A New Look for the Bedroom ~ Lovely Linen

I recently updated the look of our bedroom. I actually loved the yellow, but it needed to be repainted and hated to waste the opportunity to change it up a bit. We'll also probably be putting the house on the market soon, so I wanted it to be more neutral.

I painted the walls with a color from Restoration Hardware called Mediterranean White.

I purchased one of the nightstands from Home Goods and painted one of my old ones black to match. The bedside lamps are from Meijer's.

The Mantle headboard was reupholstered with linen and I purchased tan linen curtains from Pottery Barn.

The vintage quilt at the foot of the bed is made with squares of all vintage linen floral fabrics in fabulous fall colors. I also made a new pillow out of a vintage linen from my stash.

A new shaggy 8x10 rug (also from Home Goods) was a steal at only $150.00 and is nice and soft under foot. :-)


On the other side of the room still sits the deacon's bench and on top of the dresser, Hubby gets a new place to stash his guy stuff...a wonderful old wooden box from Gram's attic. I also framed a vintage sheet music cover, with a lovely art nouveau design, in an old frame.

Well, that's it for a tour of the bedroom. I have the shop and website on vacation mode for a few days, but I'll be listing new items on Monday November 1st.

Have a great week, everyone!

Mini Living Room Make-Over

I felt the need for a little change in the living room. Something a bit brighter and more fun for the summer months. With just a few yards of fabric and a couple of pictures I was able to do it for very little money.
The major elements of the room remain the same...neutral green walls and white and dark wood furniture pieces. The pillows all got new covers in bright bold prints from Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room line and a vintage 1960's bedspread. A linen barrel lampshade from Target (24.99) was embellished with fabric flowers cut from another 60's bedspread.
Over the chair, a new picture from Kohl's (50% off) is hung alongside two sepia-toned photos with vintage fabric matting. I'll share an easy tutorial for that project in the next post. :)
The only change in the dining room is a new table runner.
So there it is, for around $80.00 I have a fresh look for the living room. :-)

Easy Weekend Project - Mantel Headboard

Ok, so its not quite as easy as the chalkboard...but still very do-able in a weekend.

This mantle headboard is something I did about a year ago. At the suggestion of Heather of Pretty Petals , I've decided to make this the next weekend project.

First, find your mantel (or is it mantle ?). Mine was only 40.00 at a local flea market and was already stripped of most of its peeling paint.

After applying a fresh coat of cottage white paint we were ready to secure it to the wall. We drilled screws into the studs along the outside edge and the upper lip of the opening. It was raised off of the floor about 6 inches to a comfortable height when sitting in bed. (ours is small, but , if your mantle is large or very heavy, its best to use supports under the posts.

Next, a piece of 1/2 inch plywood was cut to fit the opening. I used a spray adhesive to attach a piece of 2" foam and covered that with a piece of muslin and batting.

Now the fun part...picking out your fabric. Mine was originally done in a cabbage rose barkcloth, but, I was ready for a change. So, I recovered it today in another lovely vintage piece from my stash.

Center your design, fold over edges (so you are stapling through a double layer of fabric) and staple to the back. (start in the center of opposite sides and work toward the corners)
To avoid having to screw through the fabric, we simply "wedged" the fabric panel into the mantel opening. We did this by partially inserting 2 screws in the top and 2 directly beneath the panel.

This also makes it much easier to change out the fabric whenever you like.