I have reclaimed my house from my ex-boyfriend and his daughter, who have, for the most part, moved out now.I also decided that 6 years sleeping upstairs under the eaves in a twin sized bed, where I could only stand upright in the center 4' of the room, with inadequate lighting and cold and hot temp extremes was enough so I decided to take over his old room downstairs. It's a nice room - not big by any means, but bigger and airier then what I had as my room for years. I can also stand upright in it - bonus!! It's also near the bathroom - and I could finally graduate to a queen sized bed! (the stairs to my old room were narrow and poky and one could only fit a twin mattress up them).I decided to make this new room my haven - a dreamy space I look forward to retiring to each night and love waking up to each morning.I wanted to try wallpaper for a change, instead of just paint.I found a website called wallpapermore.com where I found some beautiful papers, some for $22 a double roll/pre-pasted. The one I chose was one of the lower priced patterns.I found the queen sized mattress set off craigslist for $20 - this woman was moving to Hawaii and she couldn't pay over-seas shipping costs on her furniture so she was selling it all.The queen bed frame was $95, also off craigslist. It was a hideous green so I spray painted it white.All the bedding was found at Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx or eBay, at great prices!
The cotton sateen duvet in pale Delphinium blue was $30 and the Laura Ashley white cotton bedskirt with satin stripes was $14 because it had a small tear in the seam which took me 2 minutes to repair! The RL white cotton blanket was $19.99 and the queen down-alternative comforter was $39. Each paycheck, since March, I shopped for a few more items, in anticipation for the day when I could claim the room as my own and get to work on it.
I gave myself one weekend to get the wallpaper up. Having never done it before, I was a bit nervous but knew it had to be done in order to create this special haven I saw in my mind's eye.The few supplies I needed were under $20 at Lowes and I was ready to go!
I painted wallpaper primer on the walls the Friday night before the big work weekend.
By Sunday night, 8 pm, I had finished the last piece. I had to measure and cut to go around 2 windows and 2 doors and was lucky to be vertical and alert after 2 graveyard shifts at my weekend job, 8 hours of sleep total for the entire weekend and hours on my feet each afternoon and partial evening, hanging wallpaper. I also had a really interesting hairdo from the pasted wallpaper flopping down on to my head all the time - it would pretty much keep any shape I wanted! My goal was to have the room ready for me to sleep in Sunday night and to be on the couch by 9 pm to watch Masterpiece Theater on PBS!Well, it was 9:30 pm and I finally sat down. The wallpaper was up and trimmed away from mouldings and floors, the bed was put together and made, the bedside table I had hand painted a few months back (see earlier blog post) was in place and the settee from the living room was pushed around the corner and on to the north bedroom wall.I dug out 2 matching glass lamps from storage I had bought from the Target Simply Shabby Chic line years ago, along with the matching curtains in British Rose and will use them in the room until I can afford something better.The chandelier was hung a few months back and put on a dimmer. The glass chandelier was a real bargain - 17" four-arm from the website: greatchandeliers.com.Henry was the first one on the bed. He was exhausted from watching me scrambling all weekend! The other kitties also came and poked around, exploring the new space.Yet to come: egg and dart crown and new baseboard, painting the window trim white, polished brass switch plate and outlet covers, adding some artwork and another bedside table (which is being painted white right now - an old, shabby wicker side table)I'll post updated images as the room progresses.I hope you enjoy the pictures - some were taken that Sunday night and the others the next morning. I threw in a couple of "before" images so you could see the empty room.
I was shooting for a mix of Gustavian, Shabby Chic and country. I think I nailed it!
I have four of these old wicker-backed chairs.Three armless and one with arms.I found them, abandoned alongside a Seattle street almost 2 years ago.I passed them up on my way to work but came back for them during lunchtime.They were still there so I stopped, swooped them up into my pickup and drove them home before returning to work.My then-boyfriend rolled his eyes when he got home.He'd seen them that morning too, on his way to work and had a funny feeling that I would be the one picking them up! hahaI kept them in storage until last summer when he showed me how to take them apart and hammer, screw and glue them back together so they no longer wobbled.I removed the old, stained burgundy fabric seats and tossed them away.A few weeks ago when I took a day off to paint the inside of my new front door, I set 2 of them up on a work table outside and KILZ spray primed the wicker, then brush primed the rest of the frame and later base coated them with Waverley's Cottage Linen White.Last night I decided to cover the seats with this fabric I had on a bolt, from an online order about 2 years back. It's a pretty blue rose/floral on a rough canvas weave fabric, but very soft to the hand.I had the foam already bought and waiting for the moment - just had to cut it to size of the wooden seat which I had removed to paint the chair. I let a little bit overhang.Then I covered the foam with a soft, lightweight cotton fabric, stapling it on the underside.Finally came the lovely blue floral fabric, also stapled onto the underside.Once done, I could stand back and finally feel a sense of accomplishment.I sat very comfortably on the armless chair but my butt was too big for the one with arms so only skinny friends will be invited to sit there. hahaThis transformation was a long time in coming but soon they will sit at their place around me large dining room table. I hope to have many friends over to use them!Stay tuned for later in the summer when my now ex-boyfriend moves out and I reclaim the large room we now call the family room, as my dining room.It is 20' x 20' with low ceilings and a wood burning stove in the corner (which is used to partially heat the house all winter).I will paint the walls a pale spring green and hang gold framed botanical prints all over them.Not liking the ugly, stained carpet, we ripped it out to expose the cement floor underneath.I was promised a new floor would be laid if I only bought the flooring so I ran out and found a 16" square sandstone colored tile on sale at Home Depot. It was what I could afford at the time but I also loved the look and the cement floor (once belonging to the garage it was converted from) made it hard to lay a wood floor (out of my budget's reach any ways!)Four years later the promise is unfulfilled but I'm hoping he will lay it once he moves all his stuff out of the room.In the mean time, my painted ladies await their spot around the elegant dining table a dear friend gave me...a table that seats 16 and which came with 2 beautiful Irish white linen damask tablecloths and matching napkins.I can't wait for the transformation to be complete!!
Download and print this card, then post it everywhere as a reminder that we are usually the only ones holding ourselves back from reaching the success we want.
Strive to be the one who stays positive, who answers "yes" to everything, who shines like a beacon to everyone else looking for a way forward.
Dance you dance, sing your song and smile at everyone!
I good friend of mine sent this Audrey quote to me and I loved it so much, I made us a poster to print at home and hang in a spot where we can read it when we need to be strong. I have some big changes going on in my life right now but once made, life will be better for me, I'm convinced. But in the meantime, a little inspiration now and then is called for.
Sometimes when I see a great outfit I imagine myself lucky enough to be dressed in it and off to a special event.
Same with this wonderfully tailored suit of red and white Tattersall plaid. Matched with a white silk floral scarf with a scattering of red watercolor flowers, a crisp white shirt with French cuffs topped off with a straw-brimmed kettle hat with a brilliant red linen crown. I've teamed my jacket with a tailored pair of white linen, wide legged trousers, cuffed and a red leather belt. And red lips - a Chanel red, no doubt! I also am wearing the light, sweet scent of Fracas (gardenias, lily of the valley and jasmine) Now, where would YOU imagine yourselves off to while wearing this dream of an outfit? I tell you where I think I'd be going - to afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria BC, Canada. To sit among the ladies and gentlemen wearing their afternoon best, enjoying salmon and cream cheese sandwiches and petite fours and a hardy English Breakfast tea with milk and 2 lumps, served in a delicate, floral bone china cup from England. After tea, we'd take a turn through a nearby garden or along the waterfront in the warm summer sun. Your turn! Leave a comment - where are you off to in this wonderful suit?Photo is courtesy of the May 1998 issue of Victoria magazine.
