Slow and Steady wins the Race

We’ve made a little progress on Bella’s big girl room! Tyler and I have decided to make this a work in progress so we can budget for the room and work on furniture, accessory, bedding and painting projects at a manageable pace. 

We hope to have Bella in her “new” room by Thanksgiving (for a few various reasons) so we plenty of time to finish her room!

I recently fell in love with this bookcase from Pottery Barn!

Unfortunately it is $399.00!

Our first thought was for Tyler to build one (as if he needs another project on his list).  We went to Lowes and estimated how much it would cost in wood & materials and we were at at least $50.

Then I found this bookcase at a local antique store!!

 

And it was $85!

SOLD

We may do a little repainting & possibly change the color of the roof & windows to compliment her new (to-be-determined) color scheme.

We also purchased this toddler bed from a neighbor’s garage sale for a fabulous price!

 

 

After we finalize fabrics and our color scheme I’m going to make bedding for the bed.  Hopefully a simple bedskirt, pillows & coverlet of some sort.

I’m also going to make a corner canopy!  The room really needs some height since most of her furniture is small so this will help bring your eye up in the room.

I’m searching for a bed crown to mount on the wall & then will fabricate 2 bed panels and 1 back panel to fall against the wall.

Similar to this image from Posh Living.

These crown options are from Touch of Class and I like all of them, in a white/creamy finish.

This canopy is from Petit Tresor and fittingly named the Bella Bed Crown.

We have also moved this small white table in Bella’s new room and it will be perfect for playing!  I’m on the look-out for a few adorable chairs to use with it.

I’m also considering skirting the table to hide many of her toys that we can stash under the table!

Lastly, I’ve found a “home” for this fabulous dress form my husband got (for free!!) many years ago from the Trade Mart before they closed.

I’ve decided to dress it up with a fun tu-tu and jewelry. Please don’t think these are the items staying on the figure …this is simply all I had on hand. :)

Welcome Home

Yesterday we welcomed two new beauties into our home.

Both were {great} deals we found on Craigslist!

The first is a tiny table standing only 20-1/2” high.  I originally liked it for a client … and then laughed when I realized how small it was.  Then it dawned on me – it would be perfect for Bella’s Big Girl Room!

 

It’s the perfect height to sit next to an old chair (found for $5) that we plan to use in her room. {More details on the chair later – but I will just mention this: painted distressed frame with Peacock Blue velvet upholstery– YUM!}

The plan is to sand, paint & slightly distress the table. Then I want to do a stencil on the top of the table.

I think we all know (if you’ve been following my blog) that our house is now cool thanks to a new A/C unit … which means our plans to turn our sun room into my home office is on hold.

Interior design comes with a lot of stuff – fabrics, samples, paint swatches, catalogs, books, pages torn from magazine … it doesn’t end. And I need storage.

So I found this little lady.

Luckily it was inexpensive – only $20. 

It has great detailing and just needs a little cosmetic help… and let’s be honest … a bit of structural work.  Luckily my husband is a handy guy!

 

This is what Tyler had to say about the piece:

“It’s like a young child … full of potential.  Unfortunately it’s in the body of a decrepit old man.”

What a funny man he is.

And look who came out of hiding!  The soul mate to my revamped desk lamp!  Looks like another lamp makeover is in my near future.

(Post about my new desk lamp can be seen here)

Of course this may mean I’ll have to rearrange (again) the family photos on the wall, but that’s a small price to pay!

The verdict is still out on what color to paint the new chest. The color I would love to paint it would mean I’d have to reupholster my green mohair French chairs … and possibly my sofa and all other furniture in my Living Room. 

Seems reasonable – right?!

Follow along for updates on these pieces and a few others we’re working on for Bella’s Room!

Have a seat!

We made some exciting progress in my client’s Sun Room today!

I purchased this new chair at a great price!  Inexpensive enough that we had enough money in our “chair budget” to refinish and reupholster in some fabulous fabric!

Chair BEFORE

and AFTER!

I found this fabulous fabric at Robert Allen and upholstered the seat & inside chair back.  I found a great faux leather for the outside seat back, for an interesting contrast!

I did a French Grey wash on the finish &I love it the new look!

We also decided to add a bit of foam to the seat and back cushion to give it a softer feel.  What a difference it makes!

Oh and have I mentioned how much I adore this lamp I purchased at Global Views? Perfect for the space!

 

My client also had an old sleeper sofa. I had confidence we could find a great fabric and have it reupholstered and bring this baby into 2010!

Sofa BEFORE

Sofa AFTER!

  

I think it looks great! I also had my upholsterer (who did a fabulous job!) raise the sofa a few inches to help with the scale of the sofa.  This helps it better relate to the built in seating & tall dining table.

I found this console table on Craigslist for a great price a few days ago.  We’re going to purchase this and revamp it to go behind the sofa!

    

Many more exciting things to come for A.W.’s Sun Room!

Up next: Pillows!

I am working on the faux leather pillows (fabric from chair back) with bird appliqués, rosettes and other fun detailing!

Lights On, Lights Off

I tackled another item on my To Do List and began the transformation of my table lamp. 

Here is the lamp BEFORE, sitting in our backyard.

It really needed some help and took a lot of sanding, cleaning and painting to achieve the look I wanted.

Here is the lamp AFTER. 

I painted the lamp and covered the shade in a burlap fabric (which I purchased to make pillows for our Living Room sofa – with our monogram stenciled on them.)

I’d may add some trim to the shade but I’ll live with it “as is” for now.

What do you think?

Just in case you were wondering, we finally selected a color to paint our shutters!

Knights Armor

You can see the sample boards we painted to “test” the color. I’m loving it and can’t wait to get started!

Lastly, I am thisclose to purchasing this little lady.

Once we welcome this beauty into our home I’ll reveal my visions for this chair!

Something Old, Something New

I love adding an antique, something refurbished and of course something personal to a space to add a touch of interest and to make the space your own! 

I love to find bargains and bring treasures into our home. This weekend we shopped (with high expectations) but only found a pair of compotes that I’ll hopefully be using in a client’s home.

Now that Spring is upon us, we hope to be getting out more and spending our Saturday mornings shopping at Estate Sales, Flea Markets & Garage Sales for fun finds.  As I purchase new items I’ll share them with you & hopefully we’ll come across some items to refurbish and I’ll take you through the process!

In our home on Princess St we have incorporated many “finds” into our decor.

Above Bella’s crib we took images from an old Cinderella book, with beautiful illustrations. I framed six of the images and grouped them to tell the story.

 

I love this antique cake plate that I received for my birthday one year. It mixes well with my inexpensive pink cake plates from Target!

 

This old box sits on our Living Room shelf, along with antique jars filled with dice, marbles & stones.

I also love these two urns …

    

Another great place to search for fun finds for your home is Craigslist! I found a set of four French chairs for a steal!

Two are upholstered in the original green mohair & two I reupholstered to coordinate with our Master Bedroom.

(I would like to take this time to introduce you to Claire. She adores this chair !)

In other news … we’ve added another project to our never-ending To Do List.

We found the shutters that were original to our house in our attic. We’re still debating on what color to paint them. 

How about pink?

Okay, maybe not.

But once the projects gets underway, I’ll share some photos with you!