Submitted by Two Berti’s

My Inspiration for this room, was Beachy meets Pottery barn…. I wanted lots of whites, creams & greys with a touch of blue. Here was a picture I had found that I used as my inspiration…

The first thing we had to do when re-doing our bedroom, was to re-arrange our bed. We upgraded to a king size bed, and since our room is very big & long, it turned out the room looked more proportionate with the bed as the focal point under the window as soon as you walk in. Instead of it being in that left hand corner facing the bathroom.

<Please excuse the pictures, they are a little blurry because they are from my phone>

Before…

After…

Before…

After…

Before…

After…

Bedding from Pottery Barn…

Armoire – $100 @ City Cottage (that I repainted) Bedding & Bed Skirt – Pottery Barn Drapes – Pottery Barn Lamps – Homesense Night Stand on the left – Homesense Night Stand on the right – Hand-me-down that was repainted Chandelier – Home Depot Frames – Ikea Mirror – Hand-me-down that was repainted Chair – Was my Mom’s… Items on Dresser – From a beach store while in Florida

THE PROCESS….

Griffy in the middle of the mess! lol

Adam putting up the Wainscotting… We chose the sheets of beadboard

Primed everything…

Now time for the trim…

We decided to paint the bathroom at the same time…

Submitted by Because I Think I Can

Abby is Gorgeous!

I picked up Abby off of Craigslist for an awesome deal.  When I first picked her up, my plan was to use her as a craft table for my kids.

Abby "Before"

This is Abby’s before picture.  The more I looked at Abby and tried to decide what to do with her, the more I noticed her beauty.  She is an antique table, and I saw similar tables, unfinished, at antique stores for $300.oo  I decided I wanted Abby to be beautiful… and not a craft table anymore.

Well, Abby didn’t make things easy for me.

I first sanded her like crazy.  She had a varnish on her that needed to be roughed up, and her top was in pretty rough shape.

After priming her legs, I painted them with a creamy white that I had used on Anna’s furniture in the past.

Then came my first experience with staining.

It was not a good experience.

The first coat took okay, but not as solid as I had hoped for.  The second coat completely bubbled, and was sticky and tacky.

So I had my first experience with stripping.  That’s not fun either.

I stripped and sanded again, and gave it another try.  Again, the first coat of stain was okay.  The second… began to bubble.  This probably sounds silly, but after being an esthetician for 8 years, I knew what was going on.  When nail polish does this, it means the first coat did not dry enough for the second to be applied, plus it was raining and cold out… I didn’t want to admit it, but I would have to wait…  I sanded down the second coat and waited for a sunny day.  It took weeks.  In the meantime I distressed and glazed her legs.  …Finally I could drag it outside and try again.  All the other times I had applied he stain with a paint brush, this time I used a rag.  I enjoyed this much more…  Here is how it turned out…

Abby "After"

Isn’t she gorgeous?!  She turned out very different than I had imagined, but I love her rustic outcome.  And because I love her so much, I am selling her.  She deserves so much better than the abuse she would receive from my kids.  The link on Craigslist will be at the bottom… but for now, enjoy her model shots!

I've told you before how much my husband and I like it when words become art--like these sentimental printables that Kasi shared this week.  I found a shop full of amazing letterpress prints this week, just in time for Valentine's Day.  (Hint, hint, Justin!)

Lori of Happy Deliveries discovered letterpress printing in 2007, and has been hooked ever since.

She creates simple, bold designs with antique wood and ink.

The posters and cards Lori makes are pulled through her letterpress one at a time, so each print has unique and authentic variations.

At Happy Deliveries, you'll find dozens of designs and meaningful statements in a variety of bright colors.

If you know someone who loves words and letters, then you'll definitely be able to find something at Happy Deliveries that will let them know just how much you love them this Valentine's Day.

Now it’s your turn to highlight what you’ve been making and selling. Remember, this link up is mainly for cottage industry shops–individuals and families working at home etc.

Rules to participate-

If this party helps to build your business,  I hope you will consider advertising on Remodelaholic, check out this link for prices and options.

Please try to continue to spread the word so that we can keep this party going. Write a post about it on your blogs with a link, and let your friends with shops know about it so they link up too. Whatever helps! Thanks!

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just a quick reminder

there is a $250 Ballard Designs giveaway

going on at Hometalk right now!

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Submitted By Laurie Anna Vintage Home

Hubby and I spent all last week in Atlanta buying for the Shoppe, so I slated the bedroom makeover from our Farmhouse on Main to post during our absence.

When we returned home, I was surprised by the near 100 comments and totally blown away by the Pinterest action our little farmhouse bedroom was getting!  My Pinterest following jumped significantly almost overnight.  Thank you so much for that, you overwhelm me!
If you've not checked out Pinterest yet, you can find me here.

My blog is very special and personal for me.  And, even though it is loosely attached to my business, it's so much more than that to me.

It's a way for us to share and connect with each other.  Your thoughtful words, and your willingness to share them through comments and emails, brings me so much joy.

I enjoy sharing our little farmhouse with you and have a large supply of projects lined up for future posts.  I'm currently working on the living room and am taking it in a different direction!

Last weeks bedroom reveal was much longer than I had anticipated so I saved the "before and after" photos for a later post.

So, here goes....

Aside from scads of wonderful comments, I also received loads of emails with specific questions about the room.

I've answered some of them below.

What paint colors did you use for this room?

Walls: "Steamed Milk", by Sherwin Williams

Trim: "Alabaster" by Sherwin Williams

Did you custom make the bedding?

No, the bedding is a mix of several different lines that I carry in my Shoppe. Since the color of all the bedding is whites, creams, and tans, mixing up the textures and shades instead of keeping it "matchy matchy" gave it more depth and the feel of being collected over time.

Is the ceiling painted a different color than the walls?

No, the ceiling color is the same color as the walls, but the walls are satin finish and the ceiling is flat.  The difference in the finish and the lighting makes it look like a different shade.

Where did you get the curtains and curtain rods?

I sell the Farmhouse curtains at my Shoppe, and the curtain rods came from Wal-mart.

Are the bed and desk antique, and are they for sale?

Yes, the bed is an antique and the desk is a repurposed piece made from an antique stable door and antique iron sink legs.

Neither are for sale.....at least not just yet.

Are the horse prints for sale and are they old?

The horse prints are reproductions, I found them a couple years ago and carried them in the Shoppe for a while.  They have since been discontinued, but I'm trying to get my hands on more.

And the number one question......

How did you hang the barn door?

I will share all the details including "how to" photos in an upcoming post. Hubster is reluctantly helping me with the post....blogging is not his thang!

Kasi here, from Lexiphilia! Is everyone surviving winter? I feel like I was just getting ready for Christmas, and here we are only a few days away from Valentine's! As far as I'm concerned, time can keep flying by until we are well into Spring and warmer weather!

One bright spot in my winter, though, is always Valentine's Day. I have one of those husbands who loves to go all out for holidays, plus four little kids who make the world's cutest Valentines, so I am a big fan of the holiday!

This month, I wanted to give you a fun printable that would add to your Valentine decor:

Submitted By Hip Soiree

I honestly wasn’t sure this thing would ever get finished. Someone asked about it the other day which caused me to look back at the original post and I almost gasped when I saw it was from last May. GASPED! That’s not cool. Granted, it was a pretty big project. But it lit a fire under me which, to his chagrin, I lit under Ryan.

Here’s a before picture. Ryan put down some plywood so that we wouldn’t have to glue the pennies directly to the wall. We are renters, after all.

True to form, this is the only picture I have. Stupidly, I didn’t take any during pictures. Honestly, you guys, I SWEAR I did, but I cannot find them anywhere in my iPhoto library. Of course, I did have to wade through a LOT of Comic-Con pictures (thanks, Ryan). And, I’ll admit, probably 500 pictures of Ralph. He’s super cute. You’d totally understand if you knew him. ANYWAY, this is the only before picture I could find.

AND…after.

And here’s one of the reasons it took us so long:

They’re all heads up and faces forward! Well, as close to that as possible. Four score and seven years ago, INDEED! Plus, each one is glued separately. We started out using my trusty glue gun, but when it became Ryan’s turn (it got more difficult at the halfway point and I think he was afraid I’d somehow spaz out and fall from a step stool or something), he decided to just use Elmer’s glue. He said it worked just as well as the glue gun. I could have screamed since I had a few third degree burns (okay, just some reddened skin) from putting hot glue on every single penny. My delicate hands are ruined. My dream of being a hand model is now lost forever…

All in all, it was a little over $50 in pennies. Ryan’s grandma was nice enough to supply AT LEAST $20 worth. The rest we bought. Did you know that the bank “sells” $25 BOXES of pennies? Well, they do.

Side note – how do you like all of our fancy decanters? We started collecting them before we got married. And my new Liquor poster? Cool, right? My brother (from another mother) is making an awesome frame for it. I can’t wait!!