a frame solution

recently (ok, fine, in early january) marty and i stumbled into an amazing gallery in the quarter and acquired two lithographs: one of a dachshund i'd been admiring since marty moved to the quarter in 2008, and another of a 1938 promotional poster for zion national park in utah (some info about this series of posters, commissioned during the great depression to assist struggling artists, here). seeing as i'd visited zion last may, and almost climbed to the very top of angel's landing (only to be bested by the positively terrifying half-mile summit push consisting of sharp drop offs, narrow paths and one tiny little chain to grip), clearly i needed to own this vintage poster, if not for any other reason than to be reminded every day that i'd cheated death.

anyway, like any self-respecting thrifty diy couple, marty and i naturally declined the print shop's offer to professionally frame our rare print, knowing that we could do it ourselves. eventually a trip to michael's frame section followed, wherein i learned that our rare print was, naturally, not standard sized, which meant that framing it would cost roughly the same as one month's rent. so, as tends to happen around here when diy projects have come to an inevitably expensive standstill, i placed our rare print under the futon to gather dust while i mulled over a solution. and by mulled, i of course mean scoured the internet for other people's solutions. eventually an ork posters purchase led me to this brilliant idea. and so, like any self-respecting thrifty diy'er, i STOLE said idea. but, i'm giving credit where credit is due, so there's that. total cost: 4.69 (4-pack of hangers from target) + .39 (1 package of black embroidery thread for hanging).

oh. right. during my blog hiatus i acquired a new 50mm f/1.8D lens i have yet to thoroughly play with. therefore, forgive me these slightly narcissistic and terribly awkward shots.

ring: also newly acquired and not properly photographed.

kitchen curtains and a tour, while we're at it

 {before}

when my parents came to visit a few weeks ago the housewarming gift i asked for a sewing machine. since then, and in preparation for a sew sew darling class i signed up for with my friend renae, i've been experimenting with little projects - namely, these reusable cocktail napkins. last night i finished some simple curtains for the kitchen. since i had the forethought to take pictures of the apartment (i do share an office with a housing attorney after all), i figured i would share some before and after pics of the kitchen... bear in mind it's a work in progress (especially the wall art - suggestions are welcome :)

 {after}:

 my succulents i've managed to keep alive, in some vintage planters i've started collecting

 another yard sale find: an incomplete scrabble set we bought for $2 that i turned into magnets for us to write notes to each other

new apartment projects: before & after

 just thought i'd share some projects i've worked on since marty and i moved into our new apartment. to start, i wanted to minimize the amount of different types of wood we have in our apartment, since the floors, moldings and door jambs are all covered in it. so, i repainted my old bedroom dresser, added new hardware and put it in the dining room as a buffet (here are some images i used for two-tone inspiration)

 we scooped up this amazing kroehler chair at an estate sale for $25! all it needed was fresh upholstering on the bottom and a new throw pillow (its final resting place in our apartment is still tbd). for now, it will serve as extra seating for book club and saints games.

 since we can't afford new nightstands right now (which are surprisingly expensive for such insignificant pieces of furniture!), i decided to take the existing, mismatched ones we had and paint them a uniform color, so they would at least match for the time being. here's one of them:

 finally, a few weeks ago becky and i went exploring in her creepy new [old] basement and we found an adorable, but grimy, little fan that had been hidden in the bowels of her garden district house for who knows how long. the only "before" picture i have is this one becky took of me discovering old documents and letters from the early 1960s. because the fan was in such bad shape (i'm inclined to blame katrina?), it desperately needed a steel wool-scrubbing and a paint job, so we went with a sexy black. 

apartment therapy, i'm lookin' at you

 i had the opportunity to visit my friend peter's amazing loft this weekend while i was in chicago. he spent the last year and a half renovating it after a stringent application process to become a tenant in this over-100-year-old warehouse. he hand-picked all the fixtures (and designed the lamp in the bedroom by himself!), built the incredible shelving units from scratch, and furnished the giant space with gorgeous mid-century pieces like a set of eames chairs and vintage brunswick pool table. it is, in a word (or two), loft heaven.