I Feel Pretty

I have the best mom.  The best.  She's lived in her house for almost 15 years. Its a beautiful house, and for all of us it is home. But. Even the Prom Queen needs a new look after a decade flies by! We've all seen the brassy, goldeny-oaky goodness the late 90's gave us. So she's decided its time for some updates. Woo Hoo!  I don't know anyone that deserves it more than she does. 

We started with the main bathroom that everyone uses.  

{Before}

My disclaimer here is that I'm super lame and lost the before pictures. So I took some of the master bath. It is the exact same size, and has the same layout and finishes that the main bath did. The only exceptions are that the bath in these befores has a small window and the door is on another wall.

It had your basic builder-grade huge frameless mirror, UGLY vanity lighting, faucet, cabinets, you name it.  Also, these are pretty small bathrooms. .  

So not that bad, just not that good.  We decided about a week before Thanksgiving to do a complete cosmetic overhaul before the turkey was served.  The goal was to update the look as much as possible while still keeping the flooring, vanity, counters and shower insert.  We still have a few small touches and fluffs to add, but I'm so excited about the results that I had to share what we've got so far.

Drum roll, please...

{After}

My mom likes warm colors and has pretty traditional style.  She was picturing painting the vanity darker and maybe putting a nice color on the walls.  But I saw bright, light, shiny things because there is no window-this bathroom was dark and small.  And I really wanted it to just be... pretty.  You know, a pretty room for a pretty girl!  I talked her into gray for the vanity (secretly getting a lighter shade than she approved) and painted the ceiling, walls, door and trim all bright white, which she questioned (questioned!). 

Luckily now there is no question.  Only love. I used  pearlescent white on the main wall that houses the toilet, vanity and mirror with my favorite design and created awesome hand-painted wallpaper.  I seriously love this design.  I've used it here and here before.  This version is gorgeous and subtle, but has some of my much-desired shine and adds a lot of depth to the overall look.

We used baseboard trim from the HD, a simple miter box, hand saw and Liquid Nails to frame the mirror.  I had pictures of how ridiculously easy it was, but they are lost with the befores.  Luckily, there are a million tutorials in the blog world.  I used this one as a reference.

To keep with the warm tones and traditional feel of the rest of her house, we used Oil Rubbed Bronze fixtures and a Dark Walnut stain over the gray paint on the vanity and mirror frame. 

 We also changed out the shower curtain rod and rings and added this pretty shower curtain.  I love that it's bright, but still has touches of warm gold and brown, and a dark rich shade of peacock blue.

 When the door is open it blocks a good portion of this back wall-what you see is just about the only open space between the door and the shower- so I left if pretty plain.  We changed out the towel bar, added yummy new towels, and hung a J that I snagged from the living room.

 We just shopped her house for shiny accessories to fill the shelves.  She actually had golden sparkle handmade soap sitting in a closet.  Meant to be, I tell ya.  They could maybe use a little more fluffing.  We'll have to keep our eyes open in our travels.  But pretty, no?

  Can I just say that I love that apple?  I've loved it since I was little.  I kind of want to steal it.

  Again, trying to keep it warm I painted the vanity gray with dark walnut stain and a clear coat for protection and shine. No distressing.  My mom's not a distressed kind of lady.  It still needs hardware, which will add much.  I've gotta get on that.

 Even the ceiling got a makeover.  It hadn't been painted in years (like maybe 15) and there was no overhead lighting.  Just the base to a sad broken boob light.  We bought a cheap cheap globe and I sprayed the base Oil Rubbed.  Crazy how something so insignificant could make such a difference.

I loved doing this room! If you could just walk in and feel how much brighter and bigger it feels. Its so hard to get a good picture of the entire space. As I mentioned, it still needs a few tweaks. The near future includes new flooring and cabinet hardware and more fluff, so check back for updates.

I love you mom!

 

 

His & Hers: A Start

Our house has six potential bedrooms.  And three actual bedrooms.   Chalk another one up to someday when the basement is finished...  So for now we (happily) make our actual-in-reality bedrooms work,  two of which can accurately be described with words such as small and/or tiny.  After doing the math, you may have come to the conclusion that the four children split the two smallest rooms.  And after perhaps a little more math, you conclude that one of the three boys- the smallest- shares with the one and only girl. Whew.  That's a lot of math.

When my little Zoe was born, I had visions of over-the-top girly with pink, ruffles, dripping chandeliers, the works. Hmm, how to make that work with Asher and his Batman obsession.  I decided to keep things reaaallly neutral and try to work with stuff I already had.  Keep in mind that this is, as everything, a work in progress that has just begun.

Zozo's zone. Not much, but again, this room is pretty small.  There's space for either a bed and dresser, or two beds and a dresser in the closet, which is the configuration we're going with at the moment.

I found this frame at a flea market a few years ago and had the mirror installed.  I'm constantly hemming and hawing about painting it a brighter color.  But I also really like the original vintage chippy paint.  For now its sealed with poly.  And a muslin wreath inspired by this linen wreath from Emily at Jone's Design Company-hers is way better.  That's ok. Of course sporting the flat-ironed ribbon.

 After looking around and not finding anything like I was picturing in my brain, I decided to recover the crib set that all three of my boys used.  Alert! I am not a seamstress.  I can sort of sew, and I'm not that much of a perfectionist when I'm doing stuff for myself.  Considering those high expectations, I'm pretty happy with the results.

I sewed flat ruffles, or really just flaps of fabric (drop cloth-what else is there?) right over the old crib skirt.

I like the flat flaps because I think they give a layered, slightly flouncy look without being too poufy for this shared room.

 Then I sewed more of my handy-dandy canvas drop cloth right over the old bumper, after covering the piping with a gorgeous floral scrap.  I'm in love with that floral.  I ran out of it when I was making the ties, so some are flowery and some are an awesome neutral leopard from another scrap piece. The pink afghan was made by Tyler's mom and is the perfect piece of pink. It is.

One more touch of pink for the girl.  The corsage blanket chest from here. Love it.  Have always loved it. I love a lot of things. That's also ok. Centered at the end of the crib to store blankies.

 Now whatever to do for Mr. Ash that will sort of work with all that.

Here's what. Paint one half of the bunk beds black to tie in with the crib.  Flip over the old bedspread from navy plaid and use the more neutral stripy side.  Stick with the red under-bed bins we've had forever.

Add some navy ticking stripe pillow cases and sacrifice my beloved seed sack pillows, made from this estate auction steal.

Create a super-sophisticated wall of preschool art-of which Asher is SO proud- and throw in the white board where its easy for 4-year-olds to reach. 'Cuz we really like the white board.

I also hung some curtains that I made for the kitchen in our last house.  Linen-esque (cheaper) tie tops with a white cotton band on the bottom.

.

There you have it.  His and Hers. It's a little plain, could totally use some more color, and there is a lot of blank wall to fill, but I'm hoping its a respectable start :)

Thanks!

Posh Poppy Update

-Edited April 27, 2011-
This buffet is still one of my favorite projects, and I wanted to share it.  I wish wish wish that I had taken mulitple and better and  pictures of it. What was I thinking? Oh well, lesson learned:)  I painted it as part of a boutique that I participated in a while ago.  Please disregard the boutique info. The buffett now lives in the super cute salon of my even cuter friend.  Maybe I'll go take a better picture there.  But for now I'm linking it to the Primitive and Proper Piece of Work Wednesday party.




-Original Post-
The Posh Poppy boutique is happening right now! Ok, so its not happening right now anymore. But, thanks to the lovely snow last weekend, I've still got some great stuff available with-this is the best part-reduced prices! Here's a little taste of the inventory from The Fine House Please don't mind the unstaged pictures. Sometimes life (read: my kids) has to take priority:):

The Jazzy buffet with hutch is probably the most fun thing I've done so far! Her subtle zebra stripes bring to mind the phase "Be still, my heart". She's a smaller buffet with modern lines, three functioning drawers, and two cupboards. She even has grooves for plates to stand. I can see her working in almost every room of the house: awesomely in a kitchen where a bigger piece of furniture wouldn't fit; as the cutest bookcase ever in a living room; as an entry piece with bonus places to put keys, mail and gloves; as freestanding storage in a bathroom (oooo!); or so adorable in a little kid's room I can't even stand it!
 Edited again: Back then I didn't have my sweet baby girl.  I would completely DIE to have it for her room now :)
Sold!

Thanks Lindsey! I love your salon!

The Corsage blanket chest also makes my heart skip a little beat. It's a smaller Lane Cedar Chest (I forgot to take the measurements of stuff before I dripped it all off...) with a natural-colored light canvas upholstered seat featuring three fabric flowers. It's been refinished in delicate pink with dark green peeking through.
Reduced!!! $100

Sold

Gotta love a good chalkboard. Super cute as well as functional. A fancy frame finished in antique white with mocha glaze. (The dresser and best lamp ever are unfortunately not for sale. The belong in the model home where Posh Poppy is taking place.)

I have to admit, a pretty chair with an upholstered seat just does something for me. So many places it can go! This is a pair of matching chairs with cane backs finished in black and heavily distressed . Natural-colored canvas makes the cushy seat ready any scrumptious pillow.
$45 each or $80 gets you two:)

Both Chairs Sold!

Gertie is living her second life as the girl whom no one can take their eyes from! A large mirror refinished in bright green with a mocha glaze to tone it down a little and some distressing makes her the perfect addition as a fun bathroom mirror, in an entry over a table, in a bedroom, over a desk, you name it and she'll send it over the top!

Reduced to $50!!!

Sold!

And you might remember the vintage door Entry Station from this post. Still super cute! And to answer a few questions, yes. This can be safely hung in the studs of a wall to make a sleek, shabfabulas entry station!

You haven't missed the event yet! The Posh Poppy will be going strong through tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 14 until 6pm. Click here for directions and more info.

Click here to see what I've been up to lately!

Thanks for stopping by!

I love picture frames. Particularly old, beat up ones. They're beautiful, unique, and besides just holding pictures they have a million uses:

Upholstered the interior of this one to use as a headboard

Of course they make great mirrors...


Both empty vintage frames. I left the chipped wood and cracked paint as is and just brushed them with some poly for protection and ease of cleaning.




This one became a beautiful chalkboard. And it's for sale! I love love love it. Like everything else, I feel like the camera didn't do it justice. Its a vintage frame with the original paint and measures
42" wide x 29 1/2" tall.
$50

(Buyer pays shipping if necessary)
Super cute for a kitchen, office, or even a little girl's room.
Sold!






Right now I also have an unassembled frame that would be a great made-to-order upholstered head board. It measures 5.5' x 2.5 ' (that's feet, not inches)-long and narrow, and, as I said perfect for a lower profile head board. The frame itself can keep its original finish or be redone to match any decor and you pick the fabric for the interior. Interested call or email.