Category Archives: decorating

marathon brunch

Marathon day in New York feels like a block party the whole city was invited to. Everyone is cheering, dancing, and clapping for strangers and friends. It is my favorite New York day of the year.

And my favorite way to celebrate athletic people running 26 miles is to relax with boozy brunch.

I live almost directly on the path of the marathon, so I invited people over. Everyone brought delicious food and drinks, and it was a really good time. We started with a coffee station that had a Dunkin Donuts box of joe and assorted sugars and creams.

coffee

You can’t have brunch without mimosas, so we whipped up a pitcher and out it next to the coffee station. My friends also brought a great rye ale, so we added that later. The food was great: hashbrowns, frittata, fruit, bacon, muffins, and a homemade funfetti dessert. I used some fabric I had on hand for a table runner and added mini pumpkins I got from the grocery store as an easy fall tablescape.

buffet

You know I love arts and crafts. I picked up some poster board and paint pens earlier that weekend so we could make signs to cheer people on. We had the marathon on the TV so we could watch the professional runners cross the finish line, and then we went outside to see the runners running real life.

group

I had a blast. One of my goals this year was to host a dinner party. I don’t think I’ll get it together (or get enough seating) before the end of the year, but this brunch allowed me to have some friends over for food and fun. And that’s really the whole point.

small cool space

rae's days small cool spaces

I finished one of my 2013 goals of decorating my apartment to enter Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Spaces contest! I’m so happy with my home. I am really proud of turning this apartment into a place I truly enjoy spending time in and showing off. Please stop by Apartment Therapy’s site and vote for my place and any others that you like!

couch

I love having a full size couch. In my old apartment I could only fit a loveseat, and it was a little too small for company or comfortable naps. Plus, I got to add some pillows that I made!

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adventures in spray paint

rae's days shelf before

I have this shelf by my door. I use it to hold my purse or shoes right when I get home. It’s the perfect size for the tiny space between my front door and my closet. And it was black, which was fine. But not great.

So I got some spray paint. And headed to a rooftop.

roof top view

This was the view. Not too shabby. Then I put my shelf on some trash bags and started spraying. It went pretty well for my first time spray painting something, all things considered. I did a few coats and touched up some spots where I thought it was needed. I used Rust-Oleum high performance enamel spray paint in safety yellow.

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pillow talk

rae's days couch

It’s finally time for Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Spaces contest! I can’t wait to enter, but first I have a few finishing touches to complete for my apartment. One of those touches is these throw pillows.

throw pillows

I made them! Well, I made the pillow cases, anyway. The pillow forms I got from Ikea.

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home improvements

My mom is in town, and it’s been so great! She has graciously been helping around the house and that’s meant lots of cleaning and errand running, and also lots of huge improvements to every day life. I’ll post more of the whole apartment later, but check out the before and after of this not new but definitely improved bookcase!

20130417-132834.jpg

20130417-132851.jpg

Huge difference, right?

this weekend

embroidery display rae's days

fabric rae's days

mirror rae's days

blanket rae's days

bed rae's days

No new embroidery this week, but I did update the display! My mom is in town visiting and the week was full of errand running and getting ready, and now that she’s here it’s full of fun. We are working on my apartment in between running around the city. I got some fabric to make pillow cases for the couch and bed. I got a new mirror for the bedroom that I hope to hang up today. I also got a flamingo blanket that #fatcat likes to nap under. Hope you all are having a great weekend! Doing a lot of work around here, hope to post some updates this week and get back to embroidery next Sunday.

Usually each Sunday I post the embroidery project I am working on to sew some of my favorite quotes from books. Let me know if you have any quote suggestions! You can see the other quotes in my embroidery project here:

design question

I need help. (I mean, it’s not that serious, it’s a decorating problem, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.)

I’ve been obsessed with getting my apartment as close to finished as possible, and I’m a little stuck with the wall in my bedroom.

bedroom polka dots

Ideally, I’d love to hang an elaborately framed mirror above the bed, but I got a little skittish about hanging a heavy mirror in my rented apartment and also paying for a mirror. So I saw these very cheap black circle mouse pad and thought, why not? So I echoed what I did in my living room….

living room

…but in my bedroom. My worry is that it might look a little immature in my bedroom, where it’s large black polka dots and bright colors. On the other hand, it’s a cheap way to build on a polka dot theme and decorate the wall above my bed. What do you think, yay or nay? What else could I do there that will still let me keep my deposit?

Also, I’ve updated the living room since this picture was taken as well. I can’t wait til it’s ready to show you everything. Back to books and crafts and such later on this week, thanks for helping me get this out of my head and taken care of!

apartment update

One of my goals this year was to get my apartment ready in time to enter it in Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Spaces contest. I believe it’s usually in April, which gives me about one more month to put on the final touches. Back in November, I listed some of my dream goals for my apartment. So how am I doing?

fatcat comforter

#fatcat on my new duvet cover, which is one thing on my list I crossed off.

for the living room/kitchen

  • get a cowhide rug for the living room, poking out from under the couch 
  • buy (or make!) some giant, round crocheted round rugs for under the table and desk–Still on the search for the perfect rugs for these spots
  • find a cool umbrella stand for next to my front door 
  • place a tiny table or shelf on the wall next to my front door, and maybe a home sweet home artwork or something of the sort —I did find the perfect sized shelves for next to my front door, but I still want to paint them and add a home sweet home artwork for above where I hang my keys.
  • print this gunslinger-inspired print for above my bookshelf–I didn’t end up using that print, but I did fill my wall with paintings that my family and I made.

raes days art wall

  • buy and paint some crown molding to frame my full length mirrors 
  • get a chair for my kitchen table–I ended up using this chair for my desk instead of my kitchen table. My mom has an amazing black and white chair I’m hoping to get my hands on soon for the kitchen area 
  • and some folding chairs for guests
  • get more magnets to keep putting photo on my fridge/front door–This is probably the easiest thing on the list so of course I haven’t done it yet
  • use washi tape to cover up some tile I don’t like in the bathroom–I have ordered some washi tape and I hope to do this as soon as it arrives

for the bedroom

  • this handy craft to make a jewelry holder (i already have the frame)–Done!

raes days jewelry holder

  • I’ve fallen in love with this duvet cover–Also done! I had a moment of panic a few days ago when I realized that I still wanted this duvet cover and it was most likely out of stock. So I looked online–where it was sold out–and check if it was available in stores–it mostly wasn’t–until I found ONE left at a Crate & Barrel in the city. So I called them, ordered it, and picked it up later that day. And the best part was that it was for less than half of the original price. I wouldn’t recommend this as a game plan, though, if it’s something you really want.
  • paint screens to use as a headboard–I have a different plan for my headboard now, but I love the way I’m using these screens instead.

raes days picture shutters

  • yet another round rug for next to the bed–Right now I’m leaning toward using faux sheepskin instead of a round rug

So, I’ve crossed some items off, changed my mind on a few things, and am still waiting to accomplish a few more. Not bad, but I better pick up the pace. I can’t wait to get everything done and share it with you.

favorite quote embroidery project

So I’ve gotten into embroidery. It was only a matter of time. I have just barely dabbled in it, but I’d like to explore more. I like that it’s tedious–I get in a zone.

Since I’ve rearranged my room, I’ve been thinking of ways to make it more homey and more me. I’ll eventually get a new comforter and a rug, and I’ll add to my pictures and cards. But I wanted to add more of a handmade touch. So this weekend I looked around my craft supplies and found the perfect fabric to embroider and my only embroidery thread. I roughly cut the fabric to fit into my 6 in. embroidery hoop and then I used my fabric pen to write in my own handwriting. My goal was to pick something short and sweet, use resources I had around my house, and try embroidery to see how it went.

It went well!

always embroidery

I’d love to continue to embroider using bigger and smaller hoops to make different-sized final products. My plan is to embroider some of my favorite book quotes, then to hang them up on the wall above my dresser. Kind of like this.

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company

Now that I have the space, I love love love having people over. I’m #thankful for my friends who make the trek out to my part of Brooklyn because I really do love sharing my home with them. Last weekend I was lucky enough to convince TWO people to come spend an evening at my place, and we (or at least I) had a really wonderful time. I’m also having company this weekend and I’m thrilled to open my home to them and have a more comfortable place for people to stay. I cleaned last weekend when I had visitors, so I don’t have too much more cleaning to do for this weekend, which is another gift unto itself.

Unfortunately all of you can’t come over, but here are some of my favorite detail shapshots from around the house.

raes days bookshelfraes days ampersandraes days cubbyraes days art wall raes days jewelry holderraes days picture shuttersraes days kitchen

Thanks for taking a peek!