Rain and Redecorating

     Well it was a rainy weekend in Ruston. That's right, in July!!!  This means that for the dog days of summer, the grass will be greener, the trees won't droop as early, and the new fall seeds I planted in the garden will get a good head start.  This also means that I didn't have to water the yard much this week making time for some redecorating I've had planned.

     In late May, James and I were in Alabama for my nephew's high school graduation.  We did some antiquing/car shopping on the way home and I found some great twin beds. I had been wanting twin beds in our guest room, so I was very excited to find the pair (with footboards and railings) for a really low price!

     Now there is no such thing as redecorating without running into some challenges.   

     Challenge 1: I love antiques, but if you decorate with too many antiques, your home can begin to look like a museum, dark and stuffy.  I read that you should use new fabrics in updated colors and patterns to balance the look of old furniture.  So, off to Hobby Lobby for fabrics in graphic patterns and current colors.  I planned to sew most of my pillows and curtains myself, but Hobby Lobby does have cute pillow cases and curtain panels for really good prices if you don't like to sew.

 

    
     Challenge 2:   How to use the same bedding, but switch it from a full bed to twins. I love the Target quilt I had in the room. It was the perfect color and pattern. I already had a painting and accessories to match as well as a refinished table. The shams were no problem, so I found a coordinating quilt in a solid color.  Then I took the old, full sized patterned quilt, cut it in half, hemmed it with matching bias tape, and folded the (now two) quilts at the foot of each bed. I added two new pillows with appliqued birds and then continued the bird theme with two new pictures from Hobby Lobby (50% off) also with a bird motif.  And since my mom, a great decorator, says every room should have some whimsy, I have a picture of a cat in there with all the birds. :)

 

 

 

 

 

     Challenge 3: One thing leads to another! Putting twin beds in the guest room meant taking down my Eastlake bed, and I really love my Eastlake bed that I got at an auction many years ago.  So I decided to move it into the middle bedroom and remove the iron bed that was in there.  Sold the iron bed on Craig's list, so now I found myself redecorating this room too!  This was good because I had really hated putting away all of my Earth science collections when I moved out of my classroom this Spring.  I decided to make this bedroom a "nature" room.  With more fabric from Hobby Lobby, I sewed new pillows, bed skirt, and curtains.  I made two DIY pine cone botanical art pieces (more on them later) that I hung on the wall with my turkey tail and turtle shell. Fossils went into the bedside table; rocks, minerals, owl wing, and coconut went into the display cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

     Two redecorated bedrooms, all done!

 

Love ya'll, Shelli