More Additions to Guest Bedroom

My embroidered shams came back this week!  I had C, J and the last initial T done even though that's not my last name!  I retained my maiden name when I married but it felt weird putting my own initials. Apparently, that's OK. Soft goods can have a maiden name, according to the embroiderer.  It harkens back to the olden days when girls prepared linens for their future, far before they knew who they'd marry.

I also moved the starburst mirror in here from the master BR.  It's hanging a little high, though. Will have to adjust.

I also added the remaining chandelier shades to the light fixture.  Yay!

Nothing's really changed on the other side of the room.  I should probably polish up the hardware on the chest.

I moved my little lady chair back in here because the cat was clawing it death in the master BR.  Bob the cactus hangs out in this room during the winter.

Mid Century Chandelier Finds a Home

My kinda cool mid-century chandelier that was hanging in the dining room has found a new home. Original to the house ('64), both Jake and I liked it, just not in the dining room. I removed it a few weeks back to hang a drum pendant from Overstock.

Here it is hanging in the dining room with strange black glass discs affixed to it. Ugly dust traps those were.

Now it lives in the guest BR, which had a cheap, dim dome light. The bulb had to warm up, creating an ambiance akin to a Romanian jail cell.

Here's it's new home:

I'm going to add some simple natural linen chandelier shades from Lowes to give it a bit more personality. I bought one to test out and I think it's going to work. These are about $4 each, almost fitting into my budget of $0!

Make it work!

I'm getting king shams monogrammed right now in lime green (whee) and then I think I need to call it done in the guest BR.

Paint it Black

I finally finished painting my campaign dresser.  It's a cheapo laminate deal, not real wood so I primed it first and then painted with high gloss black. 

I'm thinking of polishing up the brass fittings a bit and then calling it done. Such an improvement, no?

Python Upholstered Headboard

My headboard came back from the upholsterer last week:

Pretty swank.

Fabric Samples

I intend to recover my headboard in the guest room.  It's currently a mushroom-y shade in that microfiber/ultrasuede fabric that is just dreadful.  Be gone from the world microfiber!

My chosen samples from Premier Prints came yesterday after nearly 2 weeks (a bit of a long wait for  samples, IMHO).  They are a nice, heavy weight cotton and the samples are generous.

I love the yellow/white stripes but it's a too whimsical.  It would be really fun in a kids room.

The yellow/gray diamonds are nice, but not right for this project.   The animal-esque print photographs well and you can't go wrong with a little animal print.  Or pink.  And it will pop nicely against the taupe wall.

The green print is pretty but I'm not sure I *love* it.  It's a tad busy. What do you think?

Finally - Guest BR Progress!

After painting, repainting and some not-to-be-discussed boneheaded moves - I've finished the wall color in the guest bedroom. I used Shenandoah Taupe by Benjamin Moore that I came across on the mistints rack.

I didn't intend to spend much on this project but you buy one thing, then another and then that doesn't work so you go another direction and probably $400 later I'm satisfied enough to slow down a bit.

• Paint: $11
• Tufted headboard: $100 on CL (I'm going to recover it)
• Chair: Already had it but I think I paid $30 at the thrift
• Mirror: $20
• Campaign dresser: $100 on CL (Will also be painted)
• Rug: Already had it, I think I paid $100 on eBay (West Elm)
• Drapes: $45 from West Elm
• Bedside tables: $80 both from local unfinished wood store
• Pillow: $17
• Bedding: Already had, duvet from IKEA a billion years ago
• Lamps: $14 for both at thrift, spray painted Krylon's Ivy Leaf
• Shades: $5/ea at Ollies, originally from Target
• Flower art: $80 for both (re-purposed from dining room)

What I've Been Up To...

Still painting!! Despite my crappy paint job which I'll need to touch up, I'm liking the new guest bedroom color: Benjamin Moore Shenandoah Taupe. Lesson here kids: stir your paint!  See my spots where it's not quite right?  I got lazy one night and wanted to put in 30 mins of work but didn't thoroughly stir my paint can.  D'oh!  Now I have MORE work to do!

Shenandoah Taupe

Paint issues persist. After some feedback on my idea of changing the brown wall to pink:

I've reconsidered. I stopped in to Benjamin Moore last night and checked their mistints rack. Shenandoah Taupe in eggshell stood out:

It's kind of a "greige" that's been trendy (which means it's about to go out as soon as I paint) but at $5 for a gallon, I figured what the hell and grabbed it.

Here are a pretty use of it I found on the web. I think it might work. Except, instead of just repainting the accent wall, I think I might do the whole room, again. Shoot me, please.

Brown (Wall) has got me Down

I think I figured out my problem with the guest room. The brown wall. It's too much. I was thinking it would be bold and pop-y but instead it's just a blah void of nothingness. Let's face it, I'm a light-paint kinda gal.

So I'm thinking of going over the brown with a pale pink instead:

BM Peony Pink

I have a sampler of Benjamin Moore's Peony Pink that might work. I do love Martha Stewart's Milk Glass from the old Lowes line. I hear it's hard to get now that it's discontinued - it's such a light pink that it's hard to match using computers.

I used Milk Glass in the master BR:

Thoughts?

Pelmet Helmet

All the design/DIY/home blogland was a-flitter lately about the pelmet box tutorial over on LGN. I was stoked to see a DIY project that began with cardboard! I love me some cardboard, staple guns and batting!

My results are OK, nothing special. I went wrong with using a patterned fabric - getting it straight and even was a challenge. (BTW, I used a 100% cotton shower curtain!) The final result is flimsy so I wouldn't recommend this for a room where the drapes or blinds underneath will be used all the time. Not the fault of anyone's tutorial, more like my crappy DIY skills!



Aesthetic Oiseau has a great tutorial for making one of plywood, which will certainly last longer and likely yield more professional results than cardboard! Looks easy enough if you are of the woodworking sort. I might re-do this one eventually in wood if I decide I love the look.

A wee bit of change

The finishing of the guest BR marches on. I can't imagine paying any more than $50 for a lamp. I'm always floored by the prices of designer lamps in the shelter mags. RIP-OFF. So off to the thrift I went. I uncovered this ginger jar gem that was a shade of blah brown and covered in a thick layer of dust. A coat or two of Krylon Ivy Leaf brought it back to glorious green life.


Its partner in crime had an interesting shape and just needed another few coats of the same paint to make it look like a new piece. The shades are from Ollie's, a bargain store. They are originally basic shades from Target. I think they were $5/ea.


So here's where I am. Not sure about the bedding/duvet situation. It's OK but I'm not in love. I'm thinking maybe a print might be more enticing? I have so many unused duvets, so I feel like I shouldn't buy another. Maybe a monogram would be cool?

I recovered this $8 thrift chair! Or, rather, I had it recovered professionally and boy am I glad I did. my DIY skills are not that great. Here's the before:

It's part of the guest bedroom that I'm in the middle of revamping. Though I think I picked the WRONG paint color. I think I might shoot myself -- I am SO sick of painting I could scream. Ugh.