Not So Mellow Yellow

Ever since we changed up the curtains and added a new pillow to our master I’ve been wanting to add more goldenrod to the bedroom.

After seeing this tour linked on Apartment Therapy, I became convinced me that what I really need to do over the shoe cabinet (above this) is hunt down an ornate oval frame to go over the shoe cabinet.  We already have two mirrors in the bedroom, so I’d probably back the frame with screen  to hold my earrings.  We’ll see if that happens, I’ve been scouring eBay, Etsy, and a few thrift stores but I haven’t found anything yet. 

I also want to add a few goldenrod accessories to the dresser to help balance things out.  Maybe something like a laquered tray, or a bright picture frame.  Probably whatever I can find at HomeGoods or Goodwill and spray paint.

Oh, and after reading Russet Street Reno I am about 85% certain that I need to head to Ikea soon for some new bedside tables.  (Sara recently replaced her table with something else and you should go look at its cuteness!)  Don’t worry, I probably won’t paint them yellow– but I make no promises about a distressed finish blue.  (Distressed because with the recent jewelry holder addition I feel like the room needs more rustic.  If i wasn’t so in love with our bed I’d do a rustic headboard like these.)   I would love to add a chevron runner to our hallway like the one Sara has, but I don’t think West Elm has those anymore(my bad, they do still have it!) Helper Dog would have far too much fun sliding on it (do they make really, really sticky rug pads?)

Easy Update: Mason Jar Storage

The photo colors in this post should be all better now.  Here’s hoping!

After seeing Liz Marie’s project feature on Re-Nest, I decided to make this mason jar storage rack to hold jewelry and hair accessories in our master bedroom.

Seen on re-nest, originally from Liz Marie

For my mason jar rack, I used a pallet board that we had laying in the backyard (long story), which was conveniently cut to the right length and mostly sanded (again, long story).  After a quick sand to take care of any rough edges, Robert blew any dirt off with compressed air.  Then we gathered pipe clamps from Lowe’s and mason jars that my grandparents used to use for canning.  We measured where we wanted the clamps to attach to the board and drilled pilot holes.

Then we opened the pipe clamps up, used a punch to make drilling easier, and drilled the holes for where the screws will go.

 

Then we took everything inside and leveled in on the wall in the bedroom.

 

From here we attached the outside clamps first, using screws long enough to both hold the clamp to the board as well as hold the board to the wall.

 

We then added the other two clamps and put the jars in place (Robert needed me to help hold the jars, so I couldn’t take any pictures of that step).

 

Since we already had the wood, the only thing we had to buy was pipe clamps.  Gotta love a simple, one evening, $4 project project!

Curtain Master

Please excuse the terrible pictures in this post, Robert needed the DSLR at work today, so I’m using old pictures and ones taken with my phone...

Although we like our Ikea curtains in the bedroom, my recent crush on Fabric.com means that I decided the bedroom needed new curtains.  Last night while Robert was in class I decided to be productive and get them hemmed.

Here is a (terrible) before picture of the window beside our bed.

You can see a tiny glimpse of the back porch out this window.

After I finished the first curtain and hung it up I realized just how much we need some sort of lining (or maybe bamboo blinds) before we hang the second curtain, because our neighbor’s garage light shines right in the window beside the bed.  So right now our room has really mismatched curtains.  We are a classy lot around here.

While looking for bedroom pictures for this post I found the ones I took of the second West Elm sconce after we hung it.  Oops.  So here that is…  (And also? I typed “scone” first, and now I really want the petite vanilla scones that Starbucks has/used to have… Mmm…)

Curtain Wrap Up

We’ve been a bit curtain crazy around here over the last month or so.

There has been a lot of cutting…

Yes those are my hands & our curtain fabric, but that is not our floor.  Long story.

And ironing…

Notice we got a new-to-us ironing board and a new cover.

And admiring…

Helper Dog admires the library curtains.

And not freaking our while watching Criminal Minds...

And in case that wasn’t enough curtain-action already?

The 5 are swatches and the bottom is for the bedroom. Somebody stop me before I order again.

I promise we’ll be back with a real post about the art room curtains (and maybe some info on how we made the backdoor curtains if anyone is interested) soon!

A Roadblock

So, how does a simple update involving my beloved West Elm sconces, some gift cards and a couple battery operated candles end in a roadblock?

Notice that there is only one scone here.

Let’s just say it involved a die grinder.

At least this gives us a chance to buy more AAA batteries?  And contemplate a third scone?

Shoes Required: Part 1

Do you ever have one of those projects that seems so simple and then just starts spiraling into something you never saw coming?  Yeah, me too.

Remember this beauty?

I was poking around online awhile back, and when I got to this post from Amanda over at The Hand Me Down House I realized that 1) while I had considered wrapping paper, I hadn’t even considered contact paper/shelf liner for the boogered up top of the shoe cabinet, and 2) I liked the paper she chose.  So that night Robert & I went to Target that because I had an overwhelming urge to look at the shelf liner. Well, I couldn’t find any in our store, but I did find wrapping paper that I liked, so I bought that along with some knobs for the front of the cabinet (because the knobs/latches pictured are useless).

Then we went home and I forgot about the cabinet for a while and watched football got busy with other things.  That weekend I took the wrapping paper out to the shed and determined that I needed to paint the cabinet because I’m too lazy to sand and re-stain it.  So I spent the rest of the day watching Sex and the City reruns picking a paint color.

Tonight we went to Lowe’s to get supplies for another project we’re working on for a pregnant friend’s nursery, and while we were there we decided to pick up paint for this (and the liquor cabinet, which we figured out is partially wood and partially particle board and was bought by Robert’s dad in 1972).

Thankfully the total cost of this project has remained low so far, even with the spiral.

Oh, and right now the inside of our liquor cabinet looks like this:

Easy Update: Picture Ledges

On a recent trip to Ikea we picked up three of these, because while we loved (the beginnings of) our asymmetrical arrangement in the library, we wanted to be able to change it up more easily.

The process of hanging the ledges was fairly self explanatory, we just used a level and then marked where to drill through the screw holes.  The main trick was to make sure the top ledge was directly above the bottom ledge.  Enter Robert’s homemade plumb bob (Robert…bob… oh the irony)

Yes, that is twine and an Anthro rosette. No that is not its final use.

This time he simply repeated the process with the level while hanging the plumb off the edge of the ledge this time and moving them until the twine hung straight down and touched the bottom shelf.

And like I said, we bought three ledges.

And to anyone who misses out asymmetrical arrangement, don’t worry, we still have to finish the other one mentioned here, and we have another one up our sleeves.

Total Cost: $45, and since it keeps us from having to patch nail holes when we want to move things around, it’s totally worth it.

To Paint, or Not to Paint?

We all know that painted wood is a trend right now, but there are certain pieces of furniture in our house that I would never think of taking a paint brush to.

Like my grandmother’s dresser,

my great-grandmother’s cedar chest,

and my grandparents’ tv console.

There are also other pieces that I can’t help but consider painting.

Our liquor cabinet.

While mismatched wood doesn’t usually bother me,  I’ve been thinking that our liquor cabinet would look nice in grey.  Maybe the same grey as the hutch. What are your thoughts? Should I leave it as-in or paint it?

Edit: Ok, the verdict is that parts of the liquor cabinet are real wood, and parts are particle board. Does that change anyone’s opinion?

Bed Time

I mentioned before that not all of the Our House section is completely up to date.  We change things around a lot.  In this instance, I’m specifically talking about our bedroom.

Robert had this cherry sleigh bed when we first started living together, and although it went well with the hand me down dresser from my grandparents, the headboard and footboard took up about 14 inches of space in our petite bedroom that we didn’t want to give up. Cue my sister moving, needing a new bed frame to go with her queen sized mattress, and loving our too-big bed frame – the perfect excuse reason to shop for a new bed!

The Claudia Bed from Pottery Barn

I fell hard for this bed from Pottery Barn (and the bedding is amazing, too!) but not so much for the price tag.  $649?  Oof!

Enter the Hilsdale Dexter Bed, found on one of the many Cymax store websites for somewhere around $279 with free shipping.  While we wouldn’t recommend anyone out there buy a frame from the same place, though, as ours arrived a lot later than it said it would, and we read several bad reviews online while nervously awaiting our bed.

The frame only came in this bronze-y brown finish, but we like the styling of it better than the white or cream colored ones we saw (a lot of which cost more, anyhow), so once the frame arrived we sprayed it antique white with Valspar Porcelain spray paint, and clear coated it, just in case.

We lived with the finials that came with the frame for a while, and brainstormed which glass doorknobs to use to cap the project off.

Tea House Doorknob from Anthropologie

In the end, we splurged on these beauties from Anthropologie, and because of the difference in diameter we used freeze plugs from Advance Auto Parts (sprayed to match the bed) instead of the roses that came with the knobs.  (But not to worry, those pretty pieces will be used in an upcoming project!)  We also decided to use allen cap machine screws that were laying around in the shed rather than the spindle for the knob because they fit the existing hole in the bedpost better.  So with the holes drilled in the freeze plugs and a coat of spray paint and clear coat or two we were ready to assemble everything.

Cost Breakdown:
Frame: $279
Paint and Clear Coat: $18
Knobs: $76
Freeze Plugs: $2.90

Total: $375.90, which is about $273 less than the what we would have paid from Pottery Barn.

What do you think?  Did we do a good job with our Pottery Barn knock-off?  Have you painted a bed frame before?  And if you did it with spray paint, was your finger numb for a couple days afterward, too?  We’d love to hear about the bed related projects you’ve tackled!

And I’ll be back with “After” pictures of the hutch just as soon as the last coat of paint dries, so stay tuned for that!