creative little daisy

The palletless pallet wall

We are nearing the finish line with Alyssa's attic apartment.

Mostly finish work,

painting, installing shelves,

bringing in furniture.

Yes the end is in sight.

So what does that have to do with pallets?

I had a definite vision for the room .

White walls, dark floors with some rustic and industrial accents.

I've already shared the barn door that leads to the attic.

The oposite wall was to be covered in wood slats from pallets.

(Real Housewives of Bucks County)

I shared the above photo with Mitch.

He liked it. Phew, that was a relief.

Not because he wants (or gets) a lot of say so in the details of decorating,

but because I knew I'd be needing his help.

I found a source for as many pallets as it would take

but when the time came to go get them,

he started giving me all the reasons it may not work.

Pallets are very heavy-

they are super rough, do you know how rough they are?

Do you know how hard it's going to be to get them apart?

Do you know how many it will take to do a whole wall?

Do you realize how heavy they are?

Finally I acted like any mature and understanding wife and said

just forget about it.

And I went outside to pout and paint baseboards.

While I was painting and pouting, a conversation was taking place in my head.

A good vs. evil conversation.

I'll spare you the details, and just say good won out.

As much as I wanted to pout, all I could think about was how hard

he works and all that he does for me and our family.

I was the one who wanted the pallet wall,

but he would be the one doing most of the work.

I wasn't ready to give up my vision for the room entirely,

I just knew I had to come up with a different plan.

(The Lettered Cottage)

I was looking at this photo on Pinterest, because of the daybed.

We are going to make a window seat/bed for Bayleigh and want to do something like this.

Then I noticed the wall behind the bed.

If you read the post, the boards on the wall are from an old gymnasium floor.

Cool. I just need to find some old gym floor boards.

Yea, like that's likely to happen.

But then (probably the same night)  I saw this.

(Beneath my Heart)

And the wheels began to turn.

I wanted the look of old aged wood,

but something I could handle myself.

Bingo!

This is what I bought, the same planks Traci was using on her ceiling.

I bought them at Lowe's.

Six eight foot planks to a pack.

For some reason, I expected them to be around ten dollars a pack,

but they were closer to $15 a pack.

That wasn't easy, you know I'm

all about thrifty decorating.

The pallets would have been free.

I decided if I turned out as I hoped, it would be worth the money spent.

I finished the wall today and

it is worth every penny!!!

I. Am. In. LOVE!

Like I said, the room isn't finished, the window has to be painted,

but I couldn't wait to share.

I'll be back tomorrow to share some of the steps I took to get here,

in case you want a non pallet, pallet wall for yourself.

Happy New Year friends!

xo Autum

 

 

Is it possible to make just one?

Maybe for some, but not me.

Once I start, I can't seem to stop.

At least it's a cheap addiction.

And they're pretty.

This was yesterday, as the sun was going down.

And my view this morning as I had my coffee.

I love that each one is a surprise.

Unfolding  is like opening a little present.

I never know what they are going to look like,

although, now that I've made a few dozen,

I've learned where to cut to get diferent effects.

Go get yourself some white paper and scissors. 

If you need help with the folding and cutting,

here are a few different tutorials.

Just know, making paper snowflakes is like eating potato chips,

you can't stop at just one.

Apartment happenings

I haven't updated on Alyssa's apartment in a while.

It has been much slower going than I anticipated,

but I hope we've reached a point where the end is in sight.

If you squint, and crook your head to the side, you can see the end.

Mitch put the flooring down last week.

Allure vinyl planks from Home Depot.

The job foreman was constantly watching over his shoulder to make sure he was doing it right.

There you get a little peek at the barn door Mitch constructed for the attic access.

I've been itching to have a place to use a barn door

since seeing this beauty.

(source)

Mitch quickly squashed my dreams, telling me it wouldn't work.

We need a door that will seal out the heat and cold from the attic.

A sliding door would make it difficult to heat and cool the room efficiently.

What if it isn't on a slider?  What if it actually opens and closes, could we have a barn door then?

That poor man. He puts up with so much from me and my design whims. 

Without argument he went right to building me a barn door.

And a lovely barn door it is.

I will be staining the pine boards and the siding in the center

will be painted white.

The walls will remain white.

 well three of them.

For the wall opposite the barn door wall, I wanted to do a pallet wall.

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The tree is up and has lights.

Working lights.

Not the case when I first put it up.

My prelit tree had roughly 43 working lights.

I bought lights and had fun times stringing them. 

Look at that sweet little baby. 

She went to see a high school production of Alice in Wonderland.

Wearing her Alice dress.

and Alice hairbow.

She really loves Alice.

She's trying hard to be good these days.

She has someone watching over her and reporting back to Santa.

She really wants a good report.

Every morning, first thing, she searches the house for Elfus.

Elfus, like Elvis. She named him all by herself. Pretty clever, don't you think?