Tiny Tweaks!

I’ve been in a bit of a home decor funk lately. Progress has stalled and I’ve been itching to makes some changes. Since subtle changes throughout the house can make a huge impact, I thought I’d tackle a few.

First project was to install new blinds in the Spare bedroom. I took down the old wood blinds months ago when I added the window moulding, but I wasn’t sure what to use as a replacement. Then I read this post from Young House Love, and they shared a link to some bamboo blinds that were incredibly affordable. My window is not a standard size so it’s been difficult to find inexpensive window coverings.

The bed was completely made before my pup decided to ‘make it more comfortable’. He has a tendency to photo bomb my project pictures. Don’t see him? Look closely at the dark blanket…see that dark brown blob? Yep! He kicked all the pillows off the bed just to curl up at the bottom.

The blinds were pretty simple to install. The hardest part was fitting the screwdriver between the window and the hardware in that back corner. Once the brackets were installed I slipped the blinds on and tightened the included wing nuts. Easy!

Not bad for a $30 quick fix!

The next step is to swap out the lampshade for a simple white ceiling fan. I know they aren’t the most attractive things, but it’s all about function when the summers hit 110 degrees (and your AC is broken).

Another doggie photo bomb! He’s such a creeper, staring at our neighbor’s house.

 

With the successful Spare Bedroom tweak under my belt, I headed over to Target to pick up some night lights. My home is very compacted…by that I mean it’s tall (a 3 story condo), but it’s skinny. Lighting in the house doesn’t cover an expansive area and I’m constantly turning on a new light every few steps. It’s annoying. The night lights allow me to walk throughout the house without having to turn on and off every single light.

I found these awesome LED lights for about $8 each.

Is it weird that a night light is my new favorite home decor item?

It’s beautiful and it covers those ugly outlets! I also love that they don’t have switches. They automatically turn on at dusk and off at dawn, or as needed when the lights are turned off.

It’s like a little piece of art on the wall.

I also have one of this design in the Spare Bedroom. It’s not as bright as the other style, so it’s a little less disturbing in a bedroom.

The last easy tweak was to do a little remodel in my bedroom. The Master bedroom has been a design challenge for me. I can’t quite figure out what to do with it. What you see in the pictures below is only half the room, it’s big, but like the rest of the house, it’s skinny, so it doesn’t feel particularly spacious.

I actually like having the bed is this placement, but I really hate the window behind the bed frame. I’m toying with a bunch of different ideas, but for now I just wanted to try a different placement for the bed.

Since this is temporary, I left the art up on the wall even though the bed is now blocking it. I do like being able to see the window better, but it doesn’t leave any space for a nightstand. I’m using a small bookcase right now and while it’s functional, it’s just not working. 

[There he is again! We should play some sort of ‘Spot the Dog’ game.]

 

What kind of tweaks have you been doing around the house?

Refreshing A Feature Art Wall

Happy Thursday! I hope everyone’s week is going well.

 

Even though I moved inland 2 years ago, it still amazes me how quickly the weather can change out here. When I lived in Orange County, weather was mild. Now I live an hour inland, and today we went from 100 degrees, hot and sunny to a severe thunderstorm warning. A cloud has literally unzipped over my house. I love the rain so I don’t mind much, but the wind has been causing a bit of havoc and I’ve never heard thunder this loud. Before I realized that the storm had hit, wind caused my blinds to knock over a vase, shattering glass all over my kitchen and living room. Needless to say we’re stuck indoors so it was time to tackle a project that’s been on my list for a while.

[We’re also intermittently losing power so I’m not sure when this post will go up, but hopefully it does post on Thursday. If not, then ummm…HAPPY FRIDAY!]

Months ago I bought a set of numbered art prints from the same person who created the calendar I used in the Letterpress Journal. The artist was doing a deal where you got one print free if you bought two. Since I wanted the the set of three anyway, I went for it. The prints came from France, and with shipping, I think they cost me about $120. Certainly not cheap, but I loved them so much, it was well worth every cent.

 

After spending quite a bit of time staring at blank walls around the house, I decided this little alcove would be the perfect place. This oil painting is pretty, but it just wasn’t working for me.

However, the space is perfect for displaying art since it has a built in lighting. Just imagine I swapped out that ugly yellow lighting for  a pretty chandelier in the near future.

Before I show you the after shots, let’s take a side step. My first job was at Aaron Brothers (an art supply and framing store) as a sales person. I worked there throughout high school and college and over time transitioned to certified framer and later to a key holder. Looking back it has been my favorite job to date, but that’s not really the point. The point is that I cannot bring myself to pay for framing since I know how to do it myself. I’m referring to the matting in particular which can get ridiculously expensive.

Tip: I also know that their penny sales are always in January and July, so if you need multiple frames, pick them up during that sale where you can get the 2nd frame for just a penny. In addition to the three fames for this project, I picked up three more for other projects, and the grand total was just under $100. 6 large frames for $16 each is a great deal when they all were marked at about $40+ each before the sale.

To mat them myself I picked up a 2 full size mat boards, in Ash, from their framing department for $28. For less than $30 I was able to mat all three prints and I’m left with enough scrap for quite a few more prints.

Tip: You can have their framing department cut down the boards to any size you want, usually for free. I had them cut me 3 pieces of 20×28 from the 2 boards which saved me time (and space since full size boards would be a tight fit in my little car). In most cases they will cut them down for you for free; however, if they do charge you, it shouldn’t be anymore than $.25 a cut which is still a good deal.

Tip: ALWAYS take the scrap/extra, if they don’t give it to you, ask for it. If you’re paying for the whole board, you should get the whole board, regardless of what they cut for you. Unless it’s just sliver sized pieces, you can use them for a variety of things at home.

I didn’t take any pictures of the matting process, but if anyone thinks it would be helpful, I’d be happy to write up a tutorial. I have the Logan Model 301-S Compact Mat Cutter at home, which is a good model to do small scale matting. It’s inexpensive and easy to use.

Tip: Clamp the mat cutter to the table using inexpensive hardware store clamps to keep it from shifting while you are cutting. If you have a very steady hand you can buy a Hand Held Mat Cutter and use a ruler to cut the mat. Unfortunately, my hand isn’t steady enough to use this method, but others have success with it.

Once the art was matted and framed, the last step was to get it up on the wall. Turns out that wall is really tall and my ladder is not, so it took a little creative thinking to get up high enough, but it worked. I won’t show you what I rigged up, since it was a ‘don’t try this at home kids’ trick, and I don’t want to give my mom a heart attack.

*I fixed the wrinkling you see in the below picture.

So much better than the oil painting.

Next up, I plan to paint the wall behind the art a shade of grey and replace the recessed canned lighting with a pendant or chandelier. 

 

 

*Mat Cutter links are affiliates.

How to Use Art as a Headboard [Spare Bedroom Update]

Who’s ready for a  Spare Bedroom update?[FINALLY, right?]

Last time I shared this room, I had installed the moulding and it had been painted. I’m still deciding on the upper wall color so in the meantime I turned my focus to the headboard and bedding.

To save money on the redesign, I decided to use a piece of art as the headboard. I bought this geometric panel years ago at Pier One for about $70. Since moving into the house, it hasn’t had a home and has been sitting behind a chair on the first floor.

My apologies in advance for some of the color differences in the pictures. Some were taken with daylight, and the others were taken at night during installation.

The panel is beautiful so I wanted to use it in a fun way somewhere in the house; as a headboard seemed like the perfect choice. In my last place, it was hanging on the wall so hanging wire had already been installed. However, in time, the wire had loosened and I ended up with a little problem after setting up the hardware.

Hmmm…this was not going to work.

So I ran past the store and picked up some D rings instead. For something this heavy, D-rings are recommended anyway so this solved a few problems and ensures that the headboard is completely stable.

Problem #2 – How do you remove these blasted hooks without damaging the wall? If there installed correctly, you shouldn’t be able to just pull them from the wall. There also isn’t an easy way to get the claw end of a hammer under the hook without damaging the wall or moulding. The bargain hunter in me also wanted to save the hook for future use.

Enter my trusty little screwdriver. Slide the screwdriver into the space near the nail.

Now you have a spot to sue the claw of the hammer to gently loosen the nail from the wall.

Now that the nail is lifted up by the screwdriver/hammer method, you should be able to gently pull it from the wall with minimal damage to the both the wall and hanging hardware.

Then hang it using the new D-Ring hardware.

Whew! That’s better.

I’ll share more about ht bedding later as the colors are still being finalized. Right now it’s white & grey with a softly patterned sheet. The orange and green pillows will likely move to another room, but I LOVE the headboard. I hadn’t originally planned on a black headboard, but for now, it’s perfect and looks great with the white walls and new moulding.

 

It’s just another reason to think outside the box…errr…headboard. Any type of art has the potential of creating an amazing ambiance. Just a few tips when using art has a headboard:

• Raise the art slightly higher than a traditional headboard would hang, for several reasons.
  • Oil from the hair and or skin has a tendency to discolor fabric headboards which could also happen if you use a fabric or canvas based art.
  • If using framed art with glass, make sure it’s high enough that you won’t be leaning against it while reading in bed, or in a  spot that could be easily hit.
• And in ALL cases, be sure it’s secured safely and strongly to the wall. The last thing you want is to be woken up by a falling headboard. Ouch!

 

Some inspiration:

 

 

 

Via, Via, Via, Via, Via, Via, Via

Foyer Update

I finally forced myself to build some bookcases this past weekend so I thought now would be a good time for a Foyer/Library update. Especially since I’m a little torn on if I actually like the direction I’m going in. I can see the end result in my head, but this room definitely needs some work.

A look back…

This is what the room looked like after I moved in. Not bad, but no one sat down in this room, so it just wasn’t functional.

This room is primarily used as a pass through to the backyard. It gets lots of puppy traffic so I don’t want to fill it with furniture. I’d rather leave the space as open as possible so my thought was to use it as a Library/Mud Room.

A few weeks back I tackled the first project of painting the back wall. It’s a neutral beige with slight peach undertones. It’s the same color I have in the third floor hallway and plan on using as the general interior house color. For now I’ve only painted certain walls this color as several walls are 2-3 stories high and I’ll have to hire someone to finish the painting for me.

Next up, I pulled some bookcases that I already owned out of another room and set them up on the sides. In the middle is a hope chest I inherited from my grandmother. Plan is to refinish and reupholster it at some point. I’m not sure it will stay in this room long term, but it works for now.

Some fancy balancing on a ladder resulted in two bookcases attached to the wall. The floors are somewhat uneven in this house, so all bookcases must be attached to the wall. Not to mention that I live in the land of earthquakes.

Two Billy bookcases have been sitting in my foyer for nearly 2 months? way too long. These are obviously larger than the existing cabinets, and a different color. However, the white was marked down to $59 each which made them an easy choice.

About an hour later I had built both bookcases and attached them to the wall.

This is where the foyer stands now. I’ve filled in some books temporarily, but this room stills has a long way to go. The plan is to make the bookcases look like built ins, so I will be installing moulding and painting the dark cabinets white. I’ll keep the doors on the outside cabinets as they hide a multitude of DVDs and the garden supplies that no one really needs to see.

I think I’m also going to swap out the hope chest for a bench, add a shelf between the bookcases and hooks to hold jackets and dog leashes.

If I’m being honest, I don’t really like it right now. It feels very mix and match, and not in a good way. However, I think with a little paint, moulding, and decor it could actually end up looking like the library in my head.

2 Year Home Anniversary – A Look Back

Alright, first things first. Who’s making a Golf Cake for Father’s Day?

It’s been the most popular post on the blog lately, so I suspect there are quite a few golf enthusiasts out there that will be eating cake this weekend. Great additions would be a sand pit (made with brown sugar), or a flag (using a skewer, cut in half). I’d love to see those cakes if anyone does it! I may just do a special post to share your golf cake pictures so feel free to leave links in the comments or email me pictures.

 

Okay, now back to the point of today’s post. The 5th of this month was the 2 year anniversary of when I purchased my first home. I didn’t start the blog until a year later so there are a bunch of projects that I never originally blogged about; although, I have been trying to share finished projects in order to catch up. I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the before and after pictures from the past two years.

 

Front Door Entry

There haven’t been any major changes to the front door with the exception of decorating and I changed out the handle/deadbolt when I moved in. This is my favorite picture from the Autumn setup. The star was found at HomeGoods and I built the Front Door Post myself. In the past year I’ve also created the Halloween Sign, Yarn Wrapped Fall Sign, Valentine Cork Heart, and most recently the Hand painted Welcome Sign.

 

Backyard

The backyard has been a bit of a challenge since it is completely paved. I have a dog and I desperately needed some grass so the main goal was to find a way to grow grass on concrete.

BAM…Yes. I. Did.

The grass planters work very well and would continually grow grass year round if my dog didn’t enjoy killing it so much. I’m tempted to swap out the real grass for a synthetic grass this summer.

Vertical planters went up along one wall to add some height and extra gardening space.

…and I built a potting bench for the wall.

Oh, and I can’t forget the BBQ…still love that green!

 

First Floor Bathroom

This is one of the rooms that I did before starting the blog. I had all the accessories with me from my previous apartment so I knew that I wanted a Hawaiian themed room somewhere in the house.

I ended up using a refreshing Bamboo color on walls which really brightens up such a small room.

French Doors

Oh, those doors! I though I was stuck with broken blinds until I found inspiration online to paint them!

This project made a huge impact and I’ve since covered several other windows in my house with the privacy film.

Dining Room

This room is still in progress since I’m currently using a small card table as my dining table.

For under $100 I added moulding and I LOVE it.

I get quite a few questions about that bar. It is a knock off of the Pottery Barn Bar and my dad built it for me. You can see more about the bar, here.

 

Garage

I’ve shared all my Garage woes on the blog so this is probably not new to you. Over the past few months I’ve made a ton of progress. Remember when…

…and now with all the shelving, it’s actually functional. I’ve since added a temporary workbench in the open area that I’ve been using for painting projects.

 

Fireplace

Another project that was well documented on the blog, and probably my favorite project to date. I was SO intimidated by this project that I kept pushing it down the list. I didn’t think I could really do it on my own.

I started off by painting the fireplace screen, and that gave me some motivation to keep going.

Little by little, I started chipping aware at the tile.

Before I knew it, the finishing touches were in place.

 

Powder Room

This is a small powder room near the living room and kitchen. The room has no natural light which made it difficult to get the wall color right.

I ended up a peachy beige and decorated with that lovely orchid and rustic boxes. The garden lantern on the floor holds extra toilet paper rolls.

I replaced the standard oval mirror with a larger version that I scored at HomeGoods for $49 and the Moroccan urn works as a trash can.

 

Kitchen/Ledge

I don’t think I’ve actually share the Kitchen as a whole on the blog before. I’ll show a little more in another post, but we did make one change to that half wall shortly after moving in.

An added ledge. Such a simple addition and it made a huge functional difference to the kitchen.

 

Office

This one shouldn’t be new to you since I just shared it the other day, but here’s a quick before…

…and in progress (right now)…it will all be changing soon.

Spare Bedroom

Another room that’s current in progress (and actually making substantial progress lately!). Before…

…and in progress…

 

Third Floor Spare Bathroom

Another all white bathroom. A blessing since I wanted to decorate each room myself, but it was so bland when I moved in.

Yes another room that I think I painted 3 times before settling on the green. First it was pink, then it was blue, then I scored with the ‘army’-ish green.

(yes, those curtains need to be hemmed)

 

Laundry Room

The laundry room is the room that you look into when you come up to the third floor, so I wanted it to look good. Who wants to stare at an ugly room every time you come upstairs?

A grey blue on the walls and sea grass baskets gave it the perfect style. Oh, and clearance art…can’t hate that!

On the wall leading in to the laundry room I have the DIY Chalkboard Thermostat Frame.

“Laundry Today or Naked Tomorrow”

So True!

 

There are a few other rooms that I haven’t shown you, like the Kitchen, Living Room, and the Master Bed/Bath. I’ll make sure to share those in the future. I’m also going to be updating the Home Tour page soon which will add some, much needed, organization to the site.

 

Have a GREAT Weekend!

Introducing the Office – Before

I’ve been dreading this post for a bit, it’s such a mess that I’m embarrassed to even show you. This is my office right now, where I spend at least 10 hours each day, often more. I have two spare bedrooms in my home, and the original plan was to turn one into a ‘day job’ office, and the other into an art studio. For the office, I had grand plans for a loveseat sleeper (so the room could be used as a bedroom for guests), and the walls would be decorated with vintage travel posters so I could dream about getting away. I even had them all picked out online. Then my brother gave me a queen size bed and I no longer needed this room to double as a guest room. All of a sudden the idea changed and it’s been sitting in limbo for nearly 2 years. (…and the Art Studio became a real Spare Bedroom…well kinda…it’s in progress)

Here’s a little look back to what the office looked like when I first moved in. There another window and a closet hiding tot he left of the door.

The really incredible view. Since the office is on the 3rd floor, I get to see above all the other homes and all the way to the mountains on a clear day.

…and the first round of design which was never fully realized. The dark teal/blue is actually beautiful and would have looked great with the vintage posters, I think.

However, since the plan changed it has become a hodge podge of crap. Random art covers only one half of the room, the other wall is completely bare. I have two chairs…but only one butt…figure out my logic in that one. I recently borrowed the exercise bike from my parents as an attempt to ‘work out’ the stress from work when necessary. It actually comes in quite handy throughout the week. Although I will likely send it back to them when I finish this remodel.

Broken IKEA bookcases that are holding random supplies for now (the rest are shoved in the closet. Thank your lucky stars that I won’t show you those pictures). I was in the middle of moving all the books downstairs to the Foyer so it looks messier than usual.

Oh, who am I kidding, I moved those book downstairs 2 weeks ago and my office still looks like this!

Such. A. Mess.

I have a whole list of ‘needs’ for this room, such as more desk space, organization, more storage, and comfy seating. I want this room to feel more like an oasis than a dungeon. I actually really love the wall color, but It’s going away in exchange for something lighter.

Here’s a little inspiration…

Via, Via, Via, Via, Via, Via

Introducing the Foyer – Before

Before I had moved into my home, I had decided the purpose of every single room. I knew which one would be an office, which would work as a spare bedroom, I even decided to use some space to set up a workout room. However, I have one odd space that had no real purpose. at that point, it was simple a walk through to the backyard. 

I don’t use this space other than to let the dog in and out. Filling it with furniture would block the backyard doors, although I suppose it was probably setup in the model home as a ‘formal’ living room. I just have no use for a fancy living room, so I filled it with extras. When I replaced the couch in the family room, the old couch moved to the Foyer. I had a few screens that also didn’t have a home yet, so they ended up in the Foyer. As did an IKEA chair and a plant.

It was nice, but not very functional. I rarely ever sat in the couch or chair and family/friends never congregated in this space. We’d either be in the family room upstairs or outside.

To breathe some life into the space, I first tackled the French Doors and removed the blinds, painted the doors and installed privacy films. Just the simple change added so much to the room and let in so much light. Now, I’m on to the rest of the room.

This week we took the couch to the dump as it was so old it wasn’t salvageable for anyone else. Now I have a wide open wall where I can build my new Foyer which will double as a Library! I already have the bookcases that will be going in the space, they will be installed on both the right and left side of the wall.  I just need to paint two of them, and the wall needs a new color. I will also be adding some seating between the bookcases and some more storage above the seating.

A little inspiration…

Via

Via

Via

The inspiration is a little random, but I can see the finished room in my head and it will all blend together perfectly (I hope).

Before/After – Hawaiian Style Bathroom

I’m curious…how do you approach home design? Are you a finish one room at a time person, or do you like to work on projects all over the house? I tend to work on little bits in every room, meaning each room is in some sort of progress. However, small rooms like bathrooms or laundry rooms I finish all at once since they are small and usually inexpensive. Of course this doesn’t take into account any type of remodel.

This is the full bath on the first floor of my home. One of these days I’m going to post a whole house walk through so you can fully grasp the unique layout of the whole home, but for now I’ll just show you pieces. I finished this room a while ago, before I ever started this blog, so I don’t have all the costs handy. I believe the entire Re-Design was about $50.

White…White…and more White…

The tiny space made pictures al little difficult.

When I was in high school/college I worked in an art and framing store. I loved that job. When I was working with customers on framing choices I would swoon over their artwork. One piece of art I fell for was of a Hawaiian dancer. So when my brother got married in Maui a few years later, I went on the hunt for my own Hawaiian art.  That art was the inspiration for this room.

Since the room is small and dark, I wanted a light and refreshing color. I used a quart of Valspar in Bamboo Shoot. It was the perfect shade of Avocado…although that’s not entirely the image I had in my mind when I started this room. I ended up loving the result.

I picked up the towels from Homegoods when I realized the colors were a perfect match. I also picked up a clearance towel rack and basic oil rubbed bronze shower curtain rod at Bed Bath and Beyond.

The shower curtain is a dark brown and something I’ve had from my previous apartment. I also used Plumeria style curtain hooks which tied into the theme perfectly.

Since there is minimal storage in this room, setting the extra towels on the back of the toilet became a functional decoration.

Random Fact: Since I was travelling home by plane the art was triple wrapped in bubble wrap. It came home without a scratch. Within minutes of unpacking, my previous dog jumped up on the bed and stood right in the middle of one print. If you look closely (in person) you can see her nail scratches and footprints. I was mad at the time, but now I love that memory since she has passed.

I believe this is the last room that I finished prior to starting the blog so now you’ve seen it all. The rest of the house is in a state of progress, just the way I like it.

Garage – In Progress

Sometimes the progress is small. Sometimes it’s purchasing a storage unit and finishing some cleaning/organizing,  but that’s still progress in my opinion. A few weeks back I showed you my garage, it was a mess. In the back of my mind, I know it’s going to take a while to collect all the pieces for this room. I want to have it painted professionally (part of the ceiling is too high for me to reach on my own). I want to purchase a heavy duty workbench an add some shelving/more storage. A lot of the things I want to do in this room take lots of $$$ so I’m realistically saying it will take me all year to officially ‘finish’ the garage.

However, I see some progress, and this makes me very happy.

Before:

I had stuff spread everywhere, a big random collection of stuff.

The first step was to dump any trash or damaged items. I’ve also separated out some paint that needs to be sent to a Hazardous Waste site and a box of items set aside for donation.

In Progress:

So far, I’ve organized, cleaned and purchased a storage rack from Costco. I have to say that this storage rack has far surpassed my expectations. I paid about $64 for it, and unless you’re the Hulk, you’ll need at least two people to lift the box. It’s HEAVY!

I was able to build the storage rack by myself, but it would have been useful to have a second set of hands. However, it was well worth all the effort when I was able to cleanly organize everything yesterday…with room to spare.

The workbench I received from Christmas has been moved to the back wall and the dresser was moved over. At some point I’d like to get rid of the dresser, but at this point it’s providing much needed home for small items. I’ve also kept the BBQ and Storage Rack box for now since they act as a great painting station.

Eventually the box, mirror, and umbrella will be replaced with the heavy duty workbench. I hope to add some shelving above the workbench to small items (such as nails, screws, rubber bands) and I want to add storage to the side of the workbench for scrap wood. My scrap wood pile is adding up and it deserves its own home.

The metal storage rack that was displaced by the new storage rack is still in the garage. It’s being saved for house supplies (extra toilet paper, paper towels, drinks, cleaning products, etc). It also holds the dog food container right now.

That is a legal size filing cabinet under the workbench right now. It will eventually go in the office, but it needs to be painted first so I’m keeping in the garage. I’m also thinking about painting the dresser, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort.

I also see some pegboard in the future for this wall.

Yes, that’s the Twilight series books in that cardboard box. It’s on it’s way to someone else’s home (via donation) along with a lot of other stuff currently littered throughout the house.

So that’s it! Progress is moving slowly in this room, but I like it so far.

Design Challenge: Spare Bedroom

Earlier this month I shared my Garage before pictures. What I haven’t mentioned is that I’ve also started redoing the Spare Bedroom this month. The spare bedroom has been a challenge in every way.

When I purchased the home it was all green. The walls were sage green, the carpet was (and still is) sage green. Every room in the house looked the same way, lots of green. The wall color is actually quite nice, but there is just so much of it that it was overwhelming.

At first this room was supposed to be an art/writing studio, not a spare bedroom. I planned on outfitting it with a large drafting desk and a comfortable chair. It was supposed to be a place where I could go and feel artistic. However, a few months after I moved in my brother decided to move across country and offered me a queen mattress/bed frame. My logic brain kicked in and decided that a Spare Bedroom would be smarter than a second office/studio.

In the meantime I had painted the room a mix of lime green and dark DARK grey. It was a great theory, but it looked awful. So if you’re counting, that’s two changes for this room already. In the matter of a few months I had changed the plan from art studio to spare bedroom, and had changed the color from sage green to a green/grey mix.

Once the Spare Bedroom decision was made I thought a neutral color was the way to go, so off to Lowes I went AGAIN.

This time around I picked a light brown. The color really isn’t bad, but I just don’t love it. The bummer is that I had started buying accessories for a brown room.

At some point I realized I had no idea what I was doing so it became a storage room. Most of the time I leave the door closed and try to forget the room is even there.

Even though the brown theme isn’t bad, it’s just not working. Once again I’m left with what felt like a failed design.

I’m not just giving up on this room, so I have a new plan. I realize there is not a a lot of direct light into this room, even with the blinds open. The colors need to be light and I’m going to stick with a neutral theme. I plan on going with white wainscoting/bead board and grey walls. This will keep the room light and allow me to bring in a few fun accent colors.

I’ve already started purging the room and organizing all the random stuff in the pictures above. I also tried my hand at refinishing a standing mirror. This mirror was also given to me by my brother, but the wood color was just a little too light for me. I wanted this piece to be a darker finish to pop against the white moulding.

Unfortunately in true form to this room, my original plan didn’t work. Like everything else with this room, it’s not bad, but I just don’t like it. The wood grain is too dark and the rest of the wood is too light.

Don’t mind the uneven sanding which didn’t help the issue.

So the mirror is on hold for now. My first reaction was to paint it dark brown or break out the ORB, but I don’t know if that’s the right move. I think I might want to bring in the ‘pops’ of color in the mirror so it might end up an aqua color.

I’ve never had a room give me this much trouble before, but I suppose each miss just puts me one step closer to a hit, right? RIGHT? :::sigh:::

In the meantime I’m pulling inspiration from everywhere. This is a little bit of what I’ve found as inspiration for the finished room…here’s hoping things start going right in this room from here on out.

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