Oct

DIY Pinterest Challenge (it actually happened)

Back in my undergrad, I lived with a few girls in the dorms and as sophomores, we finally had more than the 10×10 shared quarters that the freshman dorms had provided. The four of us had two bedrooms AND a living room. Plus an odd bathroom setup where there was a shower and sink room and then also a toilet and sink room, but for four women it worked out well. What we didn’t have, coming from the freshman digs, was a lot of furniture. So we decided to buy a 3×3 cubby style storage bookshelf sorta thing to hold up our 20″ TV. I will admit, and I am sure anyone who has had the pleasure of rooming with me will agree, I am probably a terrible roommate, so when these great girls just wanted to go four ways on a $30-40 piece of put-it-together-yourself-Target-furniture, I of course refused because I knew at the end of the year we would argue over who it belonged to – or who had to take it with them, depending on how much we had grown to enjoy it – and instead I paid the full amount myself and claimed it as my own on moving day.

Since then, it has always been one of the hand-me-down-type pieces that I have consistently felt ho-hum about. I appreciate the storage it provides, but also loath its appearance. That is, until now.

I found this IKEA hack a while back, and suddenly, there was hope. There was this faint brightness in the distance and I knew when I received the push I needed, I would one day head towards that light. Kisha, of Chronicled, who hosted a Pinterest challenge, was indeed that push.

IKEA hack inspiration:

Certainly, if you follow this blog, you have noticed it has taken me a while to get to this post and perhaps you have even read my super complain-y post about the many layers of paint it has needed, but I do kinda love it. The IKEA hack version does work better, I think it is because it has more boxes, but I do like mine and how it turned out. I didn’t end up going with the leather handles I mentioned in my initial post, but that was only because I had some unused, ready-to-go black IKEA ones. I might just stick with it though, because I do kinda love their black glossiness. If, at a later date, I decide to go with the leather ones, I will definitely paint the door white as well. Anyway, I consider this a success.

Here are the steps I followed:

Gather the materials – for me this was only the piece of wood, white paint, and door hinges (but I had the unit, primer, rollers, paintbrush, wood stain, and the cabinet handle on hand)

Reassemble the 3×3 – None of us were pre-med or rocket science majors and it is probably a good guess we were most likely drinking while assembling (sorry Mom). So, as it turns out, this thing has been sitting pretty (ugly) while having been put together incorrectly, for years. Finally everything is facing the right way and right-side up.

Clean, sand, then wipe down the piece – Besides some light dusting and maybe a slight rub down pre and post moves, this piece doesn’t get a lot of cleaning love, and it mostly has been hiding in a corner its whole life. It needed it, especially since I was about to paint a piece of faux wood furniture.

Prime – Maybe I didn’t need this step, but I really wanted this paint to stick, so I did it anyway. Two coats. But then it was grey, which made it harder to cover with the (cheap) white paint which would follow.

Paint – SO MANY COATS! Ugh. I actually don’t mind painting walls, but this piece got to me. Dislike. But at least it looks good.

Stain ‘door’ – I got a light, cheap piece of wood to cover four of the nine cubbies. I had some stain laying around from another project. I may add another layer of stain or two down the line.

Attach door and handle – Pretty straight forward, but challenging when you don’t actually own a drill. Whoops.

Now to style it (better than done above).. oh boy.

AND! Remember to check out the other awesome gals doing this challenge with me:

Amy of Love on Sunday : http://loveonsunday.com/

Donna of Soul Pretty : http://soulpretty.blogspot.com/

Renee of Typewritten Bubbles : http://www.typewrittenbubbles.com/

Kisha of Chronicled : http://www.chronicled-blog.com/

11 years ago Short URL Comments

DIY

before and after/book shelf/challenge/chronicled/college life/DIY/furniture/IKEA/ikea hack/Inspiration/Interior Design/pinterest/storage

Oct

Never ending coats of paint

So truth time: last week didn’t end up being DIY week. Turns out, back in August I kinda forgot that September was trip month (in other words – I’m the worst) that, and my project still needs ONE more coat. This is about one thousand paint coats more than I had anticipated. Soon, it WILL look awesome (note to self: what everyone says about cheap paint needing billions of coats, is true, buy the good shiz.) But, it is happening, tomorrow, after today’s coat dries. Might be late. Might be early. This over-anticipated Pinterest challenge will have it’s day. Tomorrow. Luckily this blog is just for personal fun, otherwise I would really feel bad.

I might still feel a pretty bad.

Speaking of DIY’s – Almost Makes Perfect just posted a DIY I had been thinking of doing FOREVER, she just beat me to it =). Naturally I immediately went and bought some bottles after I read her post. And I am going to copy cat this so hard.

Today I am listening to: Carried Away by Passion Pit

Am feeling inspired by: The beautiful, white apartment in Sweden where Design Love Fest is visiting (photo by sfgirlbybay)

Want to be wearing: This cute and flowing jumpsuit worn by the perdy lady at The Tiny Closet

Aug

OMG (cheap) SHOES

Being a woman, I naturally have some body image insecurities (gasp!), but for the most part, I am comfortable in my own skin – although a bit awkward at times, I do try and embrace it. But, my calves, regardless of how much I work them out, they remain consistently shaped like those baby carrots I like to dip in my hummus. Still, it’s ok, it’s how I am made, but it does make buying shoes very difficult.

I am very skilled at finding thousands of shoes I love the style of online, but I can’t ever bring myself to purchase any because something that may look awesome off, may only accentuates the baby-carrot-ness of my lower legs. In particular, I have been looking for a pair of ankle boots (channeling my inner Cher Horowitz) for, like, ever.

I have probably tried on over 100 pairs in the last year. Really. Anywhere I went that had a contender, I would try them on. The other day, I went into Target and tried on 15 or so shoes, as per usual, and many of the ankle boot variety. Then, I saw them. And the angels sang – or maybe it was just a kid throwing a tantrum a few aisles over, but they worked. My legs are still baby-carrot-like, but the shoes don’t make that any more obvious then it is shoe-less. Oh boy, you guys, the best part: $35.

In the last few months I have donated a lot of clothing and really tried to make an effort to only purchase items that I love. Really define and stick to ‘my style.’ I understand that there may be times that this means spending a little more money for quality, staple pieces that I will want to keep and wear for a really long time. I also always think back to something that was pressed on me in my art classes – the most expensive paintbrush you will ever own is the $6 paintbrush you have to buy 100 times. But these shoes, they really seem to be good quality (I can actually, comfortably run in them, though I won’t be replacing my Nikes for legit jogs anytime soon) and are really solid, for $35, so I am just loving the money saved. The best of both worlds.

You can buy them online or I have seen them in all the stores right now. Oh, and no Target sponsorship here, I just am really happy with these kicks.

Well, with that here is the tune I’m dancing in my ~~blue~~ black suede shoes to today – it’s an oldie but one of my favorite goodies from high school, Four Tet, As Serious As Your Life

And some serious inspiration coming from this – amazing portrait by Lou Ros, see his (breathtaking) online portfolio here

Naturally, I need this outfit to go along with my new shoesies – via Lovely by Lucy

Maybe this will hold me over for a little while, shoe-wise. Pshh, AS IF!

Aug

How iced coffee saved my life

To say I am not a morning person is a pretty extreme understatement. It is especially noticeable because I am married to Captain Happy who legitimately wakes up every day like it’s Christmas and he just can’t wait to open the presents. Except that there are no presents and he is just super stoked to go have another day, a totally normal day. Luckily, in the past couple weeks I have found something that makes the morning a little more exciting, or in the very least seems to brighten my gloomy morning blues. ICED COFFEE.

It took me 25 years and reading it over and over and over on numerous blogs, but I finally tried it and am absolutely loving this iced coffee business. I used to have a Diet Coke in the mornings, because it is my crack, but all the while I was still willing to admit that it was a little gross to have a soda that early. Also, I was never a real fan of the severe withdrawal problems I would get along with the DC cola habit, so I was very much looking for a good replacement that wouldn’t have me twitching by 10 AM if the vending machine I was counting on, was out. In fact, I am now only really having one soda a week, and have hopes to maybe even cut that one out. ICED COFFEE YOU ARE MY HERO.

Now, I absolutely have a plan to try what is supposedly the best iced coffee recipe, but because I wasn’t exactly sure how iced coffee world would stack up to my almighty diet soda, I first decided to try the Trader Joe’s brand cold-brew concentrated iced coffee. Right now, I use 1/3 cup concentrate to about 1/2 cup water topped with a healthy dollop of light coconut milk. And it is glorious. I am still going to try the recipe, but for anyone out there that wants a quick fix, I only have wonderful things to say about this product.

I MIGHT have even had a mini second glass today. The morning grumpies were especially persistent today.

For some other fun, today this is my jam – MR MS, Hurricane:

And my inspiration – Pennyweight‘s House Tour on Design Sponge:

And an outfit that I wish was in my closet – craving comfy, via The Day Book:

Happy hump day, you internet camels.

Aug

So Far…

Since quitting my job and moving to Ventura life has ceased to feel real or regular, but finally this week a ‘routine’ has been developing and it is a welcomed friend. Even though I have all day to get some class done, any chores, dog care, and maybe even a workout, the day can still manage to fly by. It was finally this week when I started to make a list first thing in the morning of all that I wanted to finish that I actually feel a little more together.

Mostly the superficial things have been the biggest changes, meaning no more smart-casual work clothes (that never felt like me anyway – time to clean out the closet and revisit that) and no more loads of makeup or time spent trying to de-fro the hair. I am still spending my whole day on the computer, either working through some freelance design projects, brainstorming some ideas of what this ‘Ryann Moore Design’ life would look like, either the short or long term, and hammering through some classes.

Jenny’s life (the dog) has pretty much remained unchanged, except in that any time I move, she does too. She might be sleeping all day, but gosh darn it, if she isn’t going to do that right next to wherever I am, which I can only imagine is exhausting but it does make me feel lurv-ed. Every once in a while I can’t stop staring at how cute she is when she is sleeping and I just pounce on her for some mid-day cuddles, which she might find to be more annoyed by than anything, but it is a good time for me. It has been a VERY nice thing to have her with me all day. Whether it ends up being me working for myself full-time or finding something more conventional, it would be the coolest if I could keep that part of my life these days consistent – although I do understand it is pretty rare to find a job where you can have your pup with you.

Anyway, that is the update. I really do have some stuff I want to share with you but I am still trying to figure out a suitable way of taking photos as the tablet’s Instagram shots have just been disappointing:

(It’s horrible quality but thankfully Jenny is so cute that it kinda saves it. Kinda)

In the meantime, here is my song of the day:

And a project that has me totally inspired – Israeli pianist and conductor Arie Vardi website by Sasha Firs via Behance:

And an outfit I wouldn’t mind adding to the wardrobe (to replace one of those silly smart-casual gettups) – from the ever talented Kelli Murray‘s Blog:

Last but very much not least, happy birthday to this handsome devil, my daddy:

Jul

Trying

So the theme of June and July (so far) has been – DISTRACTION. I hope I get to tell about why, soon, but for now that is all I can share.

I am kind of a negative, dark and stormy person. This is just a fact, not hot-of-the-press news, but the reason I bring it up is that it is particularly hard to function like a “normy” (that is all of you, sorry) when you are a dark and stormy person that is totally distracted, ALL of the time.

Another thing about dark and stormy persons is that inspirational quotes generally annoy before they inspire. I mean, I want to be the kind of person that is all about ‘Keep calm and carry on’ or whatever the latest fueling motivational is, but I am not, and therefore I am just full of eye rolls and whatever other pretentious, judgemental expressions there are. That being said, every once in a while, every leap year, maybe, I find one that I don’t hate so much and might actually resonate with, a bit.

I’m on Twitter (sorry, my writing skillz aren’t stellar today, I promise this all comes together) and I follow Bob from Biggest Loser. I don’t watch the show, but I used to work at the Starbucks that he frequented and basically he is EVEN MORE fabulous and kind in person than he seems on tv. Also he has great shoes. Anyway, he is the kind of person that loves those sunshine-in-your-coffee kinda quotes. Generally, I am my normal ‘meh’ sorta person about all of that, but today he actually posted one (from @dailytherapy [can I get an eye roll?]) that said the following, and more than making me feel all warm and fuzzy, it was actually something I think I needed to hear and take in:

“No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you’re still way ahead of anyone not trying.”

I think I haven’t really been trying.

More than being the kind of person that gets pumped up by some silly words, I want to be the kind of person that tries. So, I am going to get on that.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th, celebrating ‘Merica, and all that. Turns out the country we live in is getting cooler and cooler every year – I mean DOMA’s dead, and that alone was worth (much more than) this hangover I am rockin’. That, and, my dog somehow didn’t commit doggie suicide due to the fireworks just outside our door which is incredibly awesome. Being a (dog) mom is the most stressful of jobs.

Also, this is pretty great: dog stash!

And now is when I eat all of the quesadillas!

*Patience for the randomness of this post is appreciated.

** Picture-less posts feel really weird.

11 years ago Short URL Comments

Ryann

4th of july/Biggest Loser/Bob/celebration/dogs/DOMA/Inspiration/motivation/mustache/Quotes/trying

Jan

Words for 2013

I am not usually the type to hold onto motivational quotes, however, today I read the below quote on Design Sponge’s interview with Victoria Smith from sfgirlbybay, a quote she mentioned that had first been shared with her by Jordan Ferney from Oh Happy Day! Design Sponge, sfgirlbybay, and Oh Happy Day! all have been blogs I have cherished now for quite some time, and the ladies behind them remain constant inspirations to me. After the last couple days, as I explained in yesterdays post, I was really needing some words like this and I plan to take this one with me to help keep me going this week and throughout all of 2013.

The universe (and Twitter) didn’t only assist me today in stumbling upon the above quote, but also the video below. It really is worth sharing and watching. Not only is it adorable, but simple and true, and something I plan to come back to from time to time when I am needing a bit of a pep talk.

This video is by Soul Pancake, an amazing organization headed up by Rainn Wilson and friends (the one celebrity that used to come into the Starbucks I worked at that through college, that I was always simply too nervous to say anything to.) Anyway, I could spend hours on here watching non-stop beautiful and moving videos about art, compassion, and basically anything/everything hilarious.

I needed these today. If you know someone who might need these too, please forward along.

And with that, goodnight, Poopsikins.

Oct

MOORE-haus STYLE

I hate the idea of confining myself to a “style” – but as everyday I (somehow) get more and more people stumbling onto this blog, I figured it was about time that I tried to explain our style, our design goals, and maybe a bit on the dream house.

While today our apartment is messy, cluttered, and makeshift, I hope to one day own and have decorated a home that I feel is refined, cultured, clean, sophisticated, and modern. I know that’s a lot of words, but I feel it’s more appropriate than saying “our style is mid-century modern/mad-men chic/70s palm springs” as much as any of those might be the closest to the “style” we would like to emulate. We like (or I like and I am working to convince the man) angles and clean lines, geometry influenced art, white or black walls (Alex here would say: “boring”), and furniture that looks like it’s been collected out of a 70’s design book, Sweden, or a maybe a piece or two from BBC’s Sherlock Holmes – without the price tag.

We are obviously are just getting started and are still “practicing” on rentals before we buy a house but hopefully all these baby steps will lead to us one day looking at our home as a true reflection of us and the things we love.

Here are some of my favorite design photos right now, to give you more of idea of what I would love to have our place look like.. you know.. when we grow up:

(You can also follow me on Pinterest and see all my design “pins”)

via Elle Decor

via Designed for Life

via Desire to Insprire

via Malabala

via Matthew Williams

via The Brick House

There are many more that I have saved, however, I don’t want to post any photos that I don’t know the source on this blog, so deal with it.

12 years ago Short URL Comments

Design Plan/Inspiration

design/design plan/home decor/Inspiration/Interior Design/layout plan/mid-century/modern

Jul

itch your BLOGGY itch and my BRAIN sitch

I am having a complete and total home improvement freak out. I LOVE our new place, like whoa. However, we haven’t unpacked a lot of the boxes and the two bedrooms worth of boxes in our new one bedroom makes for one of those games where one piece is intentionally missing so that you can move around the pieces one at a time until they make a picture. It is chaos. Kinda like that last sentence. And our bedroom is half primed. Like awkwardly, not even done with priming the top half. And I want to paint EVERYTHING else – so this is a very, very small portion of the work to be done. I did patch a lot of nail holes and one major ninja-kick size hole in the bathroom — I know the owner should of done this, but did I mention I am having a freak out and that I want to fix everything, and fix everything NOW?! If only I could afford to take like two weeks off from work and just focus.. ahh that would be so great. Seriously, how does anyone own a home, have babies, dogs, a man, a car, a job or any of all that business. Work, school, and a new apartment are making me lose my mind. “What I wuss,” says Jenny.

So how am I handling this? Well a few things:

1. I am not. I went to IKEA yesterday, made a couple smart choices but many more bad ones and needless to say I will be returning a decent amount of these impulsive buys.

2. Ok, I am kinda handling things. Now. But only because I went to the Brick House and started from her very first post and read in a couple pages. I totally forgot about what her place looked like in the beginning, considering how incredibly beautiful it is now. And! She had a whole house that needed SO much more work than our little condo. This reminded me that things work out better when you breathe and such; when you really think through your decisions and only select things you really love. Most importantly it has reminded me to be ok with slow progress. As much as it totally blows.

All that being said, I am imagining that there may be a little bloggy hiatus. You know, while I calm down and finish some shiz. Like unpacking, because that would be a good start. Or finals which are this week and next (yeah I know, SHUT UP. I am trying not to think about it.)

So in tribute, because The Brick House has really helped me out today and to allow me to post without having to think too much (considering how healthy my mind is right now) – I am hereby sharing with you my master list of the blogs that I absolutely HAVE to check daily. It is an obsession. An addiction. It’s an itch that I just can’t help but scratch, and I don’t even bother trying to fight the urge, because it is OH. so. good.

1. Style By Emily Henderson

4. Hommemaker

8. Decor 8

10. Design Sponge

11. Remodelista

12. Once Wed