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 ? 

.

I’m have a love of objects that project glamour, and lately white lacquer is on my mind.  There’s something about the glossy smooth surface and clean lines that had me wanting to incorporate this very modern look in our bedroom.   

For example, this white Parsons desk had me thinking it was the perfect bedside table.

 House Beautiful

so did this white console table. 

 via Elements of Style

Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t quite put my finger on it.  I think my love affair with all things French may have begun when I was younger when I watched Gene Kelly in ‘An American in Paris’.  

Perhaps it was when I lost myself in Peter Mayle’s novel ‘A Year in Provence’ that I devoured many years ago. 

Most certainly, my l’amour was made permanent when I took my first trip to Paris in 1998. 

Whenever it happened, it happened, and my decorating style was forever altered.  I can’t help myself ~ I’m a self professed Francophile.

Despite my love of traditional French decor, I do like to inject a little modern flair, and the new mirror and trellis pattern rug in the living room certainly help.

Read the rest of this entry »

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. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Hiya everyone, thanks so much for all the compliments on the laundry room makeover!  It really is such a rewarding redo for me, it feels so fresh, clean and organized in there – I’ve been washing and folding in anticipation of our getaway this weekend.

Some questions came, up so here we go !

Can you tell me more about how you painted the cabinets? – Lynn

How did you paint the cabinets so quickly and effortlessly?  -Kate

I’ve gotta tell ya gals, for me, painting cabinets is neither quick nor effortless!   It’s actually quite time consuming and labor intensive, because I don’t rush it and I follow several steps.  But in the end, it’s always worth it.   I don’t own a sprayer (yet!), so here’s how I painted these by hand.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lately, I’ve been inspired by several bloggers to embellish some glass objects with frosting.  What finally motivated me were these etched glass wine bottles I swooned over at my favorite shop in St. Helena called ‘Vintage Home’.

Not only did I want to enhance some decor, I also had a practical purpose.  I needed to transform my glass bath cabinet doors from a clear to opaque surface.  So last week I grabbed some of Rustoleum’s ‘Frosted Glass’ spray paint to conduct some experiments.  In the end, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted with the results. 

I must say that this post was almost titled, “Somebody Stop Me”.  When I’m armed with a product that makes me giddy, I need someone to hold my arms tightly against my body, look deep into my eyes, and say to me:   “PUT DOWN THE CAN.  STEP AWAY FROM THE FROSTED GLASS SPRAY PAINT.”   I didn’t stop using the stuff until the can was empty.  And all of the other glass in my home is now breathing a sigh of relief. 

Here are the five glass objects I enhanced with (yet another) can of spray paint. 

Read the rest of this entry »

William Hickson once said, “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.” 

This is the story of my guest studio headboard.  A few months ago, I had an idea to convert some leftover cabinet doors into a headboard by covering them in fabric and mounting them on the wall.  It was a good idea, but the final result did not meet with my satisfaction.   

So I came back for Round Two.  This time, I did it right.  With some plywood, foam, batting and a discount curtain panel, I created a new and improved fabric covered headboard for my guests.  And this time, I trimmed in with some decorative moulding.

Here’s a peek:

Here’s how I created this romantic and feminine French inspired fabric covered headboard. 

Read the rest of this entry »

When we expanded our home three years ago, we added a small studio above our garage.  We wanted to add value by building a separate “granny” unit, and also provide a place for guests.  The studio was intended as a source of future income.  With its own small kitchen, it can be rented out to a tenant, or perhaps even turned into a vacation rental someday. 

For the first two years after our remodel, this space was completely unfinished.  Over the last year, we’ve slowly brought this space up to livability standards.  We even had my folks staying with us while their house was on the market. 

Since we are expecting a boatload of family and friends through the harvest season and holidays, it was high time I provided my guests with a comfortable space.  This weekend I focused on the media wall.  Formerly plain and sad, it is now organized and media friendly.  I built my own media center by repurposing some bookshelves and adding a custom display ledge. 

Here is the Before:

Here’s the After:

Here’s how I did it.

Read the rest of this entry »

I had a little problem.  In my recent attempt to spruce up the guest bedroom space, I realized I had a small closet for my guests, but no dresser.  And the end table next to the bed was a bit small.  So when I spied a small three drawer chest at the local thrift for $13 dollars, my brain clicked into gear. 

Now most people would walk past this piece, and for good reason.  It had a spotty black paint job with gold trim and gold hardware.  It’s a Dorothy Draper knock off, but I’m just not a fan of this paint job.  Funny, because I typically adore classics.  I really loved the lines and the design, just not the traditional black and gold paint - this color combination was simply unsuitable for my blue and white space.

I’m all about freshening a classic piece with great lines in a new and modern way, and I am not alone. 

I loved the detail of this chest, just not the paint job, so I decided to make it my own.  As much as I long to paint everything white, I like to mix it up with dark wood tones or pieces painted something other than white.  

Read the rest of this entry »

One month ago, I bought a spindly old fashioned twin headboard at the local thrift store with every intention of turning it into a bench.  I’d seen the idea traveling around on some blogs, and loved it.  The headboard cost me a total of $12 dollars.

After some thought, I decided I had less use for a bench, and greater use for a coat rack in my guest space.  I had a bare wall, so why not fashion the headboard into a rack for scarves, sweaters, jackets, robes, or hats for my guests ?   You may recall, I’ve done this before, turning a footboard into a message center with some white and chalkboard paint.   

So I decided to do it again, but this time with a headboard.  I also used a different paint technique to give my coat rack an antiqued look.  Now, the twin headboard has been transformed into an architecturally decorative piece, providing both form and function. 

Follow along and I’ll show how I turned this:

into this: 

Read the rest of this entry »