stir crazy
Yes, another bedroom post. I do realize that was the last thing I blogged about. But I can’t help it! This is what happens when “Spring” weather doesn’t really arrive, no matter what the calendar says. We were stuck in the house so I do a little work, we do a little cleaning, we watch a lot of TV but it all gets old. Fast. My husband would stare out the windows and dream up landscaping plans for the summer. So we start looking for projects around the house. Without stepping foot outside or even getting into the car to go get supplies.
Saturday, 4:00 PM. I decide we need a headboard behind our bed. So I start snooping around the house to see what fabrics I have on hand. I have a pretty ticking stripe, but not much of it. I decide I can upholster 2 small rectangles to attach to the wall, explain how I plan to do this and see what the husband thinks. He can see my train of thought, but he thinks it will be too small. So I keep looking through my fabrics and pull out a navy and cream linen in a floral, not thinking he will agree at all (why are men anti-flower??) but he says he likes it and I have a lot so we whip out the tape measure and see what kind of space we need to fill behind the bed. We decide that 18″ tall x 78″ wide will do.
So here is how we DIY’ed a headboard in less than 2 hours.
Our supplies:
- 3/4″ particle board (aka subfloor material) or any other plywood, 2x’s or scrap wood you have will do
- 2-3 yards of fabric
- batting, stuffing, polyfil, or whatever fluffy material you can want to use (ideally you’d want a piece of foam cut to the size of the wood/particle board, wrapped with quilting batting. We used what we had!)
- heavy duty staples
- screws of various lengths
- 1×3 molding or other medium sized strips of wood
- tape measure, level, drill and bits
Steps:
Cut your base. Like I said, we had a few sheets of 3/4″ subfloor particle board handy so using a tape measure, chalk snap line (to draw straight lines to cut) and a reciprocating saw we cut a rectangle that was 18″x78″. Then we wrapped 3 sides in fabric (wrap the corners like a present), stapling the fabric down as we went. Don’t pay attention to the Christmas lights and aluminum boat in the garage.
Unfortunately I cannot claim 99% of the handiwork here. Thanks, honey…he was all over it while I offered suggestions, took pictures, and made sure the 2 year old was entertained.
Next step: stuff it. We had 1 bag of Polyfil (pillow stuffing), and some old pillows that we didn’t use anymore. So we ripped them open and used that, too. We stood the headboard up on it’s end and stuffed it, trying to make it as even as possible within the fabric and smoothed as we went.
After it was even to our liking, we pulled the last side of fabric over the edge of the particle board and stapled.
Now we started talking about how the heck to attach it to the bed or the wall or whatever we could do. We decided we didn’t want it flat against the wall for some dimension, and we could hide how it was attached behind the bed near the floor. So we used some spare molding we had and cut 4 pieces for the corners, and cut the rest in half to make 2 long strips.
Then using shorter screws we attached the 6 pieces to the back of the headboard. 1 in each corner and 2 coming off the bottom.
Then we drilled pilot holes in the longer parts (that would be screwed to the wall) so the wood wouldn’t crack and stay strong.
Now we’re ready to hang it!
Using a level on top we just each held a side and screwed the support boards to the wall.
By 6:00 PM we had pushed the bed back, made the bed and I snapped some pictures. You’ll might notice I sewed a pillow using the aforementioned ticking stripe I originally wanted for the headboard. I wanted to tie the blue headboard in with the new euro shams (that I mentioned here). And I thought the stripe might do that. Plus I’m a sucker for stripes.
Then I wonder if the old orange shams might tie in better so I throw them on and give it the ol’ eagle eye. And take a pic.
We decide we still like the green.
Side note: while my husband napped on Friday I switched out the stripey yellow roman shades that I’ve been whining about with the brown ones in the other room. He didn’t notice until Saturday morning. Then he asked why I hung them so high…I said “to make the windows look bigger!” Duh!
My room yesterday morning:
My room this morning:
Let’s see how long I leave it alone this time! Happy Spring!
Ready for its close up…
My bedroom! I know, I know, you’ve been waiting in anticipation to see it. 
It basically looks exactly the same as it has for last 6 months or more. Only the euro shams are new as of the last week…I used to have a pair of orange and white ones, but they just didn’t work. And the only reason I thought they didn’t work was because of those yellowy striped roman shades, which I wanted to keep. So I had to search for a pattern or color to work with a yellowy off-white, a white, and gray.
Anyway, starting from the beginning…we moved into this room about a year ago. It used to be Harper’s nursery. It’s technically smaller than the other room we were in, and has a smaller closet, but it’s more of a square. The other room is a long rectangle, and when you have a king size bed a square will suit it better. Plus this room has a tiny half bathroom, and it’s nice to have the room with the bathroom. So we ordered a new bed online, and when it arrived we moved into the other room, painted, put the bed together and I began decorating little by little. We also needed another clothes storage idea (hence the dresser and armoire), because we lost half of our closet space, but gained a bathroom.
So back to the Euro shams…they were orange and white tile pattern Pottery Barn shams (which I’m not using, so if you’re interested in seeing or buying them, let me know!). My first thought were for dark gray ones like this (via West Elm).
But I didn’t want it to get too boring with just a solid color and a lot of different textures. So I consulted my online friend Maggie, and she thought darker was good, but some color would be fun. She thought the West Elm shams would be good, or suggested I just go crazy with these (via Dwell Studio). I love them, it’s just a little out of my budget, though!
So I kept searching…and waiting…and checking eBay. Then I found a pair of West Elm euro shams in similar colors as the peacock set on eBay and decided to bid on them. I hate bidding, I like to buy it now, so I put in a lowball bid and forgot about it. And as my Green Bay Packers were winning the Superbowl (woot!) I got an e-mail saying that I won the shams! So I paid for them and they were on their way, and I crossed my fingers hoping that they’d tie the room together and actually I think that they work quite well! I am basically forcing it to work as I don’t want to replace the window blinds, but it’s all growing on me.
10 points to you if you know who else has this pattern in their bedroom in the home decor online blogging world. I really did run across the shams by accident, knew who else had them so I wasn’t sure if they’d work, but I’m loving them now. And 100 points to my friend Sarah who knew exactly who I’m talking about when I showed her the eBay photo of my shams. And she did it while we were watching the Superbowl! Yes, I’m talking about the Youngsters at Young House Love (Hi Sherry and John!).
I swear I took a photo from this angle with the blind closed…oops. Don’t I have a sweet view out there?? Neighbor’s green house…that green roof makes the light in our whole room green sometimes.
And for the rest of the little details…sorry, no time to link to everything…upper paint color is Wildwood by Benjamin Moore. Lower is Acadia White by BM. Bedside lights are IKEA,window blinds are from Home Depot, white sheets are from Wal-Mart (Canopy collection – very soft!) and the duvet cover is from the Chic Chenille duvet cover from Linensource. The gray flannel blanket is from the Home Shopping Network.
Frames (below) are IKEA…”L” is a Flickr find that I ordered a print of…Love Poster is from {Oh Brooke.} It used to be in Harper’s room. Little silhouettes are a $5 for the pair antique store find.
Same for Glenn’s “G” and silhouette.
Our bed is a platform bed with drawers underneath. We needed to be able to pull them out, so regular side tables wouldn’t work…this is our solution: antique crates screwed to the wall. They used to hold apples. Now they hold books and magazines I don’t read…remotes, charging iPods and cell phones.
Glenn’s side…
And just for fun…the opposite sides of the room to get a good layout. The cedar chest was made by Glenn’s great-uncle Glenn, and that dresser needs a paint job. Apparently the bedroom is a good place to store golf clubs. And I want a new light…probably a light-less fan, then add some recessed lights around the room. I know a good electrician. The door to the bathroom is on the right.
Half-bath…recently painted by my husband (Ashley Gray by Benjamin Moore – the same color we have in our living room). Yay for using leftover paint! Glenn’s “closet” on the right. Flat screen on top.
Other corner of the room. Glenn’s closet (armoire purchased online). My closet. I hung curtains instead of bi-pass doors. Little chair that I just hang clothes on. Wedding photos (by Kathi Corder) on the walls in here. The floors are laminate in an oak. I normally am not a fan of oak but I really like my floors. The main part of the house is a darker wood laminate.
Let me know if you have any other questions! Thanks for reading.
Harper’s {New} Room
Sooo…we have been doing a lot of switching things up here at Casa Christensen. Which meant I got to choose new paint and re-decorate things! And believe me, I’ve done a lot of re-painting, re-arranging and more re-painting and re-arranging. But I think I finally have things how I want them (for now), so I took the chance to clean up the room and take some photos! And the clean room didn’t last very long…you can put the photos in chronological order based on how many plastic balls are in the photos. How can you expect a toddler to resist a clean room with a basket full of plastic balls?
So to refresh your memory, this is Harper’s old/first room. I’m assuming she’ll have many different rooms throughout her first 18 years with an interior designer for a momma.
I’m sure many people thought it was just fine as it was (if you recall, it did win a contest over at Serena and Lily on Facebook! Their very first Show and Tell contest for September 2009!), but we decided to make this our room as it has a little bathroom. So Harper’s room was moved to the bigger (longer and skinnier) room and we got the slightly smaller (more square with a smaller closet) and I couldn’t be happier with it all! We love having our own bathroom, and we’ve solved the clothing storage problem so things are great!
And then her new room…
This is how the room used to look when we first moved in and it was ours. I liked the orange as a color, but not in my room. It just never worked. But I finally feel like things are coming along! Notice that some of Harper’s painted furniture is in here (side table – now green and the dresser – now with white drawer fronts and new hardware).
So on to the photos of Harper’s new room! If you look close you’ll see some things are the same, and some things are different. For instance, the window shades stayed in their original rooms (i.e. we kept the striped ones and Harper got our old brown ones) and I’m so glad it worked out color-wise. We repainted both rooms, and all of the furniture that I previously painted white for her old room, I re-painted GREEN! As for her new room color – this is how I chose it. We already have gray, brown, green and white throughout our house so I started thinking about a new color for her room. Hmm…what color have I not used? Orange? Nope, done it already and want it gone! Pink? Nah…pink just wouldn’t go in our house. Purple? Not feeling purple either. Blue? YES – blue! So I grabbed all of my blue paint swatches and went through the stack to find one I liked. If you know me, you know I am obsessed with gray right now so it’s only fitting that the blue I chose is somewhat related to gray. I love the color – Comfort Gray 6205 by Sherwin Williams. It’s also in a flat finish, and I love how it looks. Plus it will work if she has a little brother sometime in the future…I promise I’ll take the pom poms down by then!
(10 points to you if you know where this color is from blogland. Yes, I order paint samples that I see from everywhere!)
I still have some touch-up painting to do (there is a lot of orange peeking out where the walls meet the ceiling) but I couldn’t wait and had to get some photos up.
I also want to re-stain the cedar chests to a darker reddish brown, to look more like the unpainted areas of the dresser.
If you’ll notice, I’m trying to add more black to the room (you know I like a little edginess – there was no black in Harper’s old room except for those lamps which is crazy for our house. We love black accents.) and black and white accents.
I’m not really an advocate for TVs in a toddler’s room, but our new room has no cable outlet and we just haven’t switched it yet. So it’s staying for now.
I stole art and shelves and lamps and fabric from all over the house to bring into her room. Lucky girl.
My aunt painted that picture from a photo of Harper. I love that she turned her into a little pixie. And I’m glad I finally got to hang it (it was in the powder bath before but now it goes with her new room!). Thanks, Aunt Vicky!
I love the new gold accents, in the frame (of a pencil drawing I did in high school – it used to be hanging in the living room) and in the lamp on the black bookcase.
I love the green I picked for the painted furniture. It’s actually the color in my office – Old Salem Gray, Benjamin Moore HC-94 – so I just used leftover paint. I knew Harper’s room needed another color and I just happened to have a sample of that green handy, so I put it up against the blue/gray and instantly knew it would look great on the furniture! Love it.
What do you think of Harper’s new room? Hopefully I can show ours soon…but I’m still working on art on the walls and it should be done!
So for the breakdown:
- Crib is from IKEA – it has the rail taken off so she sleeps in it as her toddler bed!
- Recliner is La-Z-Boy
- Window blinds are from Home Depot
- White curtains are a diamond matelasse, hand-me-down from a friend of mine
- Cedar chests were made in high school shop class (Glenn made one, the other was a gift for me)
- Black bookcase is from Tarjay (Target)
- Changing table is hand-me-down from a friend
- Black hanging shelf is hand-me-down from sister-in-law
- White and wood dresser is from thrift store
- Poms poms are Martha Stewart from Harper’s 1st Birthday Party
- Black lamps are from Fred Meyer
- Gold lamp is hand-me-down from ?? Glenn’s family I’m sure!
- H-A-R-P-E-R letters are from Land of Nod.
- Striped rug is from Tarjay.
- Harper’s bedding is Olivia by Dwell for Target
- Zig zag striped fabric is Summer Soiree by Paula Prass (Chevron in black)
- Black frames with black and white pictures are Ribba from IKEA
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!
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Another Switcheroo.
Phew – I have been busy! But I’m home with a sick little one today, so I have a chance to update you all a little and hopefully I won’t be so MIA for a while. Well, I take that back – when I’m not here, I’m working like crazy so that’s a good thing!
I’ve come to realize that we’re rather spontaneous when it comes to our house sometimes. We talk about our house a lot (more than most, I think!) and what we need or want, but a lot of it is just dreaming. But when something can become a reality, we kind of just jump on it and make it happen!
For instance, we’ve been talking about getting a new bed for a while now, but weren’t sure when it would actually happen. So I decided to post a picture of our old bed on Facebook saying it was for sale to see if anyone was interested – and 20 minutes later it was practically sold! Then we did some final research (we’d already done a lot) and bought a new mattress and bed online – woo hoo!
So next we decided to switch rooms with Harper. Why? Well hers has a half bathroom and Glenn wanted it. But it has a smaller closet and it’s a little smaller so I was a little torn. At first. Her room is more of a square and ours is longer and skinnier (a rectangle). Which after I thought about it, makes more sense for our King size bed. Anyway, we’ve switched rooms, put the bed together, painted and the new armoire for Glenn is on the way (solving the closet problem!).
Luckily both the mattress and bed had free shipping and arrived very, very quickly (thank you, Amazon Prime!!) so we had a new set-up by the weekend! So here’s a sneak peek of our new room – more to come soon!
I love that what took us almost 2 hours to put together, is time lapsed into less than 2 minutes. I also love that Glenn tested the bed out and you see a flash of me about to jump on it, ha! Enjoy!
Putting the bed together from Facebook User on Vimeo.
Read More{Tricks of the Trade} How to Make a Bed
Although we didn’t specifically learn about ‘how to make a bed’ and similar decor tips in design school, I’ve found that there is an art to ‘finishing’ a project or room, which can be helpful when you just can’t pinpoint why your space might not look quite right. And when you are constantly scouring your glossy shelter magazines and favorite design blogs and websites for inspiration (like a professional interior designer is doing), you start to notice a couple of similarities and ‘tricks-of-the-trade’ that can help give your space that designer look. So today we’ll start where we all start our day: in bed. All we have to do is break down the various ways that our favorite catalogs do it to give ourselves a few rules – because a well made bed should always be the focal point of your bedroom!
Rule #1: Only use fabrics and prints that you love. Sorry Grandma…your pink flowery quilt is nice, but let’s save it for the linen closet when guests stay overnight, and let the master suite coordinate for an updated and calming space. Unless you’re going for ‘Granny Chic,’ but that’s your preference…just don’t add it in because it’s warm! Find a suitable replacement…
Now I’m not saying go buy a ‘Bed-In-A-Bag’ set…just carefully look at the various prints and colors that you are using. Ruthlessly edit your rooms and only use fabrics and prints that you REALLY love and don’t settle for a mismatched bedding set that doesn’t fit your style.
Rule #2: Start with a neutral base. White or off-white sheets will always feel fresh and updated. I also never understood why anyone would iron their sheets – until now! – , but a well made bed always looks better with crisp sheets. Subtle stripes can add some interesting pattern, but I’ve found that most beautiful beds have a solid sheet and the patterns are in the shams and blankets.
There are exceptions to this rule that can look nice, but the easiest way to make up a pretty bed is to start with simple, solid sheets in a light color. White and off-white are no fail, though. Thread count is up to you…I’m sure higher is wonderful, but I have never had the please of sleeping in expensive sheets!
Rule #3: Tuck it in tight. Ironed sheets, folded down over the matelasse (aka quilted blanket), tucked in tight under the mattress. And then a big, fluffy duvet (down comforter) is folded back even more – even at the foot of the bed to show off the sheet and matelasse. In the summer you can switch out the down comforter for a lighter throw blanket. Cable knit throws are nice.
An ironed duvet cover also helps finish the bed. Imagine if that cover was wrinkly – it would not have the same effect!
Rule #4: You CAN have too many pillows. Keep the pillows to 5; 2 sleeping pillows, 2 pillows with shams and 1 bolster or accent pillow. This depends on the size of your bed, but scale is key here. King size beds need king sized pillows, and twin size beds need standard sized pillows (stick to 3 on a twin – 1 sleeping, 1 with a sham, and 1 accent).
Rule #5: When matchy-matchy works. If you check out the photos, they’re pretty consistent with this pattern; sleeping pillows match the sheets, and the pillow shams match the duvet cover. The accent pillow can be a new pattern or a new color, or to stay on the safe side, it can match the shams and duvet.
Exception to Rule #5: You can also match the shams to the matelasse (not to the duvet).
Or to the duvet AND the the blanket (below). But this works because the sheets match the duvet (which also match the matelasse.
Rule #6: Straight skirts only. No dust ruffles here! Box pleated or straight is the way to go these days. More pleats (every couple inches) for a more formal bedroom, less pleats for a more masculine or contemporary room.
Color and pattern are up to you, but they normally match the shams/duvet matchiness! But it might be a good way to add some extra interest (match the accent pillow?)
What about you? Do you have any tips on making a pretty bed? Any good (and inexpensive) sources? Please share!
{images via Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and PB Teen}
Read MoreHe Says/She Says Poll Results
Good morning, everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was great! Just too short…I cleaned my office (aahhh – that is a big sigh of relief), made a few Christmas cards and helped Glenn build the frame around a box that is protecting our septic tank in the backyard. Gross. Well, the box isn’t gross, just the thought of a big tank of poo that is right underneath our feet in our backyard. It’s just weird. The tank isn’t buried very deep – the top of it is actually level with the ground, so we have these big plastic lids that stick up on the lawn, so we’re building a box to protect it from the sun. You really don’t want those plastic lids getting sunbaked and brittle!! A few weeks ago, Glenn dug some holes, poured some concrete in and set some posts. And yesterday he started on the frame…and I helped. Anyway, more on that later!
Next up is the results of the “He Says/She Says” bedroom paint dilemma poll I posted last Friday. So far it’s 53% for painting the trim, chair rail and ceiling brown…41% say leave it how it is…and 6% (1 vote) says Other, but I don’t know what Other means! Anyway, to let you in on who is who…I am the one who wants to paint. Surprise, surprise, right? I feel like at the very least the orange and white needs to be broken up (by painting the chair rail). And I saw a photo online SOMEWHERE of a bedroom with a chocolate brown ceiling and I LOVED it. But I can’t find it anywhere now…let me know if you have seen it or know where I can find it…please! Glenn wants to paint the trim around the windows the same color as the lower wall and be done with it. And he is seriously fighting me on it…straight up says ‘no! Do not paint it!’ It must be nice to have such amazing psychic powers and knowing how ugly my idea must turn out. ::Grrrr…::
I’d even consider doing a tan ceiling instead if chocolate brown is that scary for a ceiling. I still think the chair rail would be best in chocolate, though. But I could always paint that tan as well and if I don’t like it I can paint it darker. Whatever, Glenn, ha!
Thank you all for your votes – I win, I win!! But we’ll see if it ever gets done…I’m still waiting for Glenn to fill all the nail holes in the new trim so that we can get those painted. We’ll also paint the bathroom ceiling (back to white) when we paint the trim. It’s VERY dark in there…you can still do your makeup, but I think we just need a little more white to balance out all of the brown. It keeps it looking crisp. And I need to get new towels and finish sewing my new shower curtain…
And speaking of paint colors, I recently finished an e-decorating Paint Consultation project for a client. I chose colors for the ENTIRE house and I hear through the grapevine (aka Facebook) that their painters are done and they LOVE their colors. Can’t wait to share those photos with you all!! After I see them, of course…
Edit: My brain and my fingers aren’t working together…I thought I left the contest open until TODAY (Monday, 11/9) but I originally was holding the giveaway open until Monday 11/16. So I’m going to keep it open for another week, so if you want to enter you still have time! Sorry, Trisha…maybe you’ll still win! 
Head back to the post to enter. And last, but not least – the winner of last week’s Rosebud Cards giveaway!! The winner is Trisha!! Congrats, Trisha!! Enjoy your free cards!! Here are her favorites:
And a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE ‘Thank You’ to Rosemary of Rosebud Cards for offering this very generous giveaway to Likely Design readers! Your card idea is absolutely adorable, and Trisha is a very lucky winner. I am so appreciative that someone would contact me because of my blog and offer to give something away for free that you worked so hard on. Thank you so much to everyone who entered – you guys rock!
It’s still open: enter the giveaway here!
And another exciting thing coming up – I submitted a guest post to Michelle over at the blog “When I Grow Up” about my path to becoming a creative professional. How exciting, right?!?! I’ll let you know when my guest post is up!! See you all tomorrow and have a great Monday…. xo, L.
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About Me
I'm an interior designer and a draftsperson, but I live in the country. I like it that way. I'm also a firefighter's wife, mom to 2 cute kids, and a homeowner and I like that even better. But right after that is a pretty and affordable space...and I mean a REALLY affordable space. Because I believe good design can be for EVERYONE!
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