I am not a design blog, but I do like to play at designing my own home and have had a little bit of practice doing so as the wife of a retired Military Officer. In 24 years of marriage we have moved 11 times. So, while my room designs will not reflect cutting edge design, they do reflect our love of warmth, comfort, and economizing by re purposing/refinishing as much as possible. In that spirit, there were no big purchases made for my bedroom redo, and most of these furniture pieces have lived in other rooms in other houses. Heck, they are likely to live in another room in this house at some point in their life with us! It's the way I roll.
Case in point, the nightstand. This washstand was purchased at auction about 20 years ago. It's been a family room side table too. It used to sport the original marble top, though the back splash was missing. In one of our moves to Virginia the movers managed to break the top, so we had a piece of limestone cut to fit it. While this was never in bad shape it did have some veneer damage and wasn't in perfect shape. This made it a candidate (in my mind) for some Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue chalk paint. I just couldn't see painting those handles though. I have my limits!
This headboard was purchased when we were in a hurry to find a King headboard when we up sized our mattress. It was originally black, came from the scratch and dent section (bargain), and had a very faint, faded design painted on. I had filled in the scratches and dings and touched up the black and tried to make the design pop, but was definitely ready for a change. More ASCP Old Ochre/Old White and some champagne and old gold metallic designs free handed on. Pillows, some purchased, most hand sewn and I reused old forms from the last pillows I had on here.
I went through a trunk phase when we lived in Mississippi and then Kansas. I added A LOT of tool boxes, stage coach trunks, and cedar trunks during those years. They are just such great storage. Here's one of the tool boxes with a new coat MMS Luckett's Green Milk Paint. The rustic nature of this piece was perfect with the milk paint. It chipped in a lovely way, and this has to be my fave color so far. It serves the dual purpose of hiding many lamp and phone cords and provides the Mr. with some additional night stand storage.
This reproduction pie safe came from my parents former unfinished furniture store. This is the before...
here is the after.
I use it in my room as shoe storage. I removed (and saved because I know I'll put them back in some day) the original punched tins and replaced them with Union Jack metal screening. New paint and hardware to complete an update. I can't tell you how many different places this piece has served in...lots!
This was a $12 antique store find, rewired by my Mr. and just so darned cute I had to show it, though I did nothing new to change it up.
Hand made artwork for an empty spot.
I've already shared my Love/Hate relationships with my ceiling fans. Mainly the too dim, or too drab looking light kits available. We found this small chandelier light at HD and because of the perfect fit of it's center rod we were able to retro-fit it to our ceiling fan. It was brushed silver, but a quick Oil Rubbed Bronze spray had it matching the existing hardware in no time. It was a quick and relatively cheap fix and allows us to enjoy the benefits of the ceiling fan with just a bit more style, and most importantly light!
There was also a mirror repainted, and another lamp got hit with a new shade and painted base. And finally, there is a chair still waiting to be recovered. It feels good to finally finish a room long overdue for some work. It feels even better to look around my house and reuse what I already owned. Many people are doing a lot of that these days and sharing there results, here is just one more!
Have a fabulous week completing your new and inspiring projects!
Deb
