Building a Home Remodeling: Speakers & More Art.

Music is huge in our house. You'll find it playing in some form at any given time... we really can't get enough. So Brad and I were anxious to install the in-ceiling speakers we bought for each room, and all the parts had just arrived in time for a weekend install.

I dream of the soothing melodies of Christopher Cross's Sailing and Enya's Caribbean Blue filling the house, on repeat, all day and all night...that's my version of heaven, I tell you. Although Brad probably doesn't share these sentiments, so I'll have to allow some Rush tunes to break it up from time to time. And of course we'll have to rock the Pandora trance channel for some crazy summer night dance parties.

So we kicked off our weekend with Brad in the attic Friday night, drilling speaker holes and fishing a network of wires to his receiver (located in the hall closet). We bought a pair of speakers for each room (garage included) along with some poolside rock speakers. He completed the garage and kitchen that night, while Saturday was spent on the office, living room, master bedroom, and pool (today he's working on the sunroom and man cave).

It was a fairly simple (but messy) process.

First he gets in the attic while I stand below, directing him on placement. He drills a pilot hole, comes back into the room, and cuts the hole with his "Hole Pro" cutter, and secures the speaker.

Here's the process in pictures:

Hole Pro in action

Mounting the speaker

Snapping the grill into place

Ta da!

Finished living room

So there you have it. Stereo sound in every room, gotta love it! We can switch each room on/off through the switchbox in the closet, and listen to music from virtually any source (radio, itunes, TV music channels, pandora internet radio). These speakers will get some good use.

Here's what every room looked like while Brad was still trying to get the hang of the hole pro:

Small price to pay for music, right? :)

And here's one of our rock speakers, facing the pool:

While Brad was in the attic, I had some downtime to finish some projects.

Like the office.

A week ago I had dumped our old filing "system" and opted for a streamlined binder and box organization method. I was loving the new setup, but felt like it needing some sprucing up.

Here's a reminder shot of how it looked last week:

And here it is today:

I picked a color palette, made some patterns, added the text, measured out the sizes I needed, printed and cut them out. Much cheerier, right?

I leave the cabinet door permanently open now because it just makes me happy to look at it. And I get excited anytime I need to look something up. Now that's how filing should be!

UPDATE: I've added free binder printables here!

While I was working on the project, the UPS man came and delivered a package I had been waiting on from the Container Store. It was my new wall file!

I've been needing a way to organize all my loose papers on my desk, and when I discovered this brocade wall file online, I thought it was perfect (if you know me and my love for anything white with a cutout pattern). So you can imagine my excitement when I go to order it and discover that it's on sale ($10 off!) making it around $25 shipped. I would still consider that a splurge for something so basic, but it's already paid off in the amount of happiness it brings just looking at it.

I picked up a set of colorful file folders at Walmart for $3, and here's the end result:

Love this detail!

So that's how the office is shaping up. A few days ago I purchased this rug in 5x8 for it:

I'm thinking it will match the color scheme I've got going on quite well. Let's hope so! Pics as soon as it's in.

And finally... we've got some more art on the walls.

Starting with the foyer art I finally hung. I went out and bought some command strips, since these particular frames have a flat back and the hook and nail made it stick out from the wall. It all worked out in the end:

These are 12x16 prints inside Ikea's $17 Virserum frames, found here.

The prints can be customized and purchased in any size, here and here.

Just around the corner, I printed and hung these:

These are 11.5x11.5" prints, framed inside Ikea's $20 Virserum frames, found here. Prints can be customized and ordered in any size, here and here.

Wall Color on left: Valspar's Magic Spell. Wall Color on Right: Valspar's Bonsai.

Finally getting some finishing touches in the house feels great!

I wanted to add a little something to our bare hallway wall, so I decided to make a couple maps that had significance for us. I chose our birth cities of New Orleans (Brad) and San Francisco (me):