Display Your Family Proudly

For some time, I have wanted to display some of our family pictures in our home.  However, as you know, I have had a bit of a lack of courage when it comes to pounding holes into the walls.  You see, we have freshly painted walls finally, and I didn't want to gunk them up with extra nail holes.

At any rate, with my courage flowing, I got my hammer on.  The wall below is located directly across from the main floor bathroom, and is the pass through hallway from our foyer to our Great room.  This angle is from the foyer.

This angle is from the Great room.

Here is the wall in a "in progress" shot.  The post-it notes display a description of what picture goes into what frame since I hadn't printed all the photos I wanted to display when I started placing the frames on the wall.

I used the Ribba frames from IKEA in various sizes.  I like these frames because they look great, but are much less expensive than comparable options at Pottery Barn.  My hope is that this wall with grow with us as our family grows.  I wanted a balanced look, and I think I achieved the look I wanted.

Angle 1

 Angle 2

So what do you think?  I have been debating adding some stripes to this wall too to add a little more drama, but I have held off since I am in my third trimester. 

Front Door Gets Some New Bling!

Our front door has needed a facelift for some time.  As many of you out there, we are still struggling through the transition from brass hardware to satin nickel.  The other struggle our door has endured is having two holes where the former owners had their custom door knocker.  For two years, I have struggled to find a door knocker that would fit the two predrilled holes, and for two years, I have failed at every attempt until now...... See the sad holes..... Since winter is fast approaching, I wanted to get these holes filled.....

While browsing through Restoration Hardware's catalog, I found this beauty: The Ring Door Knocker.  What I loved about this door knocker is that the top and bottom part of the door knocker is two pieces.  This rocked my world because I had been struggling to find a door knocker that would fit my custom predrilled holes.  I had to have it on the spot.... At $50, I thought it was reasonable enough for a door knocker.  Of course, I went to purchase it at the store to find out it was not available in the store, but luckily I was able to order it and avoid shipping charges.... Yeah, but had to wait for a week for it's arrival... Boo!

It took no time to get up.  I did have to widen the predrilled holes a little more to get my hardware to sink into the door, but after about 15 minutes, the door knocker was up.  See below......

 Once I got the new door knocker, I new it was time to update the brass lock and kickplate.  I had been contemplating this for two years as well, but I wanted to keep my finish options open just in case the perfect door knocker fell into my lap (a girl can hope).

For awhile I have been really interested in upgrading our lock system to a keyless entry option.  With the new baby on the way, we will have a lot of guests coming in, and since most of our guests will be coming from out of state, there is always the chance they arrive when we are caught at an errand or something.  A keypad entry therefore would be ideal for us.  I did a bit of research, and decided to move forward with a Schlage keypad deadbolt.  I liked the flexibility this offered to us.  You can program the lock to hold 19 codes (not sure why you would want that many), but the more attractive option is that you can delete the codes very easily.  Therefore, no need to leave house keys for guests or contractors outside of your home.  Just give them a code, and delete it once their visit is complete.  The programming seemed to be easy enough, and the lock runs off a battery that supposedly will last for three years (we will see) so no reason to worry about the door not opening during an electricity outage.  There is also the back-up key option that can be used if the battery dies......

Therefore, I moved forward with purchasing the keypad deadbolt.  What I found once I reached the store is that the keypad deadbolt is sold separately, and you need to buy the bottom half handset to go with the deadbolt.  At Lowe's the customer needs to purchase the bottom half handset without a deadbolt by special order.  The interesting part about this option is that the bottom half handset that is sold separate (without a deadbolt) cost more special order from Lowe's than the whole front door handle set (which leaves you with an extra deadbolt).  I probably could have shopped around online and found a deal, but I am impatient, and just wanted to get this project complete.  Therefore, I went ahead and bought the keypad deadbolt, and the whole front door handle set.

The guy at Lowe's told me installation would be easy, but I decided to have a handyman come over and install it for me (worry-free).  Since I am 39 weeks pregnant, I could go into labor at any time so it is really important that my front door be able to lock at a moments notice.... Therefore, I just wasn't comfortable with the stress of possibly screwing up this project, and then having to try to put the old lock back on....... I am sure I could do it, but I had him help me with another project I will share in my next post.... It took the handyman about 45 minutes to install, and he said everything installed very easily..... :)

So without further adieu, here is our brand new door with it's new door knocker, lock, and kickplate.....

 Lock and handle set up close

 Keypad even closer

 Close-up of Door Knocker with Winter Wreath

I am just tickled with the transformation.  It just took me over 2 years to get the right items to get it done.  Of course, I still need to get a new wreath hanger because I did not realize until I looked at my picture that it is still brass (shame on me)...... In the spring, I would like to give the door a new coat of paint too, but that can wait until after the baby.....

As far as the keypad goes, it took me less than 5 minutes to remove the two factory codes, and replace it with two individual codes my husband and I picked.  I love the flexibility this will offer us, and can't wait to use it.

Linking up to......

http://www.storiesofahouse.com/

Public Enemy #2: Before and After Foyer Light

Your looking at public enemy #2.  The dreadful brass builder foyer fixture.  Many of you share my pain if your house was built in the 90s.  Our home is full of lots of shiney brass items (door knobs, hinges, lights, etc).  Slowly, I am working through exiling all of this brass.  I first started with our dining room light, and now I am here to give the good heave ho to this foyer fixture. 

My mom taught me to say nothing if I have anything negative to say, so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

I have spent about six months looking for an affordable replacement to this beast above. I had found a few options that I liked, but at $500 and $800 a piece, I couldn't stomach spending that much on a light that I was not 100% in love with. Enter Overstock.com..... I spend a decent amount of time looking for various items I am in the market for at Overstock.com each week. One day, I ran across this item pictured below....

I swooned in my computer seat....It is called the Accolade 12-light Chandelier.  It fit the bill for what I was looking for: nickel finish, traditional with some modern lines. Drum roll for the best part..... It was affordable.  At $177.99, it was offered at an attainable price.  It should be illegal to be this well priced, right?  So I got my order on, and received this beauty within 2 days. Score!

Of course since we do not own a ladder, I had the electrician install the new beauty for me.  It was a breeze to install, and was up and ready to illuminate within 15 minutes. :)

Full view...

What a commanding presence it offers. 

Looking up from the door way....

Finally, the night views with all 12 lightbulbs blazing......

Another angle with the dimmer switch in action....

Finally the view looking up with the lights on.....

I am so in love with my purchase.... I am giddy with delight.  Don't you just love when you feel that way!

Foyer fun....

I know this may take some of you by surprise, but we do not have much hanging on our walls in our home.  I am sure some of you may think that this tidbit is a bit unexpected.  2009 was a big year for paint in our home.  The whole first floor was painted between the months of March and November.  I did most of the painting in the early part of the year, and then, I developed some issues with nerves in my right arm (I am right handed) so we had to hire out for the rest of it.  Anyhoo, I developed a bit of a fear with hanging things back on the wall since all the walls were perfectly painted.  Basically, I was fearful of disturbing the paint job (I know this sounds crazy), but it is what it is. 

At any rate, I have decided that 2010 is the year to start showcasing our art and photographs.  The first place I started is in our foyer.  Our house is very open so we do not have a lot of wall space in our foyer.  The blank wall below is the "showcase" wall, and it is the first thing visitors see when they arrive. 

As I mentioned above, I have a bit of a fear of hanging items on the walls at this point. Therefore, I needed to develop a tool that would aid my confidence. I decided that before placing any nails in the wall, I would trace the size of my framed art onto paper. I then used these paper cut-outs to determine the positioning of the art by moving the paper pieces around on the wall (adhering the paper with tape once I thought I was in the right spots). The display I settled on is pictured below.

From here, I measured the positioning of the hanging wire and hardware on the art frames.  I can not recall what each photo needed.  From memory, the first photo had the metal teeth hanger on the top, and the second piece needed the picture hanger to be placed 3.5 inches down from the top of the frame.  Therefore, I found the center, measured down about 3.25 inches since the hanger thing was about 1/4 inch and then nailed the hanger into the wall.

Viola!  I am very happy I got over my fear.  The top picture is a wedding shower gift from some dear friends.  The bottom pic is a drawing we had an artist do for us of our home (you might recognize it from the blog too).  Below is the exact view visitors get from our doorstep (I am working on figuring out what to place over the fireplace... I am thinking a mirror, but that is the "easy" way out).

As the year progresses, I will continue to share with you how I accessorize with wall decor around our home.