Moving on....

You may recall I've been slowly but surely working on helping Marc and Lori with their master bedroom makeover.

Well guess what?  It's still not done;)  Thankfully none of us had the expectation that it would get done quickly but sheesh!  I am so ready to post some real before and after pics!  Put two working moms who live 45 minutes away from each other on a project and watch how it moves at a snails pace;)  Our shopping for the room consists of me trying to find time to "get away" and look for pieces that will look good in the room.  I then send her a picture and she says yay or nay.  What did we do before smart phones?

In the meantime we have become a little distracted;)  While I was looking for accessories for their bedroom I saw this rug and thought  " those are the colors Lori was kinda leaning towards for their  living  room".

You see they also want to overhaul their main living area.  At this price and only one available I did what any girl would do and sent her a picture and said do you want me to get this for you?

She said Yay!

I also found these 3 pictures that I thought looked great with it.

She said "yay" again..

I have learned over time that it is easier to start a room based off of a rug or a fabric than to try to find the rug after the fact.  Hence one of the reasons I think I'm struggling finding a rug for the master bedroom makeover.  Oh and when you are looking for a decent price it makes it even more challenging too right?

Anyway, after I found the rug I came home and put together this mood board.

Marc and Lori have had big dark leather furniture and were ready for a change.  It's really fun to have a client that is ready and willing to invest in new furniture too!

Here is the "somewhat before".  Since we hadn't planned on tackling this room until the bedroom was done we don't have a real before.  This is it after she got her brand new 8 x 10 rug home.

Another phone pic of course because that is how we roll!

One of Marc's requests is that we find a recliner for him.  Uh oh...right?  Thankfully recliners aren't all as bad as they use to be.

We also need to make the HUGE tv and console work.  I havent' even started thinking about this area yet.

This is an angled wall to the left of the wall with the t.v.

Anyway, after the rug purchase we got busy talking about and looking for a new sofa, a recliner and an accent chair.  I thought we should lighten it all up a bit and go for a light microfiber since they have a little one and also thought the tufted leather ottoman was a good option for their growing family.  It brings in a cozy element too.  With a large tray they can still sit drinks and what not on it.

We thought we may have to abandon the tufted ottoman when we realized how much it was going to cost!  Thankfully when I sent them to a recent Four Hands sale(I've mentioned my love for this place before and I'm sure I will again) they found this handsome feller..

 Lori texted me a picture and I got to say "yes" this time!

So now we were here....

Lori placed the pics up on the nails where the original wall art was just to see and they sold their furniture on craigslist and viola!  No place to sit in their new room!  We have got to get this done pronto.

Lori's main mission has been to find a light colored microfiber sofa at a good price point and a decent looking leather recliner and she did!  Or shall I say they did..don't want to leave you out Marc.

We are getting there.  She already has the curtains we just need to find a rod that we like.  Then once we get pillows, and lamps and some little finishing touches we are golden!  So exciting to get to this point and who knew I wold love shopping vicariously through others so much.  Since we are in between homes and don't have the budget or the room for new house stuff this has been a great way for me to get it out of my system for sure.

Meanwhile I have changed the mood board a little to pull out the orange in some of the rusty color of the rug and I think we are going this route now.  Can't wait to see how it all turns out and frankly I just can't wait to see if we "get er done!"

Evolution of a Room

Happy Monday all you wonderfully creative and talented people!  

If there is anyone out there that hasn't given up on the bedroom makeover in progress for Lori you will be happy to know I have a little update!  Finally!

Here is a little sneak peak of the mirror and headboard I posted on the facebook page yesterday;)  

Isn't she pretty?!

When we first started these were the pics that Lori sent of their room.  It was a room that they just hadn't gotten around to.  Isn't that how it always is?  The master bedroom almost always seems to be the last room in the house that gets any attention.  Maybe it's because we never get to spend enough time there, or it is tucked away upstairs like Marc and Lori's.

Anywho, here is what you saw when you first walked into the room.

This is what you saw if you stood at the foot of the bed.

These are the nightstands and lamps that Lori acquired from Marc's bachelor days

When Lori and I started chatting about what she wanted for the room there were a couple of things that she mentioned.  She was thinking of a grayish blue for the walls and had spotted a comforter at West Elm that was calling her name.  As I have probably mentioned a hundred times before I am just a wanna be designer.  I usually have no real plan for what we end up doing in our home.  I just see something I like (typically at a very reduced price) and get it if I know I can put it to use somewhere.(back in the day when I was trying to decorate our casa anyway) These days I just keep my eyes peeled for good deals for others and you know what?  It is just as fun!  Anyway there is really no rhyme or reason...It doesn't have to fit some "style".   I just "like" it.  There is also a bit of a tendency to buy things that are a little different.  For instance those two leaves on the wall to the left of the window.  They are made of bark and were different and cheap so I had to swipe them up.

Or that huge "ball o' light" I just couldn't pass up at a Four Hands tent sale.  (If you have a Four Hands in your area consider yourself lucky. We were lucky enough to buy several pieces of furniture back when they would send out 40 or 50% off vouchers)! Bonus!  

I digress...I guess I just feel the need to say...I really don't have a clue what I'm doing.  I just happen to know a couple of people that for one reason or another have faith that I can help them make sense of their spaces.  So back to what Lori wanted.  I put this mood board together with a grayish blue paint and the pin tuck comforter  she wanted.

When we met up to do a little shopping together she brought me a paint sample of Sherwin Williams Ink Well.

Truth be told it is a bit more navy than the above picture and really dark.  My approach in this has been if   Lori is drawn to it lets see how we can use it and I thought it could be a very dramatic change for their room so homework was given and they painted the whole room Inkwell!  Daring?  Maybe...but the room is huge and it works.

We then went to purchase her duvet cover from West Elm.

Then I was out and about looking for some accessories and came across this pretty lady at hobby lobby for 50% off of course.  (pardon the phone pic this is how we shop together...I see something..shoot her a pic, she goes to get it, fun!)

Ok back to that mood board.  The original board depicted a neutral headboard to work off of and some pattern mixed in through pillows and that awesomely cute yellow chair from Target.

Actually while pinning some things on her bedroom pinterest board  I had come across this super cute fabric aviary headboard from Target before I decided neutral would be easier to work with. 

Lori was really drawn to both of the yellow fabrics and she and Marc decided to tackle making a fabric headboard out of a beautiful yellow floral fabric that she found.

Marc has pics of the making of the headboard and the details that I will eventually post about.  But as I am sure you know there are a million make your own fabric headboard tutorials out there in blogland right now.

So you wanna see the first picture that I got to see of the room once they got started?  Again a phone pic but you get the gist! 

That's a bold statement huh?  Oh I can't wait to show you what it evolves into!

From there I continued my adventure in accessory finding and found two pics like these at Home Goods that brought in all the colors we had evolved into looking for.

We then took a fun trip to ikea where she bought this gray and gorgeous Edland dresser that I have loved for a long time.(have I mentioned it is fun to live vicariously through other peoples decorating?)

and this white Malm dresser( don't worry we had plans to dress her up)

We found the lamps at Home Goods and the blanket at Ikea also.  Then onto what has proven to be the most difficult part of this room for me...the pillows!  Pillows are fun right?  They are an easy way to add interest but man they are kicking my bootie here.  I think something just doesn't connect in my brain 

when I try to add more pattern and color on top of the yellow headboard.  Right or wrong it bugs me.

So we started simple with some really neutral pillows .  This off white or taupey color is also found in the art that we scored at homegoods for half the price of what ZGallerie still has them for..woohoo.

Granted everything is thrown together here and lots of missing bits and pieces but it ain't workin...  In order to not get stuck on the pillow issue we move on to the dressers.  We went for actual dressers here instead of nightstands because Marc and Lori needed more useful storage space and they got it for sure.  

You have probably seen these guys all over the blogosphere right?

They are from a brilliant company called O'verlays and you can use them to dress up just about anything!  Especially ikea furniture!

So we did

 Then we hung some thrifty Ikea curtains and rods up and attached them with clips instead of using the tabs, hung the art(still need to remove those pesky price stickers) and we started to see a room come together!

Oh but the pillows:(  In an effort to bring in more of the navy we found these chevron pillows on clearance at West Elm.  Thankfully they were on clearance because I'm not feeling it.

We tried them with the neutral pillows

We took the pillow cases off and tried the white.   Oh and see that bedskirt?  After much thought on what to do about a bedskirt we have decided to take the headboard fabric and turn it inside out just to change it up a bit and tuck it in to see how it looked and we loved it!  Lori is going to tackle finishing off that no sew look soon and we will just be pinning them on because those pesky bedskirts that go all the way under the mattress are annoying anyway right?

Then....

In an effort to try everything we had to make the bed right in my head I asked Lori what she had in her guest bedroom and low and behold..

We threw these babies on the bed and already liked it better

Now I am in the search for a new pillow covers for those pillows in the back but it is finally starting to work I think!  Actually as I look back at the pic of the navy chevron pillows in this post they look pretty darn good...There is something about them in person though. 

So here we are

From here....

To here...

For Now!

  I of course really wanted to have a good old "we finished the whole room check out these before and afters reveal" but I couldn't help it.  I am not that patient.   It is going to be such a great change for them!  A finished room with a little drama and we haven't really even addressed the other side of the room yet.  Stay tuned and see if we get it finished in 2012;)

Linking to

www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com

Between Naps on the Porch

www.aturtleslifeforme.com

www.thegirlcreative.com

www.houseofhepworths.com

www.atthepicketfence.com

www.theshabbycreekcottage.com

www.stuff-and-nonsense.net

www.skiptomylou.org

www.sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com

www.lifemadelovelyblog.com

www.hopestudios.blogspot.com

www.todayscreativeblog.net

www.diyhshp.blogspot.com

www.domestically-speaking.com

www.diybydesign.blogspot.com

www.somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

www.bluecricketdesign.net

www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com

Modernizing our Master Bath

Welcome to our first Master Bath renovation(we were 8 years younger and a bit more aggressive with this one).  It was a much bigger deal than our little mini master bath revamp that I mentioned here.  This baby needed everything! Well almost everything..the only thing we didn't have to rip out was the tile in the bath/shower area.  With a really good scrub down she was just fine.  Oh but the rest of her..well

Look at that pretty vanity, the gorgeous shell sinks, the 80's wall paper, "wood look" toilet seat, peel and stick wood floors(now don't get me wrong there are actually some pretty nice wood look floors out there these days, as a matter of fact we have some in our current casa that we love)etc...you get the picture.  There was also a closet located in the bath that we had to paint and recarpet.

So we started with demo!  I didn't take  many "in the process pictures" but you can see below we obviously tiled the floor with "slate like" ceramic, Made all of the trim out of MDF, replaced all of the doors( I actually spray painted all the door knobs and hinges because those puppies can really add to the budget..in a bad way) and we got another free toilet from the city of Austin like I posted about in our first bath reno.  We removed the wallpaper,  retextured and once again tried a yellow color that I just couldn't make myself like.  Then the hubby built these cabinets out of MDF.  After lots of paint and poly they looked really good and were so inexpensive!

See those lights?  They are super cheap outdoor lights from home depot, the tower cabinet in the middle was from target but it was white so that got repainted and with my makeup mirror on it and all the white goodies inside I think it turned out pretty nice.

The color in these pics looks a bit purple but it was a taupey grayish tone.

In this pic below the door on the right is the little toilet room shown in the first picture and the one on the left was our closet.  Doesn't fresh white trim and new doors make all the difference in the world?

I was never good at keeping up with receipts but this was a very inexpensive yet huge makeover for our first master bathroom and we LOVED how it turned out.

Oh and see that crown molding..we found it at a home materials salvage store and it was made out of styrofoam so it was really easy to work with and affordable too.  Have you guys taken full advantage of MDF in your homes?  It really saved us $$ and allowed us to be able to afford a certain look without the hefty price of wood!..

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