Nesting

For a long time, I've felt stuck between two worlds.  My love for the friends in Portland pull on my heart all the time, but the life I have established in Seattle has become equally hard to part from.  At one point, I'd likened Seattle to Jacob (well you know, he IS the fun, literally hot, one...), and for the most part the lifestyle I lead here reinforces that.  And when I was visiting with a friend, I mentioned that I hadn't hung any pictures up in my new (at-the-time) condo - she mentioned that maybe I was subconsciously not wanting to be in Seattle.

After returning from Rotterdam, I admit, I felt pretty lost.  I didn't quite feel like I was "home" and it took a bit to feel like I was established with a life here again.  Moving to Portland seemed closer than it had been in awhile.  But this summer, after making the choice to stay home for the weekend, I finally decided it was time.  It was time to hang up my pictures.  I mean seriously, I'd owned my condo for 2 years, and all they were doing was collecting dust and taking up precious space under my bed (I mean, where else is the monster supposed to live?  And by monster, I mean the extra clothes :) ).



So after a little soul-pinterest searching, and a few arrangement attempts, I figured out how to lay out my collection (I don't know what got into me, but a long time ago, I fell in love with the "Kissing the War Goodbye" photo...and rapidly collected multiple kissing black and white photos... creepy or hopeful, they make me happy).

Layout idea
How to hang a wall collage

Now, I don't know about you, but I find hanging pictures alone to be...a bit challenging.  I mean, something can look perfectly great close up, but look...ummm...terrible when you stand back...and by then, you've already got holes in your walls.  So you know, I probably looked a bit like a spaz standing on my couch, attempting to hammer in pin nails (praying I DIDN'T hit a stud or at least one of those metal ones, I just don't have the power to put those in! #twss), and then jumping back to check every 5 seconds that it was ACTUALLY level and ACTUALLY the right distance apart.

And I'd seen examples of people using paper to map out their plan, rulers to measure where to put nails etc.  Well, I don't keep spare butcher paper around, so I figured the ginormous roll of Costco wrapping paper (that I've had for about 5 years) would do just fine.


After finding a layout that was most similar to the pictures I had on hand, I set to work drawing and measuring.  After the first couple of photos, I realized no matter what I laid out, it was measuring about an inch lower than expected... hmm well, I adjusted and liked seeing the work slowly come together.

And I have to say that I was pretty happy with the finished product, and had fun even incorporating black and white photos of people I love to complement the whole wall.  I can't say they are perfectly straight or measured, and I've had to 'adjust' some of the small frames, but that really doesn't matter.  Seeing them behind my couch every day makes me smile, and if you can't feel happy and cozy where you live, where else can you expect to?

It took ~2 years, but I finally made my house more of a home.  I put permanent marks in my walls that I may be annoyed by one day, but for the time being I'll enjoy the fruits of my labor and be glad that I didn't have to make multiple holes for each one ;-).  So I guess the moral of the story is...live fully where you're at, because if you're always waiting to get to the next place, you'll never feel fully settled.

The opposite wall

Above my bed, though now there are a few more Vegas trip photos :)