1. Studio Eight {the craft room makeover}
2. Kitchen Makeover
3. Guest Bathroom
Decorating
Projects Unfinished and Children Unplugged
painting my bedroom/bathroom/bedroom ceilings (and don’t you love the lamp that I rescued from my own yard sale and painted blue?)
Last week, I started 37 projects. That’s kinda how I roll. And I should have learned by now that when I do that, I end up sick. So, now I have 37 half finished projects and raging bronchitis. And our family Thanksgiving just happens to be Thursday—-at my house. I am blessed to have been able to hire a painter who’s coming today to help me finish. But I’ll show you a few pics from the week and we’ll all cross our fingers that we get all our ‘stuff’ done in time to relax and enjoy our families. Keep in mind, NOTHING is finished. And while I coughed and painted, the little girls played a lot of American Girl fantasyland and the ‘big’ girls made the cutest shirts.
a new wall of frames and the cutest pillows (TJ Maxx for the geometric and Target for the birdies)
a spruced up mantle for Christmas–did I emphasize unfinished?
new paint for the girls’ room
new paint for the girls’ beds
Christmas lights for the craft room
Check our my tumblr site for a peek into some of the yummies I’m making——in between coughing and painting. I promise I’m not coughing in the food. My brother in law may no-show when my sister reads this post to him.
And for finished Thanksgiving projects, visit Clover Lane!
Whether the projects all get done or not, this I know: I am profoundly blessed, beyond anything I could ever hope for or ask. And I will pray for a heart of thankfulness, for myself, for my family and for you.
The Story
I find that there’s a certain sense in which things are more than they appear. On the surface, I’m just painting another room. But then the emotions rush in and I wonder if this color therapy is one of many ways the creative heart heals itself. Am I forging a safe cocoon where the boundaries are clear and the dark days must be embraced for the beauty and transformation they inevitably bring? Am I declaring to my life-love that this space, these days, this passion is important. I won’t take it for granted. I won’t give it what’s left over. I will boldly declare—-with strokes of painted love—-that I am in this—–heart and soul.
So, maybe it’s just walls and brick and mortar. Maybe it’s just paint and pictures and 20 year old furniture.
Or perhaps it’s more? Perhaps it helps to tell our story. The story of loss and love and passion and triumph and forgiveness and brokenness. The story of one deeply stained who has been graciously redeemed. The story of one who has been baptized into death, to walk in newness of life.
What if your walls could speak? What story would they tell?
This project is still in progress so I’ll be forthcoming with colors, etc. I listened to Brandi Carlile’s new album while I painted this weekend—-another form of wonderful therapy. Her song Pride and Joy is unbelievably powerful and speaks of the complicated relationship we have with our children and parents. She’s coming to the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville Feb. 10th. Girls night out anyone? The first time I heard her song ‘The Story’ , I was reminded that there is something in music and art in general that touches on the divine. And everytime I hear this song, I’m so thankful for Steve—who knows my story—-and loves me anyway.
OH, and the winner of the ‘live life in grace’ necklace: Sara from Upon Suggestion! Congratulations Sara. Send me an email with your address and I’ll mail you your lovely necklace!
The Making of a Craft Studio
It is with great pleasure I give you: Studio 8
She had a sinewy mind, capable of violent enthusiasms and possessed a driving energy to make and do. Sometimes, it seemed as if the wrong soul had been placed inside that slight body, for she pushed herself to her limits and beyond, and was often ill as a result. There was something in her that could not, or would not, see the distinctions the world wished to make between weak and strong, between women and men, laborer and lord.
sinewy adj. -tough, stringy, strong
If you believe that quote and could know the amount of sheer physical labor that went into transforming this space, I am definitely due to get some kind of illness. But maybe the 27 aphthous ulcers that have terrorized the inside of my mouth ARE my illness. Do you ever do that, work so hard for so long that you make yourself sick? Yeah, me too. And I regret to inform you that I’ve searched high and low for a before picture and can’t find one. It was a guest room with dirty carpet and far to many fake plants. Trust me, this is better.
So, the first thing I undertook was to rip up the old–nasty–ten year old—stained with all manner of dog and human stuff—carpet. It was not a job for the faint of heart. Not to mention the overstuffed sofa and queen bed and other sundry furnishings that had to be removed from the room before that could even take place. I then painted the walls with 2 cans of leftover light colored paint that I mixed together.
When I ran out of paint with one large wall left, I decided to do a chalk wall.
Because who doesn’t love a chalk wall and a little improvisational creativity?
With the carpet slowly being removed (by me, the little girls and my neighbor Leigh Ann) I commenced to painting the subflooring with porch paint. This was my biggest expense, totaling around $62. That process took around 5 days because the paint had to dry thoroughly in between coats. I used Meredith (whom to all our misfortune has quit blogging) for inspiration and ‘how-to’ information, but my sub-flooring was not nearly as nice as hers, so I did 3 coats of porch paint and it’s looks very ‘porch’-like—much more rustic than hers—but perfect for a craft studio. And then for kicks, I brought up every color of paint in my basement (which looks like the paint section at Lowe’s minus the 20 year old paint section worker whose never painted a surface in his life) and began painting everything that didn’t move.
Including this old school table that I bought last year at an antique store close-out for $50. I used stainless steel paint—which I will never use again—and though I liked the way it turned out okay, I hate using oil based paint, which this was. I could have achieved the same result with a silver paint and without all the hassle of mineral spirits.
Then, there were these wooden shelves—with the perfect little scalloped edges— that were in my schoolroom that the girls and I painted. We used the cute scarf as our inspiration and picked from the multidinous colors at our disposal. Those shelves now are home to our yummy yarn collection. We also continued the color-love by adding jars of skittles and bubble gum—-because who wants to spend all day in a craft studio where there’s no sugar? Not me.
Then, we shopped the house for everything fun and colorful and ‘crafty’ we could find. If it didn’t fit our fun and crafty criteria, we painted it!
The icing on the cake was this awesome 1950’s glider which we found this weekend at a yard sale for $20. It gives the spectators of the crafting a place to sit and watch old episodes of Andy Griffith. Something about Aunt Bee just makes me wanna bake and sew.
And last but not least is this cool chair that we bought at a thrift store for $5 and recovered with pink toile. I’ve written a cautionary tale about my upholstering skills here.
The sewing table is constructed from an old 1980’s computer desk (which I painted blue) and an old door from Goodwill which I decoupaged with the black polka-dot wrapping paper. We are always on the hunt for unique items to add to our vintage, colorful studio, but for now, we are enjoying our little woman cave, where we can escape from a whole host of activities including laundry, scrubbing toilets, and watching the fifth college football game on any given Saturday—don’t get me wrong, I love the first four.
This room is a little santuary of sorts—-where we girls can learn from each other—-and where our ‘violent enthusiasms’ and ‘driving energy’ have a productive place to land.
The Nitty Gritty:
It cost roughly $150 and ten days to complete this makeover. For the wall paint, I mixed two Valspar colors in about a 50/50 ratio. They are foxtrot and hemingway. For the porch paint, I used Sherwin Williams porch paint—but tinted to the color Dover. I stayed up way too late a few nights and dealt with a plethora of aphthous ulcers and one nasty cold sore. But I’m a team player so I gladly take one for the home team to get this dreamy little cozy space in which to make memories with my girls. I used a variety of craft room photos for inspiration which you can find at my tumblr site. I thank Soulemama who never ceases to amaze me with her love for the creative life and how to teach that to our children. I am also indebted to the Nester for teaching us all that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
Please visit Kimba‘s sight (it’s DIY day) to see lots of fun DIY projects!
Studio 8
I am riddled with vices. Idleness is not one of them. So, as I adjust to less domestic responsibility and try to figure out how to cook for only four, I’m renovating our guest room. Actually, I’m converting the guest room to a creative studio aka craft room aka woman-cave. I’ve been ripping up carpet and painting subflooring all week. The east wall of the studio has just received two fresh coats of chalkboard paint. The whole wall! The question is this. Can I show enough restraint to follow instructions and allow the paint to set three days before I write on the wall and move stuff back onto the floor?! I highly doubt it.
The other side of the room presently looks like this…..a complete mess. And yes, I painted that armoire and Elea and I painted the above yellow desk. Everything gets painted in this makeover. And so far, I’ve spent only $60 (for the porch paint which was on sale at Sherwin Williams). Otherwise, I’ve been mixing leftover paint and using what I have. I can’t wait to show you this room next week. The reason I’m so confident that it’ll be presentable by then is I fully plan to finish before my sister and nieces visit. They’re coming for Emme and Caiti’s Birthday Tea Party so we decided to make the visit a sleepover and see the play “Steel Magnolias” together. I can hardly wait. Times like these are bearable when you surround yourself with people who know your story and love you anyway! (Thank you, BTW, from the bottom of my heart for all your kind thoughts and gracious words).
Here’s how you can help. I have an annoying habit of naming all things inanimate, like Retro Cottage Kitchen and Dutchess of Windsor Dining Room. So, the studio/craft room/woman cave needs a name. I kinda like Studio 8, since Steve and I have eight children all together. But I’d love to hear your suggestions. If it helps you to know a little more about what this room will be used for, we plan to knit, sew, do needlepoint, paint, listen to good music, read, write, watch Little Women, practice Irish dancing, and do a healthy amount of doodling on the chalk wall. We shall not violate this space by folding laundry or mating socks or watching football. Unless of course it’s the Volunteers or the Vikings. But otherwise, this will be our modern red tent. Where we gather together as women and girls and create beautiful things, supporting each other and hot gluing everything in sight. Our own sacred little space. If you can’t think of a name for us, how about leaving a link to your favorite studio/craft room/woman cave.
This space inspires me already!
Duchess of Windsor Dining Room :: Deconstructed
This room was inspired by a photo from Cottage Living which you can see here, and by my love for all things vintage. And the more I live with it, the more I love it. My favorite seat in the room is this comfy chair that I bought at a thrift store for $2 and then had recovered with this wonderful vintage-y blue fabric. Grandmotherly meets hip in this chair. Julia meets Julie.
And today Elea and I meet for a little game of ‘Miss Merry Mac’. I show you this to demonstrate the very flesh-y color of this paint. In this post, I go into pathetic detail about the colors and forbid you to say mauve or peach, so go there for my highly dramatized story of how The Duchess (wall paint) meets the Cowboy (trim paint).
The other side of the room looks like this and from this side, the color appears a little richer.
Speaking of truly deepening and adding layers to a paint color, try painting the trim a wee bit darker—but in the same color family–as the wall color. I love the result. It reminds me of an old English study. My favorite ‘find’ for this room is the 3rd St.S. sign that I bought for a steal at a vintage store in Steve’s hometown. It happens to be the street that houses Zion Lutheran Church—where he went to church and school. His Lutheran heritage has changed our lives in dramatic ways which I document here and here. And the sign adds an urban touch to my old English style dining room.
I faced a dilemma with this room due to my beloved ‘wall words’ above the bay window. I apparently loved wall words before they were cool and I happen to ADORE this one, which is the first one I ever bought—-nearly five years ago. Should I just scrape them off and start over? Should I gingerly remove them and try to salvage them? Since I’ve tried that and apparently am not a patient/detail oriented person, I decided to paint over them and retrace them with a black magic marker. If you look closely, it appears that I have an essential tremor or at the very least am 85 years old. I do not and am not. I’m gonna blame it on the fact that it was 12a when I was doing it—-that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.
But only someone 7 feet tall would notice that—so I think I’m safe. And my favorite wall words take on a whole new look against the new paint.
The side panels that flanked the window before looked out of place so I’m on the hunt for a beautiful vintage fabric to complete the look. For now, I left the middle panels and the glass stars. I also moved the animal print chair down from Caiti’s room which is officially my 2nd favorite chair in the room.
Next time you have company which involves children, roll some butcher paper over the table cloth and decorate the table with glass containers of colorful crayons and pencils.
This room has become one of our favorite spots. It’s cozy, colorful, inviting, and very different than every other room in the house. Besides window (mis)treatments, the next project in here—-inspired by my creative neighbor Leigh Ann–is to paint the chandelier. We’re thinking metallic gold but I’d love your suggestions. And we plan to recover or replace the light fixture covers.
Hope your enjoyed the tour of the newly painted/redecorranged dining room.
Here’s the before/after
Notes:
1. Wall paint color—Duchess of Windsor Pink–satin— by Ralph Lauren.
2. Trim color—Coronado Dunes by Behr—semigloss.
3. When using such a bold and seductive color, choose a fully contained room, and seriously consider painting the trim a shade or two darker. It made ALL the difference in this room.
4. To make a room look unique (where you collected pieces over time) and not too decorated, try not to be too matchy-matchy. I love that the plate wall is a little bit different shade of blue than the chair and also different than the blue in the rug.
5. Add pieces of whimsy and natural items to keep the room from feeling too ‘stuffy’ or formal. I like the road sign and the mums and rosemary. The mums can’t stay forever so I may look into little fig trees to go in that spot.
1. Wall paint color—Duchess of Windsor Pink–satin— by Ralph Lauren.
2. Trim color—Coronado Dunes by Behr—semigloss.
3. When using such a bold and seductive color, choose a fully contained room, and seriously consider painting the trim a shade or two darker. It made ALL the difference in this room.
4. To make a room look unique (where you collected pieces over time) and not too decorated, try not to be too matchy-matchy. I love that the plate wall is a little bit different shade of blue than the chair and also different than the blue in the rug.
5. Add pieces of whimsy and natural items to keep the room from feeling too ‘stuffy’ or formal. I like the road sign and the mums and rosemary. The mums can’t stay forever so I may look into little fig trees to go in that spot.
I’m joining Kimba’s DIY day so click here for lots of creative ideas.