Home Sweet Home: Secondhand and Repurposed Night Stands

True story: for a little while, my night stand was a toilet.  And I loved it.

When we were living with my inlaws for a few months between moving back to Ohio and buying our current home, on my side of our bed was an antique commode.  It was along the lines of this one, but prettier and more ornate. And it didn't currently have a chamber pot in it.  :-)

Courtesy of Ivy House Columbia, through My Buy Auctions

Anyway, I loved the uniqueness of it, and reusing something unexpected for a practical purpose.  When we were looking for night stands for our room, I wanted to steer away from brand new furniture store buys for a few reasons.  1)  I wanted something quirky.  Like a toilet, but taller ;-)  2) Used wood has a warmth to it that takes a while to acquire. 3) I knew we'd never match the dresser and chest from our old set that we were keeping in our room (the bed and single night stand from that set are in the guest room).  4) It's hard to find wood furniture that's not painted or blonde, cherry, walnut, or espresso!  We just wanted an oak/maple-y color to go with the other wood in the room. Didn't have to match, but the same family.  5)  I knew there was plenty of gently used furniture out there that would cost us SIGNIFICANTLY less than something brand new.  It's like a car... if it's gently used and in good shape, let someone else take the depreciation hit ;-)

Our requirements were that they be fairly tall (around 28-32 inches) because our bed is on the high side, and that they have some storage.  We found mine quickly, but scoured a local peddlars' mall and the internet for something for Ethan.  We finally found something at a store called Home2Home, which has both retail store leftovers and consignment furniture and decor.  It's pretty, it's tall, it has a ton of storage, and it's the right tone of wood.  New, it probably would've cost in the ballpark of $300... we got it for $75.  Can't hate around 75% off!

As for mine, we had driven around our town all day, looking at garage sales - there is one specific weekend in June when we do "community-wide" garage sales, so it was a particularly good time to look.  As we were cruising by yet another house, I yelped and pointed and Ethan pulled over.  I didn't know what this thing was, but it was tall and the pricetag was right!  

 

I hopped out and started exploring it... it was reasonably clean, just a few minor scratches on the top and very sturdy.  Then I noticed the top was hinged and realized it was a sewing cabinet.  (It's fairly obvious, I'm just a little slow on the uptake sometimes, haha!)  I opened the top and opened the front and noticed the curved piece of pressboard-type-stuff would make it so that I couldn't really use it as storage... but it looked like that piece wasn't secured in there, so it would probably be removable.  I was chatting with the homeowner who was selling it, and she said that she'd reduce the price to $10, since I'd have to put some work into it.  I thought that was awesome, as $15 seemed totally fair to me!  I hate haggling and almost definitely wouldn't have asked for a reduction, but I gladly took it ;-)

Sure enough, the curvy piece came out easily, and I gave the whole thing a good bath in lemon Pledge.  We went to Lowe's and bought a $5 piece of plywood that we had cut to the size of the inside of the cabinet, as well as some L-brackets and a knob.  We screwed two L-brackets into the sides of the cabinet, toward the front, and used those and a ledge at the back to support the plywood shelf.  Then we added the knob to the front swingy door, and I had a totally cool, repurposed night stand!  The storage inside isn't huge, but it's enough to hold my Kindle, random cords, and some nighttime low blood sugar snacks.  

I think these two nightstands are really contributing to the warm look I'm aiming for in decorating our bedroom haven, and I'm so glad I took the chance on an "unusual" piece of furniture and some TLC  :-)  These sewing cabinets are readily available at yardsales and antique/vintage malls, just waiting to be snatched up and repurposed!

 

Home Sweet Home: Floral Grapevine Wreath Tutorial

One of my FAVORITE rooms in our house is our master bathroom!  It's nice and big (the only room in our house with ceilings higher than 8 feet, except the two-story foyer), has a double vanity and a ginormous tub.  But it has been pretty plain up until now - the only decor I'd done was to toss two curtains from our old house over a rod (doubled over instead of with the rod through the pocket, so it didn't hang in the tub).  I love the curtains, and wanted to use them as the palette/inspiration for the rest of the bathroom.

Our tub sits in a corner, with the window on one wall, and a big empty space on the other.  That blank wall has been driving.me.CRAZY!  So I made a wreath.  

This was a super-easy project, and very budget-friendly.  If I had paid full price for all of my supplies, it would have cost me $22.92... but of course with sales and coupons at craft stores, I didn't pay quite that much.  I think the total came to between $15 and $16 :-)  Not bad for a 24-inch wreath that matches my decor perfectly!

If you want to customize your own grapevine wreath, grab these supplies: 

• A grapevine wreath in whatever size you desire.  Mine is a 24-inch, from Old Time Pottery.  It only cost $6.99, which I think is the lowest price I've ever seen for one this big.

• Some flowers - I prefer fake, because I worry about colors from dried flowers running down my wall, especially in a humid room like the bathroom.

• Twine - darker to more closely match the wreath would be great, but it's not going to be all that visible.  Mine is considerably lighter than my wreath, and you can't really tell.

• Scissors

• Wire cutters

• Optional: Ribbon, other fun additions.  Fake bird? Sea shells?  Whatever!  You may need to grab a glue gun too, depending on what optional stuff you add. :-) 

Start by laying your flowers and other items on your wreath to figure out how you want it laid out.  Once you're satisfied with the layout, it would be a good idea to snap a picture with your phone so you can refer to it later.  I wish I'd done that ;-)

Set aside the flowers, except for the back-most bunch.  Eyeball where on the wreath the thick part of the stem sits (you know, where it goes from looking like it could possibly be real to obviously being a clump of plastic-covered wire!).  Ease that stem as horizontally as you can between the cords of grapevine.  If you can curve it to stay inside the wreath, that's awesome.  If it's just easier to let it poke out a ways down the curve, totally fine :-)

Do the same with the rest of the stems of flowers on the wreath or in that cluster.  Once they're in place, arrange the smaller branches of the stems and make sure you like the placement and that there won't be any weird gaps.  Grab your twine and cut a piece a few feet long.  Weave it up through the wreath from the bottom, wrap it around the floral stem and pass it back down through the wreath, making sure that part of the stem is secured where you want it to stay.  

Tie a knot in the twine behind the wreath.  If you leave one tail of the knot long, you should be able to secure a few pieces of the stems with one piece of twine.  Don't tie every single bit of the flowers down, or the wreath will look flat and fake-y.  Just use enough that the flowers subtly go the direction you want, and don't fall off the wreath :-)  Also, use the wire inside most of these stems to gently curve some of the pieces in the direction of the wreath - or against it for a more haphazard look - whatever floats your boat!

Once all of your flowers are secured, clip any stems, wires, or twine tails that are poking out of the wreath.  Add your ribbons, bows, etc.  There was already a huge hook in the wall over our tub from the previous owners, and it was perfect for hanging the wreath.  :-)

Edited to add:  We got a cute little storage bench for our foyer, and I made two new wreaths to go over that bench.  One for year-round, and one for Easter.  I'll make more seasonal ones as new holidays approach :-) 

Home Sweet Home: Mantle Decor

I shared some of my living room inspiration several months ago, before we had even closed on our house, and I finished one of the projects for it I'd been planning and working on for a while, this week :-)  Now, all that's really left is to finish organizing and decorating the entertainment center (and clutter-busting) and this room is pretty much up to my standard of "done."  

Our mantle is one of my favorite features in this room - maybe in the whole house :-)  Aren't the wood and the details delicious? 

For several weeks, I've been collecting milk glass and clear glass vases and such from Facebook local buy/sell/trade sites, yardsales, and thrift stores. 

For greenery and flowers, we checked out an Old Time Pottery, and found everything I wanted :-)

I didn't keep a running total of my costs, but Ethan and I were figuring it out in our heads, and we're pretty sure this whole project cost about $40.  Not too shabby, really!  Especially considering there are a dozen vases up there, most with stuff in them :-)

I'm not sure what's gotten into me lately, but I've been knocking projects off my list left and right!!  I think part of it is that I want to have a mostly-finished house when we get back from BarBABYdos, so I can relax and snuggle in.  Maybe partially the relief of being DONE with school (and passing my licensure exam yesterday, wooHoo!!!).  Whatever... I'm just glad to have the motivation and energy to tackle these projects, and I'm excited to show you more of them soon! 

Home Sweet Home: Craft Room/Jewelry Studio Progress

Now that grad school is over, I have been able to dive head-first back into decorating and cozying up our house!  Over the weekend, Ethan finished painting my craft room/jewelry studio, and I spent most of today moving stuff in and organizing it.  I still have a LONG way to go, but I already feel happy and inspired every time I step foot in this room :-)

Wanna see some pictures?  Good!  Because I can't stop taking and sharing them :-) My facebook friends are going to be so tired of this project pretty soon!

This is how it looked when the previous owners were here...

Many hours and two shockingly blistered thumbs later, the PAINTED on Ts were finally scraped from the windows. Ugh.

After a nice, neutral paint job :-) 

My packing and shipping station is coming together... I made that basket at VBS when I was, like, 10, by the way :-) It has all my jewelry baggies in it.

The bookshelves are holding mostly my novels, small business books, craft idea books, and inspirational magazines.  The table is split into general crafts (left hand side) and jewelry (right hand side).  The wall art is a series of 16x20 prints from Shutterfly of some of my favorite pieces I've made.  I got the Vera Bradley memo board for $10 from a yardsale page on Facebook!  All of my fabric is stashed in that tub under the table... I may try to get a cheap table cloth or piece of fabric to hide that... or not.  The corner by the windows is where I'm going to try and make a little jewelry photography set-up, I think the natural light will help get some really good pictures.  

I still need to get a big storage unit for one of the other walls (for allllll my craft supply miscellany), I want a smaller table for the other wall for my sewing machine and Camille the Cameo, and I am planning to put my jewelry inventory on the wall in the closet, where I have my packing and shipping station.  LOTS more work to do, but other than painting, everything else came together TODAY, so I'm feeling pretty excited about the progress! :-) 

I am hoping to have my Etsy shop open again in about 2 weeks... I have been doing some planning and sketching for a more streamlined product line, and can't wait to share it all with you soon! 

Jewelry Organization from a Jewelry Hoarder

When we were shopping for our house, one of the things on our "Sure Would Be Nice" list was a walk-in closet in the master bedroom.  We didn't HAVE to have one, but a house would have to be stellar in several other ways to make up for it, you know?  

Well... in this wonderful, beautiful, blessing of a house, we have a walk-in closet.  EACH.  I'm in Heaven, y'all.  Having a whole closet to myself means that my clothes aren't cramped, which makes getting dressed easier, and I think has resulted in me using the full range of my wardrobe better.  It also means that my purses and my jewelry have their own nice, organized spaces in a convenient, but out-of-the-way location!

I spent some time this week unpacking, untangling, re-organizing, and otherwise squaring-away my jewelry collection, and I thought I'd share a little bit about my strategy.

First, I have a whole wall dedicated to accessories.  The two walls of racks and shelves were already here when we moved in, and that third wall was already empty, so it seemed perfect.  I put the two 2x3 cubby things from my old "cloffice" on the wall to hold my purses and totes... as well as two sections for clothes that need donated or sold, and two that are currently holding some cuff and coil bracelets (until I can find my bracelet holder) and trays of earrings.  I use ice cube trays to organize most of my earrings, and I especially love the trays with lids... I got some at the Container Store... $4 seems a little pricey for ice cube trays, but pretty reasonable for jewelry storage! :-)

The top of the cubbies is a great surface for my jewelry trees and my small jewelry box (and my pile of camis... I'm looking for a basket for them).  See the little brown jewelry box in front?  My niece made that for me for Christmas a couple years ago. <3 Priceless! 

These are my jewelry trees... the one on the left is from my mom, and it holds necklaces and bracelets I either wear a lot, or want to remind myself to wear more often ;-) Around the base, I have some pendants that I don't have designated chains for.  The other, more tree-like tree, we picked up at CVS of all places.  It's perfect for earrings that I like to have within very easy reach.  Sad, single earrings and some other doo-dads (like my embellished comb) are hanging out on that base until I can find their mates or make a replacement. 

Then, there are the tie/belt racks.  These have hung in each of our three homes somewhere... in the apartment, the only place I could figure out was the inside of my closet door!  They're just held up by finishing nails, so the weight worries me a little bit.  I will probably add another rack right above these soon, and shift my bracelets up to it. 

I made the observation on facebook the other day... when you make your own jewelry, it is REALLY easy to become a jewelry hoarder!  Some of these pieces, I NEVER wear...  I found a tutorial from another designer on how to remove tarnish from silver-plated jewelry.  I'm thinking of polishing up a few of these things I never wear and having a Katie's Closet sale.  With IVF hopefully in March, every little bit will help ;-)

Home Sweet Home: Family Room Inspiration and Plans

If you guys remember our list of "would love to have's" for our new house, a gas fireplace was on the list... it was practically a must-have, but as relatively easy as they are to install, it wasn't QUITE a deal breaker.

Happily, our new house comes with a nice, big family room with a great fireplace!  Yay!!  It's open to the kitchen, which I love for entertaining and for spending time together during supper prep, and has four big windows that provide a ton of gorgeous natural light.

In another happy little detail, we like the color of the walls.  Maybe not - "Oh my gosh, that's the exact color I've always dreamt of having in my family room!" - but more - "Hey, this is pretty and it will definitely work with the overall style I want this room to have."  It's a little less olive in person, and little bit softer and more neutral.

We love the entertainment center we bought together before we moved to South Carolina, and are so glad that it will blend with the hardwood floors and cabinets in the kitchen!!  And there just so happens to be a wall that is plenty big enough to accommodate this massive piece of furniture :-)

Ashley Furniture, from about 2010

(Forgive the grainy phone pic - two thirds of this is in the POD, and the little middle part is in the basement, so I had to dig to find this old photo!)  We love that this is big enough for our big TV, and all of the storage it offers.  All of our DVD player/Wii/whatever other gizmos I don't recognize, binders of DVDs, video games and accessories, etc fit in the glass part, and the drawers hold board games, camcorder, books, blankets... all kinds of stuff! Love it!

We went out last week and picked out furniture for the family room - a couch and a loveseat - and put a deposit on it.  We'll pay it off as soon as we close, but for now... we are being very careful not to derail our mortgage process!  I can't wait til these arrive... I love the soft blue!  Light enough to go with the soft, calming, clean look I want for the room... but not too feminine for a man to enjoy ;-)

via Ashley Furniture - Kreeli Sofa (and Loveseat) in Slate

The couch and loveseat both come with the pillows shown, which actually, I don't like as well in person as I do in the picture.  Ethan agreed with me that they didn't stand out well and were awkwardly matchy-matchy with the sofa fabric.  But they're still really pretty, so we will use them someplace else in the house, and we are getting pillows in this floral fabric to toss on them and provide most of the palette for the room.  We were able to see the pillows in the show room, and put them on the couch to see how we liked it... perfect :-)

via Ashley Furniture - Kylee Accent Chair

We're planning to use a recliner we already have for some additional seating, and we want to get a storage ottoman/bench like this one to put in front of a window for some extra storage and seating.  We also kind of suspect Charley will make it his spot for squirrel-watching :-)

via Kohls

Our old coffee table and end tables will still work in the new room, so we don't need more of those... I would like to eventually get a console table to kind of anchor the loveseat that we think will probably float beween the kitchen and family room, and our beloved "periodic tables" will be the additional surfaces needed for any entertaining we do...

As amazing as these windows are, I don't want to do anything to darken them too much.  I'm thinking maybe some buttery yellow curtains that will pull in the yellows from the accent pillows?  

And I'm picturing something simple for the mantle, along these lines but with a big mirror instead of the multiple little prints (and leaving the mantle as-is, not painting it white).  Some silk flowers should help tie in the colors from the pillows that aren't necessarily already in the windows, furniture or walls :-)  I'll echo that in some of what I put on the display shelves of the entertainment center, too.  

via

The appraisal on the house was done a couple of days ago, so we're just waiting for the mortgage company to compile the paperwork and we should be ready to close... probably in the next two weeks... then we can take immediate possession and I can start putting these plans and pictures into action!  I SO can't WAIT!!!

 

PS: If you missed it, here are my plans for the formal dining room!

Home Sweet Home: Formal Dining Room Inspiration and Plans

One of the must-haves in our new house is one that I think seems to be falling out of favor with most prospective home-buyers: a formal dining room.  But, I like the idea of a place to have extra-special meals on our good china - birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Tuesday... and it's important to us that our house is inviting and allows us to host big family and friend events.  So, a formal dining room was a must.  

Our new house has a nice, big dining room that the previous owners used as a sitting room, we think.  

We BY NO MEANS hate the walls in here.  They've been sponge-painted beautifully, but we don't think that the little bit of dining room furniture we have will work with them.  Too Halloween-y :-)

We bought this china cabinet a few years ago, mostly for storage and to display some of our china.  We are planning on using the china pattern as the major inspiration for the room.  This cabinet holds MASS amounts of stuff - at one point, I had all of our china and table linens, as well as all of my bakeware (which is a considerable collection, haha!) in it, easily.  It's no longer available at Value City Furniture, but we are very pleased with its quality and price, and with the service we got there, so we'd recommend them for anything you may be looking for!

This is our china pattern, around which we plan to decorate.  It is Royal Doulton's "Mystique," which as been retired since I was 4. :-)  We got it for a GREAT price from a friend's consignment and decor shop (where I can't wait to go shopping for the new house)!!  The newspapers in was packed in were from 1994, which I thought was pretty neat.

So basically, we are looking for simple black furniture with clean lines to coordinate with our china cabinet.  We found a set we like (it's in the collage... we'd probably do black all over instead of the wood top, and maybe a cream or grey cushion instead of the brown).  Planning on sticking with the soft neutral carpet... for now.  Maybe someday, a long way away, we'll do hardwood or a laminate that looks pretty doggone close :-)  We want to paint the bottom half of the walls a soft grey (with the slightest hint of purple undertones), and the tops soft white, with a white chair rail. 

Sherwin Williams "Wishful Blue" is about what I'm envisioning... but I've been trying for an hour to get it to show up right here.  The best I can do is add it as the background of my inspiration collage.  For some reason, THAT shows up correctly, but it doesn't show up if I save it as an image from Sherwin Williams's site! :-\

I'm not certain what we'll do about curtains.  I may have to just shop and see what strikes my fancy :-)  I'd love to do a medium grey, with maybe some silver in it?  But I don't want to darken the room too much, and I'm afraid that those curtains with black furniture would be too dark.  A very greyed-out purple might be pretty, or even white (but ugh, keeping THAT clean!).  We'll see :-)

The chandelier will be changing!  I might attempt to paint it like a brushed silver, or I may do the smart thing and just buy a new one ;-) If we get a new one, I'd like something pretty basic, not too ornate... but with the option to get pretty bright if we're doing something that requires more light... like homework or card games or something.  :-)

So... here's an inspiration collage with all these elements included.  Can you tell I'm a little bit on the excited side? Please pray that the government shutdown doesn't delay our closing too much!