My Parents’ New Bedroom

Are you ready for a crazy amount of pictures? Welcome to my parents’ new bedroom… You’ve come a long way, baby. The drapes are really the focal point of the room. I love how they turned out. And the yellow Home Goods lamps really pop against them. Someone asked why we didn’t buy vintage lamps…

Are you ready for a crazy amount of pictures?

Welcome to my parents’ new bedroom…

You’ve come a long way, baby.

The drapes are really the focal point of the room. I love how they turned out. And the yellow Home Goods lamps really pop against them.

Someone asked why we didn’t buy vintage lamps and just paint them yellow. The idea crossed my mind at one point, but between the cost of lamps, paint and new shades, I thought it was a better use of our time/resources to just spend the $39 on these. Also, I wanted a ginger jar shape, or something similar, with a smooth surface. Anything with more pattern or texture would have been too much with the drapery fabric.

The nickel alarm clock is from Target. The blue decanters are vintage and the tray is from IKEA.

Here’s the other side of the bed. Do you spy the tins we spray painted from Home Goods? The side tables are painted in RL’s Hopsack and the bed is RL’s Smoked Glass. Many of you asked about painting the furniture here. It’s always a good idea to prime and put a coat of sealer on furniture that gets a lot of use, like bedroom furniture does. Remember that the secret to a smooth and long-lasting paint finish is multiple thin coats with drying time in between!

The small sunburst mirror is from the Home Goods clearance section ($10, I think). The yellow rosette pillow is by Dwell Studio for Target.

The white duvet is from IKEA. It has a lovely pleated detail that makes it look more expensive than IKEA bedding usually looks. The quilted coverlet at the foot of the bed is from Home Goods.

We bought the down Euro shams on clearance at Home Goods and made new covers out of the Robert Allen yellow ticking stripe from Home Fabrics and yellow piping from Joanns. Mom was so sick of sewing that she decided not to put in zippers and just made envelope slips.

The botanical prints series is one of my favorite parts of the room.

If you’d like to purchase the same book we used to make this print series (Wildflowers in America), there are sellers on Amazon basically giving copies away. Some are only a penny, plus shipping. Not bad for 400 botanical prints! There are all sorts of gorgeous, colorful prints in the book. We went with yellow, white and blue flowers for our print series here.

We didn’t finish this project before I left, so my mom just sent me pictures of this little footstool that she reupholstered in the subtle leopard print.

It belonged to my great grandparents years and years ago. I think my mom swiped it from our old family cabin. :)

In case you didn’t notice, my parents’ bed is really high off the ground and this small stool helps the little kids climb into grammy and granddaddy’s bed for morning cartoons.

My Grandpa Russell made my mother’s cedar hope chest, so it has a lot of sentimental value to us. It really needed a paint job though.

And I think the addition of some decorative moulding did just the trick to break things up a little. We also reupholstered the seat cushion with a soft floral. The pale blue bolster is from IKEA.

My parents’ en suite bathroom got a serious make over too.

New paint on the oak cabinets (Zinsser primer first, then two coats of Martha Stewart’s River Mist).

New black marble floors. Bath rugs from Home Goods.

A new shower curtain that my mom sewed using the Lee Jofa Hollyhock from Home Fabrics. I had her sew it extra long (about 85″). We re-installed the rod at the taller height. It’s amazing how that simple change really opened up the room.

Then, of course, there was the mirror project. We hung this IKEA mirror on top of the old boring sheet mirror using 3M picture hanging strips.

It really took things to the next level and I can’t wait to use this idea again in another project.

And lastly, here’s the vanity area. My mom turned a second hand (and broken, I think?) dining table into a console table by cutting off the end and adding a pair of legs to the back. Looks great, right?

It used to be an antiqued white color, but we gave it a fresh coat of Martha’s Magnolia Yellow. The little bench was purchased at a vintage shop for $12. We reupholstered the seat in a pretty damask that mimics the wall color.

Didn’t the circle mirror project turn out pretty? I think it’s sort of like a feminine version of a Captain’s mirror.

The floral wooden appliques were purchased at Michaels and adhered with a little wood glue before painting.

We hung the mirror low enough to be useful while sitting and high enough so that you can see yourself while standing.

The photoless frames (whoops! ran out of time!) are from Home Goods, as are the blue lacquer boxes. The curvy gray box on the end used to be a hideous gold (from Marshalls clearance aisle), and I think it looks great now, painted in Hopsack. The tray is from IKEA and the other accessories are vintage.

Phew! That was a lot of photos! :) Last ones:

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my parent’s overhauled master bedroom. True that it was a lot of work to accomplish in a week’s time, but we had so much fun doing it together.

Leave A Comment

Accessories

How to Decorate a Bedroom in a Week: The Projects

{I know you guys are going to hate me, but there are no after pictures in this post. Sorry! There are just too many projects and pictures here. Next post. Promise.} While Ali and I were shopping for fabric and accessories, my mom tiled the floor with this beautiful black marble. There are lots of…

{I know you guys are going to hate me, but there are no after pictures in this post. Sorry! There are just too many projects and pictures here. Next post. Promise.}

While Ali and I were shopping for fabric and accessories, my mom tiled the floor with this beautiful black marble. There are lots of great tutorials online for how to tile your own floor. My mom is awesome and fast. This was the last bathroom in their house to redo, so my parents had already invested in a tile cutter and the other necessities, but it is easy to rent a tile cutter from Home Depot or Lowes. We used black grout and 1/8″ spacers.

By the time we got back from shopping, the grout had dried and it was time to get going on the other projects of the room.

First up: the walls.

To save time, I always roll first and get as close to the edge as I can with the roller. Then I cut in with a two-inch angled brush after the rolled portion is dry. Repeat as needed. I rarely use painters tape. Just a steady hand and a wet rag to clean up and mistakes.

The walls in the bedroom were painted RL’s Montauk Driftwood and the bathroom walls were painted Hopsack. We softened the color of the Hopsack by about half with the addition of white paint. The result is a pretty oatmeal color that was better suited for the bathroom space and looked better next to the new pale blue wall color.

While the walls were drying, we painted the furniture.

When I don’t use spray paint, I almost always roll on the paint with a foam mini-roller, let that first coat dry and then come back with a brush for all the grooves.

We used Ralph Lauren’s Smoked Glass on the bed and Hopsack (no white added here) on the night stands. The curtain rods were spray painted Heirloom White.

The antique-glazed white console table was painted Martha’s “Yellow Magnolia”.

I just used a $3 sample pot of paint for this project.

The hope chest got some decorative molding and two coats of a slate blue color we mixed with paints we had lying around to save cash.

The top of the hope chest was reupholstered with the floral fabric.

These little decorative tins were spray painted Heirloom white. We got them on major clearance from Home Goods.

Moving on to some of the more involved projects…

Ali picked up this book in the clearance section of her local library for just a few dollars. We had 400 beautiful botanical plates of gorgeous wildflowers to choose from for framing.

These frames from Michaels are so great and I’ve been using them in lots of projects lately. They come in two-packs for $7.

You can use them without mats, but I decided to use these mats, also from Michael’s, for about $2.50 each.

We measured and mapped out the gallery wall.

And you’ll just have to wait to see the afters! ;) but here’s a sneak:

Remember the giant round mirror from Home Goods? I sanded off the scratches and rough spots.

Then I brainstormed ways to evenly space out these little wooden floral appliques. At first I was just going to find the center point and then draw some straight lines on the mirror with a dry erase marker for registration marks.

Then my dad reminded me about geometry! (who says you never use math in real life?!) It was surprisingly easy to figure out how far to space out the appliques once we determined the circumference of the frame.

I glued each piece down, let the wood glue dry and then put on the first coat of paint (Martha’s “River Mist”). I wasn’t too worried about the paint getting on the mirror because paint cleans off mirrors so easily with a little windex. Any tougher spots clean up very fast with the help of a razor blade, so no tricky painters tape needed.

My mom was a busy little seamstress while we painted. She turned the 18 yards of Barbara Barry Poetical linen into six beautiful panels. We wanted the panels black-out lined, but that lining can be expensive with so many yards needed, so we used $10 canvas drop cloths from Home Depot for the lining.

Also to save on cost, we decided to forgo curtain rings. Mom sewed in a panel with evenly spaced slits for the curtain rod to weave in and out of.

The result is actually really similar to the drape of a pinch pleat (as you’ll see tomorrow in the ‘after’ photos), but does not require rings and hooks and also takes a lot less time to sew than pleats do.

My favorite project from the room redo was inspired by the mirror-on-mirror image I posted about a few weeks ago. Tricia Huntley, who was the interior designer behind the layered mirror image, emailed me after my post and shared her strategy for hanging her mirror on a mirror. Basically, she used a lot of planning, foresight and a contractor. We really didn’t have any of these things, so we just made do.

So I decided to look for a very lightweight mirror. I knew this mirror from IKEA would be perfect. It was light and is sort of reminiscent of a Venetian mirror, but more modern.

Here’s where my secret weapon came to the rescue. Have I ever shared here how much I love 3M Picture Hanging Strips? They are amazing. No holes required and each strip holds up to 10 pounds.

We used six strips on each mirror just to ensure a strong hold.

Measure twice, stick once!

The result is amazing. You’ll love the photos tomorrow!

Once all the major projects we done, we brought all the accessories in and started unpacking. It looked like Christmas morning aftermath. Such a mess!

See you back here tomorrow morning for the after photos!

Leave A Comment

Tips of the Trade

How to Decorate a Bedroom in a Week: Steps 1-4

Last week I posted this picture of Barbara Barry’s Poetical fabric and a few paint swatches that were the inspiration for my parents new bedroom. I posted that picture prematurely because we ended up going in a little bit different direction with colors after going shopping for complimentary fabrics. So pretend that I never posted…

Last week I posted this picture of Barbara Barry’s Poetical fabric and a few paint swatches that were the inspiration for my parents new bedroom.

I posted that picture prematurely because we ended up going in a little bit different direction with colors after going shopping for complimentary fabrics. So pretend that I never posted that first image and I’ll start over with my process. :)

Step #1: Assess the Room.
Take a critical eye to the space and figure out what’s working and what’s not. If you’re having a hard time putting your finger on what’s wrong, ask a stylish friend to come over and give his/her opinion. Sometimes it just takes a fresh set of eyes.

My parent’s room hadn’t been redone in years and it was time for something more current. It was funny how as soon as we laid out some of the new fabrics, my mom started tearing the room apart. “All this red has to go NOW!”

The bed needed to be centered on the wall. The TV cords needed to be inside the wall. All the furniture needed new paint finishes.

The bathroom was in for a complete overhaul, including new flooring and a new paint finish on the cabinets.

Every single wall needed fresh paint. More lighting, art arrangements better suited to the scale of the room, and all new bedding.

And we had less than one week to accomplish all of it. So I left Grace and Claire with my mom for some fun Grammy time. Then my sister, Ali, and I took our two babies shopping.

Step #2: Fabric Shopping.
I always, always start decorating a room with fabric. Nothing inspires me like textiles. And while I love to buy fabrics online, there is nothing like shopping for fabrics in person to get a true sense of the color and feel. I get nervous about buying expensive fabrics or lots of yardage online without seeing the fabric in person first.

My gorgeous sister, Ali, who makes the best design assistant in the world. Miss you, sister!

I brought a swatch of the Poetical fabric to Home Fabrics last week and my sister and I did some scouting for secondary fabrics. Originally we were looking for something with that aubergine color. But then I spied a whole roll of Suzanne Rheinstein for Lee Jofa ‘Hollyhock’ for $6.99/yd, which was great with the Poetical. And just like that the color scheme changed. We ditched the purple and took on yellow.

{Which is a mini step just to keep in mind: Be flexible. Don’t get so attached to an idea or color that you make poor decisions or miss out on better options.}

After grabbing the Hollyhock, it was easy to select other patterns from all the great options at Home Fabrics. We got a few yards of a Robert Allen yellow ticking stripe, a gray, blue and yellow floral, a subtle leopard print and a lovely pale aqua damask. All of these were less than $7.99/yard.

These secondary fabrics would be used for pillows, a new shower curtains and small upholstery projects.

Step#3: Commit to Paint Colors.

Make sure you always buy your paints after you have your fabrics. It is so much easier to match a paint color to a fabric than the other way around.

We kept some of our original paint ideas. Ralph Lauren’s Mauntauk Driftwood, Smoked Glass and Hopsack were purchased. But the other colors were traded out for two colors in Martha’s new line at Home Depot: Yellow Magnolia and River Mist.

Step #4: Shop for Accessories.

Here’s the really fun part. Bring your fabric and paint swatches with you. Don’t forget to take some measurements of your space before hand and bring along a tape measure. And make a list! Don’t buy something just because it matches your color scheme. Make sure you know where something will go in the room before you purchase it. Though if you’re at a store with an easy return policy, its probably just worth it to buy anything that might work and then just return the no-go’s later.

We scored majorly at Home Goods. I had my fingers crossed that they would have a pair of yellow lamps. And it was a good day:

I know these lamps are a much brighter yellow than the mellow marigolds in the fabrics we selected, but I think it’s so important to layer shades and tones of colors in the room’s palette. That’s how you get depth in a room.

I needed a large and interesting mirror for the vanity area. At first I liked this huge, thick wooden mirror from the clearance section, but I worried that it was too heavy, even if we painted it out in a lighter color. We needed something with more mirror surface and less frame.

This 36″ circular beauty was $40 on clearance and I knew we could come up with something fun to spice it up a little (and to cover the scratched up surface).

Other accessories were piled in (three carts worth!!) at Home Goods and then we hit up a vintage furniture store that was going out of business. There we bought an old vanity stool for $12 and a bunch of accessories (and some other goodies for clients back home – thank goodness for the extra suitcase!). We also went to some used book stores looking for art books and to Target and IKEA.

Once we had all the major items on our list, it was time to sit down and brainstorm a second list that included all the components we would need for the projects of the room. Most of the items from this list were at Michaels, Joanns and Home Depot.

The car was JAM PACKED and it was time to get started on the actual projects for the room.

I took this photo while I was loading up at Home Goods. Two mature ladies in gold sweat suits walked by and said “Oh my goodness! Are you a decorator? Or just a serious shopper?” I said “yes.”

Come back tomorrow for all the DIY goodness.

Leave A Comment

Musings

Back, but not all here

Hi everyone! I’m experiencing some serious burn out this week. We had a wonderful two-week “vacation” to Arizona, and while it was wonderful to visit with family, there was not much relaxing happening. And flying alone cross-country with three little ones was not such a treat, though that went better than expected. We got home…

To add to all that, I’m seriously feeling the weight of a neglected business and blog right now. I’m so sorry to friends and clients/potential clients that I owe emails to. And SO sorry that I have not posted all week! Bad Jenny.

On a better note, we finished my parent’s bedroom on Saturday and it is really beautiful. I have all sorts of great before and afters for you that I promise to post tomorrow (hopefully) and on Saturday to make up for the radio silence this week.

I’m going to try to sleep off this flu and then hit the keyboard like it’s nobody’s business. Talk soon.

love,
jenny

PS just because I hate to do a post without any design inspiration, I’ll share these awesome little pendants from IKEA that I spied this week (wish I could find the link). They have about a 5 inch diameter.

They are battery operated and hang from your ceiling on a string (AKA no hard wiring required). Love the modern shade style and the black, white or red color options. And you can’t beat the price: $20. A great option for us renters with boring kitchens. What about hanging a series of these over a kitchen bar with some 1/2″ wide gold chain from Home Depot? cool.

Leave A Comment

Musings

My Decorating Process – Fabric and Color Inspiration

One of the projects I’ve been working on here in Arizona is my parents’ bedroom. A few of you have asked me about my design process, and since this project will be in major fast forward (less than a week, start to finish), I thought it would be fun to document and report on the…

When I’m decorating a room from scratch, I always like to start with fabric. I am so inspired by pattern and color. Put a piece of pretty fabric in front of me and I can dream you up a room in about 30 seconds flat!

So when a couple weeks ago my mom asked me to start brainstorming ideas for her bedroom, I knew I needed to look for some fabric inspiration. Right bef0re we left Delaware, I stumbled across about 18 yards of remnants of this gorgeous Barbara Barry for Kravet linen, “Poetical’, and that was the starting off point for the room.

It’s gorgeous – a little bit modern, but still with a floral and feminine feel. The gray and creamy white colors are perfectly neutral and were a great jumping off point. I emailed my mom a photo of the fabric when I found the remnants and she gave me two big thumbs up.

I brought all the fabric with me to Arizona. When I got to my parents’ house, mom and I sat down with my new collection of Ralph Lauren paint chips, and we brainstormed color palettes.

We decided on a very pale blue/green/gray for the walls, called ‘Mountauk Driftwood’. My parents four poster bed would be painted a dark and moody slate, called ‘Smoked Glass’. The en suite bathroom walls would be a dusty gray called ‘Hopsack’, cut 50%. Other accent colors would be a gray green called ‘Kauai’ and a deep aubergine called ‘Persian Violet’. These colors would be used on bathroom cabinets and other accent pieces.

Next step: Painting!

Leave A Comment

Inspiration

Give Away Winner: Monogrammed Hand Towels

Thanks to all those who entered the monogrammed hand towel give away! The chosen at random winner is Shannon! Shannon, please email me with your address. And, Annmarie, if you’re reading this, please email me your address as well. I would love to send you your book! Thanks! And for those of you who didn’t…

Thanks to all those who entered the monogrammed hand towel give away! The chosen at random winner is Shannon!

Shannon, please email me with your address. And, Annmarie, if you’re reading this, please email me your address as well. I would love to send you your book! Thanks!

And for those of you who didn’t win this time, don’t forget to check out the beautiful monogrammed products at A Slice of Life! Thank you for supporting the LGN sponsors!

Leave A Comment

Blue

Sofa Upholstery

I’m a big fan of buying the best quality sofa you can afford in a neutral color. Pillows can be the pop of color and pattern and can also be easily changed. Both my mom and I are in the market for fabrics to reupholster our sofas and, while I think the neutral sofa idea…

I’m a big fan of buying the best quality sofa you can afford in a neutral color. Pillows can be the pop of color and pattern and can also be easily changed.

Both my mom and I are in the market for fabrics to reupholster our sofas and, while I think the neutral sofa idea is pretty sound advice, I am finding myself sort of drawn to colorful or large-scale prints. I’ll probably still go with a kid-friendly linen-look fabric in a solid color (chocolate, navy or gray most likely), but I like looking at these pictures and dreaming of being a little more adventurous in the meantime.

elle decor

Cottage Living

Martha Stewart Living

Kristen Buckingham

Timothy Wealon

via coco kelley

domino

Annie Schlecter

Mary McDonald

domino

domino (Amanda Peet)

Leave A Comment

Bedrooms

Good Bones, Great Pieces

I am really loving the blog Good Bones, Great Pieces, which is authored by a mother and daughter design team. (hello, dream!) Together they decorated this beautiful little apartment in Brooklyn Heights, which was recently featured in Traditional Home. You can read the article here. It’s a good one, full of great tips. I am…

I am really loving the blog Good Bones, Great Pieces, which is authored by a mother and daughter design team. (hello, dream!)

Together they decorated this beautiful little apartment in Brooklyn Heights, which was recently featured in Traditional Home. You can read the article here. It’s a good one, full of great tips.

I am so, so in love with this little settee from Mitchell Gold. I can never get enough of ticking stripes. That mirror is to die for. And the pop of yellow from the lamp is just perfection.

I think what I love the most about this apartment is that it doesn’t look overly decorated. There is a sense of purpose and history with each piece and nothing is too matchy.

That gorgeous cream chair with the brown velvet piping above and below was a $25 Craigslist find.

White is such a good choice when painting furniture for small spaces.

I love the black matting in the framed art series above the bed.

And what a beautful vanity! I think it was clever to give the side table double duty as a vanity.

If you’re not already reading the Good Bones, Great Pieces blog, you’re really missing out.

Leave A Comment

Product Picks

Ralph Lauren Paints

Did you hear that Martha Stewart paints will be sold at Home Depot beginning April 1? I’m really excited to see her new line (assuming it will be different from the Valspar/Lowes line).

I am bummed though that the Ralph Lauren paint line will be discontinued to make way for the Martha paints. I guess that Home Depot will keep all the RL formulas in their computers and they will also keep a fan deck of the old line behind their paint counter for color matching.

This morning I was at Home Depot picking up some supplies for a project at my mom’s house, and I had a few minutes to spare so I stood in front of the Ralph Lauren paint chip display and took one of each chip. I would have felt silly, but I’ve done this before (with the Martha line for Valspar) and knew it wasn’t that big of a deal. I have those MS chips hole-punched and stored on rings, but I think I want to figure out a better, more protective solution for my Ralph Lauren chips. I’m just so glad that I didn’t miss that chance to get the paint chips before they are gone. Now when I want a RL color, I can just bring in my chip and Home Depot will color match for me in a Behr brand paint.

And speaking of the actual paints, the RL bases are all 50% off right now, so be sure to take advantage of the sale if you need any paints this month.

Now I’m off to work on some projects, but here are a few photos of rooms or projects featuring Ralph Lauren paints to inspire you:

Erika’s daughter’s crib, painted in ‘Golden Candlesticks’

Thom Felicia used “Palais Royal” in this showhouse bedroom featured in House Beautiful.

In another showhouse bedroom featured in Southern Accents, RL’s “Bitter Orange” covers all the ceilings and walls.

Thom Felicia painted these great chairs RL’s Mango Gold for the showhouse featured in House Beautiful.

Eddie Ross used Ralph Lauren’s “Brompton” for this pair of vintage chairs.

Domino featured this beautiful dining room painted in RL’s “Purple Embassy.” I love how rich this unexpected color is here.

I love “Galvenized”, a really rich chocolate brown, and used it as a base for the silver leaf night stands,

and for the legs of my coffee-table-turned-ottoman.

We used “Abassador Sterling” from the Regent Metallics line on the backs of the shelves on my mom’s dining hutch. And recently she painted her ceiling another great color from the same line.

Leave A Comment

Why Don't You

Family Command Center

Hi friends, Happy Monday! I hope you had as much fun as I did this weekend. I’m home with my family in Arizona. We had a mini family reunion here and it was so wonderful to see almost all my siblings and their families (though we missed you, Heather!). As a side note, I’m shockingly…

Hi friends,

Happy Monday! I hope you had as much fun as I did this weekend. I’m home with my family in Arizona. We had a mini family reunion here and it was so wonderful to see almost all my siblings and their families (though we missed you, Heather!).

As a side note, I’m shockingly behind on emails. I won’t be back in Delaware until March 3, and won’t really be working at full speed until then. If you need an answer faster than that, please email me a second time. Thanks!

One of the fun parts about coming to see family is they always let me experiment with their home decorating projects. I usually get to do four or five projects or rooms each trip.

My sister moved to a new house this year and I think we’re going to try this project from Southern Living in her kitchen. She has an end cabinet that looks just like this one in the picture.

Right now it’s painted with chalkboard paint, which we’ll keep, but I think some of these suggested additions will do just the trick, like a piece of cork, a magnet board and some trim to finish off the look.

Thanks to a tip from an LGN reader, we will order some over-sized nail heads from this site.

And for the ribbon border we’ll be making a stop to one of my favorite little shops in Mesa – Ribbons and Lace.

We’re planning to pick up a roll of cork at Michaels and we’ll get some metal sheeting cut at Home Depot for the magnet board.

images via Southern Living

Leave A Comment

Bathroom

Layered Mirrors

I love to use vintage or antique mirrors in decorating, but if there is a time or space constraint, I always point my clients in the direction of Ballard Designs. I’ve been eyeing this mirror (on sale for $150). I would get a pair and recreate a version of this bathroom featured in House Beautiful….

I love to use vintage or antique mirrors in decorating, but if there is a time or space constraint, I always point my clients in the direction of Ballard Designs.

I’ve been eyeing this mirror (on sale for $150).

I would get a pair and recreate a version of this bathroom featured in House Beautiful.

But, since the small size of this mirror is not very practical, I would probably opt for a layered look, like how this Venitian mirror was hung.

design by Tricia Huntley Zend, image via My Notting Hill

Leave A Comment

Product Picks

GIVE AWAY Monogrammed Hand Towels!!

Dying to add a little monogrammed something to your life? LGN sponsor, A Slice of Life, is kindly offering up a pair of monogrammed linen hand towels for one of you lucky readers! Check out all the thread color options: Make your own bathroom look like this gorgeous one featured in Lonny: To enter, simply…

Dying to add a little monogrammed something to your life?

LGN sponsor, A Slice of Life, is kindly offering up a pair of monogrammed linen hand towels for one of you lucky readers!

Check out all the thread color options:

Make your own bathroom look like this gorgeous one featured in Lonny: