Oh yeah…
…I bet you thought I forgot that this blog was supposed to be about interior design and decorating. Hmmm…well here are some things we’ve been up to lately around here.
I found these beauties at the local antique store, I had a gift certificate, so they came home with me! And this is exactly how I found them…with slightly worn paint and tarnished hooks. They make me happy.
One for each of us!
These are hanging in our “dining room.” Although it’s really one big space with the living room. And the other major change in the dining room is with our dining table! We’ve wanted to refinish it ever since we pulled it out of the barn about a year and a half ago, and with being stuck inside for what seemed like months this past (freezing and rainy spring), my husband decided to go ahead and refinish it one day. Just like that! He used some ‘ebony’ stain that we already had on the table and bench tops, and instead of sanding and staining the legs, he decided to use some leftover wall paint that matches the living room walls. Which is Benjamin Moore ‘Ashley Gray.’ Enjoy!
Before:
During:
Afters!
I love the variations in the stain!
It’s much more “us” now and we really love it! It’s amazing what some stain and paint can do, even with a “log-cabin” style table, and it can turn it into something much more contemporary. I hope you like it, too!
L.
Read Morestir 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.
trading spaces…completely
So I’m at work today and decide to take a break and walk down to the antique store. While I’m there I remember that I need to check out lace (hopefully large pieces like curtains or tablecloths) for decor for a wedding I’m helping with this summer. Nada. Nothing but teeny scraps or doilies. So that makes me think of possibly buying it from a fabric store and hemming it if needed. So I decide to check out fabric.com. What do I see right on the homepage? Besides a sale on Packers and Steelers print – GO PACKERS!!! But a line of fabric by former Trading Spaces carpenter Ty Pennington! And they’re actually pretty interesting patterns.
I thought they said home decor weight so my first thought was upholstery…but as I look closer it says “use for quilting and craft projects,” so I guess it’s too light. Boo. But they would make a kick-ass quilt! Or pillowcase, even if it isn’t heavy.
Ask and you shall receive! The patterns are available in quilting AND home decor weight – yippee! Yes, I’m too lazy to go back and delete my last comment. Just enjoy the pretty pictures, ok??
For a heftier price per yard…of course.
You’re welcome. Go check it out by clicking here.
Put Some Wheels On It
As you might know, I’ve gone a little ‘crate-crazy’ at my house. I currently have 4 antique crates living at my house and I think I need more because they’re so great for storage. I’m really digging the antiques+contemporary style mixed look (some might call my style eclectic?) for my home, so my stash of crates fits right in. I love the logos and typography on them, plus they have character and charm that you can’t find from something new. The one in my bathroom even has hand-written instructions on it to “Keep In Bar.” Love it.
I screwed one right to the wall in my bathroom…holds the essentials for a bathroom: TP, candle, plant, and 2 are screwed to the wall on each side of our bed to act as floating nightstands. This is a perfect plan for our bedroom because we have a platform bed with storage drawers, so any traditional side tables would stop us from opening them, and as they’re attached to the wall, it gives us plenty of room to use the drawers without bumping into table legs.
The 4th crate lives in my living room and this is what I did with it:
$15 Antique whisky crate + $3 IKEA casters = magazine storage that won’t scratch my floors! (Almost) Everything is better with wheels, right?
I simply dug around for the shortest screws I could find, and screwed them right to the edges of the underside so that screws aren’t poking up under the bottom into the box. So I paid less than $20 for this whole set-up: stylish and functional. What do you think?
Plus Harper likes to put her baby dolls in it and push it around! Who needs toys when you can push furniture around, right??
Read MoreGlossy eyed
New magazines make me happy. Especially when they’re devoted to my favorite things: decor, travel, design, entertaining, gardening and culture. And this one you can actually buy a subscription to and hold in your hands!
Welcome, Anthology!
Print Is Not Dead from Anthology Magazine on Vimeo.
And don’t forget the VERY inspirational (and FREE!) online magazine that we’ve come to know and love: Lonny!
Images and video via Anthology Magazine.
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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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