Yesterday I promised I’d show you my finds from Sunday’s local Antique Fair.  Okay, here goes. 

First, I found these huge genuine crystals at a lamp dealer, and haggled him into selling me six of them for $12.  [Total steal, cause these puppies retail for $7 to $10 a piece.]  

I dismantled one of my broken necklaces, and used it to attach the six almond shaped crystals to my dining room chandelier. 

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I love all things Paris. Not Hilton. The City. 

My downstairs half bath, or powder room, is only 7 feet long by 3 feet wide.  Needless to say, it is a very small space.  When I redid la toilette, I wanted to give it a light, airy feeling, and also a little French flair.  

On the wall color choice, I took the easy road, and I painted it about six months ago ‘Silver Sage’ by Restoration Hardware.  I also added a curtain I found on clearance for $49 while picking out the paint.  It is the Etched Filigree drape, done in what Restoration Hardware calls “the French devoré manner—a process that burns out fabric, leaving a lacy design”.  The color of the drape?  You guessed it: Silver Sage.

The filigree drape doesn’t provide much privacy, so we do have a pull down shade any guest can access.  However, there is a very large bouganvilla plant outside that obstructs anyone’s view in, and also provides a garden view from the inside.

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You regular CG readers know I have a five year old daughter.  Her room is in transition – from baby blue to big girl pink, brown and green.  Last week, we painted her room.   Here I am, helping to get rid of that baby blue.  (My friend made me wear that unbelievably lame charming red handkerchief for the photo…)

My girl’s closet was also in need of a major makeover.  Sad to say, I had neglected it for too long.  I just threw everything behind two sliding closet doors and ignored the big problem while I ate Twinkies and watched Days. 

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We are fortunate to have a bonus space in our home.  When we were first married, we used this space as a formal dining room.  When the munchkins were born, we gave up our formal dining room to have a toddler playroom, rather than have their toys scattered all over the house. Playskool ruled this roost for several years, until I decided to take the space back.

Here’s the before (notice the exhausted Dad):

Here’s the after:

The whole goal was to create a more mature kid space that would multitask as a place for them to entertain themselves and friends with games, puzzles, watch movies, and do art projects.  The first thing that had to go was the weird pastel paint job.  I chose an earthier color to complement the rest of the house.  It’s a tan based mustardy shade of green called ‘Beachwalk’ by Behr.  The window wall is painted an entire shade darker.  The rug is a pale green, very soft chenille from Home Decorators.

The next big project was the Map Wall.  National Geographic makes a map of the world in “earth-tone” colors instead of the traditional red/blue color scheme as seen in most classrooms. It was $99, and this map covers a 10 x 6.5 ft space.  When you consider the price of art for an entire wall, this was relatively cheap.  Instead of applying adhesive to the back like wallpaper, I stapled it to the wall with a stapler, then trimmed it in a moulding from Home Depot that I spray painted Espresso to form a frame around the edges.  We cut it with a miter saw and applied it to the wall with a nail gun.

A wall map make a great backdrop to any guest room, office, kid’s room, or basement wall.  It is educational and quite a conversation piece for all who enter.  The sofa is bone colored leather from Jennifer Convertibles.  It folds out for overnight guests or impromptu slumber parties.  The coffee table was a floor sample – it provides more storage, and another place to play, or have snacks.

For a more updated tour of this space, visit this post where we installed a floating shelf art gallery wall.

This room can also be seen featured on Young House Love and on Apartment Therapy’s OhDeeDoh]