Letters To Maria: A little tender loving care. DIY projects

Well I've finally settled down in my new loft with my boyfriend, and lucky me, he's given me free range to decorate how I'd like too! How easy is that? His only rule was no yellow, on anything... Which happens to be my favorite color... but relationships are compromises! :)

I am such a huge fan of Do-it-yourself projects. Which is probably why I am obsessed with pinterest and my boyfriend doesn't understand how I can sit and stare at a screen for so long but hello! There are a million different things going on on pinterest all the time. It's the feeling of having an idea and completing it - knowing full well you did it yourself. I love it.

This is what the final products of some of my pinspiration turned out. :)

I'm still working on our dresser, that's a bit more complicated since I want to strip it down and change the color. But this is above it - my own jewelry organizer. That was two corkboards (here) I got on sale at Hobby Lobby and covered with fabric, too simple not to try! :)

This is our living room. I love our sectional couch and since he didn't like the color yellow, I opted for another bright color - Teal! :) The throw pillows were handmade: I bought the fabrics I wanted (a yard each) then purchased some sewing tape (which is a fantastic invention!). Then I cut the fabric to the size I wanted and glued the fabrics down, flipped it inside out and stuffed (here) it to the consistency I wanted.

Same idea for the large cork board (here) above the couch - I purchased fabric and stapled it down. The hardest part was getting the thumbtacks (here) to lay evenly on the edges.

This was probably my favorite wall to decorate. I purchased dollar store frames, and laid them out how a clock would look. I found the clock piece at Walmart (similar here and here). The hardest part was getting them to be straight and even on the wall.

The vase was also from the dollar store. I purchased enamel paint from Hobby lobby, stuck tape on the places I didn't want painted, then painted it. :) As you can see it isn't as smooth as I'd like but for a first attempt, I can live it with. I suggest using a spray paint rather than actual paint.

This wall is above our bed. I thought it was the perfect design to tie together where we both are from. I kept it nice and simple with black, just in case I decide to change the bedding later on.

I purchase 2 8x14 canvases (here) from Hobby Lobby and sprayed one down completely black. That's the one where I wrote in a silver sharpie "if home is where the heart is, then my home is where you are." The other two canvases, I cut out the shape of both our states (Washington & Wisconsin), taped it on the canvas and the edges.

The fourth canvas is still in the works... I wanted him to feel lik this was his home also, so I'm putting together a midwest wall for him; probably all sports and his licenses plates. :)