Happy Birthday to Me!

When I had my birthday back in August my dear, sweet, thoughtful husband gave me a home improvement "multiple choice" birthday gift. He told me that since we had just moved into a new apartment he wanted to get me something that would improve the apartment as my birthday gift.
He gave me 3 choices on what I could buy and he also gave me the joy of being able to pick out my own gift, so I could get exactly what I wanted (again, very thoughtful). :)

The choices?

~a ceiling fan for our bedroom

~paint and supplies to paint one room in our apartment

~a piece of art for our hall
(to cover the unattractive looking breaker box the builders placed smack-dab in the middle of the wall in our hallway).

I decided against the paint (although it was a tempting idea) because we are renting. Although our apartment complex allows it's renters to paint, I decided I didn't want to have to prime over it when the time came for us to move (the stipulation) and also, I wanted something I could take with me when we go, since we know we won't be living here long-term.

I really wanted something to cover the breaker box in the hallway, but I also knew I might have a hard time finding something the right dimensions since the purpose was to cover up an eye sore...so, I decided I would just take my time and look around for different pieces of art---and if I couldn't find anything I liked I would just go with the ceiling fan.

So, I've had my eye open for the past 2 months and I finally came across something I liked at Target. No, it isn't an original of any kind, but with what our budget could allow I am very happy with what I found...it does the job, fits my decorating taste and looks pretty at the same time.

So what do you think?

The hallway "before"...

and now...