Black gallery wall and a look around the lounge room.

Once pictures are put on the wall in a home, it starts to immediately feel more homely. I'd been planning a black gallery wall for a while now and the frames had been on a pile in the lounge room, taking up space, with me hoping that no one would step on them or smash the glass.

The lighting in the lounge room is a bit tricky as our house is built around a large glass atrium so there is a bit of glare during the day but not that much (see below photo for the reflections).

A few of the frames were actually brown  (the elephant picture and the top right picture) but with two coats of black, they looked like they'd always been black and that saved me the $ of buying new frames and reframing the artwork. I really just collected every black or somewhat black framed piece of artwork/photograph that I own and worked out how best to arrange them. These pieces are all special to me and I'm thankful to be able to see them lots. The elephant picture is actually hand sewn by some people in Vietnam with disabilities and the painting below it was hand painted in Vietnam.  The hippo painting was purchased in Zanzibar and the photos are all special snaps, including a few from our wedding.

It creates a nice focal point in our lounge room and something for guests to look at when they visit. While putting together a gallery wall can be a bit frustrating, we feel like the layout now is working for us. Our lounge room (which is a large room including the dining room and kitchen) is becomming more homely. I am a particular fan of the bird pillow too which was thrifted from a garage sale for $1. Apart from potentially adding a few more accessories to the television cabinet, I feel like this area is complete...although I am dreaming up some special shelving for an area of the wall...there are just too many great ideas and sources of inspiration out there! And just to show you the big change, here's a little before and after...

This probably isn't the best before and after snap ever as the lighting was much better in the before photo and it is hard to tell that the walls were actually a little apricot colour and now are white. However what you can tell from this after picture is that our evolving furniture and items are really starting to make the place feel more like us.. I'll just need to keep working on my photography skills!

Lisa x

PS for details sake:

the couch - harvey normans (4 years ago)

Ottoman diy

Crate storage diy

Every other item thrifted

Scrabble coasters.

I am a big fan of using scrabble pieces in creative ways. I've already made scrabble labels, scrabble magnets 

,scrabble labelled chalkboards and scrabble thumb tacks.

Every time I look at the board game section of a garage sale, I always look for scrabble but have only found 2 boards and pieces so far but I'll always keep looking and hoping.

One idea that I just adore is using scrabble pieces to make coasters and this idea is all over pinterest. I decided to try it for myself and used the 16 four letter words (grouped into similar categories).

BEER/BREW/HOPS/AGED

STIR/LIME/DIET/SODA 

CORK/POUR/VINO/WINE

JAVA/CAFE/TEAS/MILO

You will need:

4 coasters (I got mine from cheap as chips for $1 each)

a table saw

polyurethane vanish

glue gun

scrabble pieces

How to:

Get the four wooden coasters and cut them to size using a table saw. 

Then paint them with polyurethane varnish so they are water tight. 

I initially used craft glue to stick down the pieces but they fell off fairly easily so I ended up using a glue gun to attach each individual piece.

I just love having scrabble pieces around the place and they add a little extra cute touch to our coffee table.

Lisa x
P.S I'm linking up with 

Too Much Time On My Hands
Tutus and Tea Parties
Classy Clutter
Its Overflowing

The evolution process: lounge room (work in progress).

 For my next room in the evolution process series, I thought I'd share the lounge room. This room is comfy and entertaining but still a work in progress.

Back in 2010 when we first moved into our lovely home we had this 'unique' large orange couch which was a hand me down from friends of husband's brother. It was comfortable enough but we didn't really like it. Basically all we had was one large white room and a big orange couch.

2011: We went in Harvey Normans and picked out this couch. It was very much husband's love and it's mighty comfy and seats lots. I probably would have chosen differently but I've got to give my man some say in our home :). A few of our previous orange accessories made the cut.

2012: The room has been accessorised and made our own. Gone are the orange days and the room is much more neutral. Some artwork chosen by husband on holidays to Rwanda and Vietnam made the walls and I was gifted with the beautiful rug for my 23rd birthday. You can also see my lovely little coffee table which was an updated $5 op shop find.

 My Dad built us a custom TV storage unit with some wood he had lying around and I turned some old jars into pretty picture displays.

My beloved freebie chair has now made it's way into the lounge room too but is still desperately crying out for a makeover- I'm just not sure what colours to go with. Finally you can see evidence of our attempts to stay fit and healthy by riding the exercise bike and using weights...attempts not successes :)
This room still needs quite a bit of work before I love it but it is a very pleasant room to hang out in  and there's no denying that our couch is amazingly comfy.

Lisa x