Pinkified Room Reveal

The battle of my daughter's bedroom has ended. Originally she wanted a "French" room. I admit I got giddy with excitement. I envisioned some black, white, light pink...maybe some bright pink. Her vision was very different. The battle began. We have spent several months coming up with a plan. I painted her furniture first:

I left her IKEA dresser and Kirkland trundle white. Next, I searched for the perfect pink. In the end I went with Behr's Candy Tuft. I love their primer/paint combo. After the paint dried I sort of wished I would have gone a shade lighter, but my daughter wanted a shade darker so this was our compromise. Her walls were AWFUL. I painted her room when we first moved in. It was a dark khaki color. It went well with the French black and white toile she used to have when she was a wee little thing. Alas, kids grow up.
The walls in our house are flat. Not a bump on them. They were meant to sport wallpaper and the entire house was wallpapered at some point in time. We really should re texture them, but right now it isn't on my list of things to do. My daughter's walls had taken a beating in six-and-a-half-years. Marks, random nicks and even dried liquid (Do I want to know?). Some of you may say, "I dream of flat walls". Don't. They are a pain to paint and every mistake shows. The only positive thing about flat walls is I can do this:

This mural was super easy. I found a crown graphic on Google images and wrote her name in a great font. Next, I photo copied it onto a transparency.

 I used an overhead to project the image on the wall. Mr.Dickey made sure it was level.

I traced the image with a pencil and then filled it in with Martha Stewart metallic paint I picked up at Home Depot. I thought it might need two coats, but one coat was perfect.

I LOVE it and so does she. Don't you love the mirror below her name. I know it seems low, but it is the perfect height for her. She loves to sing into her portable speaker and watch herself (she wants a stage, but that is a project for the future).

I have been on the lookout for a new bedspread, but this one seems to work okay. I bought it at an estate sale a few years back. It is reversible and has a matching curtains (unfortunately they match the funky floral print on the other side). The pillow shams are those fancy schmancy European kind. I found them online for $129 each. YIKES. I picked them up at the Goodwill bins for about .75 cents each. Harvey likes the bed a lot.

Curtains also posed a problem. They are so expensive and many of them available were not the right color or just wouldn't work for us. We picked these up for $18 at Camas Antiques (http://camasantiques.blogspot.com/). They are perfect. A little on the shabby side and a soft white color. They really brighten up the room and break up the pink. Someone paid a bundle for these lined babies, but not me!

*My next adventure is to try and make the hamster cage look a little more...pink.
 We added a shelf above her desk for her knick knacks. I can easily add another shelf when she acquires more.

 Eventually I would love to replace the carpet in her room, but it isn't in the budget right now.
Here is a breakdown of the costs-
Desk/chair- $5 paint (I used this paint on several other projects as well. I buy quart size paint at Sherwin Williams for most of my small painting projects)
Paint-$40
Shelf-$8 (I had the board on hand and simple painted it, the brackets were from IKEA. They were black, but I sprayed them silver)
Curtains-$18 and $3 for tiebacks (I picked them up new in the package at Salvation Army)
Mirror-Free (I have had it for years and spray painted it using paint I had on hand)
 Lamps/Shades-$20 (Both lamps were thrift store finds and fabric was on clearance. The shades were from IKEA for $5 each. I still need to paint crowns on them, but all in due time.)

Total-$95 give or take. That is what I'm talking about!

Grand Entrance

The very first room I painted upon moving into our home was the entry way. I don't remember what color the walls were (most likely a cream), but I wanted to make a statement when people walked in. I painted it a dark cinnamon rust and loved it. Six years later I still loved it, but wanted to lighten things up. I find my color palette has changed recently to lights. I don't dig those bright colors that seem to be popping up all over, give me a muted grey any day. Anyway, this weekend (before I came down with a cold) I tackled the entry way.
Before...

A few things to note. My entry way was SIX doors. To the left of the front door is the coat closet, to the right is a door leading into our kitchen (If you walk around the corner there is a huge opening so this makes no sense. It is on my big to do list to remove  the entire corner, but I have some work to do before this happens). Further down on the left hand wall is another door that leads to bedrooms (it is nice to be able to shut it off) and directly in front of the door is the door leading to the basement and another closet. Whew. Talk about a lot of cutting in! I realized as I painted, the first time I did it had a six month old. Let's just say my last job  was SLOPPY.
I started on Friday night when the boys were out at the Blazer game. I had a little help from my friend...

Here is the after...

The wall color is Martha Stewart Copen Blue. Now I am usually a Sherwin Williams addict, but they were closed and I needed my fix. Martha had an almost perfect match to what I had chosen. This is the "Jew Pew" (In all due respect people). I placed two vintage ticking pillows on it. I am looking for a better basket to go underneath the bench (This is our lost and found and our friends and family look here often. By the way anyone missing a camcorder? It has been here for three years). The picture is one of my favorites. I purchased at our local high school's student art auction. My daughter recently gave it a tattoo on the arm. Argh.

The table I found off of Craigslist undecorated. The verdict is still out as to whether or not it will remain here. My husband says it is beginning to look like Hoarders around here. The color on this is Sherwin Williams Watery.

Here it is decorated. I am on the search for the perfect lampshade. I will also be taking down the light switch cover and replacing it with a painted one so it will blend in better. I wish I could lower the mirror, but alas someone decided to put the switch here. Looking at this picture it really bugs me.

Closer look at the pew. This is one of my most favorite things.

The numbers on the pew. I can't bring myself to do anything but keep it polished.

I added the wainscoting and hung a chair railing. I am really proud to say I overcame my fear of the big saw and did all the work myself. I love the way it turned out and can't wait to add some finishing touches as they speak to me. I had every intention of adding some shelves in coat closet, but after purging it I realized it works fine and there is no need for shelves so I left it alone. Sometimes I like to make my husband happy.

Cost-

Paint-$36 (a lot for me, but it was primer and paint and I only needed one coat even with the dark color to cover)

Wainscoting-$22

Chair rail-$14

Adhesive-$2

New to me table- $20

Total for the makeover-$94

I still need to find a rug and a lampshade, but after that I believe she is done. Oh wait about that other closet...

Renovation Rumblings and Puttin' My Feet Up

Last January I painted and "redid" my laundry room hall. In February I added some tile accents, crown molding, wainscoting and repainted my daughter's bathroom. This February I am planning on doing a mini-renovation of my entryway.

As it looks now (I didn't even pick up for the before pictures)...

When we moved in this was one of the only rooms that did not boast really "awesome" wallpaper. To be honest I can't even remember what color it was when we moved in, but it was the first "room" I painted. You can see the one side has clear sidelights. The other side is waiting to be finished (it might get done for my reveal!). I love the warmth of the current color, but after six years I am over it. We have darker wood doors and trim and I think a lighter color will brighten this darkish area up. Here is a view from the other direction:

The only thing that will be staying is the Jew Pew (This is an old pew from a Brooklyn Synagogue. Don't be thinking I am anti-Semitic, my name is Leah after all). I LOVE it. I am currently looking for some baskets to put under it. This is where we put backpacks after school etc. It looks like they didn't make it there in time for the picture though. We will also be keeping Harvey, the dog. The one door leads downstairs and the other is a closet designed to store hanging linens (if I don't iron do you think I would hang linens?). It currently has some makeshift shelves, but I am planning on adding better shelving to store my larger kitchen appliances and big pantry items.

Here is my list of things to do in this area:
Paint (thinking of a light grey or light sea blue)
Add board and batten OR wainscoting to one wall
Add crown molding
Finish sidelights
Purge both closets
Add a shelf in the coat closet (near the floor to add more storage)
Add shelves to the pantry closet
Polish all woodwork
Find baskets for under bench
Paint half table for wall opposite the bench
Hang mirror above bench
Decorate (Rug, framed chalkboard, new lamp)

One thing I forgot to share is the great light fixture...

Gearing up for this month's project! Until then I will be putting my feet up on this:

I found this at the Goodwill bins. It had a nasty pleather cushion. I ripped it off, painted it with Ralph Lauren metallic paint (leftover from my living room wall) and recovered the cushion with blue hounds tooth fabric. Looks lovely in our family room. Unfortunately Mr.Dickey uses it all the time.