Putting the Maker in Homemaker (A Giveaway Post)

Be sure to head over the Women's Colony today--show your support for a couple of my good friends that have posts up for Monday.

I love my home. It's not fancy, my style is definitely eclectic (initially out of necessity, but later it became a choice) and I've never had the money to invest in a lot of furniture a once, but it's homey. For me, a sense of warmth is my number one priority for my home. That means it's the little touches that really count.

This summer I got to make a change that I've wanted to make for a long time. This is our great room, but since we turned the living room into a pool room, this would definitely be an example of my living room furniture.*

Displaying family photos is a hallmark of my decorating, but I've hated the way this wall looked since I put it up over 10 years ago. The frames were old, cheap and gold-finished. Of course, they were impossible to keep straight. Because I hated the display I quit adding to it--you would have though my oldest child was 10 instead of 24.

Investing in picture ledges and new frames kept taking a back seat to all the other expenses a family incurs though, so I just lived with it (I know you know what I mean). Until this summer. I had a little extra money and I'm a decent bargain hunter, so when I found a place to get simple black frames for about $3 each and found picture ledges I liked at IKEA, I decided it was time.

MVP did the work and I provided the direction. After a spirited discussion in which he tried to convince me that we should hang the ledges in rows so we could hit a stud on the middle screw-hole of each picture frame (I don't think so), we got down to work. I love the way it looks and I was able to put more pictures up, so it reflects that my kids actually went on to graduate from schools beyond preschool.

Why am I telling you all this? Beyond the fact that you're my peeps and I share just about everything with you? I've got a great giveaway. Leave me a comment telling me what you'll buy if you win and one lucky winner will get to spend $55 at the Living Rooms Direct web site. My pick would be this Gustav Klimt plate. (The framed print on my cranberry wall is a Klimt). I'll close the contest one week from today and pick a winner with a random number generator. U.S. and Canadian shipping is available.

As an aside, in the second photo, on the couch, is the Wave board I gave away. I learned a very expensive lesson on that one--make sure the manufacturer is the one doing the shipping!

*Awkward phrasing courtesy of the need to include the words "living room decor" in the post!

Comments

[Smalltown Mom]

"Of course, they were impossible to keep straight." I love you, Jenn.

This drives me crazy in my own house, so I love your perfectly straight picture ledges. I even adjust pictures in hotel rooms. In fact, in the bathroom in the Julian B & B, I switched the pictures around because they were looking the wrong way.

I'm not entering your contest because I have too much stuff already, I just wanted to say I like this.

[Christiane]

What a comfy space! I've always loved the whole picture ledge thing but have yet to find a spot in my tiny house to implement it.

[jenn]

Wow, what a change! I love the way the picture ledges look. We're renovating our house right now, and I'm definitely going to incorporate those in our new living room, since I have a ridiculous number of family photos scattered around.

[Suz]

This looks great Jenn. I love the warmth of your great room and we have ledges like this too with 'almost' matching frames.
That plate is gorgeous!!!!!

[blognut]

Looks awesome! I need to do that, too.

I also need to get all new pictures in the family room because I bought then cheap just to cover up wall space, but I hate every one of them!

[tysdaddy]

I showed this to my wife, and she says your new look is bee-eee-aaa-utiful. And if we won, she's update our photo menagerie as well. We too have cheap frames that could use updating . . .

[Arli]

My select vacation photos look like your "before" pictures on my long, otherwise empty dining room wall. They are NEVER straight. What a good idea the ledges are. It looks great! Are the new frames affixed to the wall in any way or just leaning on the ledges? (No, I'm not entering the contest....hehe.)

[molly]

Love the arrangement, tidy, interesting, practical, and not too fussy. The ledges are a perfect idea.

[Madge]

looks so nice. i love those ledges.

[Fannie]

Your son HELPED you with the wall of shame? Mine would have run for the hills!

[San Diego Momma]

You know how much I love those ledges and photos! Seeing the progression of the family through the years is such a cool thing and it looks great in your living room.

As for me, since the move, I need many, many things. But an end table takes the cake, so what I want is this:
http://www.livingroomsdirect.com/Global-Views-9%2E90846-GXV1134.html

What I can afford is this another thing entirely! :)

[apathy lounge]

Love the pics. I saw some pillows with a Klimpt pattern on them and coveted them immediately.

[Alesia]

Your living room looks supremely loungey, like a place I could hang out. Love the picture ledges. (I think family photos make the best decorations.)

I'd either buy pillows for my couch, or some art for the wall over my couch which has been bare since we moved in (7+ years ago).

[jenrantsraves]

I love that room! And, (I can say this because of the 2nd picture), those frames in the first picture were all crooked!! : )
Love the ledges, and showing off your gorgeous family.
I would buy a painting to hang above the couch in our family room. That is, if my husband and I could ever agree on one!!

[Leslie]

I love it! Great change! I have the same wall basically but with my husband's glass collection instead of photos...

[The GIrl Next Door]

Your house looks great - I am still so sad that my weekend was cut short and I didn't get to see it all in person. IF I won? Definitely something to do with photo frames. One of my Summer Resolutions is to print out the thousands of photos I've taken with my digital camera and NEVER printed. Not for 6 years. How sad is that?!

[imom]

The ledges look great! The really finish the area well! It's such a comfy looking room.

What I need for my living room is a couple of matching table lamps, or maybe one table and one standing, or a hanging lamp... hmmmm.

[Kcinnova]

You & MVP definitely made an improvement -- like mother, like son!
I love those picture ledges. My SIL has done this in her dining room and it looks great there, too. We have yet to hang a single picture in our dining room (fresh paint 12 months ago) because we can't agree upon the choices! *shakes head sadly*

[Tami]

I'd put a little with it and buy the Wayborn - Cigar Room Leather Covered Display Rack.

[jujube]

I would buy this red bowl. Because red is my favorite color. http://www.livingroomsdirect.com/Ashton-Sutton-WZ75-25RED-ASH1121.html

My husband ALWAYS pulls out the old "let's hang it here because there's a stud and it will be easy for me" line. If it were up to him, everything in our house would be hanging slap down the center of the studs, no matter how it looked on the wall!

[Just Mom]

I like the Zurich magazine rack - very cool shape!

And...I think your photo wall looks great.

[Janet]

I've been looking at those shelves...as you can imagine, I've got a ton of pictures!

I also am looking for a breakfast buffet, French country kitchen style...any ideas?

[TanyaK]

I love the new picture ledges. I think the offset look is so cool but I am afraid to try it myself.

Since I just put my bird's cage next to my computer desk, I would definitely put the $55 toward a cute room divider.

[abby]

hope i'm not too late! I would get the Terraillon - TCM Nuance Memory Scale in White, everytime I weigh myself I have to turn on my WII FIT..such a hassle! Thanks for the chance :)

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[Kim@ collage frame]

Wow, those picture frames are beautiful, specially on the second photo, they're fantastic, it's add life to the living room. Great job! :)

[Barrett Clepper]

Nice edition, but in my opinion it looked better without the ledge. The ledge made your wall look bulky, but it may work if you color the wood in a different shade - possibly a lighter one to give an illusion of space.

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