The Foyer (finally) Got Its Makeover

I've said it before and, sadly, I must say it again, I'm a bad blogger.  I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted.

I actually tried to post a few times but was unsuccessful.  I won't bore you with too much detail but I took my macbook to the "genius bar" at the local Apple store to have it upgraded and he accidentally wiped out my hard drive.   Yeah....it hurt.  Still hurts to remember it.  After the Apple expert (stuck to the experts on their phone help line this time) patiently worked with me over several days, we restored much of the drive but some things just don't work the same way.

I tried a few times to post and just as I was finishing up the post, it would abruptly "blow up".  Nothing.  Everything wiped out.  My choices were to throw the laptop at the wall, cry or shut the lid and walk away. I chose walking away cause I really need the laptop and crying....well, it isn't much fun is it?

So a month later, here I am.  I've been crazy busy and my business is really picking up (yay!!).  Still, I've been finding time for lots of little projects that I plan to share.

We left off with my foyer that I wanted to makeover.  After having had my garage sale, I had a pretty good grip on what I had stashed away.  So I decided on a wall of retro images .... mostly black and white with just a couple in color and I actually found ones I like within the same color group.  I also had a nice supply of black frames and white mats.

For this frame, I just pulled three vintage looking post cards from a book of post cards I purchased...ummm...well, a loooong time ago.  I think it was while living in my second apartment.  Wow, I kept those things for a ridiculously long time.  But hey, they did come in handy :)

This black and white exhibition poster I bought at an artists studio in Cleveland's Little Italy on one of the art walks I attended about 13 years ago.  They had a ton of old advertisements and posters in cheap plastic frames for about $1 each.  I was looking for cheap art for my guest room and this fit the bill.

The sketch of Jackie Kennedy I cut from an old coffee table book on the 60s and the sketch of Grace Kelly I downloaded from the web.  Both were chosen because I love their style.  Jackie for obvious reasons.  Grace because she was such a mystery and truly a classic movie star.  No one has mystery today in the age of TMZ.

This Derry & Tom's poster was purchased at the same art gallery as the exhibition poster, also in the same cheap plastic frame I bought it in.  Derry & Tom's is an old London department store that no longer exists.  I love that the oranges, tans and black echo the vintage post cards in the top frame.

For my initials I just went to JoAnn Etc. and purchased those cheap wood letters and spray painted them white.  This is my first and middle initial.  I attempted to put my last name initial as well, but it chose to plunge to its death and shatter after I hung it.  I did buy another one, but when that one also attempted to plunge to its death (I managed to catch it in time), I decided it was best to just leave it at these two.  Who needs a last name?

Lastly, I cut this photo of a 60s art installation from the same book I cut Jackie's sketch.

On the other side, I simply swapped out the large gold mirror for this more contemporary mirror with coat hooks mounted on the sides.  It was hard to get a good picture of it without getting major flash.

So that's my use what you have makeover of my tiny foyer.  Happily only one letter was harmed in the making of this foyer wall.