Bedroom Redesign

Remember those great finds I got at the thrift store awhile ago? I've already showed you what I did with the coffee table, but I haven't posted about the side tables yet. Here's a reminder about what they looked like before:

The tables had a nice mid-century modern vibe to them, but they were scratched and in bad shape. So out came the (eco)paint stripper! I stripped and stripped and stripped some more. And then I painted and painted and painted and stained. I am so so so pleased with the results.

I wallpapered the inside of the drawers, too.

But after I finished the side tables and got them in my room I just wasn't happy with the room! You know how when you start to improve one thing, and then everything else looks bad? Yeah.

I hadn't touched my bedroom since I moved in last summer. Here's what it looked like just after I moved in:

There's that same Swiss Coffee colour on the walls that was everywhere else in the house.

So I was considering what colour to paint the walls. And now that I had those nice bright side tables, I wanted something more neutral as a backdrop. I've always admired the look of white walls with pops of colour in the accessories. Case in point:

From here.

So I decided to give white a go. But plain white was just a bit too blah for me, so I decided to paint the trim black. I'd seen that look on lots of blogs I frequent, and really liked it.

See?

From Elle Decor via Design Crisis.

From DecorPad via Shelterpop.

From Roman+Williams via Shelterpop.

So I went for it.

White walls. Since the "Before" photos of the room, I got a new duvet cover at Ikea, but since the redesign, I'd love to get something different.

And I was also inspired by the black and white and gold trend. So I got some gold leaf and gold leafed one panel on the door. P.S. If you want to make hollow core doors look halfway nice, paint them! They're easy to paint and I love the black 28047329847982734 times more than I did the white. The white looked cheap to me.

See? 28047329847982734 times better.

Also, as you can see above, I added a little pop of colour by painting the edge of the door pink. Whyever not???

I spray painted my vanity table gold, too. That took a beelion coats.

And Hector the Neon Owl looks right at home there on the sidetable. And the pretty mirror I found at the thrift store found a home above my bed!

Aren't those pretty dot borders and the collages pretty rad? I found this free program, PhotoScape through Chez Larsson. It lets you edit photos easily and add effects and frames, and create collages, but is way easier than Photoshop.

Anyway. New bedding and area rugs would be a nice addition to my room, but as it stands, I'm pretty happy with it.

P.S. Paint colours are "Decorator's White" from Benjamin Moore on the walls, "Citron" by Benjamin Moore for the side tables (in high gloss wood paint), "Francesca" by Martha Stewart for the trim, and "Raspberry Blush" by Benjamin Moore for the little strip of pink on the door.

Hector the Owl

It's been awhile! I've been working on my bedroom redesign, which will hold the side tables from this post. I know I've been dragging my heels on that one, but life has gotten in the way. My sister and I went home to visit our parents last weekend, and then this weekend we had our 11- and 13-year old cousins come over for a super mega sleepover. So I've been busy!

I've been working on my room evenings, though, and the reveal is coming soon!!!

In the meantime, let me show you this owl I found at the thrift store!!

Here he is before:

 

So then I decided to spray paint him, because his eyes were a bit creepy. Selby and I named him Hector.

But in orange he looked a bit scary. So I got some pink.

I like him. Selby doesn't. But I do. And it's my bedroom he's going to end up in! So there!

Coffee Table Facelift

I went to the local thrift store on Saturday with the aim of finding a new coffee table because I absolutely hated mine. It was a total score day! You know how sometimes you go to the thrift store and there's absolutely nothing, but then you go another day and there's everything your heart desired? Yeah. It was a heart day at the thrift store.

So I bought three pieces of furniture. The coffee table was $20, and the side tables were $7.99 each. Here's a couple before shots:

Trotsky sniffs the coffee table.

One of the two side tables.

The side tables are destined as bedside tables for me. I'm in the middle of rearranging my bedroom to make them at home, so I'll so you those "after" pictures later.

It took me all weekend to refinish them. I used (eco)paint stripper to remove the current stain, and then added a combination of new, darker stain and paint.

Oddly likes it.

The colour is called Orange Nectar from Benjamin Moore and it's a high-gloss finish in their wood and metal paint.

And I can't resist this one:

Awww, cute!

The stain job isn't perfect, but I'm quite happy with how it came out. I love paint-and-stain on furniture, especially when it's really bright paint. That's a hint to how the night tables came out!

There were a couple of other stellar finds at the thrift store:

This majestic paint-by-numbers elk.

And this neato mirror, which is also destined for my bedroom.

And yeah. My Roomba does have googly eyes.

What of it?! Doesn't yours?!?!?!?!

Indoor Tents... for CATS!

Okay, I am a bit embarrassed to post this project as it's a bit "Crazy Cat Lady" of me to have even made it. BUT look at these cute tents for kids!!!

From here.

From here.

 And how about this chic one?!? It makes me want to make one for ME!

From here.

 So, since my cats are my fur-babies, it makes perfect sense that I would make them a tent, right? RIGHT?!?!?!

...
...
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Moving on. Here's the finished product, and Trotsky enjoying it. Both cats really like the tent, especially when the flaps are closed.

Here's what I did:

I bought the base at the pet store. It's just a cardboard cat bed. The cats like the corrugated cardboard. What cat DOESN'T like cardboard?

Then I drilled four holes in the cardboard. Then I cut four dowels down to the size I wanted it them. The rest was just done by eye. I had two Fat Quarters of Anna Maria Horner fabric that fit perfectly, and then I used two other fabrics for the flaps. I sewed holes for the dowels to go through and added some velvet ribbon as tie backs for the flaps.

Oddly peeks out.

 And that's it, really!

Trotsky waves goodbye!

Adorbs Video

Via Making Chicken Salad.

The Sweetest Paul

Sweet Paul magazine is gorgeous this season. Paul is a New York-based Norwegian stylist, and he seems to have captured the essence of autumn in the magazine this time around. Makes me want to snuggle in wearing slippers and a big scarf with a bowl of something steamy and yummy.

Sweet Paul lets you take clippings! I thought one of the drawbacks of an online magazine was that you couldn't earmark pages for future use. But you can! Let's give this a go.

Blue

Sweet Paul Magazine
Fall 2010 p. 102

How great is that lamp?

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White

Sweet Paul Magazine
Fall 2010 p. 68

Haha! Pumpkin lamp

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Orange

Sweet Paul Magazine
Fall 2010 p. 43

I just want to sit in that chair there and have a lovely meal with some lovely people

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Chocolate

Sweet Paul Magazine
Fall 2010 p. 54

Chocolate layer cake with salted caramel filling. Ooh

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Cak

Sweet Paul Magazine
Fall 2010 p. 55

The cake recipe

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Yellow

Sweet Paul Magazine
Fall 2010 p. 12

Butternut squash and bean stew. I want that in my bowl

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Recipe

Sweet Paul Magazine
Fall 2010 p. 13

The recipe for the stew

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Fun with Paper at a Dinner Party

I was in bed, but had to get out because I kept coughing. I've had a cold for ages now, and it doesn't seem to want to totally go away. So I'm sucking on a cough drop, and thought I'd just do up a quick post while I'm waiting.

This weekend, my sister Selby and I, and our two cats, Trotsky and Oddly, went home to visit our parents. Oddly curls up in her carrier and falls asleep as soon as she gets into the car, but Trotsky is a bit more a nervous traveler. He will have none of a cat carrier. I can't even force him into one! So he just gets to roam around the car. Finally he found a spot he was comfortable in.

Look at all of his fur on the car seats! Little gaffer was shedding up a storm!

Our parents have some great friends who live across the street from them: a mom, a dad, and a little boy. (P.S. Go on over and give the mom some blog love! She's new to the blogging world!) It was Sandi's birthday on Friday, and her wish was to have a big family dinner at our house. What I mean by that is that we consider them family, so it was the joining of our two families for a fun birthday fest. We also invited some other dear family friends, one of whom has a one-year-old little girl.

Selby and I took the reins and got to work. My dad has some clients who are Hutterites, and they give him gifts from their farm every so often. He got a big turkey from them that was taking up room in the freezer, so we decided to have a pre-Thanksgiving turkey fest.

The food was amazing, but my table concept was really fun, too! Not a novel idea by a long shot, but I covered the table in kraft paper, and put plenty of crayons on the table for everyone to decorate it with.

 

And bunting for the birthday girl's chair!

I traced a big circle for each place setting and then wrote each person's name above it. Here's my place setting before dinner:

And here it is after:

Everyone had fun, especially the kids. The 6 year old Daniel created a Harry Potter masterpiece:

That is Professor Quirrell with the big purple turban, a marauders mask (MM), Professor McGonagal (M), Lupine (L), and Black(B)

And Rachel, the one year old had fun too:

The next time you're having a dinner party, consider using paper as your tablecloth. So much fun! But you might want to state this rule in writing as well:

(This rule was meant for my father, by the way, not the kids)

P.S. And at your next dinner party, you should definitely make Spiced Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, too. Yum!