frames and maps

There is nothing like taking down the Christmas tree to inspire some new decor... anyone else a little depressed when the tree comes down and the living room looks a little less festive and happy?

The other day I had just taken down the tree, AJ was finishing up some things at a rental and Drew woke up from napping for only 45 minutes. I just about went bonkers... you know those times when you finally say to yourself "okay, I'll take a nap" even though you have a to-do list a mile long, so you lay down, think about how much better you'll feel when you wake up when just as you are drifting into dreamland WAHHH WAHHHH. Mmmm hmmm... that is what happened to me. So I get up like a crazy cranky lady and decided not to let Drew see how tired and upset I was and decided to make the best of it.

I'm watching Nate Berkus with my sister in law, Meredith, (and can we just digress a minute for me to tell you that if everyone had to have a gay husband mine would be Nate Berkus. In love.) and he is talking, at this very moment, about my goal for the new year... To use space smarter... AJ and I don't need a bigger house, we just need to put things where they go and utilize all of our space. Implementing that goal is how I decided to make the best of my exhausted state once Drew woke up.


Love you, Nate. I'm sorry your show was cancelled. Maybe we can start up a business together?

For my first goal in this area it is to get rid of things that are sitting where they don't belong. We had a pile of frames sitting in our bedroom... why don't I just create a fun gallery wall so that they can sit somewhere they can be enjoyed? Here is what the space looked like pre-gallery wall, with frames on the floor and chairs smooched off to the side where the Christmas tree was.

Here is what I came up with... I'm still going to add more frames and possibly another shelf AND I'm going to spray paint all the frames so the colors match perfectly and I want to put sepia colored family photos into the frames. I'm just debating now what to paint them... I'm leaning towards a glossy white (what else is new?) because no matter what I paint our walls once we replace the drywall it'll look fab.

I'm now motivated to do something with the furniture arrangement over there...

I'm not loving how I set it up but it works for now!

Okay, the other change to the living room (don't you just love all those cords? ugg.):

I got AJ this vintage map of Paris for Christmas. He keeps talking about how he wants to take me there and show me around. He says going with the school groups he's taken with Manchester's French class with isn't quite the same as going with your wife. :) I gave him this so after we go (whenever we save up the money) we can do a great gallery wall with our photos and ticket stub and any other memorabilia.

I love how beautifully the colors go in our living room. And of course, we'll frame and mat it but I wasn't sure how AJ wanted to do all that stuff so I just mounted it to this frame that we had with some double sided tape.

Anyone else attempting to live out those New Year's resolutions?