✥ Reader Feature: Shabby Chic Bedroom Reveal ✥

Oh, friends.  My.Back.Is.Out. {ouch!!}
So, let's get to it- shall we? Before I branch off into unrelated, drug induced tangents!

Today I'm happy to introduce you to my bloggy-friend, Kristin. She's the creative force behind Simply Klassic Home. I'd be surprised if you haven't already "met" her- she's super friendly and so sweet. Not only does she blog, but she also does blog design- you have probably seen her work around blogland- and probably her printables, too.

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Master Bedroom Reveal - An Unexpected Makeover

When a decorator gets an idea, she has to run with it, right?

Thus is the case with this master bedroom makeover. If you've been following since the beginning, you may remember the first makeover just about a year ago. Well, it never felt quite right, but I had moved on to other projects and it was "good enough."

Now, I've got lots on the "to-do" list for this year, and the master bedroom didn't even make the cut...so why is it the first thing finished???

A couple of months ago I decided to use the shutter headboard elsewhere in my home so out of the bedroom it came. Then I realized I had to replace it with something but had no idea what. I knew I wanted to add more natural elements and warmth and texture, but how?

If you are a follower of Pamela at PB&J Stories you already caught a glimpse of the new headboard when I shared my painted mirror project. (As you can see, distressed won!)

I was Pinterest surfing and came across this project by Vintage Bliss. Inspiration struck as I remembered I had our old hollow core closet doors stored in the garage. I hoped it would be the right size, and though it was a little wider than the bed, I thought it was just right.

All of a sudden here I was completely immersed in a bedroom makeover. I went to my favorite store, Country Roads in Orange, California (ahem, fivetimesintwoweeks), looking for new pieces to complete the room. (It may be a sickness.)

I'm so grateful to have my amazing friend to bounce ideas off of. (From one Princess K to another, thank you from the bottom of my heart.) She found this beautiful bench for me at where else, Country Roads.

A quick coat of poly and she was ready to go.

The dresser was part of last year's makeover.

I added each of the vignette elements.

I grabbed some vintage books from the unused (in 20 years) church library to give the lamps some height and switched out the shades.

Dropcloth curtains are cheap and effective, and add the perfect amount of color and texture. Tied with burlap scraps to finish them off.

An old frame and iron bird hooks hold my necklaces (all three of them).

I tied a scrap of dropcloth and twine around a small mason jar, added a wire hanger for a cute little hanging vase.

I had to include a special new fluffy pillow in the corner for my sweet kitty (mostly to keep her off of my bed!).

And finally, a framed printable reminds me of what I'm striving for each day - to let go of the junk and live in the moment every single day.

I'm loving it all and know that this is exactly what I wanted!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this little tour. I'll be sharing some details later in the week. Now maybe I can get back to some of the other projects I've been working on!

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Didn't she do a great job? I adore that headboard- I am fully addicted to that union jack flag. So obviously I am coveting that pillow, too!
Kristin totally deserves a retreat-like bedroom. She's a single mom of 2 {adopted!!} kids- and warrants some "her" time. Right?

A few extra goodies...

 

Kristin joined the chalk paint rage when she painted her grandmother's heirloom hutch! You will want to see the before on this baby- it's is totally awesome!I love how she displayed family heirloom furniture and filled it with the same. So meaningful- and it looks beautiful!

 

I also love this mantle scape- the gray wood, pops of turquoise and vintage jars are right up my alley! Check out how Kristin made this sign- I'm sure you'll want to make your own. I know I do- like seriously!

Make sure you pop over and say "Hi" to Kristin! 

I hope you all have a great Monday!!

➷ Restoration Hardware Decoupage Map ▫Knock Off▫ ➹

 You guys know I'm a fan of Restoration Hardware's Map Art- remember these knock offs from a few months ago ?

Well, I was brainstorming a way to get bigger version of this MAP art- but also trying to figure a way to keep costs low. I figured I could use the same tutorial- {which explains on how to blow up a jpeg image of a map and keep the high resolution.}

But also- I could print off INDIVIDUAL color pages and pay per page rather then paying 60+ bucks for one giant color print off.

 

Which reminded me of this super-sized map art, Decoupage Paris Map, at Restoration Hardware.

They sell a decoupaged reproduction map of Paris for a couple thousand bucks! Crazy!

 Well- if they can mod podge- then so can I.

Here's what you need to recreate the look.

 1] Get your Image: Use this tutorial to get your jpeg images of your map- or whatever else you're blowing up

2] Print'em off: I prefer to print mine off with a laser printer when I'm going to decoupage them. So off to Staples I went. I had them do a couple test sizes- trying to determine how large I could get my map before it got too pixelated- and finally settled on the largest image I could get. 

But you could also go in with specific measurement in mind and that would be easy too.

3] Cut Wood or Canvas: Once I knew how large I could get my map, I had a piece of mdf cut to size.

4]Get you Images Ready: Use a paper cutter to cut off all the excess white boarders on each page

5] Deoupage: Use Mod Podge to decoupage each piece of your map puzzle together. I started in the top corner and worked one at a time. 

Brush mod podge onto your surface, then onto the back of the paper and adhere. Burnish the front of the map- making sure to work out any bubbles.

6] Edges: Either: Wrap the Map around the edges and Mod Podge them down, see where my white arrows are in the above image? That was my overhang.

 or- If your map is too small to do that, you can paint the edges a matching color.

 7] Seal you Map: Use a final coat of Mod Podge to cover the front and seal the work together.

My map ended up being about 3 1/2 feet by 4 1/2 feet- perfect for over the guest bed. Like I mentioned- I wanted it as big as I could get it- without having losing detail via pixelation.

 The placement had me thinking of these pics I had pinned on Pinterest. 

I believe all of these, mine included, are maps of Paris.

The Cost: 

Color Copies: $12

Mdf: $10 {I purchased a small piece to save money}

Hanging Hardware: $6

I already had: Brush, Mod Podge, Paper Cutter, Paint

 RH sells theirs for $1,700 to $2,450. Super rad savings, right?

 

But I did go out and buy a special cleat that allows me to hang heavy art on the wall. I don't need this thing falling on my Grandma when she comes for a visit! ;-) I also used the same type of cleat to hang my headboard in this post- in case you'd like to see what it looks like and how it works. Oh yeah- it cost 10 bucks but you can buy it at Hobby Lobby with a coupon and save 40%.

For any of my more nosey readers- I've mentioned a million times how this room has to "do it all" as a sparebedroom/craft room/ office/storage room. Here you can see how close the desk is. Just keeping it real, folks!

-xoxo-

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.

✥ Reader Feature: Fabulous French Style Home ✥

Meet Des- she's the darling owner of Peeking thru the Sunflowers. Des blogs about her her vintage and antique finds, projects, and shares inspiring design photos. She has a beautiful home and I don't mind saying I am jealous of her gorgeous furnishings!!
I've asked her to share her living room, family room and her dining room with us today.

 

Here's a view into {what I believe} is her family room. I love the color scheme- and can you believe Des painted that gorgeous armoire herself? It turned out so beautifully!!

Notice her collection of canes in the antique galvanized container? Such a beautiful space- I love the color of this petite sofa and chair.
I looove this shot of her home! Tell me this pic isn't pin-able! SO pretty!

Here you can see into the living room. The two rooms flow beautifully! I love the sconces that you can see in the next room.

 You guys! Just look at this gorgeous space!

 Each detail Des adds is chosen thoughtfully- each piece of art and each accessory.

These pillows were made from some antique grain sacks she had grabbed awhile back. Everyone loves them some grain sacks- so I know you guys will like them as much as I do!

Beautiful architectural details...

 

The rooms flow one into the next downstairs. You can see the dining room in the corner of this pic.

The table was handmade- you can check out the details here. The chairs, however, are from Restoration Hardware.

The dining room is so beautiful and serene. The rooms all feel different and unique but also unified by similar color schemes and window treatments.

This French baker's table holds more vintage collectibles.

Des is one talented lady to compose such a beautiful space. I love all these details.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful home Des! I am humbled to share your space with my friends over here!

As a side note-

When you guys have homes this beautiful I honestly, not for the life of me, can figure out why you follow my lil' blog! It seems crazy to me that anyone would want to see how I decorate my rental condo- when they live somewhere like this!

 {You guys know who I'm talking about- my friends out there- whose homes are beyond gorgeous!} Well, thanks for following, thanks for showing an interest! I'll be back in a day or so with a new project. I hope you guys stop by, and tell Des hi for me!

xoxo

✥ Reader Feature: 3 DIY Projects {That Won't Disappoint!} ✥

My email to Shannon inviting her to share her home today read a little something like this, 

"Shannon- is there any way in the whole wide world that you would be willing to share your super duper amazing projects with my readers so that we could all swoon simultaneously at your ridiculously awesome home and crazy talented selves?- um please?"
 Fortunately for all us regular folk she was able to work this into her schedule- {thanks, Shannon!}

Shannon and Dean have a cute DIY blog where they document projects and updates on their little bungalow- check out their home tour- you won't be disappointed! I asked her to share three projects from the main room in her home- although I had tons of amazing DIY projects I could have chosen from!
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In case you don't know us, we're Dean & Shannon Acheson and we're the Canadian couple behind the blog, aka design. We love to share our thrifty design finds, organization ideas and affordable DIY projects. When dear sweet Becca asked me to share a few of our projects with you, I happily said yes! The tricky part was timing - we're both so busy! But here we finally are to bring you highlights from a few of our DIY projects.


Union Jack Coffee Table

Our coffee table has been made over twice now ñ the first makeover was painting it and adding the beadboard. You can read about that here.  Would you believe it used to look like this!?!




A bit of a change, no?

Anyway our super handy dandy storage coffee table holds all of sorts of things, which is why we redid it rather than replace it. I prefer to leave the top clear so the kids play board games whenever they like, but found that it looked odd that way before. Now, with the addition of the Union Jack, it looks just fine au natural! (Excuse the winter decor - we tackled this project in January!)




For the full Union Jack Coffee Table how-to, go here.


Restoration Hardware Inspired Shelves




I have to say writing this particular DIY was a little tricky.

Normally our project process works like this: I come up with an idea, draw a rough sketch or show Dean some concept pics; Dean draws a plan and gets to work building; I finish up with paint and styling; and then I write the DIY. The glitch with this project was that Dean built the shelves mostly at work because of the winter weather. So I didn't see how he did it. Which means I didn't know how to write the tutorial. Anyway, we finally sat down together long enough to come up with some instructions. Yay!

Want to know the BEST part? The price of ours vs. the price of the Restoration Hardware shelves:
 

For the full Restoration Hardware Inspired Shelves how-to, go here.


 Rustic Farmhouse Table



This project totally made us want to say "Never Again."

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Let's just say refinishing a dining room table and chairs IN the dining room is a tricky thing! (We donít have a basement or a garage).

Our old pine dining room set was purchased eight years ago from IDOMO in Toronto. At the time it barely fit into our apartment & it had to go up against the wall on one side. When we purchased our townhouse, the set fit into the dining room with just barely enough space to walk around it when the chairs were pushed in.

Fast forward to this house and our dining room is about half of the 300 square foot addition (which also includes our living room), which means it was time to get a bigger set or DIY something with the old one.

And that brings us to this beautiful hunk of handsome that we scored for free!



Our plan was to remove the wood boards from the pallet, build a really large tabletop and reuse the legs from our old table as well as reusing the chairs from the old set.



For the rest of the Rustic Farmhouse Table how-to, go here. 

Thank you, Becca, for having us!

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They are so talented, huh? I love how Shannon comes up with these awesome ideas- then Dean has the know-how to make'em happen. Of course their knock offs will forever be close to my heart! ;-) I wish I had the skillz to make those shelves- maybe one day....

 Here you can see their dining portion of their living/dining room combo- I just die for the stenciled wall on the back. I think I need one in my bedroom! Of course we love the dining table- but check out the hutch! It was a super incredible makeover- check out this post for the details!

 I am ready to move right into Dean and Shannon's master bedroom. I think their headboard is slightly famous in Blogland- and for good reason! I've seen a lot like this- but there's is absolutely perfect!!

There are so many beautiful spaces in their home- not to mention a zillion great DIY projects! I hope you guys will stop by and show them some love!