A while back, I posted about Doug finding some amazing things in the wall. If you missed that post, you can check it out here. Here’s the book coming out of the wall a the baseboard level : The thing we found that I loved the most, is this piece of practice music. The book was blank staff paper, and this page was filled with key signatures being practiced. If you don’t remember, I’m a high school band director and conductor. So the idea that anything to do with music, makes me know that this room is absolutely supposed to be my space. There is also a lot of practicing of handwriting going he ..read more

At the end of the summer, I posted a “here is where the room is now” post, and showed you a glimpse of the bed and promised I would give more details. Spoiler alert – the bed isn’t done yet, but here are some pictures of the process to date! Here is the sketch I made of this side of the room. The idea is to have a twin bed / daybed that can function three ways – as a place to read and relax, extra space for a guest, and storage for Doug’s many trombones (which is weird to the general public, but it is what it is!).  We knew we would have to design and build this ourselves, because someth ..read more

If you’ve been around here before, you know I absolutely love mixing patterns, almost to the point of insanity. There are two windows in my Studio, and bringing in more pattern and texture through the drapes was ABSOLUTELY on my list! The first fabric I fell in love with was this more modern geometric – but I loved how the colors and patterns really play off of the wallpaper! LOVE THIS. To showcase why I need SUCH a large studio space, here is how much floor space I need to roll out a panel for a window in a room with 10′ ceilings (and the first floor has 11′ ceilings!)! Bonny is SO HELPFUL ..read more

I wanted to put a light in the studio in the sewing corner, so we just decided to build a pendant! I have a million shades, and so I narrowed it down to these two beauties. I love them both equally, but after posting them on Instagram, several noted that the pleated one LOOKS LIKE A SKIRT, and therefore it was the only choice. Who am I to argue with that sound logic? We built the fixture, using parts and covered cord from Grand Brass. I’ll be honest : it’s marching season and I don’t have the strength to write out all the steps, so I am going to be lazy and link this post that is super hel ..read more

Well, tomorrow starts band camp (or rather, today, when this is posted), so my summer is officially over! While I’m glad to get back to my students, I am certainly sad to see the work on the house slow down a bit as marching band starts back again! I was HOPING to have my Studio about 90% finished before today. In reality, I think I’m at about 70-75%. BUT, someone can sleep in here for camp, so that’s a win! (we host the out-of-town staff members.) So, let’s check in to where we are, and what we have to do! Let’s address the weirdest looking thing in the room first : the bed. THERE IS A PLAN ..read more

We’re not to the point of hanging lighting yet (boooooooo) but once we get there, I am super ready! I love ceiling medallions. I love drawing attention to the “Fifth Wall.” Here’s the medallion and moulding I bought for the Studio, from Architectural Depot Online. I love all of the flower detail so much! There’s so much going on, so so much to love! I also really feel like the lines on this one really fit with the wallpaper. The Wallpaper : A Reminder This has actually been done for a while now, so please don’t think all of a sudden I am doing a million things – it’s just that now I have ..read more

Years ago, when we bought this house, people started giving us stuff. Because “Doug and Amy have an old house, they have room and it’ll look great there!” I have a VERY hard time saying no, because I love to give old pieces a home if I can. When we first moved in, the long-time custodian at our middle school (whom I was CONVINCED hated me, because my band students moved chairs in the cafeteria at lunch during band camp), told me that she had some pieces that she thought would look great in the new (then) house. One of the pieces was this chair. I’ve never been one of those “this is my special ..read more

This room is really starting to come together! After the baseboards, we moved to the picture rail! It IS an actual picture rail, which will hopefully avoid a lot of holes in the wallpaper. This is the same moulding we used in the Library, just not as wide. I hound it HERE. I dyed it, and every time I took it into the Studio to make sure it matched as I was dyeing, it looked great! Finished, I think it’s a TOUCH too dark. But that just adds dimension, so I’m rolling with it! First piece up! For the most part, Doug did all the measuring and cutting and coping (this room had to be VERY precise ..read more

I was looking at my pictures trying to figure out what to write about next, and I have a lot of little things that need to be mentioned, but don’t warrant their own post. I mean, they DO. But I’m making them be best friends and share a space, anyway! First, the doorknob! We took it out, cleaned the guts, and found a skeleton key that works for it! We love a working knob! The cabinet got a good clean, a round with Restor-a-finish, and some touch ups to the shallac where needed. I don’t know what material that back wall of the cabinet is, but I’m trying to decide if I want to wallpaper it, pa ..read more

I learned a hard lesson with Doug’s Study : even if you aren’t ready for it, if you find a wallpaper you love, buy it. Because it might be gone later. And when I saw this paper, I fell in love. But also, that lesson is a bit disingenuous, because I also truly believe that if you miss out on something because it’s been discontinued, you find something you love even more, which is what happened in Doug’s Study, So basically, all of my advice is contradictory and terrible. But this. It has everything. Favorite colors, gold gilding, flower, BIRD, and ridiculous opulence. It also still exists, ev ..read more