Gizmo Tech Support: cottage decorating

Oh Boy!!!

You guys now get to see.....

The last wall....

of my bedroom!!!!!

Typically.....

I have a ton of stuff to say about EVERYTHING in the picture.

Lets start with the chest of drawers....

This is how I found it in a local antique shop....

The paint job was...

Not my style.

Not my taste.

Not my cup-a-tea.

BUT

I loved the shape and period of the dresser!!!!

Loved.

It's a 1920's Louis the Sixteenth style chest.

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PERIODS OF FURNITURE!!!!!

Funnily enough, I prefer the pieces from the 20's, not the real deal.

(yeah, yeah, I know, they is way cheaper, jeesh, that's not why.

Soooooooooooooo.....

I bought it and had it painted.

This is when I was working full time, and didn't have the energy to realize that not only can I paint furniture, but I am good at it.

(at least I think so)

So someone actually got PAID for painting this for me!!!!!

I did the distressing with sandpaper, because I am a real snob when it comes to distressing.

It needs to be where the furniture would naturally wear from years of use.

(Or, one month with me, 'cuz (as previously stated) I am a klutz.

I LOVE the detailing!!!!

Check this out.

It's wonderful how the drawers are outlined in that molding detail!!!!

Here's a shot of the leg....

Don't you love the carving along the bottom of the piece?????

Close up of the middle top drawer.

Can you tell I am in love with this chest????

My friend Lissette wants to steal it.

and finally.....

the detail of the carved back....

It's SOOOOO pretty!!!!!

I created a nice little tablescape for it's top....

The two pictures are of my Mom and me.....

I USED to be a natural blond!!!!!!

(That's me in the front, laughing, I must have just told myself I joke)

(I've been funny a long time)

(at least I think I have)

(My mother is not so sure that I'm funny....)

(she's not laughing......)

And Of Course I have to have some pretty birds on my chest....

I have finally stopped adding to my collection.

(I think)

The big one in particular is a handsome devil!!!

He watches over me when I sleep.

(That's less creepy than thinking he watches me while I sleep)

(I know, I know, he's not really alive....jesh!)

I found the lamp in a junky store and fell in love with it.....

I've never seen another alabaster lamp like this one.

They usually come in urn shapes.

I found this water color of tropical birds in Boston....

Go figure....

I really lucked out when I stumbled across this chair in a Boston antique store, it was already painted and worn....

So I had a cushion made for it in the left over fabric of my draperies.

AGAIN!!!!

I paid someone to do something that I now have the time to do for myself!!!

Sooooooooooo............

I needed some artwork to hang on the wall over the chair,

'cuz, just the watercolor over the chest wasn't enough stuff on that wall...

ya know????

And I wanted something along the lines of a white heron.....

(sometimes I get VERY specific when hunting on ebay)

Soooooooooooo...........

I found this print mounted on poster board, and framed in a

PLASTIC frame.

Not worth more than 3 bucks, TOPS!!!!!

But it was EXACTLY what I was looking for.

The right size.

The right style of artwork.

The right period.....

Now the problem with an auction, is if just ONE other person wants what you're bidding on.....

AND they are as fixated as you are.....

AND are willing to spend WAY more than the @#$ thing is worth....

YOU END UP PAYING A SMALL FORTUNE FOR A PIECE OF JUNK!!!!!

Needless to say, as you guys can see.... I won the auction.

After I won and paid for it, the seller emailed me to ask why I had been willing to pay so much.

I explained that it was exactly what I needed for a grouping of pictures.

She informed me that that had been the case with the other person bidding against me.

How much you want to bet it was another baby boomer with too much time on her hands and an obsession with decorating?????

So, I happily hung the picture on my wall, and lived with it for, oh, I don't know, a little while...

(ok, a day)

and decided the wall still looked incomplete.

So, back to ebay, where I found this pretty print, that WAS cheap.

I have no idea where it's supposed to be, but it's the right size, style and colors, so there ya go!

A finished vignette!!

AND THIS

CONCLUDES

MY BEDROOM

TOUR!!!

Later, Gator

Partying at:

WOWZER!!!!!

Since I blogged on 12/26/2011 begging you guys to sign up and become my followers (having no shame), you have done me proud, I tell ya, proud!!!

I went from having somewhere in the 70's, to having a whopping 295!!!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

If you haven't become a follower (you know who you are, that's right, I'm staring right at you. Nooooo, not the person behind you..... YOU!); that's alright. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine.

Today I'm going to start sharing a showhouse room that I did on cape cod.

Traditional Home Magazine 1999

June, (my trusty sidekick, office manager,design assistant, moral supporter, and dear friend) worked with me on this room in 1998!!!
It was published in Traditional Home Magazine in 1999.
Lone agoooooo and farrrrr away.

We collaborated with my my drapery workroom, Drape It. It didn't hurt that Joe and Sally (the owners) are two more of my closest friends, so the whole project was really fun.

We started with this...............

And ended with this.............

and this.............

The walls and ceiling were crumbling plaster, so I had the brilliant idea to cover everything with blue and white ticking stripe. We upholstered the walls.....

But no.....

That wasn't enough for my tiny mind.

I wanted it to be special.....

I wanted it to be different.....

I WANTED TO KNOCK THE SOCKS OFF THE OTHER DESIGNERS!!!!!

Soooooooooooooooooo

I thought (OY, there I go again), wouldn't it be cooool, if we covered the ceiling too!!??

Joe (the good sport) said "alrighty".

There was only one leetle problem.

The walls curved up to meet the ceiling.

How the @#$ were we going to make the fabric conform to the curve.

Well..........

being brilliant!!!!!!!

I came up with a stupendously wonderful idea!!!

Since we were using ticking....and mattresses use ticking....and mattresses are buttoned....why not use a button detail to make the fabric cling to the curve.

I know right? Brilliant!!

You can see the buttoning really well in this picture.

Here's a close up.....

This is how we did it...........

(Joe figured it out.) (He is such a smarty) (Even thought he does make fun of me.)

We marked out the pattern by using big push pins..... Then he used his super duper drill, and drilled screws into the wall, replacing the push pins..... Then I used his button machine, and made a gazillion buttons. I only did the top part, (the curved part that is covered in fabric), not the shank that is used to sew them onto clothes. I covered them in the ticking fabric.

Then.....I went along behind Joe, and hot glued them over the screw heads.

We did this on the 4th of July. I remember it really clearly. Just Joe and me, fabricing the walls, and getting the buttons up. It was one of the most fun 4th's I've ever had.

I know other DYI'ers will understand that. There is no thrill, like the thrill of a project that is ACTUALLY working out.

Here's the view looking into the room from the hall...