Hallway Photo Ledge

June 12, 2017 / Erin May / Leave a comment

My house is built so that all the rooms are in a row, with a long, extra-wide hallway in the middle. This hallway is so wide, that you can leisurely walk down it side-by-side with your husband like a big weirdo, or with your arms out and elbows bent so you look like a robot. What I’m saying is, this hallway is wide and affords us a lot of wall space for hanging art. This last weekend, I cooked up a $0 project that I’m pretty darn proud of.

Behold, our new photo ledge:

This ledge was built with 100% found items in my garage. The wood is two long scraps of butcher block IKEA countertop Kyle’s mom had left over from a project at the cabin. The L-shaped brackets (which you can see peeking out in the center of the top shelf) came with the Ikea countertop, too. This project involved a chop saw, table saw, sander, and a drill. I also cut a thin groove down the entire length of the boards so the artwork won’t slip off if I happen to run down the hallway racing Osa (not infrequent in my house). Once I sanded these down, I finished up by coating them with teak oil for a really light, natural look.

More details:

Close-up detail of the groove I cut along the shelf, with a table saw, and all by myself:

Speaking of using scary tools, I’ve been having a lot of fun using our new table saw my parents gave us for Christmas! It’s already come in handy for a number of projects, and I’m finally getting more comfortable putting it to use. Thanks, mom and dad 🙂

I’m really excited to continue to style these ledges and have them easy to change around whenever I like. This is the perfect solution for someone who gets restless with decor if it sits too long! I’ll probably try to mix short and tall prints, photos and books to add a bit more variety – though I’m currently loving these cute square photo prints from Parabo Press. The quality of the print and the heavier stock of the matte paper is fun for displays, and Parabo just announced that they are now permanently offering 25 FREE prints in the 4″ square size. Free. Click here to order some.

And if you’re wondering what else is going on in my luxuriously wide hallway, here are the other gallery wall sections of the area, and a shot of the entire hallway leading to the bedrooms:

Holiday Themed Crafternoon: Planning Phase

December 12, 2014 / Erin May / Leave a comment

This weekend, I’m hosting a second annual holiday-themed Crafternoon, and I’ve got a short list of inspirational crafts I thought I’d share! I’m certain I won’t get to all of these, but here are some fun tutorials I’ve earmarked for the holiday season:

I plan on making some of my own ornaments with different types of filling! Nature inspired via Martha, sprinkle filled via Sweet Little Details, Olaf from Frozen via this Etsy Seller

I don't quite have the number of corks needed to make a wreath like this, but I would happily attempt to drink the neccessary amount of wine! via save-on-crafts

I don’t quite have the number of corks needed to make a wreath like this, but I would happily attempt to drink the necessary amount of wine! via save-on-crafts

A Puppy Pawprint ornament to commemorate Osa’s first Christmas? via Homevolution.

Tiny holiday scenes/terrariums, via Hometalk!

Happy crafting!

Manic Monday

April 15, 2013 / Erin May / Leave a comment

Hey there, and happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty fantastically relaxing, but as a result also fell pretty short of productive. So here I am, trying to get a running start at a very busy week to come!

I bought a chair this weekend…and found this.

Here are some fun tidbits from the ‘net this last week:

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”– 99U is really killing it lately.
I’ve been a long-time believer in dressing for the task- the “lab coat” effect
Work Smarter, not Harder: a pretty great goal, no matter your line of work. Via Young House Love.
HTML Entities– fun with coding with the lovely Pugly Pixel!
Active Listening– a sometimes lost art.
Updating thrift store artwork for a quirky addition to your home.
This home has me drooling– the bright colors, fun art placement. Very much my style.
“How Daddy does Hair” reminds me of a certain roommate I have- might make mornings easier, huh? 🙂

Oh heeeey, empty inbox!

April 4, 2013April 3, 2013 / Erin May / 1 Comment

Lately I’ve been a little stumped creatively, and as usual, that has done so much for my organization.

Organizing is a huge stress reliever to me. Whenever I need a little space to let my brain solve a problem, I find myself organizing my bookshelf. Or creating a new filing system on my computer. Or putting together a clipboard system.

Or, like today, sorting through my inbox.

I try to keep my inbox pretty meticulously organized. I am a Gmail Ninja. I have folders for personal items, correspondence with friends, clients, projects, billing, you name it. I automatically filter some emails (like Groupon or ThinkGeek) to a folder so they skip my inbox and keep me from spending too much.

Here’s my system.

if it is not actionable, all new emails are filed.
If an email requires action, I leave it in my inbox to remind me later.
If my sorted inbox ever hits more than 20, I have to sit down and winnow this list down!

The problem with this system is that with multiple projects and clients at any given time, my inbox is very rarely empty. There’s always more to do! That’s why this afternoon’s work was so satisfying. Except in order to post the picture above, I sent myself an email of it from my phone, and actually made my inbox not empty.

And now I have no excuses to avoid my creative block. Here we go.

Watercolor Wednesday

March 20, 2013March 18, 2013 / Erin May / 1 Comment

Today’s watercolor was the result of something I had been planning for a while! I wanted to play with a map of Portland for a gallery of images I’m working on.

I’m happy with these results! I might try it again in another color pallet, or for another map. Maybe one of Oregon? We’ll see!

The basic process is outlined below- I applied a wax resistance and base coat of color, then started playing around with splatter techniques. At first, I made a huge mess. Then I realized I should put it on some old paper bags to protect my poor floor. Voila! Done.

Have a great day!