Master Bedroom Reveal

It only took about a month longer and tons more work than I thought it would ... but it's done!  Let me show you around our new and improved bedroom.  
We'll start here as this is what greets you when you enter the room.  

I wanted something round to go above the bed to echo the roundness of the headboard. I found this carving at HomeSense - and it was even carved in India (a place I have a particular fondness for after visiting last summer).

The darker gray accent wall (although it is a subtle difference and probably not worth the trouble) was painted several years ago and I painted the other three walls last month.  I did a happy dance when that was done - not only because the chaos that happens when you paint was over, but also because the grubby builder's paint was finally gone.

The furniture was rearranged - the two bookshelves were split up and put on either side of the window and the trunk was put under the window.  I thought it would kinda sorta look like built-in bookshelves and a window seat - both things I adore, but we weren't willing to put the time or money into building them into a house we may be leaving soon.

I re-hung the drapes above the arched window so that all the windows were covered by the curtains. Since the curtains are now much higher than they were before, I had to take down the hem and add more material along the bottom. Fortunately I had bought an extra set of curtains at the time I bought the original ones so I had fabric that matched. I covered the seam with gray ribbon and added another row of ribbon to make it look like it was all meant to be.  It actually took me quite awhile to do all of those steps since I had to think through the solution to each problem as it presented itself.

I sorted and edited the books so the bookshelves would look tidy.  On top of one bookshelf I put a shadow box with my husband's fossils. The back of the box used to be Barbie pink, which is great if you are putting Barbies in the box, but not so good if you are putting fossils in.  I painted it white and it looks much better and actually means you can see the fossils now since it is much brighter inside the box.  I know the box still looks a little pink in the photos, but that is just a reflection of the red shirt I was wearing when I took the photos.

And on top of the other bookshelf I put some of my dolls.  I'm not really a doll kind of person, but these are special to me as they were mostly collected when we traveled through Europe when I was a child and a few were given to me by my Grandmother from her travels.  I had all my dolls out before and it just looked cluttered, so I've decided to only display three at a time and have the rest in a little vintage suitcase nearby so I can change them up when the mood strikes me.

I centred the tall dresser on the wall across from the bed and put my favourite painting done by my Grandmother on it.

The ceiling light was dreadful and had to be replaced.  We toyed around with a number of options and in the end chose our second favourite.  We didn't go with our first choice because it was only available at a store in downtown Toronto and it cost almost $80 more than this one.  It was also a capiz shell light that looked very similar to the one we chose, but was cream-coloured rather than gray.  We figured that since the walls were gray the gray capiz shells would look fine and they do.  

The ceiling light doesn't cast much light so I also bought another light to go on the dresser near our bed.  I chose a silver mercury glass lamp from HomeSense to add some sparkle.

Do you love Queen Anne's Lace like I do - I think it is such a pretty flower/weed so I put some on the dresser.

Let's see the before and after photos - they are always fun!

And after ...

I had to show you all the details, because it took so long to do that I wanted to share everything with you.  If you want to see more details about how the bedroom looked before you can read this post.  All the effort was totally worth it as we are enjoying the new room!

Linked to WOW Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style,
The Creative Spark at Clean & Scentsible,
Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits at Stone Gable,
Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence,
DIY Link Party at Funky Junk Interiors,
Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick,
Tutorials & Tips Link Party at Home Stories A to Z

2010 Projects

I love to look back at the year that is drawing to a close and recall all the projects I've done.   It has taken me a few days to think of everything and it's not that I've done all that much - quite the opposite in fact, but I just have a terrible memory.  I love making lists (in the lead-up to Christmas I had three lists on the go at one time) and so here are the projects I completed around the house in 2010.

1) Painted our kitchen cabinets.  (You can read about it and see before and after photos here).  This was the biggest project I undertook this year and it involved three weeks of mess and sore muscles, but was so worth it.

2) Added beadboard to the en suite bathroom.  (You can read about it and see before and after photos here).  I have to say it was one of the most rewarding finish-in-a-weekend projects I have ever done and we are enjoying how pretty it looks.

3) Prettified my office-in-a-closet.  (You can see more photos here).  This redo was inspired by my office being shown on Centsational Girl's blog and how it just didn't look too pretty.  I've enjoyed the cleaner tidier version (although it isn't always as tidy as it is in the photos).

4) Made over my curbside bench to use on our front porch. (You can see more photos here).  Nothing like finding a fabulous freebie and then fixing it up.

5)  Made an autumn wreath.  (You can read about it here).  It was a nearly free project and I loved seeing it hung on our door all during the fall.

6)  Made letters from twine to spell the word "joy" for our mantel at Christmas. (You can read more about it here).

7)  Sewed a stocking for my son's fiance who joined us for Christmas this year. (You can read about it here).

I have other projects on the go (and by on-the-go I mean they aren't done yet and I haven't touched them in months) which means I will have plenty of fun projects to work on in 2011.  

I'm linking up to Savvy Southern Style's linky party and Top Projects of 2010 at Southern Hospitality and am looking forward to seeing what everyone else accomplished in 2010.

Our $250 Kitchen Makeover

It took almost two and a half weeks of painting and some moaning on my part about how endless it all seemed, but the kitchen is finally finished (well almost, more about that later).  I spent all morning cleaning, because if I'm going to show the world our kitchen it needed a little spit and polish, especially after all the disruption during the painting.  I'm pleased as punch - and glad it is finished - to introduce you to our made-over kitchen:

And just so you can compare - here is the before:

 Before

After

Before

You can read about the inspiration behind painting the lower cabinets gray and uppers white  here.   After much deliberation we chose burnished gold handles for the new cabinets.

I also wanted to introduce some gold accents in other places around the kitchen.  I figured yellow would work as well to visually tie things together.  Of course, this involved a trip to Anthropologie where I bought some lovely (and overpriced) soap and lotion dispensers.

I also bought some bowls in colours that would coordinate with the new kitchen.

You can also see the little gold-coloured pear that I bought at the thrift shop for $2 (it was 50% off day so I got myself a real deal, because otherwise I would have had to pay $4).  I dug through the china cabinet and found some things that would coordinate with the gold to put on the shelves.  The antique salt cellar is from my father's parents and has a cranberry glass liner.  I know it isn't polished, but to me that means it mixes better with the gold tones, although there are some (and they shall remain nameless) who would disagree. The plate standing up against the back is from the Limoge set that belonged to my grandparents on my mother's side.

There is also yellow in the vinegar and oil set that was given to us by the french exchange student who lived with us a few years ago.

I personally never tire of looking at some before-and-after photos, so here are a few more.

After

Before

After

Before

And finally a view of the kitchen from the dining room.

I put out my favourite thrift store vintage table cloth to welcome you.

As for the bottom line, here is the $250 breakdown:

$100 paint

$100 handles

$50 new baskets

 Not bad for $250 (and a lot of elbow grease. I'm just saying...). 

We still  need to do a few things in the kitchen.  Here is the 3-year plan - in a nutshell (well a picture anyway).

And now we get to enjoy the kitchen - the best part!

Linked to:
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Make it 4 Monday at Cottage Instincts
It's So Very Creative at It's So Very Cheri
White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
We Can do it Cheaper at The Virginia House
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Inspired by at The Inspired Home
Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking
The Colour Challenge Linkup at Funky Junk Interiors
Heart of the Home Party at Note Songs
Best of 2010 Before and After Party at House of Grace

Down Under

 

I finally got around to painting the patches on the  basement wall, where we had had a water leak from the now replaced sliding door in the dining room above it.  It has only taken me the better part of a year to get around to painting over the repair.  

Since the walls have now been repainted and the kids have all gone away for the summer, I took the opportunity to deep-clean the basement, wiping down baseboards, washing the floor, vacuuming under everything etc.  And then of course since it looked so nice I thought I would take you on a tour. 

We had the basement finished three summers ago and have thoroughly enjoyed having the extra space.  The first thing we did, prior to having the basement finished, was have a larger hole cut in the foundation and a window about twice as big as the previous one installed.  It has made a huge difference in the amount of light coming into the room.  The sunlight pours in until about noon time, and since this is the only window in the family room, it was well worth the money.

We let Kate have a big say in decorating this room and she wanted something younger and more modern feeling.  She chose the turquoise colour for the walls and then we went to IKEA and bought orange accents in the area rug, runner, and the wall decorations (more about that later).  We only painted the walls in the TV area turquoise so it wouldn't be too overwhelming for a basement room. 

When you go downstairs and turn to the left there was a small area that I had the builder make a recess and hubby built shelves to hold the DVDs.  We have a rather large collection and they no longer fit neatly on the shelves, but at least they are relatively contained.  The painting on the cabinet was done by my grandmother at our cottage.

Then looking right from the bottom of the stairs, you can see the family room past the piano and the foosball table. 

 The foosball table was given to us by good friends of ours when they downsized and gets a lot of use whenever the kids have friends over.  We just happened to have the right size area for it between the piano and the laundry room.

We didn't have the sofa at the time we finished the basement, but my parents gave it to us last year when they were changing things around at their house.  Fortunately it works with the colours we already had used and is fantastically comfortable.

I made the wall art using a very inexpensive duvet cover from IKEA (something like $20), which I cut into squares and stapled to art canvases.

The TV is sitting on a radio-record player console that my uncle bought in the 1960s.   The TV and DVD player fit perfectly on top and it helps add that mid-century modern touch.  Argh - all I see in that photo are all the wires hanging out below - what do you do with all the wires?

I added a little giraffe that my grandmother brought back from Zambia when she taught there in the 1970s.  I love the contrast of the rustic giraffe outline against the turquoise wall.

Kate and I went to a Pier 1 outlet store and found this unusual table with four cushions that you store underneath it.  It often gets pulled apart so everyone can sit around the table and sip their tea or play cards.

And looking back toward the piano and foosball table.  The door behind the sofa leads to William's bedroom, which hubby and I built about 7 years ago.  We had never built anything before but just bought a book and built his room.  It was a ton of work but we were very proud of ourselves.  We would have built more of the family room part of the basement but we needed it done quickly, so we had to hire someone to do it for us.

We hung a series of three black-and-white photos of New York City from the 1950s over the piano. 

Yep books and more books, always more books.  Our movers told us they had never moved so many books before and it is sometimes a challenge to fit them all onto shelves.

That about wraps up the basement tour.  Behind the four closed doors are William's bedroom, a furnace/storage room, a storage room, and the laundry room (which you can see pictures of here, along with some shots of how the basement looked before it was finished - yikes).  

How about a game of foosball before you go?