The Interior DIYer
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New living room artwork – waxing moon

For husband’s birthday 2 years ago I drew the moon on our chalkboard wall to complete his space and Star Wars themed birthday. I painted over that moon 2 months later when I painted over the chalkboard wall. At the time I swore to husband I’d paint him another more permanent moon, as he loved the chalked one. 

And then 2 years happened. Because I’m a disaster and terrible wife. 

I was going through some old blog posts this week and was reminded I still had yet to fulfill my moon painting promise. I figured there was no better time than the present. I had an old canvas that I painted a black-on-black tree about a hundred years ago when I was an emotional teen [which you can see here], and it had been passed from room to room these past years waiting to be painted something proper. Well, half proper. It’s still mostly black. 

It had been something like 7 years since I had last painted, so I have to say it was so relaxing setting aside some time to painting again. 
I used a small plate to trace 3/4 of a circle onto the plain black canvas [sans emo tree], and then I attempted to mimic this waxing gibbous photo of the moon as best as I could. It took me about 2 hours from start to finish. 

I wrote a little here a couple of months ago about my alter-ego career. If I were to start over again and choose a different field of work, I would have loved to have gotten a B.Sc. in Physics with Astronomy. Yes, it seems somewhat random, but I’ve always been fascinated with all things space. Case in point – when I was little, to get myself to go to sleep I’d try and think of how far away the edge of space was and what it looked like. I also used to try and think of a colour no one had ever seen before and as you can imagine, that was an utter failure. But it did nicely segue to some pretty interesting dreams and an overactive imagination. 

Which is why, if you look really hard, there’s a lot of space-themed pieces and books dotted around our apartment. Husband actually hasn’t seen the new painting yet, so hopefully when he comes home tonight he, a) actually notices it so my ego doesn’t take a hit, and b) likes it. 

And above, you can see how well the sockets and heater switches under the stool nicely compliment the waxing moon. I find they really add a certain je ne sais quoi to the space, no?

Happy Friday, friends. Hope you have a good one xx

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Hanging accents for small spaces

I’ve written about our spare bedroom a good few times before. It’s a tough little room as the bed pretty much takes up the whole space, so adding things like accessories, can be challenging.

A couple of months ago I was struggling to get our spare bedroom ready for a guest coming over. I had some magazines, a little vase of flowers and some knick-knacks on the bedside table to make it feel a bit more welcome. Not to mention the lamp as well. Once I was finished, I realised there wasn’t enough room for said guest to even put their phone on the bedside table.

Insert obvious pun relating to being driven up the walls here. And then it clicked – the only way was up!

I bought these velvet hangers from Dunnes Stores (€5 for a set of 10), perfect for hanging up magazines and the likes above the bedside table. I didn’t put much thought into the placement of the hangers, just somewhere easily within reach from the bed, and stacked them to add a bit of variety.

I spied the glass hanging vase from Tiger just before Christmas and thought it was perfect for the spare bedroom wall. That’s the thing with Tiger – if you see something you like, you have to grab it with both hands, hold on tight and lock it down, because chances are the next time you stop in, the stock will have changed and it will be GONE. Like that girl in that GONE GIRL movie*. So I grabbed it with both hands [and paid for it, obv].

Also, don’t always believe what you see in online (and magazine) features. The rest of the room is chaos …

Just keeping it real. Bloggers are humans too.
And don’t worry Kimberly and Maria, it’ll be tidy for April. Promise. xx A

Also featured – bedside table and lamp – rescue kit for unexpected guests

*I have not seen Gone Girl so I don’t know if this is a reference that makes sense. It sounded like it would fit at the time of this being published. It’s tough trying to be a lyrical genius. 
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DIY Friday – birch covered container

In the beginning stages of brainstorming ideas for the Canadian man cave, I had spied a number of birch covered candle holders and vases on the high street. Some of which were a little steep on price. I was about to buy one when I had a moment and thought, “wait a second, I can DIY that“. 
The next weekend husband and I were out driving and I spied a couple of birch trees that were shedding A LOT. Perfection. Now I’m not one to normally attack an unsuspecting birch tree, but this tree had massive pieces of bark hanging off. I couldn’t not peel it a bit. So I did …

What you’ll need
A piece of birch bark
An empty container
A pencil, pair of scissors and a ruler
Spray adhesive [or any strong glue]
Dymo label maker [optional]
Step 1 – I first measured the height of the container. I roughly marked it on the piece of birch using a pencil and ruler, and then I simply cut it out. Now, be warned – birch bark will roll up and out of control, so maybe you’ll need a glass of wine near by to calm the nerves. Handle it gently. Remember, this is only a 5 minute project so you won’t have to put up with it for long. 
If you can’t get a solid piece of birch, it would be just as easy to cover your container by alternatively building up strips of it. 

WARNING: shoddy phone picture alert … 

Step 2 – I next taped off the top lip of the container. I did this so the adhesive spray wouldn’t get all over it. If you don’t do this and should any glue get on it, the lid will stick to it. And we don’t really want that. 

Step 3 – I sprayed the outside of the container with spray adhesive in a well ventilated area. Carefully add the piece of birch. Spray adhesive is usually quite forgiving, so if you need to move the birch, it should be no problem. You know what else is forgiving? That glass of wine. 

I finished off the container with a quick punch of my Dymo label writer to kick it up a notch. It was a really easy, and the best bit, it was FREE and in keeping with making the most out of what you already have.

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have a good one lined up this weekend xx A