house decor – emerald city diaries

Pinterest Christmas {2016}: Hanging Kitchen Wreaths.

Welcome back to Pinterest Christmas! This Pinterest Christmas blog series (in its sixth year!) started as a motivation to actually do some of the DIY projects we pinned on Pinterest & a way to share them with friends & family. Over the years other bloggers have joined & we have spent the month of December DIYing & sharing our Christmas projects. Sometimes the posts are tutorials with step-by-step instructions & other times it is simply sharing a completed project! We aren’t doing anything too formal this year, but did want to share a few festive things. You can check out past Pinterest Christmas projects here!

I know that a lot of catalogs and magazines and blogs show Christmas décor all over the house, not just in the living room with the Christmas tree. I am mixed on whether I will ever have Christmas sheets and bathroom towels, but I have liked the idea of continuing the holiday cheer into the kitchen!

{original Pinterest link – Mini Wreaths}

This was the simplest DIY I think I have ever done. Seriously. I don’t even think it’s a true DIY. The hardest part was getting the ribbon to be the same length so that the wreaths were even on the doors. I hung a 3M Command hanger (not sponsored, they are just the best ones!) upside-down on the door (per the inspiration post), cut the ribbon, looped it around the wreath, and tied a knot. I sort of want to hang a wreath on every door we have now…

If you are interested, I used these faux boxwood wreaths from IKEA. {I wanted to use these faux spruce ones that I added to our dining room windows last year but they added some yellow ombre to the needles which I really didn’t like!} These wreaths are really inexpensive but are well-made (even for IKEA) since they don’t shed and have a pretty sturdy metal frame and don’t look too fake!

And here’s one more shot. It is super hard to photograph our kitchen since it is a pretty small space, so that explains why there are just the pantry doors.

And be sure to check out what Kendra’s up to all December long over on The Gilbertson Family! {Here’s her first Pinterest Christmas post!}

Do you decorate your kitchen (or your doors) for the holidays?

Pinterest Christmas: DIY Window Wreaths {Linky Party}.

Welcome to the last week of the Pinterest Christmas series for 2015! {See week one, two, & three here!}

This last week I wanted to share a quick & easy wreath display. We have two huge picture windows in our living room, one in the front of the house & the other on the side. The front window always showcases our Christmas tree (though this year & for the foreseeable short term our tree will sit off to the side of the room to keep Eloise’s play area in tact). I have always wanted to do something fun & festive on the side window that sits behind our dining room table. Enter wreaths. I think I have pinned every single hanging in a window wreath picture!

{original Pinterest link – Winter Wreath Windows}

{original Pinterest link – 12 Styles of Christmas}

{original Pinterest link – Easy Christmas Wreaths}

Supplies:

Wreaths – I had every intention of making boxwood wreaths using this tutorial, but then I stumbled onto these Smycka wreaths at Ikea & I couldn’t resist at that price point! (I couldn’t have DIY-ed wreaths for less than $9 a piece.)
Ribbon – I chose wide red satin!
Hangers – I used small finishing nails

So, this isn’t really a DIY tutorial, as much as it is showing you how I hung three pre-made wreaths in my window… wah wah.

I had Aaron help me hammer in the nails at an angle into the top of the window trim (actually it was his idea to hang them this way!) since I am WAY too short to reach the top of the window.

Then I looped the ribbon around the wreath, pulled some slack, & tied a bow at the top. And repeat for the other two wreaths, changing the amount of slack if you want them at different heights. My wreaths twist a little bit from side-to-side because they have a bit of weight to them, but I adore the way they look!

Thinking about making this project? Feel free to leave questions in the comments or link your own in the Linky Party below! Also be sure to check out Kendra’s Pinterest Christmas projects over at The Gilbertson Family.

Thanks for joining us in our annual Pinterest Christmas series! We had SO much fun & we can’t wait until next year! The Linky Party will be up the entire month of December, so be sure to check out the other linked projects & link your own up too!

Did you DIY any of your Christmas decorations this year?

Here are the instructions if you are a new to linky-party:
•click on the blue button at the bottom of this post – the one with the frog
•add a link to your Pinterest Christmas blog post in the URL field (please do not link to your home page but the specific post page)
•for “name” write a short descriptive name for your post
•if you would like to put the Pinterest Christmas button on the bottom of your post, we would love to see it there!

diy matchstick holder.

this project has been on my {insanely long} to do list forever, but I finally did it! & this is such an easy DIY that I feel silly even having a step-by-step tutorial. seriously.

I am not a huge candle burner (it scares me to death that I will accidently leave a candle burning!) but I do like having candles as décor. on the off-chance that I do want to light a candle though, I wanted a matchstick holder that looked nicer than a matchbox.

{pinspiration via The Organised Housewife}

yep, this is a tutorial for gluing a strike pad on the bottom of a glass jar!

supplies:

glass jar or container (I used a small Diptyque candle)
box of matches – you will need the strike pad & matches (you could also probably use sandpaper)
pencil
scissors
glue

{after finishing the candle I cleaned out the wax using boiling water // I liked the green-tipped matches}

{cut out the strike pad // trace & cut to fit to slightly smaller than the bottom of the container}

{glue the strike pad down & let dry // add matches}

voila! easiest DIY ever & it looks so much better on our bathroom vanity.

are you a candle lover?

this post contains affiliate links.

apartment therapy feature {upholstered wingback chair}

{via Apartment Therapy}

I have been so flattered by everyone’s sweet comments about my upholstered chair project! it was such a long-spanning project & I was thrilled to be able to finally share it with you (especially to those of you who had seen it before or in progress).

I am also really excited to share that Apartment Therapy picked up the project for its Before & After series. if you haven’t been reading Apartment Therapy before, you should head over there & take a look! it is an amazing collection of house tours, projects, & beautiful things. it is a huge honor to have the project shared in that space. go check out the chair if you haven’t already!

thanks Apartment Therapy!

diy upholstered wingback chair.

seriously, SWOON! I have a new favorite piece of furniture!

this project has been a long-time in the making so the fact that it is finally done is sort of a miracle. I have been interested in reupholstery for a while & completed smaller projects (upholstered lack tables HERE & our old headboard) but have been waiting to do a much bigger project.

I found this wingback chair on Craigslist almost three years ago (right after we bought our house). it was listed for $5 so we went to take a look & it was in such good shape. we gave the sellers $10 for the chair & delivery – such a good deal! then the chair sat in our basement. & it sat & sat. I finally decided on a fabric & bought it, & then had buyer’s remorse & bought another fabric. it moved with the other things into storage last spring to make way for the house renovation & then came back & sat in our living room. finally in january while aaron was on paternity leave I decided it was do or die. I had to at least start to reupholster it or I knew I never would. & three months worth of naptimes later it is finally complete!

I found lots of tutorials on Pinterest but the main ones I used are listed below:

Basic Chair Reupholster Instruction: here & here
Cording Tutorial: here
Ply-Grip (Curve Ease) Tutorial: here

reupholstering is a pretty meticulous process, though you can almost always go back & do something over again if it doesn’t work out right the first time (you just have to be willing to pull out all of the staples again!). I was surprised how quickly the chair came back together since taking it apart took forever.

supplies:

chair
upholstery fabric – I used 6ish yards of this fabric
staple gun & staples – we have one that attaches to our air compressor & I highly recommend that for ease of use (though it is loud to run)
sewing machine & a zipper foot (to sew cording)
good (fabric) scissors
upholstery thread to match fabric – I used Coats & Clarke
seam ripper
piping/cording (if you don’t reuse the original)
zipper for cushion cover (optional – you could either reuse the zipper like I did or cover the cushion without a zipper)
tack remover
rubber mallet – I didn’t have one of these & I wish I would have (you can also use a hammer & towel)
needle-nose pliers
cardboard upholstery tack strip
upholstery tack nail strip
Ply-Grip (Curve Ease)
quilt batting
upholstery dust cover (optional – I reused the original)
camera – for taking lots of pictures as you take the chair apart!

after finding your chair & choosing your fabric, the first part of reupholstering is to un-upholster your chair. this is really time intensive as there are likely 7 million staples, plus you want to document as much as you can since you will want to put the new fabric & pieces on the exact way they came off. I took pictures as I removed pieces (hundreds of pictures which I will spare you!) but in hindsight & for a few particular places I wish I would have set up a tri-pod & videotaped those sections. just something to think about. also, as I removed pieces of fabric, I annotated on the front with a Sharpie about how it went on – like whether there was a tack strip on one side, or piping, or whatever.

{the arm rest & the wing.}

{I used a jar to contain all of the old staples. that’s a lot of staples!}

once your chair is completely stripped, you will want to check the structure for any damage. unfortunately, you may get to this point & figure out your chair isn’t worth reupholstering… that would be a bummer. hopefully you find that the structure is in good shape as well as the bottom springs, etc.

{the front & back of the chair.}

next you’ll want to cover your chair in at least one layer of batting (I did two on the wings & sides). you can also do a layer of foam underneath the batting. I didn’t because there wasn’t any originally, except for on the back upper cushion which I reused since it was in great shape. the nice thing about reupholstering, starting with batting, is that you don’t have to cut pieces exactly right. as long as there is enough material to cover the section, you can cut away any extra as you are stapling. & if you didn’t cut enough material to begin with, you can always add without there being weird seams since it will all be covered with fabric anyways.

{cutting the batting & attaching it to the chair.}

{stapling all of the batting in place.}

then you will want to lay out all of your pieces onto your new fabric & use them as patterns. if anything, you will want to cut things big because you can always trim them down. also make a note of extra cuts or jagged edges on the original pieces – these places are where the fabric had to be cut in order to fit into or around part of the chair structure & you’ll want to duplicate them as best you can. also, if you have a pattern like the one I used where you want specific parts of the fabric to be on specific parts of the chair, you’ll want to cut all of your big pieces first (lay them all out to make sure you have enough fabric) & then use the extra fabric for smaller pieces where the pattern doesn’t matter as much. for me, the front & back pieces, the front & back of the cushion cover, & the very front bottom edge of the chair where important for me to have the same floral piece centered; so I cut all of those pieces first.

{strategizing with the fabric.}

I sewed all of my piping before I really started putting the chair back together. I needed different pieces of piping along the way & I figured it would be nice to have it all done from the beginning & not have to stop & sew some together if I needed it for a certain section. I used the tutorial linked above. as long as you have a zipper foot for your machine, you are pretty much good to go. I decided against making bias strips since there weren’t a lot of curves in my chair pieces where piping would have gone. for the chair cushion I was going to do bias strips, but the original cushion didn’t have separate pieces of piping (it was part of the front & back seat fabric) so I just followed the original design.

{supplies for piping.}

{sewing piping with the zipper foot.}

I also sewed the cushion cover at the same time I did the piping since I was into the sewing groove & needed to do piping for the cover anyways. I was able to re-use the zipper & the cushion which was helpful. down the line I may replace the cushion, but for now it works.

{sewing in the zipper & pinning the cushion pieces.}

when it came to attaching the fabric to the frame of the chair, I started with the front part of the chair. it was one of the largest pieces, but also one of the easiest to put on. from there I moved down to the bottom front edge of the chair where there was a piece that had to be sewn together (one piece was printed & wraps around the front edge, & the other piece was plain cotton muslin & ran under the cushion). I then moved to the arms of the chair. the two pieces that covered the arms had sewn pieces (the front oval shapes on the arm rests) in order to more easily attach the piping around that section I assume. because it was sewn together originally, I did the same thing when it came to reattaching. up next were the inside wings, & then the outside wings. after I did the bottom sides of the chair. the last big fabric piece was the back. lastly I did the piping that ran along the entire bottom edge, & finally the bottom dust cover (which I was able to reuse the original).

{adding the back & side pieces.}

{attaching the bottom piece.}

there are a few places that I used extra upholstery pieces to help get clean lines or edges using materials listed above. I used the cardboard tack strip (essentially a skinny piece of flexible cardstock) along the top curve of the arm rest, along the top of the piping on the inside of the chair wings, & in the top few inches of the chair back. I used the Ply-Grip (after watching the video) along the outsides of the wings, directly underneath the bottoms of the arm rests, & along the back curve of the top of the chair. & I used the tack nail strip along the top & sides of the bottom outside pieces, & along the outsides of the big back piece.

{cardboard tack strip on top of arm.}

{Ply-Grip on outside wing.}

{Ply-Grip & nail tack strip on outside bottom.}

{Ply-Grip along the back curve.}

a lot of reupholstering is just mimicking how the pieces were originally attached, so photos or video of the original chair & it’s disassembly are the most valuable in a project like this. you just have to go for it! I had to break my work over three months worth of naptimes & a few chunks of time on the weekend because of the nail gun. I could run the air compressor during eloise’s naptime & luckily the compressor doesn’t have to run the entire time you use the staple gun.

this is one of my favorite DIYs yet & now I want to reupholster everything we have in this gorgeous fabric!

have you reupholstered anything recently? I’d love to see!

this post contains affiliate links.

project baby {diy mid-century dresser update}

when I was planning & sourcing furniture for eloise’s nursery, I knew that I wanted to get a low-boy dresser that could not only double as a changing table, but also be used as eloise grows up. I scoured craigslist for weeks in search of a mid-century dresser that was in good shape, but reasonably priced. finally I found one & we drove down south to tacoma to pick it up. the dresser sat around for weeks until I finally had time to paint it & get it ready for the nursery (I was 38 weeks along at that point!). while this was a simple & straight-forward project, I loosely followed this young house love post.

in its original state, the top & sides were super dark, almost black. the gentleman we bought it from told us that his sister had just refinished the dresser with this darker color. definitely not my favorite, but I loved the rest of the piece & knew that was an easy fix!

I started by taking out all of the drawers & sanding everything down. I used a palm sander for the main part of the dresser & hand sanded the drawer fronts with a block sander. then I wiped all the dust down & started painting the main dresser & removed the handles from the drawer fronts. I used this Behr Paint & Primer to save myself a separate priming step.

it ended up taking three thin coats of white to cover the dark wood & get the white color that I wanted. I rolled most of the coats, but used a brush for the smaller details along the front of the dresser.

after the white paint was dry, I brushed on two coats of a polycrylic coat with a small brush. I also did two coats of poly on the drawer fronts.

& here is the final product (again – you already would have seen these in the nursery reveal!). I am really, really happy with how this dresser turned out. it is such a great & timeless piece & is exactly the warmth I was looking for for this space. I also know that this will be such a great piece for eloise for years to come.

have you refinished a craigslist find recently?

project house {diy sputnik chandelier}

a house update – it’s been a long time, huh? I guess that’s what happens when you have a baby at the end of a house remodel… in happy news, I am going to share a fun house update! {& in even happier news, we are 100% DONE with construction!}

as soon as I started seeing the entryway come to life – demolition of the office & old entry walls, & drywall – I started brainstorming what type of light fixture would go above the stairwell. the space is so big & bright with two big windows centered in the space, & was begging for a big, bold, & dramatic light fixture. given our very tight light fixture budget, I started the hunt for an awesome DIY & found the perfect one!

much like jenny over at Little Green Notebook {her blog is absolutely inspiring!} I was dreaming of a sputnik chandelier (like the one pictured below). wouldn’t that have been amazing? needless to say, this wasn’t in my budget. luckily, jenny created an ikea hack for a DIY version of a sputnik!

{sputnik chandelier via}

I followed jenny’s tutorial pretty much exactly, but have included in progress photos of my version. while I had plans & the supplies to do this project by late spring, I didn’t find the time to actually do any of it until I started my maternity leave at the end of july. so, you can picture me at 37 weeks handpainting all of these flowers {that’s two coats on each side!}. by the time I had finished painting the flowers, I made aaron find our paint sprayer so I didn’t have to handpaint the rest of the fixture!

& the final product!

this is such an amazing piece & I am so, so proud of it! it makes such a statement & you see it as soon as you walk in the front door. one of my favorite DIYs to date!

& for reference, this is what the original ikea fixture looks like. an improvement, right?

have you DIY’d a light fixture?

eloise {nursery reveal}

yay, eloise’s nursery is finally ready for its big reveal! last spring I shared the moodboard I created & looking back on it, it was pretty darn on point!

when I first envisioned this space, I knew that it was a room that I needed to love. new mamas & papas spend so, so much time in the nursery & it is important that they feel comfy in the space. the two requirements for me were: calming & sophisticated (in that it didn’t feel like a pre-school). plus, let’s be honest, nurseries – like first birthday parties – are much more for the parents than the babies.

I was a bit nervous about how this space would come together since I did so in bits & pieces, & really didn’t get everything together until the week before eloise was born (due to our on-going house remodel). I had to trust my instincts on what I thought would work & wouldn’t work, & I am so thrilled about how eloise’s nursery came together!

& what you have all been waiting for. enjoy!

source list:

rug: west elm safari

light fixture: west elm braided rope pendant

crib: babyletto hudson

crib sheet: american baby

dresser: craigslist

glider: land of nod milo

ottoman: anthropologie (old)

table: overstock blake nightstand

lamp: oh joy for land of nod

picture ledges: ikea ribba

baby animal prints: the animal print shop little darlings (zebra // giraffe // lion)

picture frames: ikea ribba

changing pad: keekaroo

diaper basket: handmade by amanda

bookends: restoration hardware baby & child (elephant // giraffe)

curtains: ikea lenda with added pom trim

shelf: ikea ekby (brackets painted gold)

eloise blocks: handmade by e’s grammie

gold figurines: target (old)

abacus: land of nod

elephant hamper: home decorator’s collection

mobile: diy

moccasins: freshly picked (gold // turquoise)

paint colors: simply white by benjamin moore (walls & ceiling) & quartz stone by benjamin moore (ceiling)

if you have decorated a nursery for your little, what were your favorite design choices?

project baby {nursery moodboard}

I promised a moodboard for baby lower’s nursery & I have finally been able to pull some big ideas together. we aren’t going to find out the gender {did I mention that before?} so it is neutral all the way. a lot of people are surprised because I am such a planner, but I really don’t plan on changing the nursery much even after the baby is born. I want this to be a nice space for all of us {aaron, sadie, the babe, & me} since I know we will be logging a lot of time in this room. I am going for mostly neutrals – white, warm woods – with pops of color in accessories along with a loose “theme” of baby safari animals.

{1} glider – this one is the land of nod milo glider. I loved the idea of having a sophisticated-looking chair {& originally wanted a wing back rocker} & aaron voted on this one since it was SO comfy & we both fell in love.

{2} animal bookends – these are the wool animal bookends from restoration hardware. knowing my love for giraffes & elephants, my mom knew these would be perfect for baby lower & these were the first items we had for the nursery.

{3} whimsical lamp – this one is the jonathan adler utopia elephant table lamp. I want a fun lamp for the nursery & this one is on my “in-my-dreams” wishlist. I am still on the hunt for a lamp to put on an end table {I like this jenny lind one}.

{4} colorful pouf – I would like to find a colorful pouf or footrest & am still on the hunt.

{5} hot air balloon mobile – I am hoping to make a balloon mobile & am thinking it could be fun to use paper mache. there are also a lot of cute ones on etsy.

{6} crib – this one is the babyletto hudson. I love the simpleness of this crib & my favorite part is those little angled legs. this crib also converts into a toddler bed when we get that point.

{7} curtains – I really want white curtains with red pom-pom trim. I know its not practical to have white curtains that are sheer enough for light, & am planning on either putting in some kind of roman shade or wood blind.

{8} marquee letter – I love this lighted letter & want to either buy or make one once we know the first initial of our babe’s first name.

{9} wall of bookshelves – this was one idea that I have had in my mind for a nursery long before I was pregnant. I love the idea of using books as art & using them as decoration. I am thinking of using something like this ikea picture ledge.

{10} striped ceiling – another idea that was around before my pregnancy. if you know me, you know I love stripes & I think its fun to have them somewhere unexpected like the ceiling. for now the plan is light grey stripes on the ceiling and white walls.

{11} baby animal prints – these are the baby animal prints from the animal shop. so adorable! not sure there is enough in my budget to do a six picture gallery, but I am hoping to get at least one of these sweet prints in the space!

{12} dresser – I would like to find a mid-century dresser that we can also use as a changing table. I like the warmness of the natural wood & think it will help with all of the white that I have planned for the space. fingers crossed we can find something good on craigslist or locally!

you may have noticed that I don’t have a rug shown above. this is the trickiest part for me & I am still unsure of what I want. I’d like something a little colorful, but not too juvenile. tricky I tell you. I think my issue is narrowing down… here are some options:

lulu & georgia parfum rug

lulu & georgia dot rug

lulu & georgia abstract rug

layla grayce jaipur rug

layla grayce denim rag

layla grayce fair isle rug

west elm tile rug

west elm souk rug

any good ideas for rugs? I’d love to hear!

also, anything else I am missing?

friday I’m in love.

welcome back friday! be sure to pop over to kendra’s blog too to see what she’s up to. we would love for you to join us! leave a comment and we’ll come check out what you’re loving each week!

{one} the jamaican bobsled team.

did you hear about the jamaican bobsled team? without a way to fund a trip to sochi, they weren’t even sure they could participate in the winter olympic games this year. but, thanks to crowdsourcing, they raised enough funds to go! this is just an example of how awesome humans can be sometimes. plus, what olympic bobsled competition would be complete without the jamaicans? “sanka, you dead?” “yeah mon.” *

*if you don’t know what the quote is referencing, please stop reading this post & immediately go rent & watch cool runnings. it won’t disappoint! I know I will be watching in at least once in celebration of the upcoming winter olympics!

{two} superbowl XLVIII.

not only am I super stoked to have the seahawks going to the big game this year, but manning {one of our favs from his legacy with the colts} will be there too! it is always a tough game when you want both teams to win, but exciting nonetheless. & a bonus this year is that we get to bet on how many times manning will say “omaha” & see what, if anything, sherman might have to say post-game.

{three} rifle paper co wallpaper.

in my last & non-sports-related love, word on the street is that rifle paper co is releasing a line of wallpaper this year. yep, seriously! its hard to believe I would even consider putting up wallpaper given the bad rap its gotten over the years, but yet I find myself searching for the perfect place in our house to wallpaper. & I can’t think of a better person to create super chic & desirable wallpaper than anna bond of rifle paper co. she is a genius!

what are you loving this week?