Guest Bedroom Big Reveal

The guest room is finished!!!  When I walk in the room this is what I see...

Last week, I showed part of the room when I posted about the lyrics I wrote on the black, painted wooden board using a Sharpie paint pen.  I wrote the words from U2's "One".

On the opposite side of the bedroom is a queen size bed and a newly created headboard.  To make the headboard, I took four wooden shutters that were used in the girl's room when we lived in Virginia.  I attached the shutters together using flat straight brackets, then wrapped a twin size mattress pad over the top of the shutters (sideways) and secured it using a staple gun.  Then I wrapped a white flannel sheet over the pad and stapled again.  After the cushion feeling was attached to the board, I added a gray and white striped sheet from West Elm as the fabric for the headboard.  I wrapped the striped sheet over the flannel sheet, then stapled it to the back.  Voila, new headboard!

The nightstand next to the bed is an extra wicker hamper I had.... I placed a mirrored tray on top and added a few books and accessories...

Above the nightstand is a watercolor painting I recently did....  I also gave an update to an old frame by painting it gold using Martha Stewart's liquid gilding.

Ritva curtains from Ikea are hung above the window.... I added black grosgrain ribbon along the edges just like I did in the living room and the girl's bedroom (more detailed directions on adding grosgrain ribbon here).

Along one wall, I placed a bookcase and a few pieces of art.  For the gold and white chevron print, I quickly drew chevron stripes using a Prismacolor marker (just like I used the marker in the dining room)..... they stripes are uneven, but I like the imperfectness.

And here's the best part, the before and afters pictures.  This is the look of the room when we purchased the house a year ago (I had a few ideas and inspiration photos of what I wanted the room to be)....

Then I made some progress unpacking boxes after we moved in the house and set-up a temporary design for the room....

And finally a finished room....

 

.... and ready for a few guests!

DIY Burlap Sacks for Advent Calendar

Earlier this week I showed our advent calendar (with a free printable!) made out of burlap.  Today, I'll show you how I made all those teeny-tiny, numbered burlap sacks that are piled in the glass jar on my coffee table.

I pulled out a few old burlap bags that I had saved, along with my scissors (or you could purchase burlap at the fabric store, very cheap!).  I placed the print-out over the burlap and eye-ball measured the size sack I needed (that print-out is what will would be placed inside.  I cut around the paper.... and ended up with about a 3x2" size.  I cut out two pieces per sack....

... then held them together and sewed three sides together, leaving the top part open....

Once the three sides were stitched together, I evened out the edges with a pair of scissors (this made a little bit of a mess!).  But now the sack is even!

Then I wrote a number (1-25) on each sack for our advent calendar using a Sharpie maker....

Then I inserted the paper with the day's activity and sealed it with washi tape....

.... then piled them all into a glass jar on my coffee table....

We start using the calendar tomorrow.... December 1st!  How are you counting down the days until Christmas?

Welcome Stripes

I've been craving stripes in my house, remember here?  Well, as of this week I have stripes!!!  They're in the entry way....

And no I do not have the patience to paint those stripes, nor the budget for wallpaper.... that is tape!  It's Japanese Washi Tape from Cute Tape and I love it.  It's easy to put on and easy to take off.... there's absolutely no mess (I'm not paid for this..... there's really NO mess).  I could remove it tomorrow and my wall would be just as it was before I added the tape.  Here was my process....

I measured how far apart I wanted the stripes and made a tiny mark on the wall, then pointed my laser level at the wall, stretched out the tape and pressed it against the wall....

Once all the stripes (tape) were on the wall, I used an exacto knife to trim the edges on the top and bottom for a clean cut....

In the end, I have a wall of stripes that cost me less than $30 (and definitely doesn't look like tape)!!!

I placed a few books, a lamp recovered with fabric (Gazebo Cloud from Tonic Living) and a few frames, including the key art I gave to the husband for Valentine's Day, all on the blue desk (that was originally in this room, then moved to this room).

And now for the best part..... the before and after.  Here's a picture of the entry way when we purchased the house.....

And now.....

Such an easy (and inexpensive) way to update a wall!  So, how have you used Washi Tape?  Any projects planned?

Linking up to I Heart Naptime and Between Naps on the Porch.

Dining Room Planning

As I'm finishing up a few other rooms in the house (living room, kitchen, and guest room- oh, and writing a post about the finished playroom), I'm also decorating the dining room in my head.  Does anyone else decorate in their head... tell me I'm not the only one!

So, on to the dining room.... I mentioned here that I should really recover the seat cushions on my dining chairs.  We used them at our kitchen table in the rental house for about three months and the seat fabric is not so pretty anymore.  I'll keep the camera far away, but you get the picture.... kids and pasta sauce, strawberries, blueberries..... mmmm, yeah.... they need an update!

I debated between covering the seats in a vinyl-type fabric so spills could easily be wiped away or making slipcovers that I could remove and throw in the wash if they need a cleaning.  I ordered several fabric samples, both vinyl and cotton, in solids and prints.  Once I saw Chloe Ruby by P/Kaufmann in person, I was sold!

Chloe Ruby by P/Kaufmann, available thru Tonic Living

This botanical print is beautiful... pink, golden yellow and cream..... lovely!  I'll be making slipcovers for my dining room chairs soon and maybe when they're finished I'll celebrate by throwing a dinner party!  Probably just in time for Thanksgiving :)

And since we're talking about the dining room, here's what the room looked like when we bought the house....

And here's what it looks like now.... the only updates I've made to the room so far have been painting the walls (Floral White by Benjamin Moore), removing the glass from the chandelier (more work to be done on the chandelier), taking down the curtains and moving our furniture into the room.

So, I'll start with updating the chairs in the new fabric and slowly work my way around the room.... I think there's gonna be more pink and maybe a little stenciling on the walls!

Girl's Bedroom Big Reveal

My girly-girl's room is decorated..... all in pink!  I'm a huge fan of pink and I must have passed on my love of this color to my girls because when I asked what color they wanted their room, their response was pink (almost in unison)!  Perfect!!!  So, we call this "Dreaming in Pink".....

After deciding on the layout of the bedroom (seen here, here, here and here), the girls and I knew we wanted a lot of pink throughout the room.  We always seem to have lots of pink things around the house, so we only needed a few things (and plenty of work) to bring it all together.

For the bedding, we used a few things we had on hand (Shabby Chic floral sheets, a cotton pink blanket, a white scalloped pillow), then added fabric with additional color.  After looking at fabric, I decided to lift up the box-spring with wooden legs and wrap the box-spring in Laura Ashley's gorgeous teal ikat print.  I glued the fabric to the box-spring using Fabri-Tac.... a super, simple project and well worth the time.  No more adjusting a bed-skirt every time I make the bed!

Near the top of the bed, I piled three pillows.... a king-sized (the scalloped white), then a tiny floral print (same as the sheets) in a standard size, then a smaller size pillow covered in a black and ivory ticking stripe fabric.  The large euro size pillow in front was made with Micheal Miller's floral print (Belle Rose in Pink) on the front a solid fuchsia color (Hibiscus in Pink) on the back.

The comforter folded at the bottom of the bed is a simple, inexpensive duvet sold by Ikea, the Dvala.  The duvet came in white, but I used the powder form of Rit Dye in Petal Pink to make it pink.  I stuffed the duvet with the girl's old comforter from their previous room in VA, seen here.  In all honesty, I was nervous about dying the fabric, but the process turned out to be quick and painless.  I used one packet of dye for both duvet covers and followed the washing machine method... both covers came out of the dyer completely solid pink, no streaks!  Great results (it was so easy, I think I might be doing this again for another room!).

The twin beds do not have a headboard or footboard.... I thought about buying two or making two.  Then I looked at my budget... it wasn't much, so I opted to skip the headboards and use pink paint (Rose Garden by Benjamin Moore) I already had to paint a design on the main wall.  I created a stencil out of heavy cardstock taped together (so it would be bigger than standard 8.5" x 11" paper) , measured where each design should be on the wall, traced the stencil in the marked spots, then finally painted inside the lines.

In between the twin beds, I placed a nightstand and topped it with one of my paintings (in pink, of course) and an art piece I had done in pen and ink way back when I was in high school!  It's the image of a young girl wearing a floral hat.... I absolutely love it because I think the girl actually resembles both of my girls... it's a perfect fit!

On one side of the room, there's a window and a partial blank wall.  I added Ikea Lenda curtains (from my dining room in VA- I cut off the tab tops and hung them with clips), then added black grosgrain ribbon on the edges, just like in my living room (tutorial here).  There's a roller shade behind the floral print above the window.... I like to hide the stark white shades, (just like I did in my son's bedroom, tutorial is here).

On the blank wall, I added a gallery wall... I love gallery walls, like here and here).  It's a mix of photos, fabric, a silhouette, a mirror, another one of my paintings, and Made By Girl's LOVE print in the bubblegum color.....

On the opposite wall, I added a mixture of two banners that I strung across the wall/room.  For the pink banner, I cut dome shapes out of polka dot wrapping paper and hot glued them to string.  For the white banner, I scrunched about five white coffee filters and hot glued them together.  After I had several "balls", I hot glued them to string and stung them across the room.

My favorite part of the room is when I look up at the ceiling.  I know this picture may look quite strange, but it's my view when I lay on the floor and look up.  I love seeing all that pink... and of course I love that white chandelier.... can you believe I picked up this chandelier at a thrift store (in Ocean Isle, NC - one of my favorite vacation spots!) for only $5!!!  It was originally the color red, but after a quick coat of spray paint and frosted light bulbs, it looks new again!

It really makes the room sparkle when the lights are on....

And I love that I can see the chandelier again through the mirror resting on the dresser....

This mirror on the dresser has moved around with us year after year and has remained wrapped and packaged inside the moving box.  It was an unframed mirror with paint stains around the edges, but I wanted a mirror in this room so I decided to unpack the mirror and make it pretty.  I bought Greek key trim, cut it to fit the mirror, spray painted the trim bronze, then glued it to the edges... much better!

My dad made that beautiful dollhouse for the girls (we're beginning to decorate all those rooms!).  If you're curious, the girl's clothes are hung over on the side...

And now for the best part.... my favorite, the before and after!  Here's the girl's bedroom before....

And after....

Now that's a lot of pink.... I'm sure the girls are dreaming in pink!

Linking up to Savvy Southern Style, House of Hepworths, Southern Lovely, It's A Hodge Podge Life, Chic On A Shoestring Decorating, Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Designer Garden, Tatertots and Jello, I Heart Naptime, Between Naps on the Porch, Wiccan Make Some Too, Skip To My Lou, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie Coastal Charm and Bear Rabbit Bear.