My mom was able to come spend 2 whole weeks hanging out with us (she works in a school.. summers are the best!) and, since she was here to help out with the babe.. I put her to work! We had projects upon projects upon projects. It was really fun! So here are a few before and afters of some of the things we did the first week she was here. (We did more, but that will have to be another post!)
This rocking chair was mine when I was tiny. My parents bought it for me at a craft fair when I was maybe 3. Now that I have a tiny one, my mom mailed it to me, and we decided to add cushions (hence.. get rid of the heart cut-out since I have a little boy) and change the finish. The plan was to paint it, but we ended up loving the look of the cushions with the wood. What do you think? I still have the paint we had wanted, it was a grayish-beige-ish color. Actually, the color of the end tables you will see in a minute!
BEFORE: (this chair has seen lots of love!)
AFTER:
What do you think... paint or no?
Recently, Brad and I purchased our FIRST bedroom set. But we did not like the side tables that came with the dressers we picked, so we opted not to buy them. They were HUGE. And, being as we may or may not live in this house past October, also - who knows where we may be next (a house with a tiny bedroom.. or a huge bedroom.. or an in-between bedroom.. or a long skinny room... or a square room... etc) we wanted small side tables. But we just haven't found any we love in the price range we picked. So we are using these ridiculous side tables I bought from a thrift store in college, they are homemade and stained that really ugly orange color. It looked hideous. I don't remember thinking they were so ugly when I was in college, but I suppose I overlooked lots of ugly furniture. Can you say dorm furniture? Ugh. And so, my mom and I used the paint we were going to use on the tiny rocking chair (also, the paint we used when Brad painted the guest bathroom months and months ago) and made them look dece. Take a look.
The before. I know youre shuddering at the ugliness.
And the AFTER:
Also.. I had been having the worst time finding a comforter/duvet/quilt/coverlet/something that I like for our bed, and my mom just happened to have this red one laying around, so she mailed it to me. We decided to make some pillow slip-covers to dress it up, the two patterned ones. The three pillows in the back actually came off my couch (I just recovered them.. a whole other post though!) and I tried them on my bed instead, and turns out - I love them! So... my couch is lacking until I make 3 more that will be just for my bed. Hopefully I can get to JoAnn's tomorrow and do that this weekend! What is your opinion on these pillows? Should I stick with this same exact fabric (it's a creamy colored linen) or should I switch it up? Should I do a grayish color to match the lamps or should I do a different color?
And the whole picture:
Notice my dog under the bench. That is her favorite spot to sleep. She's too funny.
A note about the paint color. I despise the paint color in the master bedroom. You can tell a little bit by looking at these photos, but look a little closer. The top is painted that light gray-blue color, while the bottom is painted a dark almost-teal color. I dont know what the owners were thinking when they painted this bedroom.. or if they used this as a room for their color-blind teenage boy, but it is ugly. I have been so close to shelling out the cash to paint a room I may or may not be in next year, but haven't done it. Mostly because I don't have a ladder, and the ceiling is peaked. If anyone has any brilliant ideas on how to disguise ugly ugly walls without paint, I am more than willing to listen and try them! We are technically not allowed to paint since this is a rental... but I don't really think it is fair of them to say that when the walls are so blatantly personal. I would understand more if they had painted the whole thing neutral, but they did not. The guest bathroom used to be striped bright yellow and pale yellow, with a ducky-wearing-flippers and rain jacket border. That was promptly changed, bathrooms aren't that difficult to paint. Our guest bedroom is lavendar with one dark purple wall. Luckily - i like the colors that they picked for the main living area, so as long as nobody goes into my bedroom or the guest bedroom, everything will be fine. :)
