Sunday, February 12, 2012

Master Bedroom Makeover on a Budget

You know the saying…the cobbler’s children have no shoes. That pretty much sums up my own house and the lack of decorating I’ve been able to do while working on other people’s homes.


But I finally decided to do a long overdue mini makeover one room at a time, starting with my master bedroom. I didn’t really have a lot of room in the budget, which is always challenging when trying to makeover a room! But for $150 and 24 hours, I think I did pretty well!


036-2


After six years in our house, we still had the builder white (or cream) walls. We wanted to take the room from Country Cottage to Urban Sophistication.


006-1


I think the biggest impact in the room was paint. I chose a subtle gray from Benjamin Moore called Gray Huskie that I had color matched at Lowe’s. Keep in mind that I didn’t replace any of my original furniture. The paint really helps the furniture stand out.


I saved a lot of money by painting myself. It really wasn’t that bad…took me about 5 hours from start to finish. The biggest trick to painting a room is to do all of the brush work first and then do the rolling.


001-1


We mounted our flat screen on the wall before the makeover but that was actually a pretty easy project as well. We found our mounting kit online which saved us over half the cost of buying in the store.


007-1


Besides paint, the only other purchases were the area rug, which I snagged for $55 at Ross and the charcoal drapes that were $25 for a 2 pack at IKEA.


004-1


All of the accessories around the room were items that I already from other areas of the house, with the exception of my champagne hammered lamp on my bedside chest that I scored at a thrift for $9.00! The lamp shade is from Target.


009-1


My vanity and fiddle back antique chair was a thrift find as well that I refinished in a weathered warm silver. The chair was about to go in the dumpster and I convinced the store to let me have it for $1.


018-1


I still have a few more odds and ends to finish up in the room. I’m hoping to paint my doors leading into the bathroom a shiny black and change out the hardware to crystal door knobs.


008-1


I repainted a wooden carved lamp and accent clock to match the new room as well. Soon I hope to take old frames and add a gallery wall of family pictures above the dresser.


017-2 016


My bedding and accent pillows were all collected over the years at discount stores like HomeGoods and T.J. Maxx. They weren’t new for this makeover but with the cream walls before, they were washed out and didn’t “pop” like they do now.


014-1


My last item to complete the new look will be to upholster a French style thrift chair in a fun pop of color like the sofa below.


rebeccasofette


Rebecca Sofette $1495 shown above


I’m so happy about my $150 makeover that I’m getting motivated to update the rest of my house, room by room.


Need design help? Find out more.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Searching for Balance

I think its something that we all struggle with…finding the right balance in life. Just speaking for myself, I have to say that I never really struggled with it as much as I have since having my son.
park 007 First time Applesauce 001
Suddenly life became a lot less about me and a whole lot more about him. Nothing else mattered to me as long as his needs were met.
006_6004_4
After being a stay-at-home mom for nearly three years, I found myself becoming restless and quite frankly trying really hard to remember who I was as a person before wearing the “mom” hat.
Bath Time 060 025_25
The internal struggle that I felt over wanting a career and wanting to be there for my child had me riddled with guilt all the time. I’d discovered a true passion for my new found business but that meant lots of nights away from the dinner table and weekends once filled with family outings were now left to Daddy while I rushed to design consults.
 004
I thought (and still find myself thinking) about design 24/7. Its really hard to turn off work when you love what you do so much… but I was allowing it to become my first priority in life.
I think lots of women feel the same way I do and struggle with the guilt of it on a daily basis….trying to keep a piece of your identity and yet still living up to all the expectations we place on ourselves as wives and mothers.
Vicki's Bday (6)
Honestly, most days I truly feel that I’m just trying to keep afloat …rushing to get as much done in all areas of my life as I possibly can from 7 a.m. to midnight. (yes, midnight if you notice the time I’m posting this blog entry)
It’s been a year since the passing of my dad.
Dad front1
We didn’t speak for almost six months before his death. Our fight was so pointless…over a phone call where he had asked for a little bit of my time to help him with his camera. I snapped at him that I didn’t have the time to help…thinking about everything that was on my plate that week and how I was going to stay afloat. I think about him at some point during my day, everyday. I can’t remember what was so pressing that I couldn’t help him out the day he called me.
IMG_0004  000237_233067 019
Life is crazy short. This is my personal reminder list for every time I need to be smacked over the head with what my priorities are…
1. I will Kick-off more to have dates with my son. Work will always be there…the kids are only little once.
IMAG1051 IMAG0532IMAG0348
2. I will not freak out if there’s dust bunnies living under my couch and plastic dinosaurs invading my living room…a house is meant to be lived in. (I bet even Martha Stewart lets her hair down once a year and doesn’t make the bed, right? )
3. I will slow down and set realistic goals for myself…It doesn’t all have to get done today! I will still be successful if I have to wait a little longer to devote more time to my career. I’ll never look back and say I wish I missed more family dinners to work.
038047077
4. I will take better care of myself. Recharging the ole’ battery is required and necessary….even Wonder Woman needs a weekend away with her best gal pals every so often.Smile
5. Take more family vacations…memories are like little snapshots in our minds and all that we take with us in the end.
067 015
Disney 2012 139-4

 If you are struggling with balance in your life, I hope that in some small way I've reassured you that you are surely not alone.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Swedish Mora Clock Love

Have you fallen in love with the antique Swedish Mora clocks like I have? I think it’s really more of an obsession that I have. I’ve actually been searching for one for quite awhile but can’t seem to find any under $600.

Sigh…they are so lovely!

thedrillhallemporiumblog

via Pinterest

thedrillhallemporiumblog1

via Pinterest

chloesclosetblog

via Chole’s Closet

My good friend and decorator, Gamze Andrews, happened to have a great little clock sitting in the corner of her bedroom when I was over last week. It had the same look as one of the fabulous Swedish antique clocks. Although a reproduction, it definitely had good bones to it. I jumped at the chance to give it an Urban Farmhouse Makeover!

This is a stock photo of the clock before. (unfortunately its about 5 years old and they don’t make them anymore)

cantleyclock

…..and here she is with an Urban Farmhouse Swedish Mora finish.

020-1

030-1

We now want to find a way to pry open the face plate so we can antique the face to give it a weathered look to match the rest of the European finish on the outside.

026-1

I’m on the hunt for more of these clocks, so stay tuned and let me know if you’re interested in one with a custom finish!

Have a beautiful week!!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Warm Silver Weathered Coffee Table For Sale

I just finished this coffee table and am truly LOVING how it turned out. This is definitely a “statement” piece for the living room!

017-1

I like to call it warm silver because its not really all silver or all gold, but has highlights of both running through it.

012-1

013

Measures: 50”L x 30”W x 19”H.

Price: $275

Email me: FarmStyleStudio@gmail.com if interested!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Fabulous Finds Get Beautified this Week

I’m back to work on some furniture transformations this week! This is an old dresser that had “great bones” as I like to say, but needed a fresh look.

Before

IMAG0505-1

After

001-1

My client plans to use it as a media console under her wall-mounted t.v.

002

This little side table got a brand new look as well in a yellow-toned driftwood finish. It will look great in my client’s study along with the large trunk as a coffee table.

003 004

006

If your rooms or furniture need a new look…contact me at farmstylestudio@gmail.com for more info!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...