Getting Things Done

So, in an effort to finally pull my apartment together, I'm doing the Apartment Therapy Spring Cure. This week was focused on the kitchen, and so it got a deep clean and organizational frenzy, as the cupboards weren't quite arranged the way I wanted. Side note - who knew an oven could get dusty? I mean, I know I don't use it that much, but still, there was an actual layer of dust on the bottom inside my oven.

I can't get too creative with the design, as the wall below is literally the only available wall space in the whole kitchen. I tried to tie in the yellow of the living room with my tea kettle and paper towel holder, and then I pulled these three platters out of a box where they've lived for several years and hung them on the wall.

One of the things to do weekly in the Cure is to buy fresh flowers - this week was daffodils!

And onto one of my projects that's been hanging over my head - the gallery wall. After much debate, my orderly engineer side won out and I went with a geometric layout. I was planning on getting some of my photos printed for this, but I had some of my mural photos printed that I had never framed, so I went with those instead. These have a bit of a long history for me, and it's only taken about 3 years for me to decide I wanted them on my wall to get them up there. :)

The feature piece, my Christmas present from boyfriend, is a photo collage that has yet to be framed (it's the large square one on the floor), but the rest of them are hung up and look good (if I do say so myself). I'm anticipating it will grow, but these are just all the random frames/photos/artwork I had laying around.

Update on other random apartment projects - we actually managed to get a little bit of work done on the loft bed last weekend, that is, until the circular saw battery ran out and we realized the extra battery and charger were at boyfriend's house. I have high hopes of getting stuff done this weekend, but we'll see. :) The gorgeous weather we've been having means we can actually work outside, so that is a definite plus. Stay tuned for more updates!

Feeling a Little Square

Seeing as how I have as yet to finish up my gallery wall, I figured I might as well add to my inspiration file. This one doesn't fit with the artwork I currently have, but is a possibility for another location, perhaps. I really like the skinny white frames against the white wall.

Photo courtesy of Apartment Therapy)

Gallery Wall - Decisions, Decisions

So my weekend was mostly spent doing the work I actually get paid for, so I was unable to do any work on the apartment. But I have been thinking. I already know that I'm going to do some sort of gallery arrangement on this wall:

But now I have to decide how and what to actually do. I did some cruising around Apartment Therapy and the world wide web in general, and am no closer to deciding. For the most part, I think it will be my own photos that I will get printed, so I'm not too limited in how it will look. My Christmas present from boyfriend is not yet done, but when it is done, it will be a large (30" or so) square frame that is a collage photo of bright DC row houses with a gorgeous ginkgo tree in front. This may or may not end up on the gallery wall, depending on what I decide, as I mostly want smaller photos (8x10), and that would look funny I think. I also want to be able to mix it up a bit, trading photos in and out. With that said, here are some of my inspiration pictures:

Randomly placed framed artwork:

(Photo from Apartment Therapy)

Off-topic, but I love the wallpaper!
(Photo from Apartment Therapy)

Randomly sized artwork in a grid/geometric formation:

(Photo from Design Formula)


(Photo from Design Formula)


I like the black and white photos in all the same style frame.
(Photo from Apartment Therapy)


Using artwork as a border is a great idea.

(photo from {BLACK.WHITE.YELLOW.})

Identically sized artwork in a grid:

Even though the frames are all the same size, the photos are not identically sized. Nice way to add symmetry.
(Photo from Apartment Therapy)



I've loved this off-set design for quite a while, but it's one of those things that you do once and then never change. I don't deal well without change.
(Can't remember where I got this photo - if it was you, let me know so I can add the credit)

Picture ledges:

(Photo from Design Formula)

Pictures clipped on wire:

(Can't remember where I got this photo - if it was you, let me know so I can add the credit)


(Photo from Apartment Therapy)

This is my favorite of the clipped art methods, I think. Adds a bit more of a framed look.
(Photo from Apartment Therapy)

And that doesn't even touch on the issue of matching frames, what color the frames should be, should the photos be black and white, or color, or should the colors match my living room, and so on.

My summary of how I feel about them

Randomly placed framed artwork:

The more organic and free-flowing arrangements are easy to add to over time, but tend to look cluttered and take a lot of work to lay out in the beginning I think. This one is my least favorite, I think.

Randomly sized & identically sized artwork in a grid/geometric formation:

Being an engineer, I naturally gravitate towards the geometric layouts, but because I want to change it up frequently, I worry that that becomes too much hassle. It wouldn't be too bad if I always use 8x10 photos horizontally orientated though, I guess.

Picture ledges:

These are a good solution to changing things up, but I think they tend to look better with a smaller number of large pieces. Also there is danger in devolving into a Pottery Barn catalog layout.

Pictures clipped on wire:

This is what I'm currently leaning towards, as it's the least work, and it means I don't have to buy a bunch of frames, which can get pricey. Not to mention it's super easy to change photos in and out, and I don't have to worry about changing the horizontal placement of photos. I'm a little worried it might read as dorm room though, so I'm hesitant.

What do you all think?

Beyond Miniature

I've always loved small things. It might be because I'm small myself, but miniature anything fascinates me. Normally I like them to be big enough for me to see though. That is not the case with Willard Wigan's work, which I read about in the Washington Post today. Most of his work is small enough to fit in the eye of a needle and requires a magnifying glass to see. He started making furniture and an apartment building for ants when he was a boy and his mother encouraged him to take it even smaller. He has trained himself to have a steady hand and slow breathing when working on a piece, as the slightest movement could mess up the whole thing. As he said in the article, "Once, I inhaled Alice in Wonderland."

His work is on display at the Parish Gallery in Georgetown through January 23rd.



(Photos courtesy of The Washington Post)