Master G's Nautical Room

Ahoy Mateys....It be time for Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage. Argh...Git yer peg leg strapped on an' sail over ta spy ye treasure trove o'salty good projects!

When we moved into this house, Master G had to accept a slightly smaller room than in the last house. The room was painted with a cheap, flat beige builder's paint...don't even get me started on that! His last room was nautical, but I thought it would be fun to make this one a Narnia room. He was ok with the idea, but being a little homesick asked for his nautical stuff back. Ok by me...I didn't have to find or make accessories for a new room. His Dad built a platform bed so he'd have more room to play but he didn't like sleeping up high, so we added rails to make a bottom bunk on it. Now he has enough room for a buddy to sleep over.G wanted to paint something, so I put him to work painting the bed a nice nautical red. I found all the paint at The Home Depot in the oops section. Each gallon only cost $5. I bought white semi gloss paint {not that it was oops, but was dented}, red semi gloss paint, a blue satin finish. Each gallon was only $5, plus the primer {$12}. I spent a grand total of $27 for paint.Here's the finished bed...I found the curtains at a yard sale for $1. I just tacked them up with thumbtacks.I painted some old Navy buttons I'd picked up, and stitched them onto the curtains for a nice tailored detail.The two kid's bedrooms didn't have a ceiling light wired in...only an outlet wired to the light switch. We took down this metal light fixture from the dining area to put up a chandelier. I thought it looked pretty nautical so we wired it for a plug. I added the fabric sleeve to hide the wire where we spliced them together. The fabric is a small blue and white stripe.We picked up an antique child's desk for $15 at a yard sale several years ago. It was a blah dark brown color and needed refinishing. A little red and white paint freshened it right up. Master G's collection of model ships sits on a shelf above his bulletin board that I covered in the blue and white stripe. I added more painted Navy buttons to the corners for interest. The little milking stool came from my grandparent's farm.To the right of the desk is the closet. It had sliding doors. Question of the week...Why would anyone want to only ever access half the closet at a time? Ok, I digress......I took the doors off and treated the closet like part of the room. The boxes on the shelf are copy paper boxes {snagged for free from my DH's office}. I used a $5 nautical themed wallpaper border on the bottom and painted the tops. I use them to store G's off season clothes. The dresser came from a yard sale for $10. It was brown and also needed refinishing. Two good coats of red paint did the job. I added melamine shelving to hold completed Lego projects.To the left of the desk, next to the window, is G's rocking chair. This is the one I used in my nursery to rock both my babies. I added an anchor pillow...scored from a yard sale for .25 cents.The last element to go into the room will be an oar hung over the window to hold a white valance and more painted Navy buttons. I haven't completed that yet as I haven't found the oar I know we own...somewhere....
Well, thanks for taking a peek!

Oval Frame Makeovers

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I love ornate wooden oval frames. I found this one at a thrift store for $12...with the mirror in it. It was gold leafed, and had some minor damage. I painted it white and antiqued it. Then I used an heirloom crackle varnish, and it gained a pleasantly unexpected verdigris patina due to a chemical reaction with the gold leaf.This ladylike mirror hangs above my work table in the studio. Here's a closer look at the lovely detail.I also found this beautiful frame at the thrift store for $6. I used the same painting technique with the addition of pink paint on the flowers and green on the leaves before antiquing it. I could've replicated the missing pieces to repair the frame, but I like to let the piece keep a little of its history.I added a ceiling tile covered with the floral fabric I used to make my studio drapes. The ceiling tile is cheaper than cork board, and works great to showcase inspirational and family pictures, pattern envelopes, measurements and other sewing notes. This frame is hung right above my sewing machine.

Chair Transformation

Jump over to The Shabby Chic Cottage to see all the great projects.

A friend gave me this super comfy chair several years ago.Its a peachy pink velveteen that's a little faded and ratty around the edges. I love this chair so much I dragged it along on a cross country move. Of course, I've been meaning to make a slipcover for it for ages...but we all know how that goes!

Since I spruced up my studio, it was really looking tired and out of place. I found a gorgeous toile for $5 a yard. Its a heavy cotton linen blend with a tea stained background and red victorian country scenes. Unfortunately, there were only 3.8 yards of the toile so I had to do a little creative piecing. There wasn't even enough to completely cover the chair. I happened to have a red taffeta with tea colored embroidered flowers that I picked up for about $4 a yard. I bought it to accent my drapes in the living room {right around the corner from my studio}. I changed my drapery design, and {fortunately} had alot of the taffeta left over. The red in the toile and the red taffeta match perfectly!I covered 3 buttons with the taffeta for a little added detail on the front sides.I didn't think it was possible to love this chair more but I do!
P.S...I have a 50 cent footstool that goes with this chair...awaiting its slipcover...stay tuned for more slipcover fun.

Transformation Thursday...Picture and Frame

Check out all the great projects people have submitted for Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

This week, I worked on an old red riding hood print I received as a gift about 16 years ago. My mom had given me an old frame with an ugly water damaged print in it. I took the print out, painted the frame gold, and added this print. Unfortunately, I didn't yet know anything about using acid free materials. So, the print faded. It was interesting though. The background leaves and flowers faded a lot, but the girl didn't noticeably fade at all. Here's the fix.

This was a corner piece on the original frame. It once displayed a nautical print.

I was tired of the gold color and the corner pieces. I gently pried them off and filled the nail holes with putty. I painted the frame white and washed over it with a burnt umber. Then, I thinned a nice sage green and gave it a couple swipes of color. I finished it with Aleene's Heirloom Crackle varnish. I absolutely LOVE this stuff. It gives a glossy finish that has tiny hairline crackles like crazing on china plates. The interesting thing about this varnish...when used over a metallic paint, it develops a slight verdigris coloring. Really cool if you want an instant patina without extra chemicals. Sorry, this pic is not very good for showing the actual colors.

I took the red riding hood print out of the frame and used artist's chalk and cotton balls to give the faded areas back their color. It worked like a charm! Once again, the colors aren't very good in this pic.

Transformation Thursday...Ironing Board Cover

Check out all the great projects people have submitted this week at The Shabby Chic Cottage. Now, If I could only remember to actually post this on a Thursday! LOL.

This week, I transformed my ironing board cover. I've been meaning to do it for ages now. Don't we all have projects like that hanging around.

As you can see, my old cover was hideously embarassing. I can't believe I'm actually showing you a picture of it! And worse, my studio is right by the front door now. Which means everyone stopping by could ogle my ugliness.

Well, I finally broke down and got to work. Only because I was working on a project and my cheap cover kept inching up over the side. How irritating. That's what I get for buying a cheap cover to make do! The padding kept slipping around too. So...on to the fix.

I grabbed a swath of fabulous red ticking from my stash. I buy loads of it when I have a 50% off coupon...making it about $3.50/yd. Not bad for all purpose divineness.
Since I was incensed at the time and wanting to finish in a flash, I didn't look for a pattern. I traced around the board and added enough to wrap around and a seam allowance. Then I cut out just enough for the top of the board from a thin cotton batting I had. I stitched the batting to the cover, and added elastic at the top and bottom.The cover slipped around a little so I cut out the snaps and elastic from my old camper curtains and stitched them to the underside..about every 6 inches.
It worked like a charm. The cover stays taught and doesn't slip at all. It can be removed easily to wash too.

Should've done this ages ago!

Transformation Thursday...My 50 Cent Chandelier

Hey all, I'm participating in Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage. Stop by and check out all the lovely projects there. You might just be inspired to clean out the attic and makeover that ugly 1970's lime green tchotchke your mom used to keep on the mantle! He he he. Following is my first installment for Transformation Thursday.

50 Cent Chandelier:
When we moved into this house, there was a dining room fixture that reminds me of an old school light. Its a white metal...sort of upside down dishpan look with a large round light bulb. Its a nice retro light but not appropriate for the dining area. I'll move it to Master G's bedroom when I decorate it in a nautical theme later this month.

Several years ago, Home Depot carried a cute wrought iron piece with red checked shades and colorful roosters adorning the arms of the chandelier. I loved that thing, but didn't buy it...should have. So, the hunt began for an affordable substitute for my dining area.

I was out yard sale perusing about a month ago and spied a brass chandelier. It's a colonial style with 6 lights. (Pardon the weird angle...the big ball end is the bottom.)I wasn't crazy about the style, but decided it could be reworked. I asked the guy how much he wanted for it and he said "Its free if you take this other box of lights too.". The other box had an ugly mushroom light and another interesting light. I figured I could put them in my own yard sale later or take them to the thrift store.

About 6 weeks ago, I found a new can of Krylon spray paint in a yummy apple red at another yard sale for 50 cents. Hmmm, a marriage made in heaven me thinks!

I unscrewed the bottom 3 pieces of the chandelier and discarded 2 of them. I kept the ring from the end and screwed it onto the newly uncovered bottom of the chandelier to keep the whole thing together. I was happy with the result. It didn't look so colonial anymore. Then, I sanded the brass to rough it up, wiped it down, and started painting.

The finished result is awesome!The fabric on the chain was a piece I had leftover from another project.

I still need to find 6 chandelier shades. Of course, they aren't sold anywhere off the rack anymore. I'd have to order some. But then again, I'm not paying $6-$20 each cause I'm a cheapo! I'll either live without, make my own, or just wait to find some at a yard sale or thrift store. They don't have to match, just be the same size and shape. I plan to cover them in a cute plaid with a little black, yellow, red, and green to tie in the other colors in the main floor. I just might applique a nice rooster on the shades too...we'll see.