and money fishing, so of course I had to include something fishing related on the gallery wall.

Here’s my inspiration:

(Source via Pinterest)

I loved this sign because I know my boyfriend would rather be fishing than doing most other activities, but I didn’t love the $49 price tag. So I decided to make the sign myself using the same method as my EiffelTower Wood Shim art.

I used two packages of wood shims plus two smaller pieces leftover from my last project. I already had the gray paint, white paint, and vinyl, so my version cost less than $5!

I followed the exact same process as my Eiffel Tower art, so if you need more detailed instructions, click here. The only difference is that I painted my shims gray and used a little white paint and water to whitewash the boards.  

Here’s the finished sign with the rest of my boyfriend’s gallery wall items:

I only have a few more items to gather until the gallery wall is done. I’m hoping to finish before my trip, but we’ll see…

Eiffel Tower Wood Shim Art

Today I’m going to show y’all how to make signs out of wood shims. I like to call them faux-pallet signs because they have the same look as all those pallet projects you see around blogland and Pinterest, but are a lot simpler to make.  

First, gather your supplies. You only need wood shims, paint, and wood glue for this project! I bought my wood shims at Hobby Lobby (2-pack for $2.33). The shims are about 12 inches long and 1 ½ inches wide. I needed 5 shims for my finished sign, so I had to buy three packs (I’ll use the extra piece on another sign). I also bought a pack of smaller shims to help assemble my sign.

Start by painting the front and sides of all the shims. I just used white craft paint.

 

I forgot to take a picture of the assembly step (my bad), but it’s really simple. Flip the shims over and place them together. Add a line of glue to the back of the smaller shims. Lay them across the shims, press down, and wait for the glue to dry. That’s it! The shims are so light weight that you don’t need nails or screws.

Next you need to decide on a design. I picked the Eiffel Tower in celebration of our upcoming trip (less than 3 weeks!). I found this Eiffel Tower shape online and used my Silhouette to cut it out on some scrap vinyl. I used transfer tape to layout the design on my board. If you don’t have a Silhouette or Cricut, you can use stickers or freehand/trace your design.

 

Now it’s paint time! I used navy craft paint and a foam brush to paint in my design. Remove the large pieces of vinyl while the paint is still wet, but wait until the paint is dry to remove the smaller pieces. Otherwise, you’ll smudge the paint…ask me how I know… If you have any bleeding, it’s easily fixed with a small brush and a little paint.

Et voilà!

 

I used two small pieces of mounting tape to hang my new artwork in my office gallery wall. I love how it turned out and I can’t wait to see the real Eiffel Tower in a few weeks!  

Office Storage – Filing Cabinets

I’m still completely in love with the desk that we built, but there’s one big problem with it. There’s no storage! I’m a paper/office supplies hoarder and I needed somewhere to keep my stash!  

My original plan was to bring in a couple filing cabinets, but I wasn’t sold on the idea of adding such big, bulky pieces to the room.  And then I saw this makeover by Emily Henderson (isn’t she amazing?!). Notice the filing cabinets? They’re from IKEA and they are way better looking (and cheaper) than traditional filing cabinets. And they are only 11 inches wide – perfect for a small space!

(source)

Luckily IKEA isn’t too far from my house, so I stopped there last Saturday to pick up a pair cabinets plus some other goodies. Assembly was a pain – seriously, these cabinets are the epitome of cheap IKEA furniture construction. The the drawers are held together by folding metal tabs together, but it works, so I can’t complain too much.

Here’s a full desk shot, including a sneak peek at the gallery wall that I’m working on:

And now we have plenty of storage…actually a couple of drawers are still empty! I’m sure they’ll be filled soon enough. I still need to work on desktop storage and finish the gallery wall (and hide all the cords), but I love how this side of the room is starting to look! It’s pretty, but functional…my favorite combo!

DIY Number 14 Sign

Believe it or not, I actually created something that I pinned! Actually, I’m sure y’all are more surprised to see two posts in a row than anything. I’ve been blog slacking lately and I blame Game of Thrones. I finally started watching it a few weeks ago and that’s all I’ve been doing during my spare time. I just finished season 3 and I’m still in shock. That show is so good, but seriously depressing sometimes.

ANYWAY…

When I saw this DIY sign from Layla at The Lettered Cottage, I knew it would be perfect for the office. I’ve been struggling with ideas for my boyfriend’s side of the gallery wall and I thought this project would be a great way to incorporate something meaningful for him.

(source - pinned here)

I started by painting a wood plaque from Michael’s with some flat white paint I found in the garage. Once that was dry I used my Silhouette to cut the number 14 (font: Felix Titling) out of some leftover vinyl. I picked 14 because that was his number playing football in high school and I know those are some of his favorite memories. Ah, the glory days!

I filled in the number with some black acrylic paint and that’s it! Originally I was going to distress the sign, but I actually like it as-is. And now I’m one piece closer to a finished gallery wall!

Thanks for the inspiration Layla!

Has anyone else pinned it, did it lately? Or is anyone else addicted to Game of Thrones?