To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

I have always loved that Shakespeare quote, and it was what inspired my latest furniture rehab:

As you can see, the headboard says "Reve" which is french for dream.  I wanted to try something romantic and whimsical with this bed, and a little french bedtime wish was just the thing.  

I bought this bed ages ago when my little lady grew out of her crib- I found two adorable beds at the thrift store and I couldn't decide which one I liked better so I brought them both home.  I did eventually decide on one for her (it is fabulous- wait till you see pics!)  I figured whichever one I didn't end up using I could redo and sell.  After getting this pretty blue all redone I love it so much it is going to be a wrench to part with it!  Pity I don't have a guest room.

This bed was originally white, but the paint was dirty and sloppy and I wanted to try something a little out of the ordinary.

Being possibly the only creative type person in existence that doesn't own a vinyl cutter, I did things the old fashioned way to transfer the word onto the head board- printed Reve off in a font I liked, rubbed the entire backside with pencil, then laid it on the headboard and traced over the word.  After it was all traced I painted over it with gray paint and a tiny paintbrush.

After painting the whole bed blue, I went over it with a light gray glaze to give it some dimension, and then distressed it.  I recently finished some chairs for a friend that were heavily distressed, and now I've caught the fever!  It is somehow very satisfying to take sandpaper to a freshly painted piece.

Actually,can I forget about selling?  I'll just keep this cute little bed and stay curled up and cozy in it forever.

Aaaaaaand, now those who live near me know that I had to set this bed up in my living room to get decent pictures of it!  Oh yes, I pretty much had to move around my entire house to get these shots- moved the tv stand and everything on it, moved the couch, and brought out the mattress and nightstand from little girlie's room.  The lengths I go to for my art are absurd sometimes.

Nighty Night!

From Drab to Fab: Chevron Cabinet

After finishing a family room downstairs, and the furniture shuffle that followed, I was left without a media cabinet to go under the TV in our living room. I could not believe how much a new cabinet was going to cost, even for an ugly one. So, I have been on the hunt for a used cabinet that I could redo. A month or so ago, I found this "beauty" at a thrift store for $25! It was in such sad shape, I could tell that it was homemade-but very sturdy, and I loved that it was so plain because I knew I could go in so many different directions with it.

Before

See? Pretty sad-but I could see the potential and I was so excited to get started!

The first thing I did was get out the crayons! I quickly sketched out a few of the ideas I had in my head for what I could add to make the cabinet awesome! Originally I was going to go with the second design, by adding wooden plaques to the fronts of the doors, but it just never felt like it was coming together the way I wanted it to. So, I decided to go with the chevron cabinet instead.

After

 I love how it turned out! It is such a fun piece, and one of a kind, which I love about it. 

A couple of my favorite details are the legs which I painted a very reflective metallic silver. It's hard to see in the photo, but it adds a fancy, subtle touch, like jewelry. I also love the knobs I found, which are deep purple glass. I knew I wanted just a touch of purple on the front to go with the gray and white chevron, and I was happy to find the perfect knobs.

As you can see from the before pictures, the inside was pretty hideous, and since I knew people would see inside when we had to open the cabinet to be able to use our remote controls while watching TV or movies, I decided to make the inside as cool as the outside. I painted the sides and shelves gray, the inserts on the shelves white, and added some textured, purple paper in the back. I love how it looks, inside and out!

Around the House

I have been so busy making changes around my living room lately!  I can't help it, I just get the itch to change things up so badly that things around here are always getting shifted.

I moved the mirror that used to sit on top of the piano, and replaced it with a collage of thrift store frames that I painted and glazed.

I first saw the idea for painted wallpaper on Jone's Design Company, and knew it was the perfect thing to add interest to my entryway.  It has been pretty time consuming, but I am almost done and so happy with how it looks!

I think the project I am most proud of is this chair.  Remember her?  I found this amazing chevron fabric at Hancock, and recovered the seat and covered the caning on the back with it.  I'll post a how-to for that later.  And my awesome thrift store lamp that I scored for just a few dollars got a coat of teal spray paint and is the perfect compliment to the chair.

We moved an old bookcase in to set our TV on, and the bottom shelf needed some personality.  Everything on this shelf cost less than two dollars combined!  I bought a square piece of styrofoam at the thrift store and mod podged book pages all over it, then made a silhouette of my daughter to put on it (tutorial on that coming later as well- so easy and quick!) I made a little felt flower to give it a little jazz.  I found the adorable little mustard yellow pot at the thrift store for 75 cents.  All the books on the shelf were free at the thrift store, and the little bird cost 25 cents as well.  Not bad for some stylish decor!

Have I talked about this little cabinet before?  I absolutely love it, and it holds a special place in my heart.  A dear friend gave it to me when she moved out of state, and I thought it was the most darling little piece.  The fabric in the doors was quite outdated, it still houses an old tube radio, and the wood veneer had some large cracks in it.  So I puttied up the cracks, gave her a fresh coat of white paint, and replaced the fabric in the doors with something in my favorite color and pattern.  The original hardware was just perfect, so I kept it.  This cabinet is one of my favorite pieces in my living room, and it is a constant reminder of someone dear to my heart.

I absolutely love gray, and right now I am loving it with yellow and teal.  I found the perfect swirly fabric with all my favorite colors in it, and made some new throw pillows for my couch.  Then I used some excess frabric from the chair and cabinet to add variety.  The yellow ruffly pillow is my favorite!

And the pillows on the other side of the couch...

The mirror that used to sit over the piano has found a happy new home in the dining room:

We made these great pillows at a super Saturday craft day in November.  You print out an image with a laser printer, brush it with paint thinner, and it transfers right onto fabric!

I found this great frame at the thrift store, and like most things around here, it got a coat of spray paint.  It frames our gold hobby lobby monogram perfectly.  And my little string of pearls succulent plant lives in a thrifted tureen and is finally putting out all kinds of little tendrils!

I have so many more ideas spinning through my head, I think up projects for myself a hundred times faster than I can complete them!  Thank heavens for thrift stores.  Thanks for reading!  Have you made any changes you want to brag on lately?  Tell us!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Lover's Day!  I finally snapped a few pictures of my Valentine's decorations for you!

I love using paper medallions as decoration, you may remember some I made for Christmas a couple years ago.  It didn't occur to me to use them for Valentine's day until I saw Nie Nie do it- brilliant!  So easy and cheap with big impact, I have them all over my house and for the paper and heart stickers it only cost $6.  Not bad!

I love making meringues, I make them all the time to take to parties because they are so easy to color coordinate with the theme.  I really needed something pink to go under my little glass dome, and Jennifer over at Dear Lillie uses them as decor in her home, so why not use pink ones for Valentine's day?

I also love leaving scrabble tile messages around the house for different holidays.

Just some more stickers on the candles- they'll peel right off but bring a little more love to my fireplace.

Remember this mirror?  She got her coat of white spray paint ages ago, and has been reigning over my living room ever since.  I made the big heart out of foam board and tissue paper I already had on hand- so it didn't cost me anything!  My favorite kind of craft!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone out there, go spread some love!

Linking up here:

http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/valentines-link-party.html

Jealous of My Junk: Chair Edition

Um, you guys? 

 I think I might have a problem.  

A big, FAT, chair hoarding problem.

I'm just a girl who can't say no!

The evidence:

This lovely french beauty with her perfect legs:

I scored this girl for only $8 at Goodwill, and I sure am a sucker for curvy french legs!

How could I possibly have left her there?!?

 Next up we have this regal red velvet number:

All the caning is in perfect condition, though the tufts are oddly deflated.  Did the stuffing just evaporate?  Believe it or not, this chair was left on the curb!  For the garbage man!  And I actually didn't even scoop this one up myself, my loyal friend saw it and knew that I would give it a good home...it's like I have my own picker!

 Lastly, we have this elegant beauty:

I snagged her for $15 at my neighbor's yard sale.  Once again, legs.  They get me every time.  Also, she is just dying to soak up some glaze.  My other weakness.

Obviously they all need a paint job and some new upholstery, but that's not where my problem comes in.  Which do I keep?  Which do I sell? 

I have a vision of two chairs with a table between them in my living room... but which two?  I could go either way.  Frenchy with Regal, Frenchy with Elegant... keep waiting for the perfect chair to come my way and complete the vision? 

As my mind runs circles, my garage gets ever more full...

Shirt re-fashion

I am not a big fan of wearing button up shirts with collars. On other people they are fine...but I feel weird wearing them. So with this one I cut off the sleeves, and the collar, changed the buttons and added some ruffled lace (because almost everything could use some fun!) Lamps, shirts, pillows...you get the idea. Don't worry though, my boys own nothing with ruffles on it.yet. This shirt was given to me by one of my sisters that was given to her by another of the sisters. 3 sisters later maybe it will get worn now, and not stolen back. Good thing I live thousands of miles away. ha! BEFORE AFTER