Halloween FUN!

Last year at work the girls in the Finance/Admin department decided we should do a little work Halloween party & potluck!  There was a contest for best costume, and best decorated desk.  My competitive spirit was all down for this!

I'll start with my desk decorating:

I was originally made some bloody handprint window clings out of white glue but didn't like they way they turned out, so I threw them out and ended up painting my hands with red acrylic paint and smearing them on my cubicle window (SO much fun, by the way!)

(attempt at glue window clings)

I found caution tape at the dollarstore to put all over the exterior of my cube.

Because my boss is not the type to participate, I expanded my decorating onto his cubicle too.  :)  I picked up this Styrofoam tomb stone at the dollarstore.  I had considered a chalk outline and toilet paper decorating for my boss's desk, but I didn't have time.  Maybe next year!

I made a stained bloody curtain out of what I had around the house.  I coffee stained a white piece of fabric, and then used my scrapbooking spray ink to add some "blood"

(Curtain drying in the bath tub!)

I found some severed fingers and random eyeballs and brains at the dollarstore.  I floated some things in jars of colored water (Tip: neon food coloring made for great colors here!)

Some of them I drilled holes in and put on my Christmas lights

And then some were just placed around :)

The potluck was extremely successful! People brought what they said they would, we had a good mix of things, and it was all so tasty!  Some people even got really into it!

Spider dip!

Witch fingers

Jello brain!!

Thanks for checking out my Halloween hauntings, hope you got some fun ideas for decorating and food!

I can't wait to do my desk this year! 

     

 

Throw-back Thursday - Fall Leaf Garland

A while back (2010?!) I did a post about how to make a dried leaf garland.  I came across it the other day an thought it was worth another look!

 

 

For the first step, look to this post for how to dry and mod-podge your leaves. Gather some strong thread or twine and a needle and you're ready to go.

I tried using thread first, and didn't like it.  It got twisted, and the leaves slid around too much.

Then I grabbed what was left of my hemp (I seriously think that I've had this since I was 12!!) and used it instead.  

This required me to use a yarn needle to poke holes first

 

I threaded the hemp through one side

 

And through the other side

 

And then do it again, and again, and again!!!

Ta-da! Now you have a festive decoration that will last for the season!

Office Re-decorating

If you've been around here for a while, you'd remember when I first got my new job I wanted to spruce up my cubicle a bit.

I had a couple posts of my cube before and then about some of the things I'd made for it here and here. 

I now present to you the new look for my cubicle.

These coasters were from tiles I'd bought at ReStore.  Except this isn't the color the tiles originally were.  They were white with grey specs.  I spray painted them and then stamped them with Staz On ink! 

Now another problem I had was that I have a lot of coil bound books (Canadian Electrical Code, and training manuals, cuz I'm cool like that!) that just don't stand nicely on a shelf.  I bought some plain magazine holders, and guess what - spray painted those too! Then I hot-glued a little scrapbooking label thing to the front!

Here's some other details that I have kicking around - magnetic spice jars for paper clips, rubber bands, etc.  magnetic Martha Stewart notepad, reed diffuser, and vase with artificial flowers for a pop of color.  The vase filler is just coffee beans.  I got them from my dad's condo after he passed away because by that time I figured they were pretty old, and so bam! perfect for vase filler!

I really like my little homey touches to my office and I hope you do too!

$5 of Decorating Fun

Once every year I get to remind my boss how "old" he is (old in quotation marks because he's only 4 years older than I am, and neither of us are actually old) I like to do this by decorating his cubicle for his birthday. 

This year I spent a total of $5 at the dollar store, and produced fairly good results - and that included a card!

This banner was left over from last year...but you can't go wrong with one of these!

I decided against the Disney Princess theme and went with something slightly less emasculating and less obnoxious - hockey theme!

I found a package of Canadian hockey team napkins - perfect!

I also picked up some streamers, balloons and tissue paper!  Streamers and balloons are pretty obvious as to what to do with them, but the tissue paper I took one sheet at a time and grabbed it by the middle and stuck it in random crevices...like between his monitors.

So for not very much money, I was able to decorate the cubicle and still have plenty left over! 

Staging a Condo Part 5 - Bedroom

We're almost done with all this condo jazz...

If you've missed any of the series and would like to catch up, please follow the links:
Part 1 - Kitchen
Part 2 - Living Room
Part 3 - Bathroom
Part 4 - Office/Entrance

The first thing you'll notice is that this room is painted a very unique color.  Definitely not for everyone.  If I had had the budget to, I would have painted it a more crowd pleasing neutral color.  But it does amuse me that this paint is called "pirate yellow"!



The bedroom was one area that needed to be cleaned up a lot, as you can see by the top right picture!  Notice the runners beside the bed that make it look really busy? Those were moved into the entrance way!



Before there really wasn't much storage for clothing.  Just a dresser, and rolling clothes racks (not appealing!)  So I move that mirrored wardrobe that used to live in the front entrance upstairs.  I chose the mirrored one because - it helps reflect more light AND all the bedroom furniture is blackish brown...that piece is light birch.  The mirrors help it blend in.

Moving the wardrobe up here helps take away the objection that someone might have to moving into a loft style condo that has no closets built in.  In a way that's really what you're trying to do when you stage a home.  You want to remove any objections someone might have to buying it.

I also moved the bed away from the short wall.  When you walked into the bedroom, this was the first thing you saw, and it's not very private.  I had moved it opposite the mirrored wardrobe, but then my realtor and I moved it again to the wall that it's finally on.  Here again, I put the lamps on the outlet that's controlled by the light switch because there is very little lighting in this room.



Tips for making the bed look it's best:

• I created an exaggerated headboard using privacy screens that are actually broken.  They're just tucked up against the actual headboard. 
• I tucked the comforter into the base of the bed.  This gives it a really nice tight fit and looks really clean!

       

Staging a Condo Part 4 - Office

If you missed anything so far please be sure to catch up!
Part 1 - Kitchen
Part 2 - Living Room
Part 3 - Bathroom

The back of the loft was a hard space to deal with because it had always served as a bit of a storage room so to make it look like a useful, purposeful space was tricky.



Continuing the thread here, TIDY UP!!

I staged this area with a few antique and vintagey items that were laying around such as the typewriter, adding machine, and fan.  This is a good general reminder - if you have cool things - put them on display! 

As you can see, there was a coffee table here that got moved into the living room.  The other thing I did was add some lighting to this room.  The two lamps I put in here are plugged into the outlet that is controlled by the light switch - again, this makes a better impression for someone viewing the condo it takes some of the hassle out of adding lights.

This space is "walled off" by a couple of bookshelves.



Again make sure what you put on the bookshelves fits the vibe you're trying to create.



The IKEA PAX wardrobe helps define the space here too.  I hung the framed posters up on the wall because this was again a big plain, empty wall.  These were already in the condo, framed and everything BUT never hung up!! AHHHH!!

On the other side of the wardrobe is the entrance.


I picked up a full length mirror for less than $10 and hung it lengthwise on the wall to help make it fee like more of an entrance AND had the added bonus of reflecting more light.  The runner at the front door is actually 2 runners that I moved out of the bedroom.  Unfortunately the front door doesn't have much clearance so I couldn't pull them closer to the door.  Again, it's all about first impressions, when trying to enter and the door gets stuck on the rug, it already feels like a house you wouldn't want to buy!

I don't really have any "new" tips for staging an office area or entrance, but as always - neat and tidy is key.  Add lamps on switches and timers when you can, and mirrors can also help brighten spaces too.

   

Staging a Condo Part 3 - Bathroom

We're moving onto tips and tricks for your bathroom when staging your house.

If you missed part 1 - the kitchen, or part 2 - the living room, be sure to check them out.



I had already cleaned a lot of junk out of the bathroom by the time I took the before pictures, but there was still work that needed to be done.

First and foremost it is important for your bathroom to be CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN.  Empty the garbage, and SHINE up the faucets! This makes such a huge impact.  When I have people come over sometimes I cheat cleaning my bathroom and just shine up the sinks so it looks like I cleaned ;)

For the bathroom I bought a new shower curtain because the one that had been in here was plain white.  Take a white bathroom, add a white plastic shower curtain, and you've got...ick.  Because I was on a budget, this one came from the dollarstore.  Not exactly the sophisticated look I would like, but the colors worked.  I bought the teal towels too to add a bit of pop to the room.

I also hung a towel ring by the sink.  This wasn't there before, and it really helps add something to that wall, and is functional.

A nice soap dish/pump can also be a nice touch.  Maybe some candles. I just couldn't be bothered :)


In this condo, the laundry area is just outside the bathroom.



Before it was cluttered and messy.  I put the detergent and softener on top of the washer and dryer, and stored all the clean towels rolled up in one of the laundry baskets.  (the other two baskets I used elsewhere, you can see the one in the living room, another one will show up later in the bedroom)

Important things to remember in the bathroom:

• Keep it clean.  SHINE your sinks! 

Staging a Condo Part 2 - Living Room

If you missed the first post in this series, be sure to check out how I staged the kitchen in Part 1 HERE.

We're going to move onto the living room.  This was my favorite room to do but also quite challenging.  I found that I really could have had twice the amount of furniture in the whole condo.  I ended up pulling pieces out of other rooms to complete the living room because I felt it was important.



Because I emphasized this in the last post I'll just briefly touch on it here.  Lighting is key to taking photos - note the yellow before photos vs. the crisp, clean feeling after photos.

Before this living room didn't feel finished.  Everything was on the left wall, the area rug was floating in the middle of nowhere and the dvd/cd book cases that flank the tv look like awkward pillars on either side of the tv.  It lacked FLOW and BALANCE.

I turned this whole room 90 degrees anti-clockwise.  I was afraid that this might make the loft feel like a bowling alley because of it's shape, but it didn't. This game the living room more purpose and created good flow in the room.

The plants on the plant stand are VERY happy in the window. :)

Another small thing I did with large impact was hang appropriately scaled pieces on the walls.


If you take a look at the above befores, you'll see two small pieces of art on the one wall and that is all.  These pieces are far too small for the wall (the ceilings are like 20' high!!!)

Large artwork is expensive, not to mention a big commitment.  So what I chose to do was hang collections of smaller pieces using what was available.



Over the couch I hung a bunch of scrapbook paper in 12x12 album frames that my dad had already purchased!! They were all just sitting in a box.  Empty!!

A good guideline for where to hang things above your couch is about 6-8" above the top.




On this wall I hung some framed prints that my dad bought when he and I went to France when I was in grade 11.  He already had the prints, but not framed.  Because I was on a budget and these are European prints, they don't fit in standard North American frames (although I've heard IKEA can be good for finding frames!)  I purchased "floating" glass frames from Michael's.  These frames had 2 panes of glass that sandwich the art and that way it didn't matter that I couldn't find an exact fit.



Here you can see that I pushed the 2 small book cases together to match the full size one that was already in that other corner.



The above is a summary of the pictures I took in the living room.

• I changed the layout of the room to make it more functional
• I hung appropriately sized pieces on the walls
• I added additional stand up lighting to the room - I put the lamps on timers so that when people came to view the condo in the evening the lights would already be on.
• I also added some additional furniture - namely that rocking chair next to the TV and the coffee table under the European prints.  These pieces were in other rooms, but I felt they were needed in the living room to make a more complete setup. 

When staging a living room - consider PURPOSE, FLOW, BALANCE, and as always, make it NEAT & TIDY!