Master Bedroom Remake... The Bed

I have been wanting to makeover the master bedroom for years (when you see the "before" picture at the end of this post, you'll know why...) This is one of the afters...

About 4 years ago, I was cruising the isles of a furniture store...looking for ideas, and found the perfect set.  It was white with brown edging (later...after I crawled out of my rock, I realized it was distressed) on the dresser drawers, bed posts, etc.  The set included a bed frame with head & foot board, dresser with mirror and night stand.  On sale, the set cost over $1400... which in my mind at the time didn't seem that bad!

Two weeks later Hurricane Irene struck the Outer Banks, taking out the only road leading south to Hatteras Village, and leaving me unable to work for the rest of the season (a minor inconvenience compared to what was happening to the residents further south).

I ended up with a lot of time on my hands that winter... and not a whole lot of money.  I "window shopped" a lot during those months in every thrift and used furniture store around.  I came across an antique bed in excellent condition.

They were asking $150 for the set (including rails and slats) and the woman offered it to me for $100.  After an hour talking myself into it, I brought it home.

This was my first time using ASCP (Old White)... I knew nothing about "bleed through" or how to wax, or anything else.  But I had the internet, and a lot of help from people willing to share their projects.

I started with the foot board.  It took me a solid week and three coats of paint, but I never had problems with bleed through (thankfully, 'cause I wouldn't have know what it was or what to do).  I sanded the edges where I thought they should be sanded, and all around the spindles- just kinda' winging it while trying to remember what the $1400 bed looked like.

And the waxing?? I couldn't move my arms for days!  Still haven't found a short-cut for that process!

It took me over 2 weeks to finish it.  But I loved it... and I loved the process (even waxing).  It sat in the workshop for months, waiting for its new home.  I just couldn't bring up that beautiful bed and put it in that depressing bedroom.

It would be eight months before the room was done and the bed was brought up.  Many a night was spent sleeping on the mattress and box springs on the floor, with cardboard boxes for a night stand and a ladder to prop up the TV.

The wallpaper border had to be stripped, the walls primed and painted, I needed new dressers (I only had one, and it wasn't the right style), new curtains, new bedding, and the list just continued.  Did I mention I wasn't working? Yeah... a little bit of a roadblock, for sure!

I took my time (for once) and did basically everything myself.

The bed was the start...but there's a lot left to share.  

Here is where I started...

(Before photo... circa 1998...not much changed through 2003!)

And the After.... please check back next Wednesday for some of the details and sources.

Elizabeth & Co.

Dwellings...the Heart of Your Home

Finding Silver Pennies

Savvy Southern Style

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Sand and Sisal

This Silly Girl's Life

Cherished Handmade Treasures

Redoux Interiors

Miss Mustard Seed

The Shabby Nest

French Country Cottage

The Power of Paint

Grandma's Vanity Turned End Tables...

While the vanity this project started out from was not my Grandmother's... it was certainly old enough to have been.  And it had definitely seen better days! The vanity below is NOT the piece I started with.... 

(source)

However, it is very similar in design (three drawers on either side and carved legs) and the mirrors are pretty close (with the center one being much taller, only my side mirrors weren't so curvy).  The major difference is this one seems to be in good condition... MINE was missing drawers, had cracked veneer and was so dirty that the finish was almost black.

We took the mirrors off first... I'll show you what I did with them in a later post.  The "shelf" in the middle eventually became this...

...And these would eventually become end tables in my living room.

This is with 2 coats of ASCP in Old White and a coat of clear wax. I sanded the tops, put on one coat of Jacobean stain and then waxed when dried.  Up against the arms of the sofa, they were a little low and looked kinda' "off" to me.

I didn't have any "legs" in my stash, but I did have some wood knobs leftover from another project.  I just flipped them over and screwed them to the four corners.  It's not a big change, but the extra 2 inches I gained in height put the tables at a better level next to the couch.

Because I was missing so many drawers, I did away with them all together.  I tried some small baskets I found at the Dollar Store the first time around...not lovin'!

Then I swapped those out for all cigar boxes.  Gives the tables a little more of a masculine feel and I think they look pretty cool.

I also used cigar boxes to bring the lamps up a little higher...

...and on the other side of the room for these smaller lamps.

Love me some cigar boxes... I use them to coral all the crappola I have laying around.... especially in my office!  They're inexpensive, easy to find and come in all sizes and types.  The cardboard ones are the cheapest (around $2 to $3 ) but they usually have the coolest graphics.  The wooden ones aren't much more (maybe $5 or so) but have a bigger selection of shapes & sizes. Either way, they both come in handy!

It was just the touch the room needed!

Savvy Southern Style

Handy Man Crafty Woman

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Elizabeth and Co.

Hat Table B&A....

So here are the "deats" on my bedroom "hat table"...

I bought this table at a used furniture store a month or so ago...

When I first spotted it, I thought it was stained dark.  After getting it home and taking it outside to clean, I realized it was a dark brown, heavy enamel paint.  And apparently, it had been repaired/reconstructed at one point in time...

Stripping it was out of the question... not only would it take forever, I'm not sure what type of wood I'd be left with when I was done...

After an hour or so with the sander, I got it down to this...

Not pretty..... but pretty smooth and ready for paint.  I started with a base of ASCP in Louis Blue, and added a pretty heavy wash of Old White.  I'm not much of a "paint wash" or "glazer" but for some reason I went a little crazy with this piece between the layer of white and distressing it. 

It took me a while to get used to it, but the more I look at it... the more I like it....

.... so much so, that I painted a mirror to match.  My bedroom is coming along quite nicely.  More pics to share as we go along. 



Getting My Ducks in a Row...

One of my goals for 2012 (and the reason I started blog posting again after some time) was to find a personal way for me to celebrate my 50th birthday...and I decided to use that "milestone" as the catalyst to start fulfilling some of my dreams....

Last week I took the first step toward a creative goal I've had for myself for the past few years.  And now I'm "getting my ducks in a row" and working hard to make it happen.

This is where I'm starting... it's a vintage drysink that I've just recently completed a makeover on and will be the display piece I'll be using to showcase some of my handmade soaps, linen sprays and more...

I hope you'll check back on Friday for the details on this piece and the goal I'm working toward...

I'm really excited, though, and can't wait to share!



A Necessary Update for the Crate...

...furniture that is!  Which is nearly (or the same as...) Cargo furniture.  I've had this set of bunk beds since my oldest (now going on 29!) was a child.

The picture above is not my actual set, but it's very close!  I think I originally paid about $40 for the set almost 20 years ago and it has made the rounds in this house.  All of my boys have had it in their rooms at one time or another.  A few years ago, I took the beds apart and used one in one of my son's rooms, and stored the other. 

My youngest is going to be 15 this year.... I think it's time the ole' crate furniture was retired... and so does he!

But I'm glad I hung on to all of it as we need "kids furniture" at our house in Nags Head.  We've used the third, smallest bedroom there as a home office.  Now that we're putting it into a rental program, we need to use the room as a third bedroom.  But the beds have been through it and couldn't be used as is. 

I had wanted to use my fav ASCP in Graphite (as I used in the Living Room makeover) but I was a little nervous about the wear and tear on the bed and how it might hold up in a rental house.  I ended up using my old standby Behr's Black Suede in a satin egg-shell finish instead.  I painted one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint.  After waiting a day or so, I finished it with1 coat of poly-crylic on the bed and 2 coats on the ladder.  

I've still got the upper set to complete, but hopefully the paint will hold over the course of the season with  little wear.  I can always touch up over the winter, or eventually replace if need be when finances allow.

For now, I am very happy with the results and can't wait to pull things together with bedding and accessories.  We should be able to get it set up sometime this week, so I'll be sure to post the after pics when we're done.

And the best part for me is although it's a 20 year old set that had seen better days, I think it looks nearly new now.  And once I make some pillows and stuff it will look great!

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Nifty Thrift Tuesdays...

Not Just a Housewife...

A Room to be Proud Of....

At least that's what I'm telling myself.  And my children are as well... though they wonder where they're going to put the Play Station (considering we don't have a TV in here yet, that's still a ways off!).

I finished the last piece last week... this is the love seat that I reupholstered to match the "slouchy couch" that you can read about here.  Both pieces were originally a faded green plaid that were hand-me-downs when I got them five years ago.

The black dresser shown against the wall (above) was my first project using Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint.  It started as this...

And finished off with this...

I've had this chair forever.  Originally dark walnut stain with a red crushed velvet upholstery, I painted this as well and recovered it with fabric remnants I found at Wal Mart.

My man made the foot stool and I covered it in drop cloth fabric and transferred the image using one from the Graphic Fairy's site.

I made the window treatments from drop cloths, too.  They replaced the original ones I had made from vintage bark cloth (seen here).  The french-inspired wall piece is actually a stenciled bamboo floor rug that I framed and re-purposed.  The two smaller pieces of artwork to the far right are watercolors my 15 year old painted for my man & I for Christmas.

I've had the antique shoe trees forever.... they were originally in my bedroom closet.

The ottoman was also recovered in drop cloths.... the pleating for the skirt took me longer than recovering the actual piece.  But I'm glad I did it.... it makes it stand apart from the couches.

This is just an old produce box I found for .50 at a garage sale a while back.  I painted the it black and waxed the image on the end.  I use it to hold extra blankets.

The folding child's chair was a garage sale find too.  I gave it a white wash with ASCP, distressed it, and applied a light coat of wax.  The bears are, well..... we'll just say I have a thing for teddy bears.  We'll leave it at that!

The rug is one of the few things that I bought new, but I'm so glad that I did.  At first, I wasn't sure about the dark rug with the dark painted furniture.  But once I got it home and put in place, I absolutely love it!  It's just the pop of color the room needed.

Eventually I'll have shelving or a bookcase made for the alcove behind the black chair (thanks Man of Men & DB).  The wall above the dresser has been left blank for a wall-mounted flat screen TV, but that's several months off yet.  

There are a few odds and ends that I want to add.... I just haven't found them yet!  But for the most part, I'm just happy to be done!

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