try small things

It’s reveal day! Woohoo! I’ve been wanting to give my favourite corner a refresh for what feels like forever, and Saturday I finally rolled up my sleeves and got started. I stripped the living room wallpaper, gave the walls a fresh coat of paint, and brought in some colourful accessories my friends at Thimblepress sent from their HQ in Jackson, Mississippi. I’ve loved their cheery art prints and greeting cards and confetti push-pops and pretty much everything they do for a few years now, and here I’ve incorporated some of my new and old favourites to give the space a happy vibe. (The new goodies were free of charge in exchange for this post.) 

Now it’s not like the corner was entirely unhappy, but it was definitely feeling a bit tired. My husband put up the wallpaper 10 years ago (on his first Father’s Day of all days) and as much as I’ve enjoyed it, I’ve always found it a bit busy. It faces a wall of exposed brick and between that and the bookcases and the toys, it’s like your eye doesn’t know where to land.

I wanted something cleaner. Brighter. Fresh. White walls, a few pops of colour, maybe a bit of shine.

You Look Great art print and Pineapple Balance print, Thimblepress. (The pineapple print is no longer available, but they do have the design on a greeting card.)

My awesome friend Barb put up the shelf for me. (Thanks lady!!) First we had it too high, now I think it might be a bit low. But I’ll live with it for a few days and see how I feel. And how Barb feels about moving it again, ha ha.

Heyyyyyyyy, that’s not the same table! (You’re right, it isn’t!) I swapped the little grey one for another I’d bought a few years ago and spray painted the base. It used to be red, now it’s this bronzey gold.

The Original Push-Pop Confetti® and The Day Dreamer™ planner, Thimblepress.

I still need a proper storage space for the board games that were piled up under and around the chair so I just shoved them under the couch for now. (For now — ha! It’ll probably be another couple of years before I find a better place for them.)

It’s hard to find a planner that has everything you want, but The Day Dreamer™ is pretty near perfect. It has 150 large pages with all kinds of room to write your ideas & dreams, your to-do lists, what you’re grateful for, and so on, and over 21 fun and inspirational prints. I love that it’s dateless so you can start it anytime, plus it has a pretty pink ribbon to keep your place. LOVE! ❤️

I reclaimed the bottom three bookshelves from my hubby and swapped out his books for my favourites. (Many of them have colourful spines, which perks the space up a bit.) Maybe you recognize some? I’ve reviewed Lovable Livable Home, Chic Boutiquers At Home, In the Company of Women, Dream Decor, and At Home: Sarah Style here on the blog, and Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series is coming up next.

You’re the Tits! greeting card, Thimblepress.

Fancy mug, Thimblepress. 

Tiffany Cheers! card, Thimblepress.

Tiffany Pratt is one of my favourite Canadian designers, so I LOVE LOVE this greeting card with her on it. She spoke at last year’s BlogPodium conference and I wrote my little arm off trying to capture everything she said. So much has stuck with me, but this gem in particular:

IF YOU GET INTO YOUR LIFE AND RIP THINGS APART AND LEARN HOW THINGS ARE CREATED, THEN YOU’RE THE MASTER OF YOUR WORK. ASK QUESTIONS, GET DIRTY, AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE YOUR OWN HANDS. PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR LIFE. — TIFFANY PRATT

(Read some of Tiffany’s other pearls of wisdom here.)

I think a makeover this cute calls for a celebration, don’t you? Let’s put that Push-Pop Confetti® to use.

Can we do that again?

I’m so happy with how this space turned out! Much less cluttered-looking and more inviting. What do you think? Would you like to curl up here?

GIVEAWAY!

One lucky try small things reader is going to win a copy of The Day Dreamer from Thimblepress! (Oooh la la!) To enter to win, visit Thimblepress and leave the link to something else you like in the comments below.

For an additional entry, follow try small things on Facebook and share this post, then tell me you did so and your name on Facebook in the comments below.

For a third entry, follow try small things on Instagram, and tell me your Instagram handle in the comments below.

And feel free to tweet the following once per day and leave the url for your tweet in the comments below (one entry per tweet). Make sure you’re following try small things on Twitter for your entry to count.

The planner obsession is real! #Win The Day Dreamer from Thimblepress and @trysmallthings http://bit.ly/winthedaydreamer CAN/US 8/10 #thimblepress 

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents 18+ and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on August 10, 2017. The potential winners (chosen at random) must respond to prize notification within 48 hours and provide the correct answer to a skill-testing question, otherwise another will be selected.

Update August 11, 2017: Congratulations Cheryl H! 

Thimblepress sent me a selection of goodies in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.