Hide those Pesky Components

Hey.  I just wanted to give you a quick peek at one of the little tweaks/personal stamps we put on our home shortly after moving in.  Because my husband DID NOT consult me when choosing the location of our alarm components, I wound up with (begin sarcasm) an Oh So Lovely! (end sarcasm) alarm keypad right in the middle of the only expanse of valuable wall space in my entryway.  Therefore, I had to get a little creative…

So I decided to cover it with a frame.

(Please excuse the old photos.)

It was pretty easy.  I was able to do it myself, and I didn’t even measure out the exact placement of my frames, which I do not suggest as this might be obvious depending on the angle at which you look at the frames.  I was just so sick of staring at this thing and wanted it done ASAP!  That aside, I decided to put up 4 frames using an inexpensive ($3 maybe) pack of hinges from The Home Depot.  I just screwed them right into the plaster wall.

The pictures are actually just pages from a vintage French botanical book I found online (not 100% certain of the source but they may be from VintagePrintable.com).  I simply printed them off on a color printer and used them as a temporary solution.  Ideally, I’d like to fill the frames with prints from The Paris Print Shop (formerly Little Brown Pen) on Etsy, but I honestly cannot decide on which color grouping I like the most – pink, green, orange, yellow, decisions, decisions.

I’m actually still considering whether or not I should add to this gallery or just leave the 4 frames as they are.  I have gallery walls planned for other areas of my house but I really don’t want to be “that house” with a million gallery walls.  It’s just not my style, though it’s cool if that’s what you’re into, or if you invented “the gallery wall”, or… whatever.

So, that’s all I got for you today.

What do you think?  Should I add more frames to this wall?  What prints would you choose from The Paris Print Shop?


NOTE: I’m not sure how this would work for covering a thermostat, considering they may have gauges or sensors that need to be fully exposed in order to obtain the accurate room temperature.

SCORE!: Thrift Store Buffet

This little buffet came from a thrift store I frequent near my job. It wasn't very pretty with it's horrible laminate top and extremely dirty hardware. But it's looks weren't what lured me - the massive amount of storage it could provide did.

This thing was priced at a mere $12.99! Can you believe it? It's a full 58.5 inches long by 16 inches wide 

and has an interior storage space with an additional shelf at the top. I just knew at that price, I could make some good come of an ugly situation.

It sat in my basement workshop for months before I actually got around to working on it. I loosely followed Centsational Girl's directions for painting furniture and primed, painted, and poly'd it to within an inch of it's life. I also used Brasso to clean up those grungy looking cabinet pulls.  And here's the finished product...

I'm actually quite proud, as this is my first furniture painting project and I couldn't be happier with the results. The color is Schoolhouse Slate by Martha Stewart.  I used Zinsser oil-based primer and Polyacrylic in gloss to round out the facelift.

Tell me what you think.  Check back soon to see how she's styled and how we're using her and for pics not in a dark and dreary basement.

P.S. There's also a shocking surprise behind those doors!