The Guest Room: Completed

The art I ordered from an Etsy seller arrived a little less than I week ago and I framed it today. Do you know what that means?

It means the guest room is FINISHED!!!

This is the first room in the house I am officially calling finished. That, friends, is very exciting.

I taped a little video today to summarize the room, because I don't have a camera with a wide angle lens to photograph a small room like this.

How big of a dork am I? And also, listen to me say "open" when I refer to the closet...that's the Baltimore in me I guess. We'll be 'goin downy oshun later.

I know the video isn't exactly high quality. I dropped my camera a few weeks ago and have been having some minor focus problems since then, plus the lighting was less than ideal, plus I compressed the movie to upload it. But don't worry, I have old and new photos recapping the whole room so you can see some more detail. And if you stick it out until the end I'll tell you how much it all cost.

First, recall what the room looked like when we FIRST saw it, about a year ago, with the old owner's furniture. Not bad, could be worse, but not much personality either.

Then, during the big snowpoclaypse in January, I painted the whole room. Ralph Lauren's Hopsack

The nightstands came next. You can see them in the photo above.  A little sanding, a couple coats of paint and some new hardware and they were totally different.

And I love the lamps on the nightstands.

Then I made over the bed. About 5 cans of spray paint took it from red to white (Krylon's Almond) 

And then we dressed it up with linens from all over (Target, Ollie's Bargain Outlet and Ikea)

Then came the free dresser (formerly my Dad's, then held by my Brother and Sister-in-law and now on permanent loan to me, until they decide they want it back).

And then there's the rocking chair. Probably one of my favorite things in the room.

And then of course, there's all the details. Like the knick knack shelves.

And the window cornices and roman shades

The artwork, including the You Are Here Now print from Etsy user Farouche

I love the way the chair and the Farouche print look together

But no room is ever completely done, right? I'm sure I'll be changing things and moving things around, and I really want a red and white striped rug to put on the floor between the rocker and the bed. But for now, I'm calling this room done.

Of course I have to do a source list and cost breakdown.

The following things I had around the house or got for free from relatives: 
All knick knacks on the shelves except the foo dog and the turquoise flasks, the roman shades, the foam from the cornices (left over from previous home owner in basement), the Key West photo, the night stands, the quilt, the throw pillows, all the red bed linens, the iron bed, the rocking chair and the dresser - total cost for these items - $0 (I'll be covering the cost to make them over below)

From Ikea: Turquoise flasks - $16, Ekby Hensik shelves - $36, Clock - $13, Towel hook hooks - $4 
From Home Goods: Foo Dog - $12, Soap - $6, Trash can/flower pot - $10
From Michaels:Frames - $12 and $20, Spray paint for large frame - $3, Scrapbook paper - $3
From Hancock Fabrics:  Roman Shade Ribbon - $5, Rocking chair fabric - $2
From Fabric.com: Cornice Fabric - $32
From Target: Towels and washcloths - $10, Sheets for the bedskirt - $12
From Marshall's: Lamps - $48
From Big Lots: Mattress and box spring - $375, toiletries - $14
From Lowe's/Home Depot/Ace Hardware:  Paint for walls - $25, Paint for nightstands - $25, For the rocking chair - $8, Spray Paint for bed - $15, wood deglosser - $10
From Ollie's Bargain Outlet: tuquoise sheets - $20
From Restoration Hardware Outlet: Nightstand hardware - $18
From Anthropologie: Toothbrush cup - $6
From Etsy: Here and Now Print - $40
From Khol's: Pillows - $20
From the yard sale:  metal tray $10
Odds and Ends: $50 (this includes various glues, caulk, sandpaper, etc. some of which I had around the house and others of which I only used partial amounts of, so I can reuse them for other rooms) 

Total cost: $880 

The mattress is what put me over the top. I originally only wanted to spend about $100 on the mattress at the local thrift store (which carries never-been-used-mattresses)  but I was sucked in by the amazing comfy-ness of the Serta mattresses at Big Lots.

I'm very happy with the room, and now all we need are some guests!

Rock and Roll

The rocking chair make-over is officially finished. Let's reminisce about its past. Here is the chair when I received it, for free, from my aunt.

This is, admittedly, after I did a little sanding on it, because I get about 10 minutes into any project and remember, "oh right, blog". The seat cushion was cross stitched by my Great Aunt Bet. 

After gently removing the cushion and giving the whole chair a light sanding, it was time to prime.

I pretty much always give everything two coats of primer before I paint. 2-3 coats of paint and some aqua pillow ticking stripe fabric later, I had a lovely new chair! Man oh man do I dislike painting spindles, though. It was touch up city fixing up the spots I missed.

The color is Behr's Spring Stream from their Premium Plus Ultra line, which is paint and primer in one; but I had it color matched and mixed in Glidden because it was cheaper and I didn't need the paint & primer.

Here's a close-up of the seat.

And for effect, let's do a quick side-by-side of the before and after. You can really see the difference this way.

The red rosette pillow is O-L-D, left over from when I redid my bedroom in my parent's house freshman year of college, nearly 8 years ago. I believe its from the now closed Value City (which is where half my life was from before they went out of business).

Tomorrow I hope to be showing off the cornices and giving you a little step by step on how to make them (they're super easy and require zero sewing).

And Aunty Kathy, if you're reading this, I hope you like the chair! Thanks so much for giving it to me.

A little of this, a little of that

I am zeroing in on finishing the guest room...I can FEEL it.
And as a result, I'm going to get paint samples from Lowe's tomorrow test on the front porch. I can't finish one project before I start another.
Anyway, I ordered this fabric today to make cornices for the windows (my original curtain plan isn't going to work with the new dresser.

Waverly Parterre Lacquer at Fabric.com

Found a coupon code online for 20% off, so the 2.5 yards I bought are about $30 (and I qualified for free shipping!) When that comes, I can make those, hang a couple more pictures, one more little project and I'll be finito! 

A few other new things around the house include: 

New light fixture in the hallway! My fantastic husband put it up before I could take a before picture of the old fixture, but this is what it was: 

This is literally the CHEAPEST flush mount fixture at Lowe's. Now, I'm not usually a critic of getting things on the cheap, but really...it doesn't get anymore blah than this fixture. Oh previous owners...

The next new thing: Shelves in the guest room! 

And lastly, my little project last weekend: Towel hooks in the guest room 

This was such an easy thing to make. A piece of wood (that I found in the basement, yay free!), white paint, a little Modge Podge, some scrapbooking paper from Michaels and 4 hooks from Ikea, done and done and adorable.Total cost - $5, which was just for the hooks and the sheet of scrapbook paper, the rest was all stuff I had around the house.
 

Oh, and we added this to our lives last weekend, too. My new (to me) 2008 Mazda 3 Hatchback...it's a total accident that she matches the guest room...seriously. Oh, and the mustache is just to hide my license plate number, but I would totally drive a car with a handlebar mustache.

Stay the night, I'll make pancakes in the morning.

Guest room update!

The end is nigh on the guest room. I'm hoping. It seems like every time I think I'm almost done with this room, something else pops up.

Anyway, the bed is finished. So now we could actually let people sleep in the room, which is kind of the point, right? We started with an iron bed frame that was free from my Mom. She had all antique iron beds in her house, we all had one (me, my parents, my brothers) and Mom always said we'd each get to take one when we moved out. This was not the bed I slept in, this was my brother, Josh's bed.

Lets see the before.

Red, with brass detail. I could have kept it this color, but I decided white was just prettier. So, with a trusty can of Krylon Spray Paint in Almond, away we go! That's why this photo was out on the lawn, up on bricks with newspaper over them. No spray painting inside! First I had to tape, because my Mom asked that I not paint the brass. 

Then, cover all the brass with plastic, and tape it in place, so it didn't catch any drifting over-spray in the breeze. I just used an old  plastic drop cloth from the dollar store that I had around. It was more than enough to cover both ends of the brass.

Then, many coats of spray paint. It took about 3 and a half cans (which I know, because after can number 2, I had to go to Lowe's and get more...). It's always better, with spray paint, to use many thin coats rather than a few thick ones. Helps avoid drippage.

Huzzah! All that was left was to disassemble, carry inside, reassemble, add a mattress and dress! Here's the bed now.

I'm glad I kept the brass.

I started this red & aqua color scheme because I had this red comforter, as well as a bunch of red linens from when our bedroom was red and gold. So, they're all kind old. But if your curious...

Red quilt - Target - birthday gift from a friend
Red pillow shams - Ikea, part of a duvet set.
Red throw pillow - Tuesday morning
Aqua flannel sheets - Ollie's Bargain Outlet, $20
Aqua throw pillows - Big Lots, $8 each over a year ago, used to be on our couch

The dust ruffle is another story. Because of the height of this bed, finding dust ruffles is always hard. It requires an 18" drop (or as my Mom says, "18 inch flounce") which can be a little difficult to find. My Mother always had a king size dust ruffle UNDER a regular full size to make it work without having to buy "special" sizes. So I actually sewed this dust ruffle using 2 twin size bed sheets from Target ($8 each). I would have made a tutorial, but to be honest with you, it was not easy and I was kind of figuring it out as I went along...and I definitely messed up in places. If you have rudimentary sewing skills you could probably figure it out on your own. If you don't have such skills, I would recommend buying a dust ruffle, not making one.

Did you notice the lovely art piece above the bed?

Mourning Walk by Katherine Fahey

It was a gift from my sister-in-law, Christy. She bought it at a local craft show put on by the Charm City Craft Mafia. Their shows are the best. Katherine Fahey is a local artist, in Baltimore. It's always nice to buy from locals. Thanks Christy!

Also accomplished this week in the guest room: dresser! This is another hand-me-down from my parents, to my brother, and then to me.

This was my Dad's dresser. Then my brother and his wife took it for...something. They never said what. But their plans for it are another 4 years off, apparently (I'm thinking it had something to do with a 2nd child?). So, it's taking up residency at our house until they want it back. This is a system my family has developed called "permanent loan".

I was considering refinishing it in a darker color (cherry-ish?) but now that it's in the room, I kind of like it. What do you think? Keep it as is or refinish? I'm torn.

Oh, and look at my adorable tray on top.

I got the metal tray at an estate sale for $10, it was black with flowers painted in the bottom. I sprayed it white and covered the inside with some scrap booking paper sealed with Modge Podge...adorable much? And the bird bowl? That's my little souvenir from the Johnathan Adler store in Boston. She arrived safely and with a lovely little note from whichever employee shipped her.  I'm only slightly in love with her.

So, what's left? I know I do this every time, but I like lists.

1. Frame and hang pictures
2. Make and hang towel hooks
3. Hang and accesorize shelves
4. Recover rocking chair seat
5. Find a throw rug, the floor needs something
6. Make some valances or cornices for the windows
7. Add ribbon detail to roman shades
8. Add ribbon detail to towels

Nightstand by me

Something exciting happened today. My fabric samples came from Mood!
Or I thought they did, until I opened the package and there was only one sample. (Sad Trombone)

I called Mood and apparently there was some kind of location change and not all the samples were available. So, I was refunded my 50 cents but I had to REORDER the red Oscar de la Renta twill. On the upside, though, the Tiffany blue canvas is the perfect color for the rocking chair! So I'll be ordering a half yard of that.  Look at how fantastic this match is.

And yes, I painted the rocking chair. This rocking chair:

Doesn't get much more Granny than that chair, eh? Complete with cross stitch seat cushion. Fear not, as soon as I get the seat recovered with the fabric from Mood, you'll see the full reveal.

Today, we're talking about the nightstands. We had two nightstands that came along from Adam's childhood home when he moved into his first apartment after college, and then to the apartment we lived in together, and then to our house. Adam was pretty sick of them, having had them since he was a little tyke, so when we got new nightstands for our bedroom, they went to the guest room.

Pretty 80s, right? Needless to say, they needed a little updating. So, after some sanding, priming and painting, and some new hardware (thanks Restoration Hardware Outlet!)...ta da! 

Much better, right? And it doesn't hurt that they were FREE! The paint is the same as the trim in the room, so that was also free, and the hardware was pretty cheap, at around $15 for all of it. 

And are you noticing the nicely made bed next to them? That's because I got a mattress the other day! I couldn't help but make the bed when I got it. Adam is very happy to have a second bed in the house where he can go when my snoring gets out of control (I was sick this past week. My stuffed sinuses = no sleep for the hubs). I'm not going to be showing off the bed until I get the dust ruffle situation sorted, which will mean disassembling all my nicely made linens. 

The room is quickly coming together. What's left?

- Hang pictures

- Hang and accessorize knick-knack shelves

- Make a coat/towel hook

- Refinish dresser

- Complete rocking chair

- Complete curtains

- Find a small rug

- Alter dust ruffle

My goal is to have it all done by the end of June. The dresser job will be the hardest, everything else is just little stuff. Once it's done I can start on the front porch! I was originally going to tackle the den, but I'd like to get the front porch looking cozy so we can really enjoy it while the weather is warm.

In the Mood

I have to admit something. I am a little bit of a sucker for labels.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no Carrie Bradshaw. I don't have designer clothes or shoes, and most of the decor in my house were free from family members, or purchased cheap. Adam and I do live within our means. But I do like to be able to say, "oh that? That's just my Johnathan Adler Bird Bowl...just a little something I picked up, you know."

Anyway, I found out today (via Material Girls) that Mood Fabrics (yeah, the one from Project Runway) is now selling their fabrics online. They do carry home decor fabrics, but the selection is much smaller as compared to their clothing fabric options. And after going to every fabric store in town yesterday (even Wal Mart...I dread our Wal Mart, it's enormous constantly busy and I don't go there unless I'm desperate) with no luck finding fabric for my guest room curtains, I was overjoyed to find these two on Mood's website.

Tiffany Blue/White Floral Canvas designed by Mood - $35/yard

Red and White Twill designed by Oscar de la Renta - $14/yard

I'm more in love with the Tiffany Blue Floral, but I want red fabric for the curtains. Plus the red is cheaper and probably a more suitable fabric for the job. So I'm thinking the twill is the way to go.

 I have a couple of curtain panels I got for free from my Mom, that I plan to use in the guest room and I'm going to give them the same treatment as the curtains in the master bedroom. Remember those? Plain white tab top curtains from Target with a stripe of color sewn down the inside edge? Let's review. 

(As a side note...I can't WAIT to get rid of those copper colored metal mini blinds...the ones on Adam's side of the bed are broken anyway, I will use this as an excuse other than I just think they're ugly).   

So, I'm very excited to get Oscar de la Renta fabic via Mood (although I tried on Oscar de la Renta sunglasses at WalMart yesterday, so I don't know why I feel like this is some kind of schmancy label). I'm going to order some swatches today just to be sure of the color and then hopefully I'll be all set for curtains.

As a side note, the guest room is coming along. I'm hoping to be done soon. Here's the list:

Paint walls and trim

Paint bed

Paint nightstands

Paint rocking chair

Get dresser (I have a choice of 2 free ones, one from my Mom, one from my Brother's house, I'm thinking)

Buy Mattress 

Buy pillows

Buy lamps

Hang art

Make curtains

Make decorative pillows

Accessorize

Be our guest!

Believe it or not I have several post ideas in the hopper right now (with pictures to boot). This is exciting for me because that means when I have a week with not much to say, I can pull something out of my little post stockpile (is this maybe how the pro's do it?)

But I figured today that I would post about the thing I've been talking up for weeks now? Okay...maybe months even.

The guest room is painted. It's been painted for weeks, actually.  I painted them during the snowpocalypse in early February. Posting about it was just being held up by the fact that I was using the room to paint doors.

If you'll recall, I picked out Ralph Lauren's Hopsack for the room.

Ralph Lauren paint is now defunct at Home Depot, so as far as helpful blogging goes, sorry folks. From what I can tell you have to go to fancy Ralph Lauren stores to get his paint now. And I won't lie, part of the reason I got this paint was that it was on sale for a really good price because Home Depot wasn't going to carry it anymore.

And here is the before and after.

(This photo is from the listing when we bought the house. It's deceptive because I'm pretty sure the agent took it with a fish-eye lens because I found it pretty impossible to get both windows in one shot)

And here is with the RL Hopsack paint and Sherwin Williams Roman Column trim

Read more on the nightstands below! 

Opposite wall

I'm pretty happy with the color. I think it's quite rich looking, personally. Much more personality than the white. The jury is still out on the roman shades (which the previous owners left behind). I have some off white drape panels my Mom gave me (for free!) that I planned to use and between the white vinyl windows, the slightly off white trim, the slightly off-er white drapes and the most off white roman shades it's a few too many competing off-whites. It may come down to what is cheapest, buying some new drapery panels or some kind of new blinds/shades?

As for the night stands, they are old. They are Adam's and he's had them (he claims) since he was a little kid, and he's totally sick of them. So, I am painting those white too, and giving them some new hardware. They'll be the Roman Column, same as the trim. Mostly because I'm cheap and I already have that paint. But I'm thinking of adding a single wide stripe down the middle of them in a beige. They are my next project. I'll admit, they're not the prettiest things ever, but they were free and I'm on a budget here.

Also in the works is the iron bed for the room. We picked it up from my parents' house the other night and I've got two cans of spray paint at the ready. I know better than to spray paint indoors though (well, I've been known to spray paint little things in the basement). The forecasters are calling for rain this weekend though or else I would totally be out there spraying away. Hopefully the weather gods will recognize I have very important decorating to do and shew the clouds away soon.