Hiya folks, hope you had a lovely weekend !  Today I’ll show you my step by step for the hand painted trellis pattern on our wall in our bedroom.

I wanted something elegant behind our headboard but also dramatic with a hint of shimmer.  My original idea was to use wallpaper with a subtle metallic pattern, but when I saw Kristen’s wall featured on YHL a few weeks ago, I decided to this was a much easier (and cheaper) way to add the large scale design I wanted without the expense of wallpaper.          

This 13’ x 9’ feature wall was not difficult, but it did take a lot of patience.  I created my own stencil, sketched the pattern on the wall, and then filled in the lines with acrylic craft paint, all in about six hours.  

Supplies: poster board; utility knife or sharp blade; silver colored pencil; level; painter’s tape; craft paint; artist’s Filbert paintbrush. 

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Greetings friends, how about a peek at a few upgrades in our master bedroom ?  It all started with wanting to lighten the fabric on the headboard I made last year.  I also wanted to change the shape of the headboard, and paint the walls a deeper hue with Benjamin Moore’s ‘Nantucket Gray’. 

Rather than the expense of wallpaper behind the headboard, I decided to add this trellis pattern that I stenciled and hand painted  ~ I was inspired by Kristen’s hand painted wall I saw a few weeks ago. 

We still have the same chandelier, but the subtle shimmer from the painted pattern on the accent wall adds even more interest and glamour.  

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I had every hope of finishing up all the final touches in my master bedroom over the weekend, but as fate would have it, nada was accomplished.  Instead, I took some leisure time, and I’m so glad we got out and enjoyed ourselves.   

Instead of finishing the space, we went out wine tasting in Sonoma and had the best time ever.  The weather was perfect, the kids were angels, the wine was cold, the cheese was stinky, and the evening ended so well, I crashed on the couch with the kids, all of us completely wiped.  It was heaven. 

But our bedroom remains a complete disaster zone, with laundry and ladders and paint cans and tarps everywhere.   I had a crazy idea to repaint the entire room last week in ‘Nantucket Gray’ by Benjamin Moore.  It’s the perfect shade of medium gray with a hint of olive.  My poor husband has been so patient with me while I try to give this room a facelift. 

One of the upgrades I was eyeballing were these lamps at Z Gallerie, they’re delicious. 

But then I found a pair of lamps for 1/3 the price at Marshalls ~ loved the shape, but of course I wanted them white ! 

I got this idea from Janell to spray paint some curvy lamps a glossy white, and I absolutely love the final result ! 

$40 lamp from Marshalls:

Love !

I spray painted with Rustoleum’s ‘Gloss White’ (heart!), and removed the brownish band from the shade.   Then I hand painted the champagne stripe at the base to make it pop off the dresser. 

So modern !  So purty ! 

Did you happen catch the sneaky peek at the hand painted wall treatment ?  If you follow my tweets, you’d have seen my inspiration link for it last week !  The bedroom should come together very soon, fingers crossed.

Today I’m off to Restoration Hardware ~ ordinarily I don’t shop there because they’re a little pricey, but I’m holding in my paint covered hands a gift card and their linens are on sale !  Aw, yeah.  Gotta love how my hub redeemed some miles from his business Am Ex to bring me a RH gift card.

He must have been listening when I kept saying how much I love their Belgian Washed Linen Quilt and Shams, and how I kept repeating after ten years, how much we really deserve something nice for our bedroom. 

Or maybe it was the page from the catalog that I taped to his side of the mirror.

I’m just subtle like that. 

I’m torn between Fog, White, and Orchid.  Decisions, decisions !  

What have you spray painted lately ? 

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I often like to rearrange the furniture, and while I’m at it, just throw some new paint on the walls.  It’s a very serious yet incurable condition ~ fortunately, my hub has adjusted to these sudden whims I have.

A few months ago, I repainted the kids playroom a pale green color.  It’s a combination of the leftover BM ‘Camouflage’ from the kitchen, mixed with some of the green leftover from these cottage chairs. 

The other day I was at Tarjay and found these modern stacking green chairs for the kids’ play space ~ I just love the pop of fresh color they bring to this room.   I’m also loving this Dash & Albert Caravan Stripe rug ~ it was meant to go upstairs in the boy’s room, but it’s just going to have to live here for a little while. 

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Awhile back, it was my grand idea idea to spruce up the living room walls with some traditional panel and picture frame wainscoting – in fact, it was my specific “please, oh please, honey can we please” request for Mother’s Day.  I managed to catch the Mister at a weak moment, and with a little charm and a lot of begging, he agreed to take on this project. 

We started our adventures in wainscoting back in May, and over the course of several weekends, we were finally able to finish, whew ! (dramatically swiping hand across brow)  There was some intense labor involved, some minor curse words muttered, a few panel do overs, plenty of cutting, a whole lotta caulking and spackling, and then there was all that priming and painting. 

I need to sit down, that was exhausting. 

Here’s the first peek:

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I love it when a plan comes together !  I’ve been working on the living room all week, mostly the wainscoting, but one of the other pieces I also wanted to makeover was my brown velvet settee.  I love the shape of this piece – it fits on the wall next to the fireplace to perfection, but I was sooooooo done with the dark brown color.  Rather than pay big bucks to have it reupholstered, I decided, for now, to simply slipcover it. 

I’ve mentioned before that my sewing skills are limited, but over time, I’ve been challenging myself to take on more intermediate sewing projects – this was certainly one of them.  I confess, I’ve admired the slipcovers across blogland for a long time, but this is my first attempt at slipcovering a piece of furniture myself.  After four days of piecing it together, bit by bit, I’m pretty satisfied with my new summer linen slipcover. 

Lovely readers, meet my little settee and her pretty new linen slipcover. 

Before:

After:

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For the longest time, I’ve been wanting to create a chess/checkerboard table for our own family room, so how excited was I to see one of my cousins actually take on this project herself !  I’m lucky to be Stephanie’s cousin by marriage, and I just love how with a little ingenuity, she transformed someone else’s discarded end table into a chess game table with two types of stain and imagination !  

The best part is, this was her first DIY project.  Bravo Stephanie ! 

Here is Stephanie’s DIY story:

“I found this table no one wanted next to a dumpster and I thought it would be fun to transform it into a chess/checkerboard table, an idea inspired by a table at my local coffee shop. 

The table had a lot of water marks, the finish was peeling, and one panel of the table was uneven.  So, a friend and I brought it home and set to work to transform it. 

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Greetings friends, happy Friday !  You all know I’m on a lavender kick lately as I’m harvesting my plants in my garden.   I’ve made plenty of bouquets this week to give to all my neighbors and friends.  My entire house is filled with the scent right now.

Lavender is one of the most soothing herbal remedies, so much so it helps you sleep better !   So this week, I put my dried lavender to good use by making some eye pillows with linen fabric and simple embroidery.  

Here’s my step-by-step how I made these lavender eye pillows:

Supplies:  Fabric of choice; fabric lining (optional); dried lavender (approx 1.5 cups for each pillow); organic rice or flax seed; sewing machine; embroidery hoop & thread (optional); ink jet printer; scissors; masking tape; cardstock. 

First, I cut my linen fabric to approximately 8” x 10”, then used masking tape to attach it to cardstock.  Make sure your fabric is perfectly flat to the cardstock or it will cause a paper jam.   

Next, I centered this image below in a Word document, then ran it through my computer printer !     Printing with black ink comes out dark brown on the linen. 

Note, the ink when dry is steadfast to the fabric and won’t run, but try not to get it wet, because it can bleed just a bit. 

I hand embroidered the details of the lavender sprig to the linen with a small hoop and some deep purple thread. 

Next, I cut some fabric lining to the same size as my linen, then sewed my lining and printed linen inside out on three sides.  The lining is optional, but I think it helps keep the outside fabric texture smoother to the touch, especially if using these on your eyes.   

To create lavender filling for pillows, combine 2 parts dried lavender to 1 part organic rice or flax seed.  You can use less lavender if necessary, but I have plenty so that’s my math and I’m sticking to it.   If you’re short on lavender, you can also use essential oils to enhance the scent of your flax seed or rice filling. 

Fill your pillow with the lavender mixture, then hand sew fourth side together.

That’s it, easy peasy !

Use them for relaxation, headache tension, or even tucked in your pillowcase or bureau drawer.   And did you know lavender is a natural moth deterrent ?  Place them in your closet as a repellant !  Or just leave them next to your bed as a soothing scent to drift away to slumber. 

Here’s the best part !  I’m giving FIVE of them away to you, my lovely readers, PLUS a bundle of fresh lavender, from my garden to your door. 

To be eligible, simply leave a comment – the FIVE winners will be chosen by Random.org.  Giveaway ends Monday June 21st at 8 p.m. 

******  THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED  ******

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So as I was touring the backyard the other day, I realized there’s definitely some sprucing that needs to happen, especially with guests coming on the Fourth. 

As I meandered up the hill behind the grapevines, I was reminded of the thrift store bistro set I found a couple of years ago that I had every intention of refinishing but I just never got around to it.   The set sits on a little gravel patio that has a great view of the vines, but it certainly been been neglected.  After leaving the bistro set out all winter (so dumb), the set was, how shall I say . . . . what’s the word ?  . . . oh yes.  

GROSS. 

I meant there was moss growing on top of the table, the paint was chipping everywhere, and it was covered in spiderwebs.  ICK. ICK. ICK. 

So I decided the time had come to give it a makeover.  I convinced myself I’d have a fresh new set in no time at all with just a little paint and fabric.   Well, that’s what I did, repainted and recovered the seats.  But in the middle of my revamp, something rather unexpected happened.  Something I hate to relive.  But you’ve just got to know. 

First, take a looky loo at this retro bistro set Before:

And After:

Purty, huh ? 

It’s just such a great set for sitting and watching the grapes grow. 

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Hey everybody, how’s your week shaping up ?  Mine is soooo full of activity -  I’ve got one daughter finishing kindergarten and another graduating from high school this weekend – how crazy is that ?  It makes for plenty of excitement around these parts. 

Last week, I finished the laundry room makeover, and many of you inquired about the window treatment.  Here’s the play-by-play on how I made this fixed flat fold shade.

The room is on the second story and never in need of darkness.  I’ve made roman shades before, but this time I made it a fixed shade.  Yep, it’s true, this one’s a big fat faux, fake & phony – it doesn’t go up and down.   I wanted just the ‘look’ of a functioning flat fold roman shade since I never intended to raise or lower it for light control.   When I was researching fixed shades online, I found this fantastic tutorial by Darby and I was completely inspired.  

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