Tag Archives: walls

Master Bedroom Renovation Hollywood Regency Style

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Sara | Leave a comment

If you’re like me, you focus all of your creative energy on all rooms of the house but the master bedroom. I guess the thought is, who besides me and my family is going to see our bedroom so what’s the point in trying to spruce it up? This was my belief until I had a late night ~~breakdown~~ epiphany and realized I needed a nice, relaxing place to call my own and, in my world, that is my bedroom.

The very next day I set out to transform my bedroom with a plan for new paint, new artwork, bedding and a couple of new smaller pieces for the space. My goal was to do this without spending an exhorbitant amount of money. So began my 6 month bedroom renovation. I know, it has been a long time coming. Did I mention that projects always takes months longer than I planned?

Here are some photos of my blah bedroom before. Note the dark wood, neutral walls and generic artwork. Awesome!

Do those photos make you feel relaxed? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Now, the transformation. You’ll remember that I blogged about my DIY sunburst mirror here and also the DIY chevron paintings that I hung above my awesome Ikea Hemnes nightstands that I found on Craigslist.

Psst! I switched out the standard knobs on my Ikea nightstands with some fab gold knobs that I found at Lowes for $3.00 each.

Once I decided that I wanted my colors to be white, gold and grey, I added some DIY artwork too. Check out the frame I painted white and gold and then found the perfect printable online to finish the piece.

I’ll admit it, as the years go by I tend to forget things more often. To help, I used Crate and Barrel’s chalkboard stickers and put a gold frame around it. Now I can write things that I need to remember the next morning and check the list twice before I head downstairs and off to work.

In my nook that will someday be a comfy reading corner, I decided to girl it up. I have a vintage Vogue print that my mother had and I’ve hauled with me through my numerous moves across the country. To complement that, I added two prints by artist Daphne van den Heuvel who paints women in amazing stripes. LOVE her!

I have tried, without success, to replace the etagere that holds our TV. My first thought was to spray paint it yellow. I did this before I knew that you need to use a primer first. So it turned out uneven and runny. Then I bought a couple pieces of furniture for that space but they were either too short or stuck out too far. So, again in a weird fit of creativity one day, I decided to use gold thumbtacks and use them as nailheads to outline the frame of the etagere.

I have to say it turned out better than I expected. Yes, my thumbs were numb for about two weeks after the project, I have no sense of pinning in a straight line and there were a few mess ups, but for about $2 I have to say it was worth it!

Here’s a close of up of the ~~thumbtacks~~ nailheads.

I have to say, my room has come a long way. I’m sure I’ll add to it as the months go by but now I have a place to relax and read and appreciate. Here’s one more shot of my new room. Oh and I’m sure you’re wondering about the POSH letters. They stand for the first letter of each of our names in my family. No, I didn’t plan it that way but think it’s kind of funny! How could I not point it out?

Paint: Benjamin Moore- accent wall- graphite wall color- marina gray
aVintage Art Deco Lamps (on nightstands): Craigslist
Ikea Hemnes Nightstands: Craigslist
Art: DIY
Campaign Dresser (foot of web): Craigslist
Etagere: DIY
Knobs: Home Depot and Lowes
Chalkboard Stick-ons: Crate and Barrel Outlet

Posted by Sara

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Posted in Bedrooms, Interior Design, Rooms

Tagged artwork, bedroom, benjamin moore, color, decor, diy, furniture, grey and gold, home, IKEA, inspiration, master bedroom, nail head, paint, remodel, renovation, repurpose, small-space, upcycle, vintage, walls, white, yellow

From Unfinished Basement to Music Lover’s Man Cave

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Sara | 6 Comments

When I married my husband I also married his expansive music collection, including Lionel Richie and Marvin Gaye, gospel music, country, old school rap, and hair bands. He, like his father and grandfather, has a deep appreciation of all music genres. This, coupled with the need to collect things, has led to a LARGE collection of cds.

When we moved into our house four years ago we put the cds away in boxes and housed them in our one basement storage closet. But, as the years passed, and we accumulated toys and new heirlooms, the need for space became a HUGE issue – I mean, when is space not at a premium in our area?!

Unfortunately, the cds were not going away and Paul wouldn’t let me get a storage unit so we needed to figure out a solution both of us could agree on. This is where the man cave discussion came in: We decided to do a basement renovation to turn an ordinary unfinished basement into a music lover’s, kid-friendly man cave.

Now, as easy as this may sound, it actually took all of four years to complete. Yeah, we got a little sidetracked there for a few years. Apparently kids and life can do that to you. I’ve posted some pretty gnarly before pictures of our basement, some sort of finished pictures and then the final product.

Initial basement renovation (4 years ago) with cinder block walls and no carpeting.

The picture below is a sad but pretty accurate picture of how the basement looked for a LONG time. The walls were finished and new carpet was added, but there was no style.

Finally, about two months ago, my husband caught my design bug and finally got around to completing his man cave. He framed all of his vintage concert posters, bought a large world map (from Ikea), got his reclining leather chair and, last but not least, found cd/dvd wall shelves from Ikea to store and showcase all of his beloved cds. With these shelves, we were able to store his cds without having them in the way and taking up much-needed space. I also think they really frame out the whole room.

Here’s a close up of his cd collection and the shelves. Note: for all you music lovers out there, don’t judge the selection based on this close up. Apparently I picked the worst part of his selection to photograph. Who knew?!

Every man cave needs some Bruce and a bowling trophy.

When you need to cover up a large wall, you can never go wrong with a ginormous map.

One last shot of the wall behind the couch:

I have to say I’m definitely a fan of how it turned out. I love that the Ikea shelves were only $5.99 each and that we scored the random sized frames on Amazon for $15. Sadly we had four of them framed at $75 a pop before we realized we could buy them at a fraction of the cost online – you live and you learn.

I hope this inspires all of you men out there to follow your dreams and design the man cave you’ve always dreamt of. Best part of the hubby’s man cave? It’s also the kids play room but you’d never know it at first glance — everything is neatly tucked in this storage closet. Oh the joys of hidden storage options.

Ladies — it’s okay to give in once in a while, your husbands will be so happy to have a place to showcase their sports paraphernalia, yearbooks, trophies, t-shirts or whatever other random things they’ve collected over the years that they may give you back the large closet they are now taking up with their “stuff.” Just goes to show, there’s always a solution. Just don’t wait four years like we did!

Posted by Sara

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Posted in Basements, Rooms

Tagged advice, basement, decor, decorate, frames, home, IKEA, mancave, music, organization, remodel, renovation, shelves, small-space, storage, vintage, wall storage, walls

We All Could Use a Little Sunburst in Our Life (and Bedroom)

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Sara | 3 Comments

Let me start this post by saying, there is not a single person in this world who knows me, who believed I could be a crafty DIY kind of gal, including me.

But you know what? You hit your 30s, reevaluate your life and voila, you have all these things you never knew you could do before. Topping that list currently was building a sunburst mirror from scratch and becoming a pro with a glue gun to boot!

I successfully completed my first glue gun DIY project with only one sustained injury – a burn to my ring finger. Note to self: Don’t try to rub hot glue off a piece of wood, just not a good idea, trust me.

The sunburst mirror craze…..ahh they’re so lovely, so en vogue and so EXPENSIVE! There was no way in this world my husband was going to let me spend over $200 on a “doo dad thingy” (husband speak for beautiful decor) for above our bed. So I started surfing the internet and came across what looked like a simple DIY Sunburst Mirror project. I took advantage of the three-day Labor Day weekend and threw myself into the project.

Things you need:
1) Two packs of wood shims (any hardware store will carry them)
2) Hot glue gun and a TON of glue sticks
3) Round wood picture frame (size depends completely on you)
4) Some sort of mirror or other round shiny object to glue to the middle once you’re done.
5) Paint (LOTS and LOTS of it)

(The upside down picture is just to test you…seriously!)

After laying out all of my supplies, I decided to do a test run laying out the shims, I mean RAYS. My 3-year-old son helped with this part. He’s much more detailed than I ever could be.

Then start gluing!

All in all, it took me probably a little over an hour to glue all of my shims onto the frame. I did three(ish) layers and surprisingly it looked okay. My husband was shocked but still a little skeptical as it wasn’t painted and he didn’t really think it’d hold. I, on the other hand, knew my new friend the glue gun wouldn’t let me down. (I mean for the sake of my competitiveness with my husband, I couldn’t be wrong!)

The next day I got up bright and early, before my little helping hands three-year-old was up, to start painting. I first tried white spray paint, and after two cans it still didn’t cover well, so I opted to use some left-over white paint we had lying around. That worked out much better. It took about three coats of white paint and was a pain to get into all of the crevices but it looked great by the end of the day.

Last but not least, I added a small round mirror that I found in the back-to-school clearance section at Target. Apparently, circle mirrors are all the rage in dorm rooms. After gluing the mirror on, I hung that baby up and WOW what a difference! I was so impressed, I emailed everyone I knew. Seriously people, this is a HUGE achievement for me. It looks fab in my 65% redone bedroom. (More of that to come later.) Get excited!!!!!

So you’ve been waiting long enough….here’s the REVEAL!

And here’s a close up (don’t judge):

Now for the wrap up…

How much did this baby cost?
Glue gun: $7.00 Walmart
Hot glue sticks: $4.00 Walmart
Round wooden picture frame: $4.00 Walmart
Two packs of wooden shims: $3.67 each Home Depot
One round mirror: Target $5.00
White Paint: Free
TOTAL: $28! Take that $200 designer sunburst mirror!

Lessons Learned:
1) Learn how to use a glue gun BEFORE starting a project. Jamming glue sticks into the gun only to find hot glue spilling out the other end onto the carpet is not a good time.
2) Not all the shims are smooth so it’s better to sand them before gluing them on for a better consistency.
3) Might be better to paint the shims BEFORE gluing them onto the frame. It worked out fine the way I did it but just took a while.
4) Add a clear glaze to the finished product for extra shine.
5) And I learned about an awesome blog while researching the mirror – www.hisugarplum.blogspot.com — thanks for the tutorial!

Hope I’ve inspired the DIY in you all! Till next time!

Posted by Sara

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Posted in Arts & Crafts

Tagged decor, diy, frames, home, inspiration, paint, projects, Sunburst mirror, walls

Reader Question: Should I Hire a Color Consultant?

Posted on July 11, 2011 by DIY Del Ray | 4 Comments

We received this question from a reader:

Is it dumb for me to pay $150 to get a paint “color consultation” for my place? I want some advice on color combos but $150 is kinda pricey (given my budget)!

Here are some thoughts from Katie and Sara:

Picking paint colors can be overwhelming. With so many choices, it’s hard to pick just one.

If your budget is limited, and you aren’t sure you can afford a color consultant, here are couple of things you can do first:

Ask friends what colors they have used (and liked). I have used 4 colors in my house based on recommendations from friends.
Find an “inspiration” piece in your home (a book cover, a picture, a piece of jewelry, a piece of fabric) and use that as a starting point for colors that go well together.
Go online to sites like Benjamin Moore or Behr and use their tools to select combinations. HGTV has the same kind of program on their website. A word of caution: Colors aren’t going to look the same on your computer screen as they do on your walls, but you can use the colors you find to narrow your search. Benjamin Moore also has the Pottery Barn collection of colors, a limited selection that might give you a good place to start.
Visit your local paint store and get their sample booklets with popular colors. I used the color palette provided by Duron to help find colors for the outside of my home.
Test! After you have narrowed down the color combos you want, get paint samples and test on all walls of the room. Look at the color in the morning, afternoon, and evening. You probably won’t choose the right color the first time (I’m currently on my 5th test color for my living room), but you’ll be able to see what you don’t want and can adjust the choices.

We can definitely appreciate wanting to use a consultant. This is a daunting task and you want to make the right decision without losing your mind. If your budget is already limited, you might want to try these steps first.

Readers: What advice do you have about picking paint colors? Have you had experience with a color consultant?

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Posted in Advice, Interior Design

Tagged advice, color, consultant, paint, palettes, walls