The Master Bedroom Redo

My mom commented after seeing the last blog that it's true, my bedroom does need a little something.  I totally agree.  The first thing on the agenda is to repaint the nightstands and perhaps get new lamps. First repainting.  I sanded down the nightstands, primed and painted them the same color as the wall, Kansas Grain (Home Depot).  I then sanded them down to get them to look like they were beat up and then I applied a glaze to them in a tabacco color.  The finished product is looking pretty good - and Balin is happy to have a nightstand back after 2 weeks. (My projects are never quick - especially when I only do them at night when Balin is on a trip)

This is the nightstand before I refinished it.  The black actually was helpful in making the piece more interesting when I refinished it. 

I also found an old, pine armoire that I think I'm going to purchase and refinish in the same way as the nightstands.  It will give us some much needed storage.  It will also serve as a space to give some accesories some height.  

The last thing I think the bedroom needs is new shelves.  I would like to redo the hanging shelves we have now with some detailed trip and then distress them.  Balin's not sold on the idea.  We'll see.  

From there I think I will paint the bathroom a blue to match the coverlet and get some drapes that tie everything together. 

We're getting there one room at a time. 

The Yard in April

I spent some time in the past two weeks taking plants from the Twin Oaks garden and transplanting them into the Park garden.  I also planted 20 roses from Heritage roses - all old fashioned and fragrant.  I bought $250 worth of heirloom flower seeds and have started planting those; poppies, sweet peas....yummy.  I still have lots and lots of seeds to plant when the danger of frost is past.  Today we have 3 inches of snow on  the ground so I think we have a couple weeks till all danger of frost is gone. :)

This is the picture of our front yard when we moved in.  Nice but kind of plain and very little privacy.

 Same view with improvements.

A Real Look at the Park House

I could post on this blog shiny, edited photos that make me drool, but today is a glimpse into the real life of the Park House.  I went through the house with my camera this morning - without cleaning or picking things up - and took photos of rooms that so need to be made into something.  It's good for me to put it out there - my house, yard, life - all of it - are not perfect.  Far from it.  But I really can't let an imperfect life get in the way of living - that's ridiculous.  My devotional the other day said that I need to focus on what is good, lovely, right, kind and give thanks for those things and stop worrying/thinking about what I want or what I don't like.  So this post is a kind of "puttin' it out there", humbling myself to say I don't have it all together/done and I'm good with that.  I'm enjoying and am thankful for the process.

 The mantle is desperately in need of something...

 Oh Master Bedroom, I desire that you would be an amazing quiet space to rejuvenate.  Not even remotely there yet..

Maybe something like this:

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

I like having a space to sit and read in my room, but this chair, which worked so great in my old house, doesn't do anything for this room. 

 

The empty wall between the entry door and the bathroom door.  Notice the lame, cheap blinds on the windows....something must be done!

 Impressive that Balin can run a business out of this space.  But it is my craft/sewing/office that he's borrowing.  It too needs some panache.

  This my friends is the future library/piano room.  Can't you see wall to wall bookshelves?  The space has been improved upon - it was sage green.  I painted it a creamy white and made red, striped, linen drapes for the room.  It has such potential.

 Here's another view of the front room. What a mess.  Notice the guinea pig cage to your right.  He's up for grabs if anyone wants a rodent that knows how to buck. Seriously.  It's kind of cute. 
The front room is going to be a game room, hopefully as soon as this Monday when a friend brings over an air hockey table their no longer using.  I'm thinking built-in cabinets flanking the french doors on the far side of the room for all the games.  A all-in-one game table in the center of the room with bar stools for seating.  I'm thinking of asking a friend if I can borrow her electronic dart board to see if the kids play it.  The hope is that the kids will congregate here and play interactive games together verses video games (which I am resisting).  I figure we have a few years of everyone playing games together and this would be a great place to do it.  In the future this could be something of a parlor but for now we need a place to play.

The same room as above but viewing it from the french doors.  Such a great room with such potential.

The couch.  It's a little frumpy looking to me.  It's a maroon and gold stripe, which isn't so bad and it shows no dirt or dog hair, which is a plus.  But it's just kind of blah.  The goal is to find some fabric, thinking light colored linen, and redo it in slipcovers.  I've done some research on light/white slip covers and think they would work for our family.  Stanley is my only concern - well and my lack of enthusiasm for doing laundry.  This couch could be so....yummy in a neutral color with some spectacular, colorful pillows. 

The kitchen bookshelf.  I wish I had before pictures of this bookshelf. It was a 80's oak that was boring.  Now the bookshelf looks great but the space above the bookshelf needs some love.  What should I put there????

The blank buffet wall.  This is a 10' space that really, really wants something spectacular in it.  I'm thinking of taking unfinished Home Depot cabinets, distressing them in black, putting bead board in the doors, on the shelves and sides, cute pewter knobs...making a thick wood counter top that is trimmed out.  Putting feet on the bottom of the cabinets to make it look like a piece of furniture.  In the center putting a stainless steel beverage refrigerator and flanking it with a set of drawers.  I'm thinking that if Balin and I do the work ourselves, we can do it for under $1700 - that includes a $1000 fridge.  In the picture below there is a base cabinet/island that looks pretty much like what I'm thinking.  It's in the back of the picture behind the dining room table:

 

Pottery Barn

Above the buffet I have a couple of ideas; either build a box frame with partitions to put various items in, like plate racks or to hold serving dishes.  It would be black also.  Or, paint the wall with chalk board paint - frame it so it looks like a picture - put two long wall wine racks on each side - like the picture below.

Pottery Barn

If I go with this idea then I would want to drop a couple of chandeliers where there are currently can lights:

These might be fun, but I was thinking more of a chunky, wood, small chandelier or something. 

Ballard Designs 

This buffet will be a major piece of furniture and will really anchor the room.  I'm excited about putting it together piece by piece as I haven't found anything in stores that is the size I need that is in my budget. (My budget is cheap)

 

If I go with the drop chandelier idea than I will take the current chandelier off the dining room table and put in a row of can lights over the table.  Then I will do this:

Pottery Barn

Now this lighting idea is awesome. Hanging lanterns from a ladder over the dining table.  Talk about an impact.  Very cool and I think it won't cost more than...well it won't be crazy expensive but it won't be cheap.  For the wow factor I think it's worth it.