Summer vacation and office gallery wall.

Hi friends! It's been a little awhile since my last post but I'm still here! Work had been kind of busy with the end of the semester and I was preparing to take a trip of a lifetime! I returned from New Zealand last week and I can't even begin to articulate how incredible that place is! I have a gazillion pictures and I love them all but will only share one. You can see a few more on Instagram - just search for "suiterevival" :-) 

Our third night there was spent up north in the Bay of Islands. We had hopped a ferry over to Russell - one of the 144 islands in the bay just before sunset and it was incredible!! The beauty was like nothing I'd ever seen and actually brought tears to my eyes. It really did!! The picture doesn't even do the sunset justice, but it's the best I have :-) If you're planning your next vacation....New Zealand should definitely be in the running! It's so beautiful!! Okay....moving on.

It's been two whole months since I moved into my cozy little beach side studio. Studio living hasn't been that much of an adjustment since I was pretty accustomed to living in a small space before I moved here but it has taken me a few go a rounds of furniture re-arranging to fit my living room, bedroom and "office" into one large room. I'm feeling pretty good about the arrangement right now but that could all change tomorrow :-) 

One area that won't likely change in my office nook. Here's what it looked like as a blank slate just before moving day...

And here it is today after I FINALLY hung things on the wall...

With the exception of a few small frames from IKEA and a framed print from Target, I decided to go with an eclectic mish mash of things I already had which means turning this little nook into something with character cost me very little! 

 I started with just a rough layout and then kind of winged it once I started hanging things. 

One thing that I am super excited about is that I finally found a home for my print of Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. I had picked up the print during a rebuilding trip I took with my church after Hurricane Katrina hit the city. That trip was incredible and left a soft spot in my heart for New Orleans and it's people. And now I get to think of them daily with this print hung right at eye level! Yay! 

Here's one more look at the before...

And the after...

Like I mentioned earlier, the only new items I purchased for this gallery were the three gray IKEA Ribba frames at $1.99 each, the postcard prints inside of those frames for $0.99 also from IKEA, and the "Go your own way" print from Target for $16.99 which was 15% off using my Cartwheel app!

So happy to be able to check off my first summer project from my list! 

1. Hang gallery of prints above desk

2. Make bulletin board out of New Zealand sheep towel

3. Do something above bed wall

4. Make patio more cozy - add succulents??

5. Give jewelry frames a new look (spray paint and fabric)

6. New desk chair

Until next time...