Featured Guest Post

by Alex Adams

My wife and I have found ourselves at home a lot as of late. No doubt, our experience is not a unique one in these times of work-from-home and well… go nowhere else.

With all this extra time to wander the halls of our house, we noticed things. Things that previously escaped our eyes had it not been for us scrutinizing the same walls we wander over and over again for days ad inifinitum (or “again and again” for those of us that don’t speak Latin).

Don’t get me wrong, we love our home, and we are blessed to live in one. However, we couldn’t help but notice that it was, for lack of a better word, dull. I like to think our tastes are of an acceptable standard. We even managed our way into a nice front room where we sit and enjoy our coffees. Alas, our main floor lacked the fun and fervor we think we exude as people. Enter Melanie.

I personally have known Melanie for many years; she has always been a great source of advice when it comes to home renovation questions. Want to put in a dog door? Let’s text Mel first. Want to put up our hangboard? Better shoot her a question about it. Is there any way to improve our furnace and AC? Let’s see what tips Mel might have.

On and on with piece meal advice throughout the years and with her wisdom (and my wife’s engineering know how) we’ve managed to keep our home in one piece.  I probably can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciate Melanie, and the insights she has given us. We are so excited to implement her ideas again and again (or “ad inifinitum” for the Latin speakers), and continue making our house into an amazing, beautiful home!

Time For a Wall Makeover

Anyways, let’s get back to our grey scale home, as its story awaits. So, as we wandered around our home, a familiar phrase comes to mind “Maybe Mel has some ideas”.

She came over and gave us some great tips about managing our backyard, a few quick pointers on small accent furniture pieces to help elevate our rooms, and she helped us brainstorm some ways to make our living room pop.

We landed on an idea, make a wall collage of National Parks posters! (We needed to start somewhere, so we picked the collage)

A little research on poster styles, a good dose of time waiting on supplies, a pinch of my wife’s amazing CAD skills (that’s Computer-aided Design for the laymen such as myself), and one not so lazy weekend afternoon later; we had before us exactly what we had hoped for. Life and color captured in our little corner of the world!

How We Made It Happen

Now a little more about the process. We ordered the prints from Studio Inception. My wife and I are huge fans of minimalist designs and bright colors, and these prints captured both of those ideas almost perfectly.

We also loved that the colors in the prints range, but blues, reds, and yellows prevail. These vibrant and bright colors elicit the feeling of summer for us (the time when we go on our adventures!)

Next, we decided what size prints we wanted. Although they may seem random, they actually align with our experiences in the parks. The large prints are the most important parks for my wife and I. These are places we have been to time and again, or represent a truly special trip we took together.

The medium prints are from places we have been to and loved, and the smaller prints are a mixture of places we have been to individually, or hope one day visit!

We decided to order the frames in bulk from a craft store. This is the method I would recommend, because more often than not, at least one craft store is having a sale on frames!

Before we purchased the prints and frames we had selected, we measured the wall space and decided where we wanted the posters to go. We landed on a strip collage, equidistant from the ceiling and floor.

We took the measurements of our wall space, and put those dimensions into CAD.  Once those dimensions were mapped, we took all three variable dimensions from our desired prints, and mapped them inside the measured wall space (If you don’t have CAD, you could also just map out your collage using a paper sketch, or a free modeling program like SketchUp beforehand). This ensured when the prints arrived, they would all fit perfectly!

It may sound like we were painstakingly meticulous with our process, and I would say we were. In the end, this thoughtful method had the added benefit of saving us a bunch of time and the headache of hanging and rehanging.

We absolutely love our new room and the way this collage turned out. We are so excited by the continued joy this art collage brings us day in and day out, and we can’t wait to bring that same level of excitement to the other rooms in our home!

Quick Bonus Note:

Hey Everyone! It’s me again! I just wanted to take a moment to thank Alex for volunteering as tribute to write this amazing post for The Bonus Space’s first ever featured friday post!

Alex and his wife are such amazing people, I’m blessed to have so many years of friendship with them. I was delighted when they asked me to help them bring more of their fun-loving personality into their space. This stunning collage is entirely unique to them, and truly embodies their adventurous spirit!

A Little More on Alex:

In addition to working on his PDH and teaching at Colorado State University, he hosts two gaming podcasts through his company Four Corners Games.

Alex has always been a gaming wiz, and he shares his vast gaming knowledge with fellow gamers through his podcast series.

His podcasts, The Final Crusade and The Buddycast have got you covered on all things gaming! From Pathfinder Adventures, to board games, video games, and just about every game in-between.

Exotic Hardwood Dice Trays

I love boardgames, even more so since stay-at-home orders started going into effect. What better way to spend time at home, than with some boardgames am I right?

The only problem is when the dice rolls off the table and you find yourself yelling out JUMANJI! But with Four Corners Game’s dice trays, you never have to worry about loosing your dice again! As an added bonus, with their beautiful selection of exotic hardwood you can look good and play good!

Four Corners Games takes pride in their craftsmanship, quality, and stand by each and every piece they make. They are dedicated gamers themselves, and their products are the perfect combination design, craftsmanship, functionality and aesthetics.

Each tray comes inlaid with genuine leather to give it a luxurious finish. It’s a classy accessory for your next game night, or the perfect gift for your favorite game enthusiast!  

Their dice trays come in both 6″ and 9″ trays, and have a variety of 4 different exotic woods to choose from: Cherry, Black Walnut, Purple Heart, and Padauk.

You can find Four Corners Games dice trays on their website, and follow The Final Crusade and The Buddycast on your favorite podcast streaming service! Check out their Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more gaming fun!

Want Your DIY Project Featured?

If you would like to see your DIY project featured on The Bonus Space, send me a short summary about your project, with a few before and after photos.

Don’t forget to include your name, along with any social tags you want included so I can credit you on the blog! Please review my blog policies for detailed instructions regarding guest submissions and collaborations.

I can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on!

thebonusspace@gmail.com