Bedside Lamps

Home Depot had a couple lamps on clearance and thus I thought, what better time for a lamp fashion show?

Couple #1: The Originals

Found languishing in a small town pawn shop, these silver foxes were headed for a world of hurt as they languished unwanted, only to be discounted by another 50% moments before I saved them from certain doom. The original contenders, they first graced the living room before being doomed to the bedroom. If they don’t make it past this round, their future could lie in the ominous, ‘basement’.

Couple #2: The Steampunk Duo

This oil bronzed pair look like they belong in a Restoration Hardware catalogue. With their dark intentional lines stand out from the rest of the pack and give the bedroom a modern meets historical edge? Or will their light shine too bright?

Couple #3: The Grey Towers

This graceful grey duo have sleek necks and blend nicely. Will they fade into the background? Or will their drum shades bring them to the top?

Only time can tell, and in there can only be one winner (or three pairs of losers, two pairs being relegated back to their store). What do you think? Cast your vote.

P.S. I have had a couple people ask why the door is not centred over the bed. Because of the nature of it being a door, the top and bottom are not exactly the same. The placement is intentional since it must be anchored on the studs, while the bed is centred in the room, with the light. So that is why the door lacks symmetry over the bed.

A Couple Pops of Colour

This summer I’m finding myself drawn to pops of bright colour. Here is a quick look at some things I’ve been up to.

First off, our yellow front door. The front side is complete, the back… not so much. The fresh coat of yellow really brightens up the front of the house, and we scored this glass screen door for $15 at a yard sale last month. Apparently it’s worth about $300. I prefer the crisper, and less distracting look of this door over the previous wood screen door that had more ornamentation.

Of course it isn’t just the exterior doors we’ve been painting, but the interior doors as well. One down, a bunch more to go! I wanted a dark eggplant colour to give some contrast with the light walls. The house is small and doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight, so the lighter wall colours really help reflect the light and make things appear larger and airier. We added some paneling detail to give these old hollow wood doors give them some style.

I had to show you this vintage game of Sorry! I found last week at the thrift store for $0.50. The funny thing was that this vintage game was half the price of a newer version. The box is awesome, and the cards look really cool too. It might make a nice art piece.

A friend was tossing out this old rocking chair. It’s too bad I didn’t take a before picture. It was bright purple and had been living on a cottage deck exposed to the elements for a couple years and was caked with layers of old paint that just chipped right off with the help of a putty knife. This is what it looks like right now after taking it all apart, scrapping off the old paint, a complete sanding and a couple coats of paint. It’s still in progress.

I found a place for the bright wool area rug I got during our Interrobang reunion in May. I found a steam cleaner at a yard sale, with a bunch of attachments, and it cleaned up nicely. It’s pretty much one of the first things you see when you walk into the house and I’m loving the vibrant hues. It gives this room a bit more colour. This room gets the least amount of light of all the rooms in the house (save the basement), and was previously painted dark grey. It took priming and 4 coats of paint to lighten the walls. I choose a beige colour because the room was so dark before that I wanted something that was polar opposite.  I changed up the curtains in the bedroom as well with some panels that I had in the basement. The dark raspberry really contrasts well with the beige walls and the area rug and works well for now.

I finally succeeded in getting this hook put up the bedroom. Three years later. Progress.

A couple coats of yellow paint to some old black frames adds a pop of brightness to this wall.

Chelsie Decorates the Spare Bedroom

After months of slowly picking away at it, we have finished decorating the spare bedroom – complete with bed. I started by removing everything from the room, relocating most of it to the empty spare bedroom in the basement, and painting it a very pale lavender-gray.

The bed frame was picked up at a yard sale last summer for $10. Originally brass, I spray painted it this bright blue. I made the duvet cover out of two King sized sheets I thrifted last summer and followed this tutorial to make a pin-tucked duvet cover. It was fairly labour intensive to mark out all the areas. My sewing machine broke at the beginning so I did a couple pin-tucks by hand (which I would not recommend), until I got up the gumption to figure out how to fix it. I’m quite happy with the results.

The throw at the end of the bed I picked up when I was in high school. The navy in the blanket works nicely to mellow the bright blue and ikat is oh-so-trendy right now – or was that last year?! The print was acquired from the living room, and the side table was another thrift find that I painted last summer and sprayed the handle to match the bedframe.

Of course the bedframe only came with the headboard and baseboard so we DIYed a frame with scrap metal and an old door. The old door we got for $5 at a yard sale last year and cut in half. It comes almost to the top of the mattress and takes away the need for a bedskirt. I’m sure you’re noticing a trend of getting things last summer. Apparently I don’t work fast – and I accumulate things slowly over time.

At the end of the bed is the dresser we got at an auction a couple years ago that I refinished. Here it is with the new knobs affixed. The canvas map of Paris is a DIY project from a couple months back and fills out this wall nicely. Big pieces of art have a way of making a small space feel more open somehow. The hooks were a Christmas gift and the four frames are from Ikea.

The chair is a placeholder for the chair that we are currently reupholstering. The colour of the placeholder chair matches perfectly – this was unplanned. I remember when I got this chair in university from Ikea with Millie and Katie, Millie and I were seriously lugging our awkward to carry loot back to our residences afterward!

The room is not finished yet though, I have big plans for this ceiling light to be replaced. I’m thinking of DIYing an artichoke-like light fixture like this one. I still need to find a doorknob for the closet door. We replaced the original solid door with this brand new door we picked up from the Restore. There is also one wall that lacks any art, but the wall vent probably makes up for that.