Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Getting Inspiration from a Junk Sister and a vintage tin




Our girl Cassie did such a beautiful job re-vamping her craft room...
(Seriously!! scroll down if you haven't seen it!)
She carved out a great space for herself,
she did it her way!
...and we all know that there will be lots of

cottage-y, funky, fabulous-ness coming out of there in no time!
BRAVO.

It got me to open my eyes & take a good look at my creative space...
(and, at this stage, I use the term "creative" very loosely)
My space is the one I tend to shut the door on...OFTEN.

Life as a junk girl is not always pretty!!
But, I am going to follow Cassie's lead..and bare. my. soul.

I am cringing! Welcome to the "armpit" of my house:




It has no windows, and it's kind of dark.
The green was picked out by a little girl I used to know
(she is 17 now)...and I am just not lovin it.

I wonder why I feel claustrophobic in there!?!
Between the twin bed, all my junk/stuff/treasures,
and the hodge-podge of furniture
trying to corral them,
the walls just start to close in on a girl.



It is a very UN-INSPIRING 9' x 14' junky mess. UGH.
Such a waste of a room.

There is no doubt that I need to re-think the way I am trying to store things:
One wall of floor to ceiling storage would probably make more sense
than this old dresser with a door on top.

Look at all of that wasted storage space on the upper part of the wall.


...and I don't even want to talk about this corner. Lots of purging to be done here.
Look at that crazy mix of furniture
..old desk, wire cubby, handmade wall unit, ...it's just not working for me,
actually, i think it is working against me!!
It's hard to stay focused in there, there is just too much going on.


Cassie...thanks for opening my eyes!
Your room has lots of room to breathe and think ...and create.

...and I want one too!


I've been thinking about what I need and what I want my room to be.
I need it to be functional with lots of easy to manage storage.
I want it to be fun & graphic....with a touch of junky goodness,
a sprinkling of industrial flavor...and a vibe that draws. me. in.

I found this old tin at a Flea Market



I L.O.V.E. the color story of this old tin.
(I am not fond of "gold" in my home furnishings, so
I'm going to call it a golden "caramel" with robins egg blue.)
To me, these are fresh & happy colors.
I love how they pop against the white flowers.
I love the unexpected masculine lion head, ...but overall, it's still pretty.
The tin is metal & industrial but the flowers soften it up...
I love the contrast.
I think this will be my inspiration for the room.


Time to roll up my sleeves & get busy.
First on the list: purging!
Second: a large rug to hide the yucky checkerboard floor of despair!

I'm just not feeling it like I was 20 years ago :l

A rug will make it cozier anyway.


Fresh White/off white walls will brighten it up..
Touches of robins egg blue...
Touches of caramel...

Some industrial junk to bring in a little masculine vibe
and some fabrics to add some girly comfort.

I have an idea for a large shelving unit
To get this accomplished, I want to "use what i got".
Well, what I got is a LOT of old doors...and I mean A LOT OF OLD DOORS!
If I mix them with some plumbing pipe, I may just be able to
get it done "on time & under budget" ;)

And a work table is in order, that is for sure.

I may add a touch of these, just for fun:
I love peacock feathers.


and a pinch of this:

cause I want to bring in only things I LOVE.
(....so that I will LOVE going in there!)

So, wish me luck.... I have a box of empty trash bags and I'm going in!
You will be the first to know when it is finished!

Friday, January 27, 2012

This Bathing Beauty has great legs!

This vintage bathtub didn't start out nearly as cute.
Actually, for quite a while, I wondered why I had even purchased her.
She had a unique shape...she was an interesting find...
but she was just so plain!
I had no idea what I could do to bring out her inner beauty....
She definitely needed some help!
See what I mean!?


There was a thick, sloppy coat of white paint on the exterior.
I scraped off a bit to see what kind of metal I was actually dealing with.
I figured that raw metal would be much more appealing
than gloppy white paint, so the stripping began.
I not only got a good workout, and I mean a fabulous workout,
(..that paint was industrial strength!!)
but I got a speck of remover in my eye...so wear those goggles girls!!!
I certainly learned my lesson.

I cleaned and sanded the interior, sealed the seams
and gave it a fresh coat of white paint....

But she still needed something....
hmmm...she definitely was not a claw foot tub...but
maybe claw foot legs would do the trick.


Oh Yeah!
This was a case where the raw metal & the legs made all of the difference!
Now she's got some style...some patina even!
...and the legs made her one of a kind.
I love her now.


Here she is displayed at JunkFest, where she was sold.
I have no idea what her new owner decided to use her for.

I could picture her in a garden filled with flowers.
...or wouldn't she make a fabulous prop in a store window?

Or maybe she was purchased to hold ice and bottles of wine
or champagne at a junk-styled wedding!
...now, wouldn't that be awesome!?


Sunday, January 8, 2012

A year and a "hack" later....

Back in January 2011, I bared my soul with you all in this post about my sewing room....vowing to get things in order and show you the "after."

Here's a shot of the "before" to help jog your memory. If you're not too afraid, I suggest you go back and read the original post.
One year later, and a really cheap PB hack, here's how the room looks today:
I knew I needed some better storage solutions to hold the necessities for all the hobbies I keep diving into: sewing, quilting, paper crafts, etc. After doing the research, I decided the Martha Stewart craft room furniture from the Home Decorators catalog would fit the bill. While waiting for the (un-assembled) furniture to arrive, I painted the room a warm tan. With the shutters closed, and at different times of the day, the color appears a little more fleshy than it actually is.


I am proud to report that I put each and every piece of this furniture together BY MYSELF, thankyouverymuch. The instructions were very easy to follow and I'm quite happy with the storage each cabinet provides.

I built a shelf from a simple board and wooden brackets and painted it white. My intent was to run a dowel through a hole drilled in each bracket to hold spools of ribbon, but the weight of 40 spools of ribbon made the dowel sag in the middle! So the ribbon is now neatly stacked on the shelf, which works just as well.

Below is the desk I made using some unique old table legs found at an auction, and an old 5 panel door.
A comfortable place to blog and surf...
Wire baskets hold future projects and past issues of magazines that I can't part with.
My little sewing corner. I can pull the sewing cabinet out and extend the table for more room.
Or sit and smile at the sweet baby face of someone dear...
The cabinets on the other side serve as storage for sewing supplies (fabric, serger, etc.) and my cutting table.
Thrift store frames painted black house graphic black & white scrapbooking paper for a wall collage.
Here's where the hack comes in. Both Ballard Designs & Pottery Barn sell bulletin boards covered in burlap. I found just the size of bulletin board I needed at the 2nd hand store for two bucks. I had the burlap on hand from another project, so all I needed were the upholstery tacks.
All I did was remove the wooden frame from the cork board,
and cover in ivory colored burlap, staple the back side and glue on a picture hanger.
Twenty minutes and $4 later.....

Below my cutting table are a couple of vintage suitcases that hold quilting patterns and magazines.
In the corner sits a chair that my husband used as a child. On the chair is a pillow crafted by my mother that depicts my childhood home.
Hand stitching, applique and embroidery give the pillow dimension. I love this!
The entry to my sewing room. The cabinet is very special to me as well, and holds some prized heirlooms.
The cabinet was once my grandfather's and refinished by my mom. The sewing machine on top came from Norway in 1880 with my husband's ancestors.
Old photos of my parents and vintage McCoy pottery that holds fabric, notions and other vintage trinkets:
Vintage quilts sewn by both mine and my husband's grandmothers:
My goal was to get this room done in 2011, and in all actuality, I did. Just needed to tweak some things here and there. I'm happy with how the room came together and I finally enjoy spending time here creating.
Thanks for your patience! Had I not posted "the ugly truth" I would never had finished it!
Linking up to BNOP's Met Monday here.
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