Gallery Wall Project!

So exciting- our staircase photo gallery wall is finally done! After lots of Pinterest research and inspiration, much debate about the layout and tons of hammering / leveling, I'm really happy with how it came out. 

Check it out below:

Stairwell Photo Gallery Wall: January 2015

At first, I was going to keep going and do a backwards L shape to follow the shape of the wall. But, once I started getting my frames up I decided to square it out. The process was also more daunting than anything. I only re-organized a few of the frames once they were up on the wall, which surprised me. And, it's a bit more symmetrical than I originally thought I wanted. I also had big plans at the beginning to follow a Pinterest tutorial I saw where you trace the outline of each frame in paper and put those up on the wall first, but it turned out to be more frustrating to add the extra frame-tracing step. So, we just winged it & I think it worked out pretty great! I still need to change out some of the photos and I'm sure I'll switch things out every once in awhile to keep it interesting, but for now I'm really happy with it... and my husband is glad that he doesn't need to hang any more pictures for now! 

Home Wishlists & Big Dreams...

We've made so much progress since we bought our house 8 months ago, but today I was thinking about some of the projects that we have ahead of us and I wanted to write them down.  I have no idea how many of these we'll be able to make happen this year, but it's definitely fun to think about what we would do with an unlimited budget and time- check it out: 

I'll provide an update on this from time to time- I'm constantly thinking of new things I want to try, and hopefully some of these will get crossed off! 

Also, a blog update: Still working on the outline, but I've decided to post on Friday's moving forward. My goal is to put up at least 3 per month, so I'll do my best! :) 

Happy 2015!

Well, I can't believe it's officially a new year. 2014 has come & gone, but it was a great year. Among many other things, we bought our first home, celebrated some people we love at amazing weddings & wedding events, and went on a few great family vacations. However, there are so many things I'm looking forward to in 2015!

Since I looked back on the resolutions that I made last year and saw that I unfortunately haven't made a ton of progress on any of them, I'm going to switch it up this year and just challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone and be a better me throughout all of 2015... 

I'm starting off with some healthy goals & challenging myself to get in better shape this year. So far it's Day 5 and I have to say that it's going pretty well! I made up a points system that I'm using to track some key goals that I have on a daily & weekly basis:
     - 3 points are earned for every healthy meal : Defined as high protein, whole grain & fiber, low sugar/empty carbs, and right around 500 calories
       (Possibility to earn 1 point each for breakfast, lunch and dinner)
     - 1 point for each workout 
       (Must be over 15 minutes or 250 calories- whichever comes first.) My husband & I contributed to a treadmill for our Christmas gifts to each other, so that should help- Keep an eye out for an upcoming post about designing our home gym!
     - 1 point for staying within my My Fitness Pal goals - I'm using this app to track not just calories but many other nutritional benchmarks including: Carbs, Fat, Protein, Sodium & Sugar.
     - I'll also weigh myself weekly and allocate 1 point per each pound lost within that week. 
It's really an experiment to see if I can motivate myself and make myself accountable for making better choices & changes. Since it's going well so far, it should be interesting & I will keep you posted on the progress. The goal that I set for myself is to exceed 150 total points in 50 days! 

From a design perspective, I am hopeful that I'll write more blog posts and be a little more consistent this year. I've been motivated by other bloggers that I follow to create an outline so that I can work towards posting on a more regular basis. This is something I'll be working on over the next few weeks. I also need to finish my Interior Design course by June of this year, so I have to get moving on that! So far, I have completed 3 out of the 6 courses - and should mention that I'm currently a straight A student! 

In late November, I started helping some great friends of mine- Cari & David- decorate their new house, which was such an exciting project for me. It allowed me to apply lots of learnings from my course so far and challenged me to think about what the next steps in the process would be. I put together a presentation for them filled with ideas I had for the rooms we were focused on (which they loved!), and we also started to implement some of the ideas. We're on hold with the decorating for the moment since they just welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world at the end of December! But, I will definitely post more about the process & progress of that particular project. I also hope to help other friends, family & potential clients in 2015 to utilize my skills and creativity and really challenge myself. 

I would like to focus more on my hobbies & personal interests in 2015, as well. My Dad got me a calligraphy set for Christmas that I've been practicing with, and I signed myself up for an in-person class this March in NYC (led by Laura Hooper), which I am really looking forward to. 

Overall, I'm excited and I wish everyone who reads this a happy, healthy & prosperous 2015- I hope that you are inspired to do things that challenge you this year!