Quick Change Artist: Master Bedroom Refresh

Our house has a lot of gray, black, white and green. Brent has voiced this to me on several occasions. So after giving it some thought, I realized one of the easiest rooms to update would be our master bedroom. It had green pillows and a green candle. That's really all the green. Here's a glimpse of what it looked like.

Two green pillows and a black and white damask pillow.

 

I've been thinking about adding more white to the bedding.

 

Even Porter's bed is green. (Cutest doggie ever, right?!)

 

The wall opposite the bed. I happen to really love this arrangement.

In an ideal world, we'd have a nice sitting chair over in that corner with a side table and a floor lamp. And you probably can't tell from the pic above but there is a painting hanging in the mix that I've always loved. I bought it from an artist outside the Guggenheim about five years ago. So it became my inspiration.

What do you see in the painting? I see a street view of a New York with a taxi on the left.

I had a glorious Friday off and I headed to TJ Maxx for some stress relief. I hit the jackpot in the clothing department (scored black shorts and two versatile tanks) and the home goods (pillows, a basket and a white ceramic garden stool I've been hunting for a year!)

I got these two pillows as a starting point. Love that they pull in the yellow from the painting.

 


I had the rug in the guest room and pulled it in for fun. I think I like it!

 

Also found a yellow candle that smells like apricots (yum!) and the basket that fits perfectly in Brent's night stand.

I think I can amp up the yellow just a little bit more, so I'll be on the search for a new throw for the bench/bottom of the bed.

I remembered that I had two shams that came with the duvet cover so I put two extra pillows in them.

 

I also found that cool ceramic white light that I added to the dresser.

I'm loving the results for only about $45! Thank you, TJ Maxx!

~Karli

Hotel Sax Chicago: Design Inspirations

This week I traveled to Chicago for a recipe photoshoot with work. I decided to stay at a different hotel in River North. I found Hotel Sax online and was impressed with the location, rate and reviews. So off I went.

It is located right next to House of Blues off State Street and Kinzie within walking distance to lots of great Chicago steakhouses like Harry Carey's as well as some hip new resaurants like RMP and Sable Kitchen + Bar. (I ate at the last two. Did not disappoint!)

The reception area was the first unique element I noticed. The antique glass display cases were filled with cut crystal glassware. It was not the normal sterile greeting!

 

The halls on the way to my room featured graphic pewter carpet, metallic tone-on-tone wallpaper and dark wood trim. A sort of rock 'n roll vibe...

Loving the patterns, metallics and darker tones.

And so the wallpaper continues...

In my room I was greeted with a variety of textures, patterns and tones. A snake skin chair, an embossed leather headboard, plush black and white carpet, crisp white linens and wood grain furniture. (All of this with a lack of "artwork." I love how this design lets the colors and textures be the focal points instead of a large picture over the bed, for instance.)

LOVE that wallpaper. Very subtle but gives some interest to the wall.

An up-close of the wallpaper in the bedroom



This cool sidetable has a glass top with purple marbles inside. I also love the mirror behind the side lamp. Again, it doubles the amount of light and makes the space feel big.


In the bathroom, the lime green grasscloth wallpaper really set off the black and white tile and fixtures. 

Modern with a nod to retro



I love that this wallpaper makes you want to touch it!

After using the bedroom and bathroom for a few days I think there are a few things I want to tuck away in my own "inspirations" for our future master bathroom remodel and a couple updates in our master...

Larger white subway tiles.

Again, a modern bit of retro.

Black and white floors (I love these but I think I might get tired of them in real life)

So much fun

These were actaully small tiles laid in a square 4x4 pattern

I love their tasteful use of mirrors (because we all know there is a fine line between 70's creepy floor-to-ceiling mirrors and framed modern mirror features)...

This is opposite the large windows so it bounces light around and makes the room feel much bigger than it is.

Our master bedroom is big enough to have a small seating area. I love the idea of one soft chair and lamp.

Notice that this lamp base is painted a dark purple.

So if you can't already tell, I'd recommend this place if you're headed to Chicago and you like a posh, modern, rock 'n roll style.

Feeling inspired,
Karli

New Shades for the French Country Bedroom

It has been quite some time since I mentioned that I was going to remake and reuse some draperies in the French Country Bedroom, see the earlier post.  Well I am finally making that happen.  The repainting is all done.  There is no excuse now.

 

Really love the white window trim but we need
some draperies.

I had black and white toile draperies that had been in my bathroom.  I had purchased them at Target and still loved them.  They were perfect to reuse in the French Country Bedroom.  However, the draperies indicated dry clean only but, guess what....



Washing them in the washer on gentle, cold water, with Woolite worked just fine. 


         
I didn't put them in the dryer, just laid them flat to make sure they didn't shrink.  Then
I cut the two panels in half, making four panels with valances to fill the center.

      This just entailed cutting and hemming.

Loved them but it left a lot of wide open views for any guest who might be undressing at bedtime!

 
The draperies were on the "skimpy" side, since this was a make-do, make-over project, so I knew I had to fill in with additional curtains or something.  I had somewhat of a plan that I wanted to make shades out of black and white pillow ticking.  Years ago, I had purchased some of the ticking at Wal-Mart to cover the seat of this little stool. 

I had quite a time finding more of this ticking fabric.

I finally found the fabric like this online.  My plan on how to make the shades wasn't really concrete.  I had ordered yardage based on the size of my windows but I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing.  I bet nobody else does that!!

Here are my ponderings...

I had the pillow ticking fabric, curtain tiebacks that came with the toile draperies and available curtain rods.

 I sewed a pocket on both top and bottom and hemmed the sides.

The ticking fabric was 54" wide.  The small window was 47 1/2" wide, so I made that shade first.  I cut some of the fabric off to save for the big window which measures 65" wide.  Did I mention that I always pray when I make things without a concrete plan?  I definitely appreciate a little divine intervention!

I used the simple (cheap) valance curtain rod on the top and put the black metal rod on the bottom.  Having the round rod on the bottom of the shade allows me to roll it up .  Then I just had to figure out how to hold it in place after rolling it up!!!!

 I tried to reuse the curtain tiebacks but,
which way do I attach them and how?

The shades will probably be up most of the time and only lowered when we have company that would like some privacy or don't want to awaken at first light.  I decided reusing the tiebacks just wasn't going to work.  I made new tie-ups, flat ribbons of fabric, finished 3 inches wide.  I sewed Velcro strips on them to hold the shades at the desired height.  I also added a decorative black button.

This was Plan B.

The ribbon tie-ups, (or whatever you want to call them) are not fastened on so they can be moved or easily adjusted.

The big window.

The small window with the shade rolled up.

The small window with the shade down.

I even had enough fabric left-over to make a new pillowcase.

The French Country Bedroom is now ready for guests.  They can undress in privacy or sleep late if that is their desire.  But, they must remember.......

Glad this project is completed and I'm moving on to the next!
Kandy

Kandy's Master Bedroom Makeover, Part I

It is time to makeover our bedroom. It's looking tired, old, and a little heavy. (I could be describing more than just our bedroom!) Anyway, it is past time for a new look. I usually change things up about every 10 years or so. 

But, before I share the plan for changes, I thought you might get a chuckle out of where this room has been over the last 30 years.

In the 1980's it began as pure "Country."

Check out the waterbed

 

Check out the goose wallpaper border...if you couldn't sleep you could count geese.

In the 1990's, still Country, with more ruffles and Victorian touches. The walls had been painted hunter green. The accessories were burgundy and navy...believe me that was the "thing" back then. We had purchased a new oak bed and I had refinished the chest of drawers.


White bedding in the summer.



Navy bedding for winter....the ruffled shams and bedskirt remained the same.

 

The oak armoire is still in the room, just accessorized differently.

In 2000, the room got painted an olive green. I made the window valances, that in itself could be a new post. We also got a new comforter set and I made coordinating pillows.

The room in shades of green and khaki with a more monochomatic feel. (This must have been taken during the holiday season)

Then I had to make even more changes, the valances got recovered in a different fabric and I added fringe and changed out the bed pillows.



The brass lamps are antiques.This oak chest is a more recent refinishing project.

 

The valances




Probably need a new look here now. 

So, on to the plan for changes:

• Repaint doors, trim and window trim white. 
• Repaint ceiling and wood trim white.
• Repaint walls a shade of gray.       (pick the perfect shade)
• Purchase new white drum lampshades.     (probably at Target)
• Purchase or make a white lumbar pillow for bed.  (to go in front of gold ones)
• Purchase or make new art for over bed.
• Recover oak chair seat in a gray pattern fabric.
• Recover window valances, or uncover older fabric, or remove altogether???

I'm challenging myself to make these changes with very little money. Therefore, I'm keeping our old bedspread and all the furniture. I also need to change out some accessories...give the room a crisper, lighter, more modern touch.  

Anyway, I'm excited! When you live in the same house over 30 years, you have to keep changing it up or it gets as tired looking as its owner.

I'll keep you updated with the changes and transformation.
(See an update here)

~Kandy

Guest Room Curtains...A Goldilocks Tale

I hinted about this post when I shared the fabric "headboard" in my guest room. So here's how we reused some curtains from the basement in my old house in the guest room and made them just the right length (not too short and not too long, hence the Goldilocks reference)...

Here's a pic of the curtains in the basement of the old house.

It's a little hard to tell here, but they are black and white stripes.

The panels were 84 inches, which was perfect in the old house. In the new house 84's are too short but 96 inch panels are too long. But there wasn't enough in the hem to just let it out. What to do?

Answer: The answer in this case was just adding some length to the old black and white striped curtains. We found a fabric that coordinated with the fabric we used as the headboard and added it to the bottom. Now you can start to see how orange is becoming the predominate color in the room too.


This fabric allowed me to get a pop of color on the window treatments. And it saved money--always a good thing!



Here you can see how they look in the room.

Mom kindly sewed the fabric onto the curtains while Brent and I installed the ceiling fan (I'm re-living how hot it was in this room before that fan!). She also used a little bit of leftover fabric to make a pillow for the bed. (I feel like I've talked about her sewing a lot in this blog. I need to learn to sew!)

I like that the pattern is repeated in two places.


And now does my hint from last week make more sense? :)



I couldn't help sharing this pic too. I love this collection of mirrors on the wall opposite the bed.

 I'm still contemplating the paint in this room. I also want to update the lamps--the two in here now were both hand-me-downs and while they serve their purpose, I want something a little more ecclectic.

~Karli