Frou FruGal

Bedroom Makeover–Bedding, Bench and a Headboard

2012-02-24T10:54:00.001-05:00

I’m back with an update on the bedroom makeover. In my last post, I told you some progress already had been made on the makeover.

When last we saw the ‘ol boudoir, it looked like this:

Things really started moving this project along when Hubs was not feeling good a few weeks ago. The annual Winter Plague hit my house and we were all feeling pretty miserable. Hubs just wanted to rest and feel better. Apparently, living in a room that looked like a muted rainbow had barfed all over it wasn’t cuttin’ it for my love.

In a burst of energy he decided to do something about it. He got up, got dressed and said, “I’m going out for a while.” I had no idea what he was up to.

Hubs took a swing out to the Walmare Boutique (read: Walmart with a French accent). It’s just up the road from our house. He came home with new bedding.

Before I show you the bedding, though, I want to show you the bench. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote my original post because we’ve had the bench for several months now. It’s been living at the end of our bed since the day we got it. I’m not sure why I thought to show it as a “Ta-Da, here’s what I just found!” because I didn’t. Just find it, that is.

Chalk that one up to lingering dementia from the Plague. Sorry, that’s the best I can come up with. Anyhoo, here’s how things have really looked.

See? One more layer from that muted rainbow. Originally, I was thinking of recovering this in fur. Long, shaggy white fur. I’m not sure if I will. Now, though, I think I want more color at the end of the bed.

As it turns out, I really must have been suffering from PPD (Post-Plague Disorder) when I took the before pictures. They made sense to me at the time (ie, the non-bench that really was) but, I took pictures of the headboard next. So hold onto your I-want-to-see-the-new-bedding-now pants, because I’ve got another detour for you.

I gave you a sneak peek of the headboard when I showed you the view from my window.

I spied the headboard on Craigslist for $40, but it was down near Columbus, which is an hour drive for me. Again, we were in the middle of Plague season, but I wanted to get out of my house and I convinced Hubs to take a swing out with me.

When we saw the headboard, I loved it, but I was concerned that it was too short and not as wide as our bed. The seller was anxious to get rid of it and felt bad we drove so far to see it. He told us he’d sell it for $20 and that was good enough for me. It was once part of an antique bedframe, so there is no way to attach it to a modern bedframe. We will have to attach it to the wall. It’s too short to rest on the floor because our bed is so tall.

Here it is resting on top of the baseboard heater. Look at those curves! Owwww Owwww!

Can you see all the fun chips and dings in the paint? The only setback to me was the finials.

They were ugly gold and the one on the left is all dented. I tried sprucing them up with some Rub ’n Buff, but as you can see, still kind of ugly and beat up.

Fast forward to a week ago and I was in this really cute antique store in Lexington, Ohio called Shoppe 27 and I saw a glass doorknob. I’m forever drawn to shiny objects, so naturally, I picked it up. They wanted $28 for it. Too rich for my blood. Stupid blood.

When I got home, I looked at the headboard and the image of those glass knobs in place of the finials would not leave my head. I took another swing out yesterday and happily forked over the money, convincing myself that if I had ended up paying the full price for the headboard, I would only be paying another $8 for the knobs.

Ahhh…..nothing like sweet justification to lift you over the pile of guilt in your road.

It looks like thee were made for each other, doesn’t it? I was all prepared to rig it up so they would fit because I assumed the knobs would be too big for the threaded post that held the finials. In a happy coincidence, it turns out these two lovebirds were meant to be together because it was a perfect fit! I just needed to cut down the post a bit and we were good to go.

Okay, so back to the bedding. Here’s what Hubs came home with.

It’s a matelassé coverlet from the Better Homes & Garden collection. I have loved this type of quilt for years. In fact, I made a cradle version for Buddy 16 years ago, that’s how long I’ve loved it.

If you’re not familiar with the matelassé term, it simply means quilted and usually refers to quilts where the design comes from the intricate quilted pattern on a solid color of fabric. Ours has a double wedding ring quilt pattern. Kind of perfect for an anniversary gift, no?

I have to confess I’m not a pillow girl. I don’t really know how to do them. I don’t want to prop them up because they’ll hide my headboard. I’m clearly pillow challenged.

I may boost the headboard a little higher so it doesn’t get lost in a sea of pillows. I won’t actually attach the headboard until after we install the tongue and groove wood treatment behind the headboard. Right now the headboard is up on blocks. ‘Cuz I’m completely classy like that.

With the addition of the bedding, the yellow dust ruffle/bed skirt had to go. I was at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago and found a beige chiffon window scarf. A ridiculously long window scarf. Eleven-and-a-half yards long window scarf for $5.99. I wasn’t sure if it would match the bedding, but it was close enough that I bought it.

I also used an old king sized flat sheet I had from back when we had a king bed. I cut the sheet to the size of the bed and hemmed the cut edges.

Next, I cut the window scarf in half along the length. Since this fabric was so long and slippery, I made a cutting guide by using the center line from my table and then running a piece of tape parallel to the center line, 18 inches away which is how deep I wanted the skirt to be. I could feel my scissors against the tape, which made for a nice straight cut.

You can see I still have a hemmed edge on the scarf. This saved me a lot of work by using that hem for the bottom of the skirt.

I sewed a narrow hem along the cut edge. It takes a little practice to use the narrow hem foot, but once you get the hang of it, you can make a beautiful narrow hem. I watched some YouTube videos to learn how to use mine.

After I had the narrow hem in, I then sewed the two lengths together along the short end to make one really long strip of fabric. Next up was gathering. You can make your sewing machine do most of the gathering for you by setting your stitch length to the highest setting and adjusting your tension to the highest setting. See how it gathers as you sew?

When you are working with a lot of fabric like I was, do yourself a favor and don’t try to gather it in one long strand. The weight of the fabric will break the thread.

Instead, every yard or so, stop sewing, lift the pressure foot and pull the fabric away, drawing out a length of thread. Then put it back and start sewing again. This will give you several gathering points, making it easier to adjust your gathers.

Finally, sew the gathered scarf it along the edge of the sheet. I sewed it so the gathered edge would show along the outside, but you don’t really see it, so I probably should have done it so that edge was under the skirt.

Not bad for $6 bucks and an hour or two of my time. It is looking very crumpled, though, and I probably should have taken time to iron it before I showed if off. Someday. Maybe.

Do you see how deep that mattress is? With the memory foam topper on the bed, it measures a whopping 13” deep. Even the sheets meant for deep mattresses don’t fit very well on our bed.

It’s not a perfect match to the coverlet.

The bed skirt is more pinky-brown while the coverlet is more green-brown. However, the coverlet is only phase one of the new bedding plan and I don’t really notice the different tones.

I am making an all white comforter, which will look pretty with the new bed skirt. The coverlet is very thin and it is still very cold. You can’t see it, but the striped comforter is actually under the coverlet. So a pretty new comforter is a definite must for our room.

Because we are sticking with a neutral pallet, I am trying to mix up the textures to add visual interest. I really like the sheer look of the bed skirt with the detailed design of the coverlet.

Oh, and in case you didn’t notice, we’ve rearranged the room. I’m working on the comforter and hope to have it finished next week. Then I have some lighting to do and I bought a really cool chair when I bought the doorknob. It was $8. I was morally obligated to bring it home with me.

I already have all the supplies to redo this chair, so I’m hoping next week is a productive week.

Cost Breakdown:

Bedding – $75
Headboard – $20
Doorknob – $28
Dust Ruffle – $6
Chair – $8

Total Project Cost to Date: $137

Since everyone loves a good before and ~~after~~ progress shot, here you go.

There you have it. This week’s progress on the boudoir makeover. Stay tuned and I’ll be back to show you our new lighting.

Suesan

Bedroom Makeover…Master Plan and a Winner

2012-02-20T18:25:00.001-05:00

When we moved into our house last August, we were in the middle of chaos. I won’t bore you with all the details. Suffice it to say, our bedroom was waaaaaaa-hheeeeyyy down on the ol’ priority list. It was, in fact, a hot, hot mess.

As life settled down, I focused on other projects, always content to let our bedroom wait. I wanted to paint the kitchen and relocate the laundry room and set up my office and paint furniture and…well, Hubs did not have the same priority list I did.

He was really wanting our bedroom to move to the top of the list. By the time he was really expressing his desire for a room redo, we were well into the cold weather. I kept thinking I needed to wait until late Spring to tackle our bedroom. That way it’d be warmer to paint and do all the things I wanted to do.

As a newspaper editor, Hubs is used to 60+ hour work week, not to mention late-night or early morning calls when breaking news happens. He has a stressful job and he really wants/needs a place of rest.

With our 24th anniversary this month, I decided that giving Hubs a peaceful room was the perfect gift.

Here’s what we are starting from. Remember, it’s one hot mess.

Yes, the walls are pink. They actually look better in the photos and if they looked this way in real life, I’d be tempted to keep the color. For some reason, though, in real life the pink seems to suck all the color and light from the room.

This room is basically a montage to my ever-changing mind. The dresser was painted when I thought I would be using those colors. I’d picked the color from a Restoration Hardware duvet I bought from Goodwill. After the duvet ripped, I scrapped that plan.

That round table with the maroon skirt? So four houses ago. It’s one of those rickety tables that I bought as a “temporary” fix, but never got around to changing. Hubs HATES it, and every time we’ve moved he’s wanted to pitch it. Since it’s on my side of the bed and I’ve never bothered to find a more permanent solution, there it sits.

The yellow curtains and bed skirt were another color scheme that never fully developed. I threw the curtains up for privacy, but they are obviously too short and they are too tight on that curtain rod, making them a little difficult to open and close.

The bedding was left over from when Hubs’ lived away from home for nine months, due to a job layoff and a daughter in her senior year of high school. He came home every other weekend and that was the comforter he bought for his new “home.” We have since purchased a new bed with a deep mattress, and it no longer fits on our bed.

Yeah. It’s been 2 years with the new bed. Priorities? What priorities Apparently, our room has never made the priority list, let alone seen the top of said list.

We have a 3/4 bath off our bedroom as well. It’s the door on the left.

The serpentine dresser is from Hubs’ grandmother’s home. I have loved this dresser from the moment I saw it and will never paint it. I love the tiger wood finish, however, the top needs some love and I plan to touch it up and make it all purdy again real soon. You can see some of the marks in the picture below.

If you’re standing in the bathroom door, looking back at the room, you see the great wall of doors. Unfinished, no less. We’ll be trimming those out soon.

Here’s the layout of our room.

The door in the bottom, center is the entrance to our room. The two sets of double-doors are to a closet that extends across that wall. The small door on the far right is to our bathroom. The “french” doors head out onto a balcony. Only the door on the right opens.

I used Autodesk Homestyler to create the layout. It doesn’t show that under the lone, off-center window and across most of that wall is a baseboard heater. We also have heater in the floor in front of the French doors.

Using some standard furniture, I’ve tried to show how our bedroom is set up.

You can see in this view how off-center the window is.

Here is my plan for our room, some of which, is actually already done and waiting for another post.

I’ve created a Pinterest board with a collection of my ideas for this room. I’ve commented on each pin as to how I plan to use these ideas.

The colors are going to be based off of this fabric.

Source: joann.com via FrouFruGal on Pinterest

It’s sort of a modern-vintage-industrial style. We will rearrange our bedroom to follow this layout.

We’re doing a wood treatment to the wall behind the bed like this one.

Source: creativelittledaisy.typepad.com via FrouFruGal on Pinterest

We will have some industrial lights, like these:

Source: thatsmyletter.blogspot.com via FrouFruGal on Pinterest

Some froufy fabrics like these:

Source: potterybarn.com via FrouFruGal on Pinterest

I’ll be repainting the embossed dresser in a spring green color and the walls with be a ivory. I have drapes planned, but more for looks because we certainly don’t need them for privacy. Want proof?

Here’s the view from the window:

Look at that, I just gave you sneeky peaky at the new headboard.

Here’s the view from the balcony.

That line in the snow just above the watermark is the driveway.

The line across the center of the picture is the actual road. In the summer, you can’t see the road through all the leaves. In the winter, it’s too far away and since we’re up on a hill. If you could see in, you’d probably only catch the top of our heads. Maybe.

I’m not saying you couldn’t see in if you tried hard enough. Like, maybe, if you cranked your head backwards before you went around the curve in the driveway and looked up you might be able to catch a glimpse, if your timing was right. But if you did that, you’d probably miss the curve and drive off the cliff edge of our driveway. It’d serve you right, Perv.

We’ve gotten used to waking up with the sun and we’ve reached the age where sleeping in is pretty darn near impossible, sun or no sun. So, yes, curtains will be involved, but they will be light and airy and for decoration only.

Source: laurieannas.com via FrouFruGal on Pinterest

And they will be hanging from plumbing pipes.

Source: acultivatednest.com via FrouFruGal on Pinterest

That’s the plan. Like I said, I’ve already made some progress and look forward to sharing it with you.

I’m focusing on the linens and curtains first since I don’t need warmer weather to do those. I’m putting off the painting stuff until we have some warmer weather when I can actually open the windows to air things out.

Do any of you have a room redo in your future? What are you doing? Does anyone else put off painting in the winter, or am I just a baby?

Suesan

Edited:

I forgot to mention the winner of the Story@home 2012 Conference pass give away. Dana from The White Silk Purse, you are the lucky gal! I’ll be sending you an email with the information soon!

Story@Home 2012 Ticket Giveaway

2012-02-15T19:22:00.001-05:00

My sister, Valerie, called me today to find out my schedule for being in Utah next month. I’m heading out there to take my sister-in-law, Katie, back to stay with her other brother for a few months. It’s my break from being a full-time caregiver. I’m very ready for it.

Valerie just so happens to be an up-and-coming Genealogy Rock Star who writes the blog, Family Cherished.

Valerie is the second from the right in this maternal line array. Her daughter is on the end. I keep meaning to do this photo array with me and Rye in it. I sure do come from some pretty stock!

Valerie happens to be handling the PR for the Story@Home 2012 conference being held in Salt Lake City on March 9-10, 2012. She had an extra pass for the conference and thought I might be interested in it. I would love to attend this conference, but my plane comes in a day late. Story of my life, actually.

At any rate, Valerie agreed to let me give away the conference pass to one of my readers! Sweet, huh?

Have you heard of this conference? Story@Home 2012 is “workshops and performances by award-winning storytellers, performers and speakers, will help you explore ways to use the power of story in your home. You’ll be able to record your own story, start on some research to learn more about your family’s history, get started on a blog and learn how to tell your story through social media.”

Some of the folks that will be presenting are: Rachael Herrscher, co-founder of evo Conference and founder of the TodaysMama.com; Tauni Everett, founder of SNAP! Conference and author of It’s a Tradition; Rustin Banks of BlogFrog fame and C. Jane Kendricks of C.Jane Enjoy It!. So many great presenters, and I didn’t even mention all the professional story-tellers that will be there.

The conference actually has three different tracks: blogging, storytelling and family history. There’s something for everyone! It’s a $79 value for one of my readers. The conference pass does not include your meal, but word on the street is that the gift bags have discount tickets for meals in them.

If you want a chance to win, it’s pretty simple:

Like Story@Home on Facebook and be one of my followers. Leave me 1 comment telling me you are both and it’ll count as your entry.

That’s it. You’re chances of winning are pretty good since I’m such a small potatoes blog. If you don’t live in Utah but know someone who might enjoy the conference, let them know about this giveaway.

It’s going to be a great conference!

Suesan

25 Things

2012-02-10T18:09:00.001-05:00

1. My roots are showing, and not in a pretty way. I started going gray at 27. It’s 20 years later and I’ve now got a solid white streak going on. I’m seriously tempted to stop coloring my hair.

2. I have a very young face. I got carded at R-rated movies until I was 25. People still think I’m about 10 year younger than I am.

3. I hate to shop. Seriously. The pressure to make a decision. Trying to find what’s in my head within the walls of a store. Dealing with other shoppers and annoying sales people. Ugh. I really dislike it. Unless I’m with a friend. Then I’m fine. At least for a little while.

4. I’ve always wanted to have another daughter. I really wanted Baby Girl to have a sister but not so badly that I was willing to actually have another child.

5. I do not have one single room in my house that I can call done. Not because they are not cute enough or because I’m a constant tweaker, but because they really are not done. I blame MTES.

6. I am a chronic sufferer of the MTE Syndrome. Not familiar with MTES? Money/Time/Energy Syndrome. You must have at least two of the symptoms at any given time to accomplish most things in life. I usually only have one, but which one it is constantly changes. It’s annoying.

7. I once fell in mud up to my hips. I was walking down a street in south Seattle with my best friend when I was in junior high school. It was raining and we were wet so we figured we would go ahead and walk through the sectioned off muddy area in the sidewalk instead of walking around it (and into rush-hour traffic). We sank up to our hips and my friend kept screaming, “We’re in quicksand! We fell in quicksand! I'm stuck! How do we get out?!” I couldn’t answer her because I was laughing too hard. I can’t imagine what all the drivers thought seeing the upper half of two teenage girls stuck in a sidewalk! It was not fun walking home, but I laughed the whole way.

8. I’m usually incapable of giving a short answer. If there’s a story or an explanation behind an answer, I feel compelled to share it.

9. I chatted up the bank teller the other day. I couldn’t stop myself. I kept blathering on, telling her some story and in my head I kept thinking, “Suesan. Shut. UP. Walk away. Walk away NOW.” But I stood there and finished yammering. I walked away, shamed, but happy that I had talked to someone.

10. I need to get out of my house more and talk to real people.

11. My husband bought me a diamond ring for my birthday and I have only told a few people. It’s a replacement engagement ring for the one our son lost 10 years ago when he was a toddler. He got a great deal off of Craigslist but the ring was too small and not my style. I’ve designed a new setting. It’s in the process of being made. It’s designed to wrap around my wedding band.

12. I feel equal parts guilt and elation that I am getting a new ring. Guilt, because it’s such a big expense. Elation because it is gorgeous and I have dreamed of having this exact ring for nearly 10 years.

13. Hubs and I celebrate our 24th anniversary this year.

14. We are going out to Amish country and we will be staying in a tree house for our anniversary. There’s a Jacuzzi tub for two and the water pours into the tub from a spigot in the ceiling.

15. I hate taking showers in the winter. My eczema flares up in the winter and the water hurts my skin. My hair, however, does not appreciate my lack of showers. I’ll be sure to pack the Aquaphor for my anniversary getaway.

16. I once went to work and realized half-way through the day that I’d forgotten to wear a bra. Hubs and I worked at the same office at the time. He thought I was being flirty.

17. I frequently forget to wear a bra to work now. What? It’s one of the perks of working from home. However, a couple cases of boob rash have improved my memory.

18. I am TV remote-challenged. Hubs and the boys rarely let me use it because I can’t figure out all the buttons.

19. I keep a stash of Dove Dark Chocolate squares in a canister in my kitchen. I call it my medicinal chocolate and it’s mine. All mine. I no longer suffer from the “Chocolate Time of the Month” so it lasts a long time.

20. I spent nearly all last year not being able to walk without pain. Everything finally stopped hurting in late December. I’m still trying to realize that I can move without pain.

21. When I’m tired, the grammar section of my brain shuts down first. I start talking gibberish.

22. I plan to secretly start practicing my dance moves on the Michael Jackson Dance Experience Kinect game so I can amaze my kids with my skillz. Kind of scared to do it because of #20. I’m really afraid of anything that may cause me more pain.

23. I am leaving in one month to go to Las Vegas for the first ever Sister Palooza. My Mom and 4 of my 5 sisters are planning on being there. We’re still hoping the 5th sister can join us. We haven’t all be together since 1999.

24. I hate talk radio. It makes me what to punch puppies or other cute things. Hubs LOVES talk radio. It’s his only flaw.

25. I love to sing but I’m not any good at it. Yeah, so far, that hasn’t stopped me.

Suesan

Linking up at Shauna’s party.

Jumping on the Linky Bandwagon Blog Hop

2012-02-08T10:19:00.001-05:00

I still debate how much I want to grow this blog. Right now, I’m doing all I can do and I don’t really have the time and/or energy to devote to more work on my blog. It’s just the stage I’m in. Caring for my disabled sister-in-law, being a wife and a mom to two teenagers, working part-time, and having two callings at church leave me little time to do the projects and blogging I want to do.

That said, I have plans and dreams for growing my blog when some of the things in my life loosen up a bit and allow me to spend more time blogging. I’m trying to set things up in my blog with all the right tools and structure to truly grow my blog.

Most of you know Google Friends Connect is going away. This mostly impacts WordPress blogs and not Blogger blogs, but rumor has it that GFC will go away soon for everyone. I am planning to move my blog to WordPress in the coming months, so I want to be prepared.

Enter McLinky Follower Tool.

It was developed to replace GFC and it has some great features, like a Blog Reader which will let you read all your blogs in one place. It will let you see the entire blog, including sidebars within the reader, something that not all readers do. I personally use Google Reader and I’m not ready to let that go, but if you haven’t found a reader you like, you might want to take a look at the blog reader at Linky.

To help get followers, I’ve joined:

Want to join in the fun?

RULES:

1. You MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate.

{You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS to participate in this party hop.}

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4. Then grab the BLOG HOP code

You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER–

just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE

Click on GET THE CODE HERE and enter it into a post on your site.

You can grab the party button code in the FOOTER at Its So Very Cheri

You can grab info from my post if it helps you with your post.

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)–leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

If you want to add the BLOG HOP to your own site you will get lots of new followers–(see rule #2)

Easy peasy.

Follow along and get ready to fall down a blog hole. You just may not be able to get up!

Suesan