A Master Bedroom Update

Out master bedroom has been the same since we got married. I registered for this bedding from Pottery Barn and I still love it. I also purchased a bedside table from Pottery Barn a couple of years ago on extreme discount. I still wish I had purchased two as now we have two completely mis-matched side tables and the one I purchased is discontinued.  Just my luck. Our dresser was one of my first DIY projects. My husband had this Ikea dresser from college:

A nice dresser, but not exactly my style. So I had this genius idea of spray painting it black and adding new knobs. 

Not amazing, but not horrible. A new dresser is on the top of my "want to purchase" list. What was really driving me crazy is the fact that we have this really awkward widow right behind our bed. 

WARNING: next picture is awful

Last week while reading Emily A. Clark, I was inspired by a bedroom that she just completed. 

She put drapes behind the bed, genius. I knew that was the solution to my problem. And it looks so much better!

I know it would look even better if I put a valance up over my ugly shade but the drapes will do for now. And in case you were wondering, they are also a super sale purchase from Pottery Barn years ago. I wasn't sure I still liked them but I think they look great behind the bed. All the linens are from Pottery Barn {except for the "S" monogrammed pillow which was made by my mom}. The bed frame is from Williams Sonoma Home which is currently on loan from my husbands' cousin. 

My Dream Kitchen

My husband and I have always wanted to buy an older home and fix it up. We thought we might have been close to having that opportunity a week or so ago but things didn't work out as we had hoped. We weren't in the market for a new home but when we thought something great was out there we had to take a chance. It just wasn't meant to be, but for the couple of weeks that I thought I might have had the opportunity to creating my dream kitchen {well dream kitchen on a budget} I went searching high and low for some great kitchen pictures. 

Aren't these inspiring?

Apparently I am consistent in what I like:

 1} I love white cabinets 

2} I really want marble 

3} I would love some great pendant lights 

4} Dark floors are a must 

5} Farmhouse sink

Finished chairs and a bookcase

I finished 2 of the 4 chairs. I need to find the motivation to finish the other two. I'm actually not quite sure what I want to do with them. In addition to the two chairs I painted an old bookcase given to me by my mother in law. It's a nice touch to the family room. I took a quick picture, which doesn't do it justice. Eventually I would like to get a fun fabric for the chair cushions but I'm going to stick with the free black fabric that I had on hand. I also decided to add paper to the back. I love how it turned out.  

The Chair

Close-up of the paper backing.

Wallpaper Lined Bookcase

I just finished refinishing a bookcase for the family room {I'll post pictures soon}. I painted it a dark grey color and would love to line the back with wallpaper to add some light. See the pictures below for some great inspiration. You could also use wrapping paper if you wanted a cheaper option. 

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Chalk Paint Chairs {part 1}

I love how these chairs turned out, and the best part about them was that I got them for FREE! Yes, I was one of those people loading my car full of chairs picked up from a neighbors front lawn with a nice sign that said FREE. My mom was watching the little one and she left only to return 5 minutes later to inform me that there were some cute chairs that I could refinish that were FREE. Initially I said no, not today but I sat and looked at the little one and said let's go I need those chairs {for what I had no idea but I needed them}! I took 4 chairs and left the table. After my initial experience with Annie Sloans chalk paint, I knew that's what I wanted to use. These chairs had seen better days, but were perfectly distressed in my eyes, perfect condition for chalk paint. 

Here they were before:

After a couple of coats of Graphite chalk paint:

 After I applied the clear wax and dark wax. You can see the dark wax really helps to fill in the grooves that were in the details at the top of the chair. 

I am currently in the process of 1) completing the final two chairs and 2) finishing up recovering the cushions. I was surprised when I took off the first layer of fabric to find not one, but FOUR more layers!

Started off a nice plaid:

Then we moved onto another plaid from I would think the early 90's???

Third layer, a very dirty khaki, which I think was originally a greenish color:

Last but not least a lovely green stripe {definitely disinfected after touching these}:

Finished pictures to come soon!

Accent Pillows

I purchased some new grey couches that I am absolutely in love with. I'm still technically waiting on the actual loveseat I ordered {long story, but I received a slipcovered loveseat vs an upholstered}. I should be getting it in November. I found a bright floral pillow that I really liked and it had so many different colors I thought it would be an easy way to add various colors to the room. So last week I finally took the time to hunt for some additional accent pillows to add to the couch and loveseat. All I can say is it is HARD to find good pillows at a good price! I searched ALL over {Home Goods, Target, boutique shops around town, etc...}. I finally listened to my mom, who suggested a while ago that I check out a store called Room Service. They have a LOT of pillows all in fun bright colors. I went and bought three that I thought were great. Well, I thought they were great and the husband did not. So this weekend I went and returned two of the three. So I'm back to square one on my accent pillow search.

Here is my current state of affairs:

Two pillows that I really love on the couch. And yes that is a nice dish rag from washing the windows earlier in the day still on the coffee table. 

And here is the sad loveseat just wanting some pillows to sit on it. 

What to do...what to do???

Bedroom Benches

I really want to find a bench that I can put at the end of my bed. I am afraid it may turn into a dumping ground for my husbands' clothes but I think they look really pretty. I'm really hoping that I can find something for a steal at Goodwill and then have my friend Brittany help me refinish it. There are so many different styles to choose from. Here are some pictures that were inspiring me today!

Baskets with some extra storage:

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Pop of color:

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Crushed Velvet:

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How I love my stripes:

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Fun geometric print:

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Long bench:

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Or how about a little loveseat??

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Aren't those rooms all around beautiful? I would happily sleep in any of them!

Silver Shells {tutorial}

There are always a lot of home decor items using shells, especially here in Southern California. They are found on frames, mirrors, vases, etc...I needed something to dress up my guest bathroom and had seen shells dipped in silver that I thought would be a really nice addition. At upwards of $200 each they were not in my budget. I thought it would be pretty easy to spray paint ordinary shells using metallic spray paint, and I proved to be correct. Here's what you'll need:

1. Metallic Spray Paint {I used silver but gold would be pretty as well} $6.50 at ACE

2. An assortment of shells

3. Newspaper

And here's the process:

1. Lay shells out on newspaper in well ventilated area {you can see I did not do this inside below}

2. Spray paint evenly over one side and wait about 15 minutes to dry. Flip shells over and paint the other side.

3. Wait another 15 minutes until paint is all dry and put you're all done! Super easy.

I put mine in a glass jar but they would be really cute on a picture frame or around an old mirror.

And my personal favorite were the sea urchins:

Eye Chart Art

After moving our stuff in and hanging things on the walls I had a bunch of frames filled with pictures that I wasn't too fond of anymore. I have always loved the wall chart art that means something special. Apartment Therapy had a whole post about them. You can see some great images on there post here.

After looking around, I found there is an eye chart maker online. Website none other than :eyechartmaker.com

You are limited to the number of characters so it takes some creativity/messing around with what you want to say to have the correct amount of characters. I decided to do our families names and birthdays. Here is what I came up with.