The room is finally done. I had the chance to hang the drapes today. I love how it turned out.
Remember the before? Ewwwweee.
And after....
And a pretty little view from the window....
Now that its done, I think I'll take a little break. Okay, break's over, time to work on the canning!
The poor "back bedroom". It hasn't been redecorated in years. It was once our son's room, then a semi-hospital room, a packing room, and lately just plain 'ole forgotten.
Before, yes, sad, I know:
Last week I decided that it was time for a new paint job and maybe a few new prints of my European vacation photos. One steadfast "rule" in design is when redoing a room, you must move everything out of the room. I mean everything. I wasn't going to do that at first, but I know there's a magic that happens when you clear a room. All the hang ups, limitations and workarounds disappear. You look at the room and its arrangement and contents with truly fresh perspective. So I diligently cleared the room. Mr. Rose was not excited about this. He knows what happens when I get this serious about a project...
So...I sat in the middle of the room on a chair and just studied things for awhile with a glass of sweet tea (this was my second mistake, sugar and caffeine are a bad combination when contemplating activity).
I decided (with the help of the caffeine and sugar) that since everything was cleared out of the room, it would be the perfect time to finally do something about that awful carpet (and the magic begins). The carpet was on my last nerve. I proceeded to tear it all out including pad, tack strip and a million staples. The things that settle under carpet and pad after 25 years are down right disgusting. Glad I tore out the carpet. Ah, much better.
Hmmmnn, now the woodwork really looks tired....
I restained all the woodwork with Minwax Polyseal and it looks brand new. So fresh and rich again.
Since everything is out of the room, and its all freshly painted, now would be a good time to put the new shelving (I bought for the closet 10 years ago) in. Oh, and if there's going to be new shelving, I'll need new closest doors so out with the yucky doors:
I installed a new type of floor that looks just like wood, isn't laminate and was super easy to install. So now the carpet is gone and the floor is brand new and squeaky clean.
And now that the woodwork, new floor and paint are like new again, that gold door knob really must go. I installed a new oil-rubbed bronze, lever, lockset door knob with a little You Tube help.'
Isn't it pretty?
Just a few more little things to go and then its on to the decorating part. So....a week later, its almost ready to restyle and I LOVE it so far!
I purchased this chaise at a tag sale several years ago for $20. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. It is from the 1950's, has a very unique reclining mechanism and great decorative tack details along the sides. I saw the potential beyond the white, stained and cracked vinyl.
Last year I finally had it recovered. For now, I have it in my studio awaiting the upstairs redo.
I love the detail...
I see it paired with this, covered in flax linen....
With these in cream...
And if there is some wall space left, maybe these...
And this petite little sparkler, hanging overhead for a cozy reading corner...
Hmmmnnn, I can't wait!
Not sure where the time went since my last post...I have been busy however with a few little things. I made this little display piece awhile back. I love vintage button cards but it is a little time consuming to find them, wait for their arrival and then get started on projects. I decided to try to make a few of my own for embellishments on cards and other projects. As I had them all laying out on the table after finishing, I loved how they looked as a collection so I decided to mount them on a canvas for display.
Some of the details:
I just love my window boxes! This past weekend I prepared them for fall. Spring and summer got away from me so it was way overdue. Pansies don't like drought much so there was nothing left but dirt. They are worthy once again.
Still working on the front porch but at least its started....
I just adore the fall...I'm ready to start nesting!
We've been updating the kitchen and its finally done. With solid oak cabinets we felt that we had a good foundation and the kitchen really just needed a face-lift. The bottom cabinets are painted moss green with a brown glaze and the top cabinets are painted cream with the same brown glaze. We have so much wood in the house that the glaze ties in the painted surfaces with the wood surfaces and gives the painted areas so much more depth and character. I chose vintage reproduction glass knobs because I love cottage design. I also found glass drawer pulls and splurged a little on those because they are so unique. The backsplash was originally slated to be glass tile but we chose beadboard instead because it adds so much texture, especially with a glaze (again, its the cottage in me). We also had the fireplace refaced with beadboard and trim and it is painted in the same moss green as the base kitchen cabinets. It's all topped off with new counter tops. I love the added depth of the counter tops, it makes so much more room in the area where I do all the food prep. The counter tops are Formica that was fabricated with no backsplash and curved edges to sport the look of granite without the cost. I couldn't be more pleased with the way things have turned out.
And the fireplace...We also painted the fireplace insert with some cool new Rustoleum paint that actually looks like hammered metal. Next on the project list is etching a design onto the fireplace insert glass. Monkey looks very unhappy with the before fireplace, can we blame him? How on earth did we stand that fireplace for 15 years?
And as always, design is about the details...I found a shelf, a towel holder and a paper towel rack at the local design store and had them painted to match the paint on the walls.
I thin I feel a batch of Patty's Cupcakes coming soon...or maybe a batch of homemade vegetable soup or some fresh made bread...
I'm working really hard to turn my contemporary ranch into a cottage. I've worked on several projects this summer hoping to move it in that direction. We added window boxes and some trim details and did a little front porch makeover. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Here is the porch before the makeover....
Here is the porch after the makeover....I had a shelf made and installed to serve as a place to create seasonal vignettes. I painted a design on the porch and had the front door painted in a faux finish that is robin's egg blue, with brown speckles and a white wash. Added a cushion and pillows to the bench to complete the look. Ahhh, much better, now it looks like an inviting front porch.
I was recently asked to design a flower garden. Anyone who truly knows me, knows that flower gardens make me absolutely giddy. I find so much inspiration in the garden, be it a flower garden or an herb garden or even a vegetable garden. I dream of gardens, any kind. Cultivation gives me a sense of peace and belonging unlike anything else I have ever known. It feels natural and necessary for the soul to touch the soil and nurture nature. I guess I am more ready for spring than I realized. I originally tried to use a landscaping software to do the design but was spending so much time trying to figure out the software and manage its limitations that I resorted to the old fashioned way with paper and colored pencils. Here is the garden as best I could transfer it from my mind to paper. This is a tried and true garden for this part of the country. All low maintenance, sure to do well varieties including yarrow, Shasta daisies, cone flower, hydrangea, peonies, iris, coreopsis, rabbit's ear and lavender.
Finally after two years, I've gotten drapes back up in the living room. We took them down to paint and I was just going to whip up a new treatment.... Fast forward two years and I can check them off the list. On to the master bedroom and sunroom. Hope that doesn't take two years!
I used heavy weight fabric in two different patterns. I then sewed the two fabrics together and trimmed the seam with velvet ribbon, buttons and silk flowers under the buttons.
Here's a closer view of the ribbon and button detail. I'm very excited to have this project behind me and am pleased with the final result!
It's hard to believe that it has been almost two months since I last posted. My vow for 2009 is probably the same as everyone else's. I want to be more organized, and better prepared. I want to devote more time to my art and crafts. I want to post more consistantly and record all of my artful activities. As have many others, I have been consumed with the details and activities of the holidays. I made many handmade and homemade things during the holidays but somehow didn't manage to photograph or write about any of them. Where did the time go? I did have a little knee injury that has slowed me down and has been a little demoralizing, but still! I'm sitting here now, typing and enjoying the last few evenings with the tree up. I'm making plans for a more artful 2009 as I enjoy the lights of the tree for a little while longer. I have a lot of plans for projects for the next few months so stay tuned, I promise it won't be two months before the next post.
