Finally inspired
Well hello out there!
I know, it’s been a while. And I know I was talking about jewelry a lot (haha), but I’m back to drafting and design projects and am feeling inspired (to blog, too!). I’m finally getting back into the swing of things after having my son…and yes, I know he just turned 6 months old. I have been enjoying my time with him (and my daughter!).
Here are a few peeks of what I’ve been working on lately. Names have been blacked out to protect the innocent, haha.
The last project has been my favorite. Garages are nice and quick and easy (and my clients have been GREAT!), but doing actual INTERIOR design has been a nice change. I hope they love their new, functional kitchen as much as I have enjoyed living in it in my head the past few weeks!
The first one was a HUGE remodel that has taken months and months and months (I started it well before my son was born), then I’ve had a couple garages, and next I hope to start working on that floor plan with the octagonal room. It should be an interesting one!
Okay…back to work!
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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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{Color Therapy} Fieldstone by Benjamin Moore
Looking for a chic way to update your kitchen? How about painting your cabinets a COLOR? I’m really loving white walls in spaces, but with colored trim, moulding, cabinets, ceilings, etc. lately. If I had the guts to re-paint my house, that is what I’d do…but I need to add the architectural details first so it wouldn’t look so BORING in white! I saw these kitchen photos and thought that it was such a calming and chic color scheme, I just had to share it to give a little inspiration. So without further adieu, I give you the Texas kitchen of Sally Wheat (which has been all over blogland, I know, but I had to file it away here in my little corner of the web!).
The cabinets are painted ‘Fieldstone’ by Benjamin Moore, a mid-value warm gray that is just so perfect with those marble countertops. A great example of how to inject some color into your space without painting the walls an actual color.
I love the casement window, the gorgeous Farmhouse style apron-front sink, the polished nickel faucet and cup pull hardware, and the decorative brackets on the open shelving. Notice how the cabinets’ hinges aren’t showing? It keeps the look of the cabinets less busy (or you can try white hinges with white cabinets, and metal pulls).
White subway tile with white grout is always a good choice. I love the open shelving to show off her great crystal and white glass collection.
And here is the wide angle shot of the whole space. How about those industrial pendants? And that plate wall? If you click over to see the whole house (see the link below), you’ll see that the homeowner/designer loves to mix vintage/traditional pieces with modern elements and trends for an eclectic look, and she does it well.
Want to re-create a kitchen like this? Try these items:
Polished Chrome Bridge Faucet, Overstock.com: $174.99 (it used to be $109.99 – always check for specials!).
Polished Chrome Bin/Drawer Pull, eBay.com: $1.70 each (eBay is a GREAT place to buy cabinet hardware).
Fisherman Ceiling Lamp, Pottery Barn Kids: $89.00 each. (But PB should know – clear light = clear bulb!)
DOMSJÖ Double Bowl Sink, IKEA: $312.98 (this one is HUGE at over 3 feet wide!)
And this is their single bowl version, 25″ wide: DOMSJÖ Sink bowl from IKEA, $185.99.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this kitchen! Have you seen it before? What do you think of painted cabinets? Would you rather stick with wood or white? Let me know! Happy painting!
{Images via Cote De Texas of Sally Wheat’s kitchen. Click here to view the entire home!}
Read More{Real Rooms} Reese’s Nursery
I am so excited to share an adorable little nursery project with you today, not because I designed it (because I didn’t – I wish I could take credit for it!), or not only because it is darling, or hand-crafted with special little details, but because it is the bedroom of a sweet little girl whose mama is an old friend of mine! And as you can see a very artistic and creative friend at that! But if you knew Janet in high school, you would know what an artist she is! A good example showing that whatever profession you choose, you can still be an artist (Janet is a nurse!).
A big thank you to Janet (and Reese! And Matt!) for sharing her little nursery project with us – I absolutely love it! My favorite part has to be the hand-painted details; two tones of yellow in two different finishes and don’t forget the hand-painted ‘R’ (yes, that is painted directly on the wall!) with glitter accents, a painted border and a wooden frame tacked to the wall. I’m sure it is something that little Reese will be so proud of when she starts to learn her ABC’s! Here is what Janet had to say about it:
“As for the “R” – I modeled it after a font I found at Pottery Barn, but I decided to draw/paint it free-hand since I wanted it so much larger. The brown and blue frame is painted as well, and Matt cut and nailed up the final white frame around it all. The R is painted with the same color as the stripes, and has a few glitter accents. It was very fun!!”
And here’s the break down to make up a sweet little nursery, just like Reese’s! Thanks for sharing, Janet!
Paint
- Primary wall color – Dutch Boy ”Honey Bear” – Flat finish
- Stripes - Dutch Boy ”Just Enough Yellow” - Semi-gloss finish
- “R” – Painted the same color as the stripes with glitter accents. Framed with blue and brown paint (color, brands unkown) used left-overs that a friend had. Matt finished it off with the white trim.
Furniture/Decor
- Crib – hand-me-down from Reese’s four little cousins
- Bedding – Baby Martex CoCaLo bedding – Australian Animals (I think this has been discontinued) – From the Baby Depot
- Note from Lindsay – it’s called Down Under and you can buy it here!
- Note from Lindsay – it’s called Down Under and you can buy it here!
- Rocker- a baby-shower gift. From Target
- White Dresser – Bona Vita “Peyton” Dresser/changing table combo – from The Baby Warehouse in Petaluma
- Credenza – given to us from the Funeral Home where Matt works – Don’t worry – it was in the lobby – It fits in there perfectly and is decorated with all her favorite stuffed animals.
- Martha Stewart’s Tissue paper pom-poms – from Michaels
- LOVE these! -Lindsay
- LOVE these! -Lindsay
- Pictures (above dresser)- White frames from Aaron Brothers -a little collage of pictures we had taken at the house when Reese was two weeks old!
If you have a room you’d like to share, please e-mail me at lindsay[@]lindsaychristensendesign.com!
And P.S. – sorry for the interruptions throughout the background of the post – I’m tweaking the blog template and those boxes should be on the right – thanks for your patience!!
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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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