Guest Bedroom/Library

Star Crossed Lovers

Published on March 14, 2013March 14, 2013 by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

Sometimes Pinterest is a blessing and a curse. Seeing perfectly styled rooms can be overwhelming. But it also opens a world of inspiration we might not have seen otherwise. I stumbled across this Coronata Star wallpaper and it stuck with me. Somehow, I had to use that pattern in our house. Ah-ha! The guest room needs a new curtain, why not there? So that’s what I did. I sewed a rectangle panel to fit inside the window on a tension rod. Then stenciled my heart out, following these same steps.

Some areas are patchy, others had some bleed through, but I’m still happy with the look.

I thought about fashioning a Roman type shade, but nixed the idea. Instead I used ribbon and buttons I already had in my stash. 18 inches of white ribbon stitched to the back.

And a button stitched to the front for a place to loop the ribbon through. Though I’m not thrilled with the buttons. I don’t think the ribbon button hole will hold up to everyday use. A snap closure might be a better option.

A thin wood dowel in the bottom lets the curtain hang straight and gives something to roll the fabric around.

The inside mounted fabric shows off the trim (that will stand out even more once we paint the walls).

And a touch of pattern that makes me smile.

Usually I lean toward floor to ceiling curtains, but in this room, I’m diggin’ the rolled panel. What do you prefer?

12 More Inches

Published on March 13, 2013March 13, 2013 by Our Humble Abode35 Comments

Our guest bedroom (currently Handy Sammy’s room) is small. Not even 10 feet wide by 11 feet long, including the foot deep bookshelf. And it doesn’t get a ray of direct sun light, so it can be dark sometimes.

Add in furniture and fill the bookshelves and it’s one cluttered, dark little room lacking real storage and organization.

I found a pint-sized dresser, for more storage space. But it took up valuable floor real estate. And left a tiny walk way between it and the bed.

We had always planned to notch out the bookshelves, pushing the bed against the wall. Spurred by the new dresser, we started a few weekends ago. It took me an hour and five laundry baskets to clear off the shelves.

We drew a quick sketch and talked about our plan and options. And then Ben worked his magic and Sawzall. It worked best for us to cut out the vertical supports, leaving the tops.

This allowed us to keep the shelves above the bed the same width and reuse the cut pieces as side supports.

The old shelves cut down to fit the narrower sides.

A new piece at the top framed out the bed opening. To brighten up the room, we painted everything bright white.

For function, Ben added an outlet on either side of the bed, inside the bookshelf.

Sconces (these specifically, hung upside down, though I would have loved to have these if clearances weren’t an issue) replace the old table lamps, giving ample reading light while keeping clutter off shelves.

With the bed pushed against the wall, we gained 12 inches of floor space.

Obviously we’re not finished. Here’s what’s still on my to do list:

Let shelves dry before loading contents back on

Find the right paint color (hence the Technicolor walls) – jeesh, finding a warm gold that isn’t too green or orange is tough!

Install new baseboard, crown, and door trim

Sew a bed skirt

Hang the headboard

Pick out an overhead light and install it

Box Tops {Lidded Storage Boxes}

Published on March 7, 2013March 12, 2013 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

But not the box tops for education. Instead, building tops for these $3 boxes from Target’s dollar spot. These plain wood boxes are the perfect size for Handy Sammy’s bookshelf/nightstand storage. But I wanted lids to hide everything inside. So I looked in the garage and found a scrap of 1/4 inch MDF that was slightly larger than my box. In a word, perfect.

I measured the outside of the box and the inside.

And cut four pieces. One piece the same size as the outside, and another 1/4 inch smaller than the inside, for both boxes. Plenty of wood glue to attach the two pieces and wait for it to dry.

Then I started painting. I’m a rebel and skipped primer, but it would help. And sand the boxes quickly. I wanted something similar to these lacquer boxes, so I covered the edges with gold craft paint.

After the gold dried, I marked off 1/4 inch on all sides, then taped off the corners.

Mysterious blue paint and primer left over from the mini dresser covered nicely.

I still want to spray the boxes for a smoother, glossy finish, but I love how they look.

To make it easier on myself, I painted the inside of the boxes blue and the covers all gold.

As we tackle projects for the guest room, I’m getting more antsy to finish it. Because I want to see everything together. If you’ve got a tray you’d like to cover, this was as easy as two cuts. What do you think? Are you willing to give it a try? Or have you done something similar?

How Low Do You Stow?

Published on March 6, 2013March 6, 2013 by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Storage. Everyone needs it, but not everyone has enough. As is the case in our little guest bedroom that Handy Sammy now lives in. Well, not this week because he’s on spring break, but usually. Actually, his break is the reason we’re working in this barely touched since we moved in room.

By far the smallest bedroom we’ve ever had, coming in at a whopping 9 feet 9 inches wide by almost 11 feet long (including the bookshelf depth). The closet is proportionate to the room, just about three feet wide.

And it has to work for a young college kid with clothes, books, backpacks, and other necessities. The current storage system is lacking, to say the least. Left over mismatched bins on the top shelves hold socks, t-shirts, and more.

A small shoe rack holds extra shoes, but there’s little room to store backpacks and other large items.

Once Handy Sammy returns, he can fill the mini dresser I refinished, hopefully giving more room at the top of the closet to stow bags and such.

But we did take out the nightstand, so it’s a trade. Gain some floor space, making the room feel larger, but lose a drawer of small storage space.

I do have a loose plan. Instead we’ll make more space on the bookshelves. One shelf of magazine files for notebooks/paper and another for books. The shelf at bed height will function now as a nightstand. I’m working on a few boxes for that shelf to store small items, too.

Under bed storage bins (for 8 bucks a piece) can hold anything shorter than 8 inches. Out of season clothes, school supplies, or other oddities. That should help until we get a chance to build a bed frame with drawers below.

Clearly we have some work to do here, like get/make a bed skirt (in addition to other things). And, if you look carefully, you can see one change we started over the weekend.

Handy Sammy isn’t picky, but I’d like to make this room functional, clutter free, and pretty. We’ve never had to think about the needs of a teenager, so if you have any small storage ideas, please share.

Sconce Free in 201-Three

Published on January 28, 2013January 28, 2013 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

In addition to installing trim (more on that soon), Ben made a quick swap that makes me smile. It seems the previous owner had a love affair with sconces. The more traditional, the better. Sconces in the bathroom, the living room, family room, master bedroom, hall, and guest bedroom.

I’ve had enough with the unnecessary sconces. Time for a simple change; a semi-flush mount fixture we took with us when we moved and a few blank covers.