Etsy love

I really appreciate all your{my blogging girls are the bestest} comments about fixing my hallway problem.  I am going to paint the door and possibly carry the green from the living room around the front doorway.  I think{hope} that will solve my skin crawling issues :) 

I carried the blue up the stairs and hallway to the bedrooms and again, am really pleased with the outcome{darn entryway}.  This house is dark, especially on the second level landing area.  We had originally painted it a very light cream color{thinking it was the only choice due to the lack of natural light}, but it always looked shadowy and bland.  It's amazing to me that a darker color, in an already dark space, can lighten and brighten.  There is something to be said for paint, it really can transform. 

So, on to my Etsy love part.  How much do you love Etsy?  I seriously adore it, although don't go on it very much because it gets exhausting.  I was tickled when Better Homes and Gardens highlighted an Etsy artist from Ashville, North Carolina{just down the road from us...kinda}.  I had admired her art before, but forgot about it.  When I saw her prints I HAD to have one for the hallway.  Lucky for me, it was affordable :)

Hello cuteness.  Her Etsy sight is here.  I am just loving my little leaves. It is a great addition to our "forest friends" bathroom.

 While I was shopping things kept landing in my virtual basket.  I'm pretty crazy for vinyl designs.  It 's the easiest{possibly cheapest}way to add a little personality and when I get bored with the whole thing, it peels right off. When Holden saw this he was all kinds of bitter.  He doesn't really appreciate "the rules" in yet another area of his life. I'm pretty sure it was the "Be Considerate" part that got his brow all furrowed. 

 Huh, looks pretty clean. Taking it off my to do list this week.

 For some reason I was sent an extra owl.  Just a little surprise when you close the door.  Why should I be the only one with guests while I go potty.

 Then I just get goofy.  This owl is sure to last 2 days in one piece.

This makes me happy.

 This makes me happy too

 I will always have white woodwork.  I don't care if I will be scrubbing it for the rest of my life.  Worth it.

A little Anthropologie splurge. 

This is the stairway before I painted. For a while I brainstormed on how to add something to this area. At first I thought hanging something up the stairs would be good, but honestly it is so narrow I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be in the way. I searched Pinterest for hallway/stair pictures and saw some beautiful stenciled stairways, that got me thinking. I can't find the blog I originally saw this on but...

this is actually contact paper for stairs!  I know, nutty.  When I was first un-peeling it I thought it was a little weird.  I'm not a fan of contact paper even in places it belongs, so I was skeptical about how I would like it.  After painting I like it more, but the jury is still out a bit.  What do you think?  While I was sticking it to the back of the steps I was ashamed of myself.  I mean, for someone who likes to paint, it felt like I was cheating.  BUT, here is what I like about it.  It's indestructible.  I had been crabby about scrubbing the steps every 5 seconds.  They were scuffed constantly, the paint needed to be touched up all the time.  This has solved those problems and put a smile on my face.  The black is maybe a little harsh in this space.  It's pretty graphic for my taste, but I'm reserving judgement at the moment.  It may inspire me to actually paint a stencil on...we'll see.

I'm off to paint the door.  See you later this week.