Incremental Decorating

You know those home decor blogs that constantly post pictures of makeovers--room makeovers, furniture makeovers etc., all in one post. . . this isn't one of those.  My makeovers take eons to complete and if I waited to show pictures until the projects were complete I would still not have posted anything on this blog.

But I can give details as they come.  Last year (or was it the year before? I loose track during the process of project hopping!) we started Hannah's room makeover.  I had intended to do something fun above her bed other than hang a picture, but it took me forever to get around to it. Well, it is finally complete:

I actually started this wreath months ago and then put it in a cupboard and forgot about it.

I pulled it out last week and made Hannah finish it!  It was for her room, after all.

I even took pictures of the process. . . of course those pictures where numbered among the poor deceased thousands that weren't backed up when my hard drive died (Though I am still holding out hope that some will be miraculously retrieved here soon).

So all you get is the lovely after.

I bought the frame at the Goodwill, painted it white and distressed it a little.

The wreath is made with a foam wreath bought at Joann's.  The brown part is a gagillion paper sacks punched out with a scalloped circle punch--2", I think is what I used.  I would have preferred a 3" but there wasn't one at the store I was shopping at.

Remember in grade school when you made tissue paper wreaths by taking a square of tissue paper and folding it over a pencil eraser and then gluing it to a wreath?  That's how you make it, only you use hot glue.

The butterflies are cut out of various blue scrap papers and pages from an old dictionary.  I found a butterfly shape online and used it as a template in three sizes to cut them out.

Easy peasy and only like four months to make! But I think it was worth the wait.

It all Comes Down to Black or White

So, I have been working on Hannah's Room for a few weeks now, and it's nearly complete. . .

But while I show you around her little room. . .

I would like to get your opinion on a little matter. . .

. . . of black versus white.

I believe that a little black accent goes a long way in creating contrast--just look at my kitchen!

But my plan for this room was light and airy, crisp and white, warm and cream. . .with a hint of turquoise.

And I think I have succeeded for the most part.

But I still have some left over remnants of her previous decor, which was all red white and black (too bad I didn't take any before pictures of her room before we stripped it bare).

Note the pillow on the bed, the curtain rod, the nightstand, the lamp, the picture frames.

Also, the new dresser has antiqued silver knobs that sort of come across black.

Does it distract? Should I paint the rod, table etc? Or keep the little accents of black?

Either way, I am in love with this room. . . and that bed (which she practically needs a step stool to get into) is divinely comfortable.

You should have seen her all snuggled up in there last night in her light and airy white night gown. . .

I still need ideas for what to put above the bed and what to put on the shelves (that was me throwing things up there to get them off the dresser--not actually me arranging anything).

What do you think?

A Hint of Turquoise

Hannah has been begging for a blue room for a while now. I actually painted her room the same color as the rest of the house last year, which was a taupy off white. But no, she wanted blue. Recently we found some pretty bedding at Target that she loved. It has a light blue turquoise blue quilt and a white comforter with coordinating pillow shams. So I bought it and took it straight to the paint store to match the paint for the walls.

She was so excited she took pictures of me painting her room:

At first it almost seemed to be white, but as the paint dried, a hint of fresh blue appeared.

That dresser will have to go. . .

I even painted the ceiling. . . the chandelier is staying. I brought it from the last house.

The shelves are staying. . .

The color brightened up the room and set the tone for the new look. I can't wait to pull it all together.

Stripping in the Heat of Summer. . .

Hannah has been begging me to redo her room. She decided a year or so ago that she wants a light turquoise and white room. I got a vision a while ago and have been keeping my eye out for elements to fit the vision.

One thing I had been searching high and low for was an antique iron bed--can't you just see it piled high with crispy white, slightly foofy bedding? I definitely can. I searched craigslist daily and three times had to convince Hannah she did not need whatever bed Rob saw in some random store and offered to buy, right now. She has a weakness for the "buy it right now" temptation. But we pulled through.

Then a couple weeks ago I remembered that last year my neighbor was trying to sell an old iron bed. I had looked at it, but had not bought it because it was full and I really thought I wanted a queen because we had a queen mattress set already. Guess what? They don't make antique iron beds in queen and if you get an altered one they are a small fortune. So I walked across the street and asked if they still had it. . .

They DID! Yeah me. Plus it was lovely. . .

. . .or at least it would be once I stripped the paint and painted it antique white.

Which is just what I proceeded to do.

I scrapped and sanded and picked. . .

. . . through white, pink, red and green layers of paint. . .

. . . until I made it bare metal.

Then we sprayed it down with Rustoleum rust killing primer. . .

. . .and painted it antique white.

The actual color was Valspar's Porcelain.

It's not perfect, but it IS lovely.

I would have loved to have had it sandblasted and powder coated, but Rob thinks I will get sick of this bed in a couple years--so it wouldn't be worth it. He is so wrong. This bed was in my neighbor's family forever. She raised her daughter on in, had it before that herself, and before that it was her father's bed--back when it was new. I love knowing that.

It has history! It has character. It's going to look fabulous in Hannah's room.

Just you wait and see.