String Art in the Entryway & Kitchen

As you might remember from the first sneak peak into our row house, the front door leads right into the kitchen, so we don't have much in the way of a real entryway or foyer. I've had to get creative with how to make that space function well as both a part of the kitchen and entryway. It's still a work in progress, but I do have a fun update to share with you today involving art!

The secretary desk we inherited from my grandparents (the one that used to be a bar) has now become the landing area for keys and other small items in the entry, as well as kitchen storage. A set of hooks (not pictured in today's post) that are mounted on the wall next to it corral coats, Jackson's leash, umbrellas, etc. Those hooks, plus the milk glass vessel on the secretary are great for keeping things organized and off the dining room table - for the most part :).

I was excited about getting that area functional, but the wall space above the secretary was looking pretty blah. It needed some art, desperately, but I wasn't really sure what should go there...until I received a lovely package from my in-laws for my birthday that contained three awesome pieces of state string art crafted by one of my sisters-in-law! She made one for each of the states C and I have lived in since we got married and I just love them. I knew immediately that these were the pieces of art I needed to go above the secretary. They're a little whimsical, have wonderful meaning to us and are great conversation starters. We've slowly migrated north from Virginia to DC to Pennsylvania - and I'm hoping that's as far north as it gets!

I put them up using - you guessed it - Command Strips! If you caught my post on these babies last week, you might recall that I have a slight love affair with them - there are so many uses for them, and putting up lightweight art is a natural one. The walls on that side of our house are plaster, which can be a pain the booty to hang stuff on, so the Command Strips were definitely the right thing for this job.

I attached one medium-sized picture hanging strip (the ones that act like velcro) to the back of each one and stuck them right on the wall. It couldn't have been easier. I love projects with instant gratification like this! (Especially when someone else has already done the hard work of making the art for you :).)

Now that wall is looking much more complete thanks to a little bit of string art.

P.S. I seriously heart the two brass ram's head bookends that are holding up the cookbooks.

Back to the art though - to show you what a big difference art makes, take a look at the wall before...

...And after!

Much better. So that's the little update I have to share about our little house for today. Did you do any little projects this weekend that made a big difference in your home?