guest room: red, red bed frame

I painted a bed. 

this is what happens when I have red paint in my hand... ducks get lipstick-ed

I also painted lawn ducks.  But that is neither here nor there.

Back to the bed frame.  Do you ever try to get the perfet paint stroke?  Or lack of visible paint stroke, I guess... and then 15 minutes pass and you are still trying to get rid of that one brush stroke?  Ahhh the joys of painting.

That was the biggest struggle with the bed frame.  Oh man, especially with all the rungs and bumps and crevices.  The WORST!

So, let us back up.  The fourth bedroom started out like this:

Yup, blue-on-blue stripes.  With dark blue window molding and doors.  Oh, and don't forget the drop ceiling and the laminant flooring.  Never forget those... never.

This was the cursed room.  I tried two other colors, (the above being one of them,) before landing on the current color.  Trust me when I say, that picture does not do the color justice.  It was A LOT brighter and more fake-mint-chocolate-chip color.  Not ideal.

This is how the room stayed for quite some time.  Post-painting and flooring, but pre-housemate and pre-beau-mate.  As you will see soon, this color is very hard to photograph with a small point-and-shoot.  Use your imaginations, k?  Or, just keep reading for a better color capture.

So this is what the room was like, with the new shipping crate, for most of the past year.  The bed flip-flops from being against one wall or the other depending on my mood.  I haven't been happy with the comforter set for a while.  The material is kinda rough, and nothing you would want to cozy down on and read a book.  My thought for this room was to be a little more bold and less two-tone.  So, first stop was painting the bed a bold, candy/apple red after seeing inspiration A and B (blogged about here.)  Excited?  Ok!  Lets get this party started!!

Step 1:

Erm, disassemble the bed frame and move to your painting area.  I guess this was pretty obvious, huh?  Moving on...

Step 2:

Sanding.  All of it.  All the cracks.  Yup.  You can feel my excitement about this step.

Step 3:

Priming!  So, from here on out I will tell you I had no idea what I was doing.  You should probably check out those with tons more experience (and awesome results that speak for themselves) if you want a real how-to.  But here is how I did it.  And it worked.  The world didn't implode....

As you can see, I used a spray primer, (because I am lazy and impatient.)  It worked.  Went quickly.  As with normal spray paint, make sure you do continuous strokes, holding the can 6-12inches away, and starting the spray before you get over the furniture piece.  After it was fully covered, (don't worry if it isn't a solid white, that doesn't matter,) it was paintin time!

Step 4:

As you can tell, I started by using spray paint.  Started.  This became a pain within no time.  That's because it takes quite a few coats to get it properly covered, and in doing so I made quite the mess of the drop cloth AND got a light dusting of red all over the patio.  Which was lovely, really it was.  A pink patio.  Additionally, the spray paint wasn't giving me the thick and glossy feel that I desired.  So, I switched to the old-fashioned can & brush (as luck would have it, Rust-o-leum makes the same colors in canned paint, so no color matching was necessary.)  

I really love how the red plays off the green-with-a-touch-of-blue walls

Which, as you can see, looks awesome.  It took longer to do this by hand, as very light coats are required to prevent drips and pooling.  Again, the bumps & crevices took a while to cover.  I did use a foam brush because... well, because I had a bunch of them on hand.  And I thought Why Not?  Maybe that was amateur mistake #59?  Who knows.  

no, those blue sheets ain't workin' no more

But it looks pretty!  So win!  

I also flipped the comforter over, to reveal a basic, tan, cotton underside.  Ideally, we would replace the comforter.... but for now this works!  

Now, this is where things get really, really Scandinavian.  Or Ikea-ian.  Whichever. 

Step 5:

DECORATE!  Yes, two of those pillows and the throw are from Ikea.  I must confess, I love Scandinavian folk style.  True, Danish modern or clean Scandinavian style is great, but there is something about the folk that I love.  Am I alone on this one?  Anyone?

The red pillow has been with me since college, I believe.  It was definitely a good aide in visualizing how the bold red would go with the room when considering the frame.  The white pattern pillow and the throw have been on my wishlist for a while, until I couldn't take it anymore and HAD to have them!  And they are mine, now!!!  Victory!

the beau says it looks like baboon heads on the throw...

Whatcha think?  I am still rolling around ideas for what kind of comforter I want- something plush like the other guest room or something more quilt-like? and in what color?  I fear white covers in both rooms would be dull/predictable...  Definitely want to replace the curtains with something lighter, as there is only one window in this room.

These pillows aren't permanent.  In case you were worrying about that.  Something more should be here...

Now for the rest of the room:

I really love this dresser.  It came with the beau as part of his bedroom set.  And the hurricane lanterns on top are real oil and wick lanterns that ROCK!!  Especially after the power outages over the winter, we are super thankful to have these.  They give off a TON of light!  I urge everyone to have a couple of these on hand for emergencies.  We are clearly low on oil (which comes in assorted colors,) but other than that... perfect!

  

This is another great find from my own personal free flea market (i.e. hand-me-downs).  I love the retro, clean lines!  It needs a little wood glue & clamping before any weight should be put on it.... should probably do that soon, before a comic episode occurs.

We have three of these units, (the third is in the other guest room).  As you can see, we really put these suckers to good use.  I would love to find a way to re-do the blue basket-weave and fit it into our house... any suggestions?  Is it easy to replace the inserts or am I best just painting over??

Look how fast Rita is!  Shes like a blur... she IS a blur!  ZOOM ZOOM!!!*

LOVE.

Anyone else painting furniture?  I gotta say, I am really excited to tackle the dressers in the next room...  Just have to pick the perfect color.  Anyone inspired by something kooky?  How about feeling the need to go bold with color??

quack quack

*The beau recently bought a new Mazda.  You know the awesome-ness that is his new ride?  It reads Zoom Zoom on the little screen as it is starting up!  How cool is that?!

shipping crate: best place to hide a dead body*

Lookie what I got!

What is it, you ask?  It is an old shipping crate from the 1940s-1950s.  Look how it opens:

Ain't it cool??

I love that you just needed a road and a town/state to get the shipment.  We figured, (i.e. read and did a quick Google search,) that my grandfather sent this box home from a military post from the Far East, probably Japan, by way of San Francisco.

I wonder what was in it!  Just clothes?  Maybe books and samurai swords (my grandfather was something of an expert & collector)?  Or maybe something more fun, like Asian art!

Anyways, I am excited to have it.  It is a little rough around the edges, (which is a nice way of saying I got freakin' splinters and I am NOT amused,) so it will need a light sanding.  I would love to change the color of it, but don't want to risk ruining the writing/stencil... so, for the time being it will stay this way.  

I also figure, down the line, it would make a great coffee table with tons of storage for blankets or kids' toys... kinda like these:

photo credit: Ana White**

photo credit: Design*Sponge**

But for now, I am happy with it being extra storage in the house and without any permanent wheels attached.  I guess this was an easy decision, as we already have a coffee table in each room that needs one... but let's make pretend this was a conscious design decision instead, shall we?  Thanks.  So, here you are; here is where this mammoth shipping crate is chilling for the now.  I do like it as a side table, especially for a guest room that was previously lacking one:

On another note, I apologize for my hiatus.  Its not you, its me.  Obviously... you cant write my blog posts for me.  Though if you could, that would be awesome.  Now accepting personal diction-takers.  Will pay you in food.  Sometimes.  When I feel like it.  I promise I have posts planned!  And pictures ready for uploading!  Promises!!!

*You can't tell me that wouldn't fit a dead body!  Maybe you could still use it to ship.  That way your evidence is sent somewhere far away as you disappear.... Hypothetically speaking.
**UGH!  The problem with sharing other blogs photos is they only put you to shame.  I hope you all enjoyed my shame, you shame-vultures.

furniture painting inspiration and weekend plans

Otherwise known as: Biting Off More Than I Can Chew.

picture & inspiration: ApartmentTherapy

I want to paint my old & banged up twin bed RED!  However, I think I am going to give spray paint a whirl with this guy- so many bumps & crevices... I think it's the best form of attack.

You see, I have a bee under my bonnet.  Where, the "bee" is all the mis-matched woods that were free hand-me-downs, and the "bonnet" is my house.  It just looks bleh (technical term).  So my solution to all the dinged up, mis-matched furniture?  STAIN or PAINT THEM ALL!!!!

Side Panel:  How many painted pieces of furniture is too many?  For a house?  For a room?  Discuss.

remind me to tell you about that little lamp... 

Anyways, so the dressers in the grey guest room (or seen here) were hand-me-downs from a neighbor.  As you can see in the pictures, some of the hardware is kinda hanging off.  And no, I haven't thought to spend 5 seconds of my crazy busy day to fix those.  It's avant garde.

So, as you can see, there's a yellow & grey thing going on in this room.  My vision is to kick that color scheme up a little bit with a lil' bit of yellow dresses!  KA-POW!

picture: DesignSponge

picture: Joyful

Love.  Yellow makes me so happy.  

So, weekend plans include either tackling the horrible scariness that is the backyard, starting one of the above painting projects (should PROBABLY pick up some primer first...), caulking a long-problem area in the kitchen (ooo, vague mystery!), or doing nothing but baking cakes.  Decisions, decisions.

BIG news coming tomorrow!!!  Stay tuned, class!

new duvet: i'm pressed!

For a while, I had my eye on this duvet cover from West Elm.  Then, soon after Xmas, a friend pointed out that it was on SUPER sale, WITH a 20% off code!  This meant that I was able to get the duvet cover and two shams for less than $60- cant go wrong with that!  Add in a down-alternative duvet insert/comforter from HomeGoods, and new bedding complete!

A few days after buying the duvet, and while (impatiently) waiting for it to arrive, I see YoungHouseLove got the same one!  So, now I look like a copy-cat.... not true!  But doesn't matter, cuz LOOK HOW AWESOME!!

I previously had a reddish-orange quilt in the room, and a lot of red-hued furniture.  This was great, and very lux, but I was tired of it and felt it was too much red & gold and not enough contrast.  Then, when the beau moved in, the mix-match furniture added to the many red-orange-gold tones in the room!  The teal-green duvet presents the perfect amount of contrast and color to the room.  I also love the amount of white in the design, as it keeps the room bright and lighter... and allows me to work in that ceramic rhino (from ZGallerie- I have a weird love of rhinos.)

I also really dig how the golden-brown in the duvet design really ties in perfectly with the gold on the walls, curtains, and previously-purchased decorative pillows. 

We also opened up the room by re-organizing our clothes and closets, which allowed us to take out the tall dresser, (seen here.)  I want to confess that re-organizing and re-arranging furniture makes me giddy-happy... and moving this dresser opened up so much space!  Visually, when you walk in the door, you now have an unobstructed path straight into the room and there is a wider walkway on the other side of the bed.  It also makes the back closet easy to access, and therefor use.  And finally, removing the tall dresser from my bed set means that the only furniture remaining is from the same matching set.  Makes for a much better, put-together room.  LOVE IT!

UPDATE: I had some trouble getting these shams (which was a real "SHAM"!  OH I kill myself!!)  Anyways, I ordered two standards with the duvet, but they were listed as back-ordered until 12/31.  Well, when the duvet finally shipped, the shams were still listed as back-ordered.  I've had trouble before when things say they are back-ordered, only to suddenly change and say "nope, you ain't getttin' squat!" 3 weeks after you made the order!  So, I started fretting and going back and forth about buying the Euro shams, which were still in stock... only to get a notice that said my shams were out-of-stock and sorry, SOL.  Then I looked online, after deciding to get the Euros, and see that THEY were out of stock, but the standards were available for purchase?? Totally confused I called customer service and the lovely lady helped straighten it all out and put me down for a new set.  End of the Story: I got my shams, the bed is made, and I love that WestElm customer service lady, where-ever she may be!

curtain closed closet

One of the first things I did when moving in was remove some HORRIBLE hanging, accordion closet doors in my master bedroom.  Wasn't difficult... they were already 1/2 falling off!  So, for the better part of a year and a half, this is how my closet presented itself to the world:

Other than being too busy with other projects, I really don't have a reason why I didn't just install new, sliding closet doors...

I was REALLY REALLY busy, ok?*

So, I had some extra window scarves that happened to match my bedspread perfectly.  So, after hanging a $5 curtain rod,** VOILA!

It's a good, interim fix.  The curtains are usually open, as life it just easier that way.  But when company comes, I can close them for a more finished, (though not completely sealed off), look.  Whatcha think?

(Oh, and YHL totally has curtain-closed-closets, too... but theirs were installed and make for something of a dramatic built-in-bed look!  Check it out here)


*Yeah, I don't believe it, either.
**Ok, it wasn't nearly that easy or fast!  It's an awkward angle, and you have to prop a flashlight up to see.  And then I kept hitting something that was NOT drillable*** or hitting NOTHING which meant the screws didn't hold, but ya know what?  NO ONE will see these itty bitty mistakes.  So there.
***Why isn't "drillable" a word?

the cursed room

BEFORE:



Very blue. And the trim? Painted. Blue. See the window in the corner? The window trim is blue. Very blue. The doors are like that too. Trust me. This room gave me the biggest headache, as it REFUSED to look good. The wall color just didn't work. For months.


DURING:

Now, the idea was to paint this room a light, soft green..... what I got was a very bright, almost neon candy apple. I don't have a picture of it. You'll just have to trust me.

So, then I had the lasts 1/2 of the gallon lightened, and ended with this:

Now, this may not look all that bad. But it was not, how do you say, "good." It was lime sherbet. Minty. Still too much. And the curse continued. On the upside, the trim returned to white!


AFTER:

Sweet salvation!


Alittle softer, alittle more blue, and a lot more perfect! And the best part of this color? The way it flows with the rest of the house so perfectly. The blue-green from the rec room is a darker and dustier color that compliments this perfectly. And the grey and silver from the other bedroom and bathroom? Couldn't be better.


Now, the room still needs to have quarter-round installed, but other than that it's pretty much done! I plan on renting this room, with the grey (gray?) room out, so not too worried about decorating.



**Uhh, my camera is broken. Much to my surprise, it did NOT want to go for a swim. So pictures may be hard to come by until I get a new one/mine restored**

my boudoir

BEFORE:

Let's remember the pink. Also, there were two dead birds stuck in that window with the AC.




DURING:




SOLID GOLD, BABY! This is a shiny metallic paint... I believe from Home Depot, (but don't quote me) that only needs the special roller for application. (FYI- other metallic paints require the special roller and a separate base & top coat. Which means more work. And more expensive. This isn't exactly rocket science. Or even freakin ecology for that matter.)

So, 1) cleaned the floor & applied floor shiner/protector; 2) removed AC unit; 3) removed about 85 stupid glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling; 4) painted ceiling; 5) painted room walls; 6) removed ugly vinyl accordion closet door; 7) install closet shelving (below); 8) move in!

Oh aren't they pretty?? And guess what? They are filled with shoes! And purses! And and and... SCARVES and stuff!!! And (teaser) I am so awesome at shelving, you better believe I continued my groove on into the living room closet, too.


AFTER:


And by "After," I mean "done for now, but there's still more to go," but that doesn't roll off the tongue so well. Got me an orange-red bedspread with gold threading (though this isn't really reflected by my award-winning photography) and gold curtains.



Eventually, that closet will be closed off. I don't know if that means a basic sliding closet door (which would require installing the tracks, too) or curtains? Crazy, yes. But it's a gold bedroom.

The furniture is an antique set I have had since I was about 14 yrs old. I dream about darker wood and something more along the lines of a sleigh bed... but I have doubts about what my teeny tiny room can hold. Size-wise. I also have doubts on what my bank account can hold. Money-wise.

This was the first room done in (mostly) whole. I started sleeping in my brand new place the first Sunday, and stayed completely about a week after I closed. Wow, I am exhausted just remembering this.

Next up, rec room!