Teen Girl Bedroom

The last time we updated our daughter, Samantha’s, bedroom was when she was 2 years old, and she was transitioning from a crib to a full size bed. At the time we invested in some yellow and green Pottery Barn bedding. I even did a yellow faux finish on the walls. That shows you how long ago that was – faux finishes on the walls were all the rage. LOL

Samantha is starting high school, and we recently did a room update for her. We kept her white full sized bed, dresser, bookshelf, and nightstand. Her bedroom is on the small side, so we didn’t want to upgrade to a queen bed and lose any of the space that she has.

Benjamin Moore Dove Wing 960

We decided to paint a neutral color that would stand the test of time, so we went with Benjamin Moore Dove Wing. I absolutely love the color on her walls. It’s a very light warm gray. Not only will the new paint color work if she decides to change her bedding colors in the future, but we are hoping to sell our house in 4 years. Buyers will prefer the neutral color over something else.

Samantha found some Pottery Barn bedding in a blush color that she liked, the Monique Lhuillier Blossom Embroidered Quilt & Shams. I have purchased a lot of Pottery Barn bedding over the years, and it is incredibly well made. I have never been disappointed in the quality of their bedding. In addition to the blush colored quilt and shams, we added a lightweight gray comforter from Amazon. Samantha is cold-natured, so she can pull the gray comforter up when she needs it. (Yes, sometimes even on hot summer nights. That’s our girl!)

I found a gray curtain on clearance at World Market that pulled in the gray from the comforter. We added in some blush pink accessories like the fan from Home Goods.

We had a lot of fun putting Samantha’s new room together. She works really hard at school and all of her extracurricular activities. I’m glad she has a space that she can relax in during her high school years.

Abby Smolarsky3 Comments

Dresser Makeover, Hardware Too!

Sometimes I forget exactly how many pieces of furniture have come and gone through our hands. It doesn’t seem like that many until I start scrolling through the files on our computer. It’s a lot, y’all. There’s a lot of learning and hands-on experience that have resulted from doing so many pieces, but from time to time I still come across problems that need to be solved.

Here’s a dresser that I just finished. Sorry, I don’t have a great before picture, but it’s the one on the right. It was blah, painted brown, and nothing to be desired. It’s wood, but the wood was painted over with a brown color. Not sure why.
I decided to go with gray and blue. I’m holding off on the “after” picture because I want to talk about my hardware problem first. I may have mentioned it before but ALWAYS, for the love of Pete, ALWAYS count the hardware before you buy it. Why? I promise you that you WILL spend more on new hardware than you did on the piece. And I also promise you that you won’t be able to find new hardware that matches up to old holes. Trust me.  So anyway, I counted the hardware, but failed to notice that some of it was damaged. Take a look:
Pretty brass hardware (y’all know it’s back, right?) with some faux tortoise cabochon type thingies. Except, some of the cabochons were broken and some were missing completely. First of all, let me be completely honest: The cabochons were ugly and plastic-y feeling. But I would have TOTALLY left them on there if they had all been intact. Not gonna lie – I would not have spent a dime to replace them. 
However, that wasn’t an option. I played around with several things, but I ended up coming up with this:
I married the old, original drawer pull with a new, pretty knob. And….I love it. But wait, there’s more. The next problem? Screws. Yep, turns out it was annoyingly difficult to find screws that worked. I got some blank stares at a local hardware store, and one morning I had two employees at Home Depot finally help me put together something that worked. I needed 8 screws exactly, but…
Instead I got 7 plus this screw ^ that someone didn’t turn into a screw. (Another trip back to Home Depot.)
Ok, finally. Here’s the after:

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The hardware certainly wasn’t an issue I anticipated, but I think it completely transformed the piece. What do you think?

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Duck Egg Blue Dresser

Hi Friends!

I recently rehabed a Bassett 4 drawer dresser. This came from an estate sale about a year ago.  Since we sold several pieces in a short amount of time, I had to get it done. No more procrastinating on this one!

Before

The top needed some TLC, so painting was the only way to go. This sucker is solid wood. Medium sized, but oh so heavy!

Add that TLC we talked about, along with some Duck Egg Blue (which is sort of green) chalky paint, some special artistic detailing, and we have a much prettier little thing. Don’t you agree?

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After

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Awww! I loooovvvvve this one! Hope you do, too.

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Furniture Disaster. Personal Disaster?

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We recently found some furniture that we decided to refinish (stain) and keep, rather than sell. I prefer to paint furniture. I have done my share of sanding, but to me painting is second nature. I know exactly how the paint will behave and turn out. The paint and I have an agreement that way. We understand each other. 😉 Okay, the paint doesn’t understand me at all, but I understand the paint.

Anyway, there’s a dresser and a desk. They are made of solid, heavy wood. Quality furniture made by Stanley. I.e. Boy proof. Perfect for our boy, soon to be a teenager. Only they weren’t in perfect condition.

Here’s a piece of knowledge that I want to share with you. Because when I was a green antiquarian and finder of vintage things, I wish someone had shared it with me. Look at the knobs. Count the knobs. Are they all there? Why…do you ask? Because hardware.is.expensive. Let’s just say that we spent more on the hardware than on the furniture.

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This picture does not express how frigid it was this day.

So Ken spent hours. HOURS. sanding the furniture. And then he spent hours. HOURS. asking me if I ordered the knobs. And the furniture sat for hours. WEEKS. in the garage because I didn’t want to stain it in the cold, and why bother to order knobs if I’m not ready to stain it? That’s how we operate. If you look closely you will see the logic.

So halfway through Jackson’s (our son) room remodel, I decide that it is time (finally) to restain the dresser and desk. And I stain it. And it’s horrible. And I’m sad about that. Because I’ll have to resand it and start again.

I’m kind of like that furniture. God has worked on me and worked on me. HOURS. WEEKS. My LIFETIME. And I’m so far from perfect. I’ve had moments in my life where I’ve been horrible. I’ve made serious mistakes. But God will keep working on me and start again. No matter how many times my mistakes and imperfections stain me, He will forgive me and let me start again.

Why would I bother to blog about a project that isn’t done, and so far isn’t going well? Because I want you to know that I am not perfect, and I have been forgiven. You do not have to be perfect to receive God’s forgiveness and grace. If you are a Christ follower and you are working earnestly at an image of perfection, either on social media or in real life, ask yourself this, “Can I serve God better by sharing what He has saved me from or giving a false sense of perfection to the world?”

“Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1,2

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Abby

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A whole new hue (in the bedroom)!

I love color. All kinds of color. I could look at paint colors for hours. I am inspired to come up with a million different ideas simply by pouring over a paint color fan deck. One of my favorite college classes was Color Theory. I liked learning about how colors work together. But I really, truly enjoyed learning about how color makes people feel. Color Psychology! It’s a real thing. Companies use it every day to get you to buy their products. Color psychology is also a very real thing to consider when selecting paint colors for your house, both inside and out.

I’m going to show you the steps I go through when I’m selecting a bedroom paint color for myself or for someone else. Below are suggestions of what to consider when picking your color, but I still stand by the philosophy of go with what you like. You are going to be the one living in the room. Make it your own and love it. I simply want to help you avoid painting a room that you turn out to hate.I’ve been there. I have painted a dining room three times in one day. And I’m sure many of you have, too.

1. How do you want to feel in your bedroom? This is the first question I always ask, and the answers I usually get for adult bedrooms are: cozy, warm, calm, relaxed, and refreshed. This is where color psychology comes in. Here is a great info-graphic on the psychology of color. Avoid painting a color that is stimulating (red) when your goal is to be calm and relaxed (green or lavender).
The Psychology and Tradition of Color (Google Affiliate Ad)

2. Light – How much and what kind? What direction does your bedroom face? Does your bedroom get a lot of natural light? If so, it can handle a more saturated color or a darker color without visually tiring you. Also consider that paint colors look different at different times of day. One of my favorite colors to use is Benjamin Moore Danville Tan (HC-91). However, this color looks drastically different in rooms that get different light and at different times of day. If your room is dark, or if you spend most of your time in your room while the sun is down, make sure you look at your paint color during that time.

Benjamin Moore, Danville Tan HC-91

3. Size – Size does matter. How big is your room? Larger rooms can handle darker and more saturated colors. If you are planning to use a darker color in a smaller room, keep everything else simple. For example, use a plain, neutral bed covering and don’t over decorate the walls.

4. Existing colors – Of course you want to find a paint color that goes with your existing bedroom furniture and bed coverings. However, don’t forget to consider the flooring and rooms that are adjoining the bedroom. Our bedroom has a wide entry with double doors. When the bedroom doors are open, quite a bit of the paint color is seen from other rooms. Picking a bold color for your bedroom walls when all of the surrounding walls are subtle will not be pleasing to look at.

5. Resale – How willing are you to repaint your bedroom when it is time to sell? If you have no problem repainting to a buyer-friendly color when it’s time to sell, then this doesn’t need to be a big consideration for you. However, if you don’t think that this is a job that you’ll want to tackle again when it’s time to sell, then I recommend picking a paint color that isn’t “offensive.” In other words, you want the buyer to see the whole room and not get stuck on the paint color you chose.

Some bedroom colors I like are: Benjamin Moore Paris Rain 1501,  Benjamin Moore Antique Jade (465), Benjamin Moore Shaker Beige (HC-45), Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (HC-172), Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue (HC-144),

I love color, and I’d love to know what color you painted your bedroom. Please tell me about it!
Come back tomorrow when I give a tutorial that shows you how to sample your paint color without buying a paint sample!

XOXO,
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