Have I ever mentioned this tree? It came to my family as a little spiky branch, only a few inches high, in a brown paper envelope in the mail. We were to plant it in honor of Earth Day, perhaps. My father planted it in my grandparents yard, and now, somewhere around 20 years later, I look at it every day, marveling at the fact that it is as tall in feet as it is old in years.

Just over two years after I started, I’ve decided to continue working on the gallery walls that will line the second floor teevee room and wrap around the staircase. While I ended up putting up 12 total pieces on the two walls in question since I started this endeavor, I’ve been too chicken to go any further. Recently, however, the amount of framed posters, records, and even magazine covers has gotten kind of ridiculous. They sit on the floor, leaning forlornly against the walls all over the house, and I think it’s about time that they found a proper home.

This brings me to the image above. If you’ve never tried mocking up your artwork like this before, I highly recommend it. The concept is extremely simple. Gather what you’d like to hang, create a mockup of each piece using newspaper (for larger frames you will often find yourself taping multiple pages together to get to the right size), then tape those mockups to the wall in pleasing arrangements. This makes the final step of the process far easier… simply measure where your nails should fall in relation to the frame’s length and width, and hammer the nail straight through the paper. Once you take the paper down, your frame is ready to hang.

As you can see, I’ve still got a ways to go. In the meantime, I’ve filled out the gaps in my plan with some clearly professional drawings. I plan on wall mounting some of my guitar collection as well (once I figure out a way to swallow the cost of the guitar hooks… 10$ a pop = ouch!), so I’ve included them in my drawing.

The toughest part is always creating the arrangements. Here are my personal preferences and tips:

Groupings unified by straight lines tend to be more visually appealing. I personally prefer groupings similar to this one (although I would never use matching frames), over more casual groupings like this one. As you can see, the plan for the groupings is to have all the edges line up ~1’ below the ceiling. I also plan on having the groupings end approximately 35” above the floor.

Take your space into account. I had to make exceptions to the measurements I’m using. You’ll see one exception over the couch (where I generally measure the natural landing place of the human head on the wall, then make sure that the frame’s bottom edge clears that), and the other on the staircase. As you can see from the earlier post linked at the beginning of this article, I used painter’s tape to help me follow the natural cascade of the staircase and determine a pleasing diagonal arrangement. Evaluating how to integrate or modify arrangements into the existing space and how it will be used is key.

Use your artwork to unite, not divide. Because I want to create a gallery wall effect, it was extremely important to ignore the half wall between the room and the staircase. In fact, by placing an arrangement of frames squarely over that divide, I erased any division that would have otherwise been highlighted by letting the break between frames fall directly on that line.

Consider the scale. Another thing to keep in mind when creating a gallery arrangement on unusually high walls, such as those found in a staircase, is to make sure that artwork placed higher up on the walls is larger or more graphic. For example, I was recently given a poster full of detailed information (this one, thanks D!). Hanging it high up on the wall won’t allow the viewer to appreciate its content. Similarly, very small posters or drawings, or items with smaller or moderately sized writing on it won’t be appreciated that high up. It’s best to keep the more detailed stuff closer to eye level.

Finally, the most important tip is to put up stuff you love, even if it’s corny. If it makes you smile, or reminds you of a special event or time in your life, or if it’s just so beautiful that it makes your eyes feel good, you should be looking at it every day.

Oh, and I couldn’t help but highlight Kvelertak, my toothy, smiling stuffed bat… can you blame me?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours from Number 9!

This photo and article are reposted from an earlier (failed) blog that I once ran, before I discovered the magic and convenience of Tumblr. I was reminded of this entry thanks to a question asked on Apartment Therapy, which I missed the first time around, and therefore missed out on contributing to at the time.

Maybe it’s the grade school kid in me, but I still love finding or receiving new stickers, especially stickers for my favorite rock’n’roll bands. I can never commit to placing them anywhere though, mostly because stickers aren’t generally reusable or easily removable, and the process of sticking them on to something is ultimately destructive.

Enter the magnificient, manipulatable dollar store magnet sheets, by far the most versatile dollar store item I’ve found. Sold in several versions, the only limit to the ways these can be used is how far your imagination is able to go. For commitment-phobes like me, these magnet sheets are a perfect way to showcase my ever-growing collection of rock’n’roll stickers in a completely non-destructive way.

Here are a few stickers from my collection, temporarily housed on the side of my filing cabinet. I peeled and stuck each one onto equally sticky magnet sheets and then carefully cut each out. The sheets are 8” x 10”, plenty of space for a few different stickers of varying shapes and sizes.

With this system, although my stickers are usually at home on my fridge, I can easily transfer them to any metal surface, from magnet boards and metal desks to the side of my car should fancy strike. Better yet, should I for some reason decide to not want to broadcast my love for Nashville Pussy to those visiting my house, the sticker can now easily be removed and stashed away. This is a great system for kids and teens, and depending on how nimble you are with scissors, can even be applied to very small or detailed stickers.

(via Stout-Hazard : Apartment Therapy)

Number 9’s Quick & Dirty Dinners: Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich

Welcome to the food feature on Number 9. If you’re slavishly devoted to recipes, you’re about to step out of your comfort zone: real cooking is making do with what you have, so these recipes are always approximate. If I say “one onion” but you have only half left in the fridge, use that. It’ll be fine. Like more garlic? Add more. Don’t like eggplant? Leave it out. These recipes are like pretty photos of other people’s houses… inspiration, not gospel. Further to that philosophy, Quick & Dirty Dinners isn’t about fancy four course meals - it’s about real food, real grocery bills, and real life, so don’t be surprised if you see some prepared ingredients or leftovers being mixed in here. It’s about eating quickly and cheaply, but above all, eating well.

I made eggplant parmigiana on the weekend, the recipe for which I will not share here since it is definitely not quick… breading and pan frying enough eggplants for a thickly layered tray of parm takes a very long time, and the home-made sauce, meat and cheese required make the recipe a serious commitment.

However, a parm sandwich can be a lot simpler to make. I saved two big fat slices of fried eggplant for these, so if you happen to make an eggplant parmigiana you may want to do the same. Here’s how you can make a delicious sandwich like this one relatively easily.

Eggplant

If you want to fry the eggplant as shown in the sandwich above, one eggplant will be beyond plenty. In fact, if you just want to make a couple of sandwiches, cut some nice thick slices lengthwise through the center of the eggplant, and keep the rest of the eggplant for some other recipe. At this point, you’ll want to salt the slices lightly, and set them aside, pressed between paper towels. Basically the idea is to squeeze out the bitterness and water contained in the eggplant. You can let this sit as long as overnight, or as little as a few minutes, the longer the better.

For battered fried eggplant, you’ll need:

• flour
• breadcrumbs (I used a mixture of Panko and traditional breadcrumbs)
• one egg
• milk
• oil (I use olive oil, but grapeseed is best, with vegetable oil coming in next)

Combine the egg and some milk in bowl, as though you’re making an omelette. Put a few spoonfuls of flour on one plate, and a few spoonfuls of breadcrumbs on another. Take the salted, squeezed eggplant slices, and coat them in flour. I like to let mine sit for a few minutes, then coat them in flour again. Double flouring will make a huge difference for ANYTHING you batter, and I swear by it, but it’s not necessary.

At this point, you’ll want to make sure that your oil is heating up nicely in the pan. I like to put about a half inch of oil in the pan, enough that the eggplant will float when placed in it. Take the floured eggplant, coat it in egg, then dip it in the breadcrumbs, and drop it in the oil. To make sure your oil is hot enough, you can do a little test with some of the breadcrumby batter from your fingers before putting in the eggplant. If it sizzles and spits as soon as it hits the oil, you’re ready.

Once golden on one side, flip your eggplant slice in the pan. Once both sides are golden, you’ll want to take it out of the oil and drain it on a piece of paper towel. Fry all your slices this way.

Too complicated? I don’t blame you. To make this even easier, skip the battering, and simply drop the slices of salted, drained eggplant directly in the hot oil. The eggplant will still be delicious, just not breaded.

Sandwich 

To build the sandwich, you’ll need:

• fried eggplant slices
• tomato sauce (home made or store bought)
• mozzarella cheese
• bread, preferably a nice ciabatta 

The sandwich assembling is extremely simple: slice the long ciabatta in half, add the eggplant, a healthy helping of tomato sauce, and a few generous slices of mozza. Heat and eat. Deeelish.

(via thebrickhouse)

(via Apartment Therapy)

Anonymous asked: can these ledberg light strips be used with a dimmer and if so what dimmer should I get? Thanks, dick

Howdy! From what I understand, LED lights of any kind can’t really be used with a standard dimmer. However, special dimmers made for LED lighting exists, so you might wanna look into that. As for specific recommendations, I don’t know enough about this to say. Good luck!

For those just tuning in, you can refer to my entire series on IKEA’s Ledberg vs. Dioder light kits here.

Long time readers might remember my take on the somewhat related story done by the Wall Street Journal back in 2009. Now the New York Time chimes in with their interpretation, which has oddly bitter undertones. Witness:

How much authenticity is too much? It’s an oddly philosophical question, given the subject matter, but one that might occur to anyone confronted with the deluge of vintage and artisanal products now available online and through mass-market retailers.

Put another way, have we finally reached a saturation point, where the “authentic” loses its eternal quality and becomes just another fad?

The thing is, the article pretty much misses the mark. Focused mostly on how mass-market retailers are translating the “authenticity” design trend for the average consumer, ultimately it reads as the death knell for something that should never have become trendy in the first place.

Given that “authentic” is one of the keywords that I’ve used to describe this little endeavor that you’re visiting right now, and I consider myself and my approach to interiors to be far from trendy, I thought I might share my own interpretation of what authenticity does and doesn’t mean in regards to interior design.

Generally, authenticity applies to items with some kind of heritage or backstory. Authentic items might have a poor man’s pedigree, but it’s a pedigree nonetheless. An IKEA bookshelf, while authentically Scandinavian mass-market design, is not what we’re talking about here. A hand-me-down bookshelf from your great aunt’s nursing school friend’s first apartment? Authentic. A stepstool your dad made in high school shop class? Authentic. Authentic generally means one-of-a-kind, or not available in stores.

The flimsy “just like Granny had!” crap being churned out by Urban Outfitters isn’t authentic, but it shoots for that aesthetic, and frankly not all of it is bad. Ultimately, a beautiful object is a beautiful object, regardless of how many people may already own it (see that plain, functional IKEA bookshelf), because the bottom line is that that the only true barometer of authenticity is you.

If you love an item, and how it makes you feel when you look at it, and fill your space with only those things that you truly love, then you have nailed the “authentic look” because your space will be totally authentic to you. That, my friends, is what all of this is really about.