Saturday, August 4, 2012

Big Boy Bedroom

My goal before having the baby was to move our first kiddo out of the baby room and into his own big boy bedroom.  He loves anything and everything with wheels and an engine.  I'm not a big fan of really juvenile looking rooms for kids, but still wanted him to feel like he had "kid" things in his room without it feeling too stuffy and grown up. I decided to go with a "trains, planes and automobiles" theme.  I feel like the compromise worked out well. 





Although I did "splurge" more than normal on his bedding (as in- I actually bought something already made) I did the majority of his bedroom on a very tight budget by creating most of it out of already owned or scrap items. 

I hung up a cute coat/backpack rack that I made out of a vintage shudder on the wall when you first walk into his room.  I found this cute metal wheel on clearance at Hobby Lobbs to go above it.



The focal point when you walk into the room is definitely the gallery wall above his bed.  I spent a long  time looking for inexpensive frames that were still bulky enough to make a statement.  No such luck.  Lucky for me, I have a hubby who is willing to put up with my crazy ideas and he made me these frames out of free wooden pallets.  Honestly all we did was glue the corners together (after he cut out the pieces with a miter saw), then I hit them with a few coats of spray paint and added picture hangers on the back of each one.  I found some cute prints of vintage cars and helicopters to go in the frames.




The "headboard" was made from a $10 footboard I picked up brand new from the DI.  A local furniture store donated several mismatched items to the DI, so I decided to use this lone bed piece in my favor.  (I did look online for the other components of the bed, and the headboard alone would have cost me over $150).  We chopped off the feet of the footboard, added some hangers to the back of the piece, and mounted it to the wall.  Heaboard magic.  :)
 For the bedding, I purchased a Pottery Barn Kids duvet cover on clearance at Downeast Home, found the down comforter, and white quilt set on clearance at the o.co store.  The navy blue sheets are from walmart, the green and twine pillow from Home Goods, and I made the red and white ikat polka dot bedskirt and accent pillow from a fabric that I found HERE.



I used an old IKEA nightstand we had lying around, and an old IKEA lamp/lampshade that I revamped a bit.  I wrapped the lamp base in twine, and used some of the leftover fabric from my curtains to recover a plan lampshade.  I also added twine to the shade.  The darling red truck is also from Hobby Lobbs (purchased on clearance).



I refinished this fabulous antique dresser a little while back, and although I wasn't planning on it going in his bedroom it just seemed to work perfectly in there.


He loves his metal motorcycle and train, also purchased on clearance from Hobby Lobbs.


I made faux curtains out of table cloth I found at Home goods, cut in half and stitched the edges. 

We hung this cute little yellow plane from Hobby Lobbs from the ceiling with twine.  He tells me every night that his airplane will "shoot all the bad guys" that come in.  Glad he thinks it's there to protect him.  :)


Alas, my very favorite wall in the room... our "THINK" wall.  I knew that I wanted a wall of bookshelves and pinned a bunch of different DIY options but wasn't in love with any of them.  The stars aligned when I thought of using a pallet, searched on pinterest and lo and behold there were a few out there.  We made several of them, and rather than trying to make them all uniform and perfect, I decided to highlight and embrace the blemishes and imperfections.  That made them so perfect in the end.


We decided to go up almost all the way to the ceiling intentionally so that Trav could only reach the bottom rows, and so we could keep the "special" or more fragile books up high where only Mom and Dad can reach.  He likes to bring his piggy stool in occasionally to reach the books on the middle shelf.




I fell in love with the word "think" in a kid's bedroom as soon as I saw this picture on pinterest.  Once again, on my budget I decided to make it myself... can you guess what I used?  Yep, leftover wood from the pallet.  Again, imperfections and different colors embraced.


And there you have it!  I love how welcoming his room is now, and the fact that he loves to be in there.  I feel pretty good about how frugal and resourceful we were.  Once again, your home can be beautiful on a tight budget.


If you have particular questions about how things were made/done, please email me.  With the new babe in our lives, I don't have time right now to write detailed tutorials.  Thanks for understanding!

XOXO

Tired but happy Penny Wenny

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Welcome little Liam

I know I have been gone for a long time... I am sorry my friends.  I could list all of my excuses for you, but instead let me boast about my best creation yet.... my sweet little Liam.



This angel was born at 3:31 am on Saturday July 7th.  He was 5 lbs 6 oz, and 19 inches long.  He came two weeks early, and I was able to deliver him (almost) naturally.  After having an emergency c-section with my first baby Travis, I was so thrilled to be able to have a successful Vbac.  This little man was almost born in the car on our way to the hospital.  When we arrived, I was a 9+, fully effaced, and pushing.  He was born about 25 min later.  It was wild.  I'm so grateful for him, for his health, and for the sweet little spirit he has brought into our home.  I believe these new little souls are the closest we can be to God on this earth, as they just came fresh from His presence. 

Liam (William) was so welcomed by his big brother Travis.  He absolutely loves him, and (knock on wood) still hasn't asked to send him back!  Here is a video of Travis seeing his baby brother for the first time.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world for my sweet little family.  Welcome to the world, my sweet Liam.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Fabulous french upholstered chair

The Primrose and Pearl boutique opened tonight, and it has a ton of darling things.  I had a very hard time walking out of there without spending a fortune buying one of everything.  If you live in the area you really should check it out.  If you missed the details, check them out HERE.  One of my very favorite pieces that I am selling at the show is this darling little French chair that I reupholstered.


When I first picked up this chair, it was actually already pretty darned cute and in fantastic condition.


It just wasn't, well, me.  So I did what any other insane person would do to a perfectly good chair.  Rip it apart and start over.

After I took off the cording and staples, I painted the frame with a watered down coat of Annie Sloan's chalk paint in old white.  Here's a secret.  I didn't remove the upholstery on this chair because it was clean and all of the foam and batting were still very firm and in good condition. Then, I sanded heavily for an ultra distressed look.  As a reminder, this chalk paint sands off super easily and quickly, so if you want minimal distressing, use a very fine sandpaper and press ever so lightly.  I protected the full frame with clear wax and buffed it quickly.



Next, I upholstered the top, bottom, and back pieces with a fantastic blue and cream outdoor canvas fabric I found for a steal at Home Fabrics.  I was ecstatic that they had exactly the amount that I needed, and I love the fact that it's outdoor fabric.  If you aren't familiar with this type of fabric, it's made nearly waterproof (but without a funky texture) so that it can be easily spot cleaned by just wiping it with a rag.  I plan on upholstering my french sofa in an outdoor material to get me through the next several years with little kiddos in the house.

After sewing together a new cushion and finishing the edges off with my double welting cord, she was oh so Penny Wenny.






And though it was hard for me to put her in the truck and drive her away from my house, she is for sale at the Primrose and Pearl Boutique

If you would like more detailed instructions on how to do your own upholstery work, check out my tutorial HERE.

I will share more details on the other items for sale in upcoming posts but thought I would at least share some pictures here.

I refinished this pair of accent chairs (you will DIE when you see the before),




this vintage dresser,


this fabulous Drexel Heritage hutch,



the matching yellow nightstands I shared with you here,

several darling accessories racks I made from vintage shutters,




and of course some pillows.



I had a lot of fun getting each of these pieces ready, but I'm not going to lie; I'm so ready for a little breather. 
Signing out,

~Penny Wenny