Wednesday, July 30, 2008

An Award and a Bedroom Re-do

This week, Sarah from Nesting in Pleasant View gave me these awards:



She and her sister, Christy, started their blogs because they moved away from each other and wanted to share their lives with each other through blogging. I started my blog for the same reason, when I moved from the West Coast to the East Coast. I, like them, was surprised when Internets started reading my blog, too, and they were actually nice, and shared my values, and they weren't freaky people from the internet, but really great people I call friends. That totally shocked me. They remind me about what's important, make me laugh, help me decorate my house, and inspire me. Honestly, I've never had one rude comment or had any obnoxious people cross my path. (Before blogging, I used to have a mom's group message board, and that group had people with no filters at all).

So Thank You for the nice awards Sarah, and I will bestow them on the following people:

Debbie at This is the Life, who is one funny mom, and we could all use a good laugh every day. It actually turns out that we are kinda' neighbors, and she spotted me at the store the other day! Wow, really small world.

Beautiful, amazing Sandy at For Reluctant Entertainers, who is the epitome of a generous hostess, and is teaching me what is important about entertaining and about being a mom and a homemaker.

Martha at Elizabeth Hill Cottage who is perhaps one of the funniest people I know, was my first blogging friend, she gives great house tours, and she picks out a mean dollhouse furniture ensemble.

One of my new favorite bloggers is Chris at Just a Girl. This will probably be a big surprise to her since I've just been blurking on her blog because I have been so busy this past week with vacation bible school. She has inspired me to get my picture frames on the wall, and I laughed hysterically when I saw her husband's contribution to decor because the EXACT same item has been added to my house. She's got great style and has done some really neat projects.

Melissa at The Inspired Room, not because she daily posts great photos of homes that I drool over and have no idea where she digs up all this stuff, but because she is an awesome chick. You'd think she'd be all snobby and everything because she has such a great blog, but nooooo, she is a really nice person!

And Kimba at A Soft Place to Land who shares my illness for painting furniture. My husband and my neighbors are always laughing at me because my hands and arms look like this:

But this is actually a picture of Kimba's hand, and when I saw it on her blog I knew we were soul sisters. I just love to see what this girlie is going to paint next.

And with that, I think I will just tag you all with these awards because you are all really cool, and I just wish I had an extra 24 hours in each day to read every blog and write to you all because you are all so nice, and your visits to my little blog are truly appreciated.

Your "official instructions" follow: Now go forth and share the love! To the recipients of the award... pick 5 blogs you consider deserving of this award, whether for creativity, design, interesting material, or contributions to the blogging community, no matter what language. Name each nominee and link to his/her blog. Show the award and include the name (and link to his/her blog) of whoever presented you with this award. Link to the Arte Y Pico blog so everyone knows the origin of this award. Post these rules

And now, some before and after pictures of my bedroom. I should be arrested for doing this to it:

And then, as evidenced by the paint splotches if you look closely, I tried to find the right neutral paint color to fix my mistake, with absolutely no success. Until one day, I read this post about Tobacco Road. And I actually printed the photo she took of the paint can and I marched down to Lowe's, and then I did this:

A little bit better? Oh, yeah. Then I took down those AWFUL curtains and mistreated the windows with some trusty toile. Toile is always good. And why do I have a love affair with fabric that has silly pictures of people on it? I have no clue. But I do.

I'm not finished, but I'm finished enough for the time being. I still need to paint the trim, as evidenced by the next photo:

I've also had piles of frames in my bedroom from when I moved 2 1/2 years ago. I couldn't quite bring myself to do anything with them, because the paint was dated and they had old studio photos of my kids. I wrestled with the guilt of not wanting to put dated pictures of my precious babies up. Then I realized ... I'm not throwing the kids away. I'm not even throwing the photos away. I'm just putting up different photos. So get over it. Out came the spray paint cans and a few photos downloaded to Target photo center later, we have some decorated walls in our house and one less pile.

I just love everyday photos of my kiddos. Some I did in black/white and others in sepia.


My next project in the room is to paint the furniture, but I just can't figure out what color to paint everything. This is cheap pine that we've had for a long time, and it is very scratched up. I love black, but I feel like I might have reached the legal limit of black furniture in my house. I just don't know. What do you think? Black, white, cream, some other color? I need your opinions.
I do love this color, and thanks to the Nester, my house is starting to shape up. So I think if anyone deserves those awards, she certainly does. Not only does she share all her fabulous ideas with us, but I'm so relieved that getting something done imperfectly is better than spending too much time making it perfect.

19 comments:

Scrapper Mom said...

You girls with these home make overs are so inspiring. I haven't done anything to my house since we moved in (Uh, 9 years ago, I guess). This is giving me the itch!!

Getting a fresh "trim" on friday. I'm going to post a pic of it so you can see our matching do's.

Deb said...

Wow, really love the way your bedroom looks. Tobacco Road does it again. The room looks so tranquil and bright. My personal favorite has to be the curtains. I used the same print in my kitchen. Love it...

Christy said...

Your bedroom looks really nice. Isn't it fun to see how much paint and curtains change a room. I love transformations like that.
I have bedroom furniture that is is similar in style. Actually mine is over 35 years old. It was my parents furniture they bought after they got married. I painted a cream color and I love it. You would never be able to tell how old it really is. I'm going to be doing a "tour" of my home soon, so stay "blogged" in!
P.S. I'm Sarah's sister from Nesting In Pleasant View.
Congratulations on the award!

Trish said...

Beautiful!

Melissa @ The Inspired Room said...

Hi Heather!

Your bedroom looks so lovely and peaceful. I love the way you've incorporated framed snapshots of your kids. So authentic and real and homey, yet beautiful too. Just the way I like 'em to be.

Thanks for including me in that fabulous list of bloggers. I am humbled to be chosen and even more humbled by the amazing company you have put me in. Awesome ladies (one is new to me but I just know she is awesome too!)! Thanks for saying such nice things about me too, {blush} that made my day.

blessings & xoxo

The Beauty Bargainista said...

wow! I think it looks great!!!! Even with paint on the trim! What's that saying from nester? It doesnt have to be perfect to be beautiful! Well this room is certainly BEAUTIFUL! :)

AJ said...

Love your blog. I'll be back for more:)

Lacy said...

Your bedroom looks fantastic and so cozy!! I am so glad to have come back across your blog!!! I'll be back. Congrats on your award!

Joy said...

The changes that you've made in your bedroom make it look like a cozy place to retreat to at the end of the day. Great job!
My suggestion would be either a really light cream color to paint the furniture and then just for fun paint the doors of the armoire a red similar to the one found in your fabric. Or go with a deep, rich chocolate brown on all of the pieces. It just depends on the look you're going for; light and fun or dark and elegant?

Anonymous said...

Tabacco Road is the way to go, insn't it....I am heading to Lowe's....I think your room looks beautiful and I love the toile curtains...can't go wrong with toile either.....I vote for painting the furniture piece black....you can't hit a limit on black furniture...it is so classic and elegant...go for it......

A New England Life said...

Your bedroom came out very nice! It's a lot of work, mentally and physically, to re-do a room, isn't it?! A great tip for touching up those little mispaints on the wood work ... use a kids paint brush.

Personally I like the furniture the color it is. It goes well with the curtains, as well as the new paint. You already have plenty of white in the room so anymore might be a bit much. Cream would probably clash with all the white. Black ... maybe. Even if you leave it the way it is, it looks great! Good job.

Nice Blog : )

cherry said...

That room looks wonderful! I love that toile with the warm color. I also am doing a wall of family pics in black/white. I think everything is looking beautiful. cherry

Chris said...

Holy cow!! MY name is on that list! I'm surprised alright, but more importantly, I'm very flattered. I just love your blog, and I LOVE the other bloggers you chose. I'm in good company alright. You have great taste. Thank you for the honor!

Trish said...

I know I already left a comment here, but I forgot to tell you 2 VERY important things! 1st...Congratulations on your award!
2nd... I was at a yard sale the other day and guess what I found? That book you recommended to me by Jorge whats-his-name, the 8 minutes in the morning deal! So of course I had to splurge and blow that .50 to get it! I'll send before and after pics....HA! We all might be in our 80's by then, but it's never too late to get skinny!

Mary said...

This looks really great. Can't help you on the paint issue. I've reached my legal limit on black, too...but I'm still going! Just think it looks elegant and classic.

Great job.

Kimba said...

HA! There's a picture of my hand on your blog. For some reason that cracks me up!

Your bedroom looks fantastic.

Thanks for the award. You're so sweet!

Julie @ Sweet Chaos said...

I just wanted to tell you I've been inspired by you! I hung mistreatments in my room inspired by you, and I love your bedroom--especially your curtain material. Care to devulge where you found that at? Thanks for posting!

Julie

Wendy said...

Thanks for commenting on my blog...Your blog is lovely!

Vállalkozásom megszűnt said...

Beautiful!

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