Master Bedroom

An Updated Painting and Seeing Spots

05|21|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

I have been making some major headway in the new house, despite my radio silence on the matter... I have had freelance project after project and haven't hardly had a moment to update you on what I have been up to otherwise! In fact I am almost completely finished with the Family Room, squeal... can't wait to do the full room reveal for you guys! Such a fun space...

In the meantime the other areas of my house are needing some love desperately too! Remember this painting I found at Denio's, my new home away from home? Well as much as I loved it as it was, I wanted something fresh and exciting and so I took a paint brush to it, duh. After all, the reason I purchased it in the first place was the sheer size and of course the price of a mere $3! Doesn't get better than that folks, except when it gets a new 'do' and that 'do' is a little reminiscent of a space I loved when I shared it with you here... See the room with the spotted art above the bed? Yep, loved it...

One of my goals in the new house is to turn my design style up a notch and mix things up. I want to really push my design boundaries and find a new style to love for a while! The only way for me to do this is to take risks, so a few dalmatian-ish spots above the bed are a great place to start!

I will spare you the 'tutorial' since it's pretty straightforward, but I will mention that I used Rustoleum spray paint and primer in one to give it a good base coat. I used just regular acrylic craft paint for the spotted goodness and a sponge brush with a round tip. That made the spotting that much easier to do! Easy Peasy update and I couldn't love how it sets a fresh new tone for the space any more than I currently do. It makes me happy to remember it's there and stare at it. Ya, that's probably weird but, it's my way...

Also... how devious does that pup look. I clearly caught him in the act of something, I have yet to simply find out what... He's a little out of focus here because I was shooting the painting, but that look on his face is priceless. Part, leave me alone, part, did she see what I was doing? eek...

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Builders Showcase: Coreys Farmhouse Tallboy Dresser

03|28|13

Submitted by Corey_Smiley /

I just finished building this farmhouse dresser and am so happy with it. i wanted to make it look old so i distressed it using various tools and this video was great help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Iotye7dvAQ I used the tea and vinegar stain at first but it didnt come out exactly what I had wanted so to fix this i just rubbed some oil based chocolate coloured stain over top. It came out a but darker than I had originally wanted but am still pleased with it.

Built From These Plans:

Free DIY Furniture Plans to Build a PB Inspired Farmhouse Tallboy Dresser

Estimated Cost:

$200ish

Length of Time:

It took about 5 or 6 weeks start to finish but I mostly worked on it during the weekend.

Lumber Used:

All of it was pine except for the side panels and inside the drawers were spruce plywood. The top i used rough pine to give it a little extra character.

Finishing Technique:

Tea and vinegar stain then 1 coat of chocolate stain with 2 coats of satin poly.

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A Match Made in Thrifting Heaven

02|18|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

This past weekend I began the most marvelous partnership (and love affair) with Denio's Farmer's Market & Swap Meet! I have to tell you it's been years since I have been out there, which is silly because some of my most prized treasures came from there. You can see my favorite trunks here and there are numerous other treasures scattered throughout my home that I have yet to show you. This new adventure was nothing short of spectacular, and my whole family enjoyed the day spent sampling the produce and yummy edible treats, while we wandered the aisles filled with hidden gems. I managed to find myself some goodies that found there way home with me and I can't wait to incorporate them fully into the decor! In fact I have already started!

You can see the fabulous oversized painting above, along with those gorgeous gold nesting tables... love! I will likely change the painting up a bit but it works for the moment, and only cost a few dollars for this crazy big canvas! At the very least I will be framing it out and touching it up! The tables will stay as they are for now since they are chic perfection (you can see a better close up of them below) and the weathered plant life below may or may not stay as it is. It would be fabulous sprayed in a bold or bright color too I think. I spent a total of $11 on all of these items, if you can believe that, and please disregard the sloppy slipcover on that couch....ugh I hate sloppy.

The hubster is already asking when we will make our next trip out, and the boy... well he loves anything with snacks and toys... so he is pretty much sold on Denio's. Of course you know this mama loves to shop so I could go daily and be a happy gal!

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Master Bedroom Madness

01|24|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

It's been a full year since I created this moodboard for my master bedroom and began the process of recreating this in real life, on a budget. I can honestly say I have come pretty far, but I am my own worst enemy here. You see every time I complete a project I feel the need to immediately rework things to better represent my original plan. Because quite frankly I LOVE this moodboard and want to have this exact feeling and design in my room and nothing else will do.

But I have run into a few problems that need addressing. And of course now I also need to undo all that has been done to stray from this plan in hopes that those things might work temporarily or in the stead of the original ideas, only to find that they don't! eek!

But I feel a little scattered so this post will act as an update and progress post for you guys, a more detailed breakdown of each item and an explanation of how I planned to put the inspiration image into use in real life, along with a 'to-do list' for me, to guide the remainder of this journey! yahoo!

Something to think about... Home decor can make or break the feel of your home. If you live in Australia you probably wouldn't have a log cabin themed house, it would be like carrying Australian Home Insurance on your California dream home. It just doesn't fit and offers very little functionality. Take time to consider your surroundings, so for example if you live in Arizona earth tones are very prevalent and Adobe themed houses are very common. If you live by the beach, white with playful "splashes" of navy or light blue can really accentuate the vibe and energy of your home when living by the coast.

This moodboard represents my California sunshine state love... it's beautiful, sunny and a little bit modern with some vintage all wrapped in this cute little package!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 /11 / 12

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

1. Instant photos taken and clipped to twine strung around a tree

So obviously clipping the instant photo twine string around a tree is not going to be an altogether literal translation in this space. While I did in fact LOVE the clipped images on twine, what I really loved was their being strung around a tree. This is going to require a bit genius on my part because I NEED to have this. Yes I need it. I really do!

2. Zentangle art

Admission: I have actually completed this project and not blogged about it. I know, I know.. it's awful really. In fact I have a queue of projects that I have done, some good, some meh (including this one)... and I just haven't gotten around to sharing! Eek! Those of you who follow along with me on Instagram and FB might have seen glimpses of this baby in a couple of photos... that's kind of like blogging right?

3. Brass Wall

I love this. Period. And I love it for it's honestly of material which is my obstacle here. There are plenty of paper versions of this, and I just may end up going that route for the sake of my wallet, but what I really love is the real deal brass pieces hung as you see here. LOVE.

4. Heart Photos

So simple, and just plain fabulous, and yet I have yet to do this because I can't seem to get myself together and actually print photos. I have no idea why this is, but I know I'm not alone. I think maybe the 2 billion photos I have stored have become a tad daunting to even contemplate sorting through to pic the 27 or so that this project actually requires. Because let's face it folks, I can't just grab a few photos here and there, they must be the BEST photos EVER that I choose. Le Sigh... obsess much? I think so...

5 / 6 / 9 / 12

5. Landscape Painting

Womp, womp, womp... this baby is no longer available at art dot com which is a major bummer. Of course that means I will have to attempt to recreate something along these lines myself. Which is of course entirely possible, just time consuming. With baby bird around, time is something I have very little of. You can see my attempt at finding a solution I already own here, and the art I created before that in the stead of this inspiration piece...and while the current piece works for now and the created piece work as well, they stray from the overall feeling of the moodboard and will likely go the way of the birds as soon as I work on recreating this project as it should be.

6. Medallion Wall Art

I love this idea and the colors are superb for my purposes... but did you know these puppies are pricey? Ya, like for real. A big one of these can be upwards of $50 and of course this project must have 3 or 4 to make it look like anything other than an accidental wall decor project.
So guess what? I made my own very inexpensive version of wall medallions using paper and foam, and it has worked for a year!!! Yippee for inexpensive fixes. Except now I really want the real deal Holyfield. Back to the drawing board again.

9. Landscape Painting

Those of you who have been with me a while know that I did in fact create this painting and a tutorial to go along with it! Yay, you can have one too...

12. Word Art

I also made my own quick and easy wall decor word art using the word ADORE (and I posted the printables so you can create word art too, yahoo!) and in a color that resembles the brass wall I mentioned above. It is one of the few projects I completed in here that actually works as is, and that I love. Of course each time I look at the moodboard I feel like I want to remain true to it, so we shall see if it gets a little silver switcheroo in the future. Not sure yet.

7 / 8 / 10 /11

7. Workspace

This is questionable, to be sure. I haven't added an actual workspace to this room as of yet, but I did add some shelving and storage (item 8) and it's currently functioning dual duties. I would however like to separate these two items and stick more closely to the original plan. Just not there yet.

8. Shelving and Storage

I'm proud to say I have adding shelving!!! And a bit of storage, but I'm not finished with that portion yet. The shelving I chose to add is the Expidit shelving from IKEA because frankly you just can't beat the $60 price tag. It's one of those items that makes more sense to buy than to build, which given my status as a newborn baby mama... is fab because I don't have the time to build just yet anyhow! Done deal... You can see a glimpse of that here, but I will in fact share more about this baby as I complete the storage portion of this item!

10. Herringbone

I think this hand drawn herringbone is the bees knees, and I want to add this pattern into the room somehow. I attempted this with a new technique on some fabric for curtains, and to this day it was perhaps the biggest DIY FAIL I have ever had, lol! I will share that with you all shortly so you might avoid attempting this kind of thing on your own. Back to the drawing board on this project too, and I still don't have curtains, yikes... double fail!

11. Bedding

I have in fact gotten my rear in gear for the bedding portion of this project. I'm not finished, but you can see what I purchased here, and a glimpse of it in action here.

13 / 14 / 15

There are a few projects, of course, that I have done that weren't even on the moodboard that deserve a bit of a mention...

13. Nightstands

You can see a glimpse of them in their orginal state here and their current state here and here. They have gone from the fabulous hand painted finish of yore to a bright white, and are now a perfect fit in this space. Not to mention they were quite banged up and I was able to fix much of the disrepair that has befallen these beauties over the years.

14. Dymomite Art

I am occasionally inspired by a quote or two and what better way to remember how to keep a good head on my shoulders than to put a phrase or two right by my bed to read when I wake up! I create a post about this project here and you can see them in action here... LOVE them.

15. Chalkboard Remix

Some of you might remember these chalkboards in my nook area from a couple of years ago... well they have been repainted and relocated to this new area next to my shelving solution. You can see a glimpse of them here and here.

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A Little Art Switcheroo Makes Everything New

01|22|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

A little switcheroo makes everything new, but it doesn't necessarily mean I like it.... I will say it's an improvement over the last option, seen here. In truth, both paintings are fine, and I really only dislike these options because I have this idea in my mind about how this space should feel and look, and this isn't it. This vintage landscape is wonderful and I love everything about it. It's definitely closer to that ideal than the pixelated art given the colors, but it isn't quite there yet. Back to the drawing board for now, but in the meantime it will make a very fine placeholder, no?

How about you guys... any artistic musical chairs going on in your spaces? Are you as indecisive as I currently am? Nothing like a little rearranging to give a space a whole new feel!

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DIY Pixelated Art Home Decor Painting

01|08|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

I shared with you my one single solitary NYE project this year, here. What I didn't share with you was the transformation of this entire wall of my Master Bedroom and the DIY Pixel Art I completed to brighten things up a bit! So share I shall... all the wonderfully gory details! But not today... today I shall share how I made the Pixel Art and we will reconvene here later for the full transformation post! Ha... did I just seriously piss you off or what? Feel free to call me a tease, it's pretty much a true story!

To see more of my home and follow along with my transformations, visit my Home Tour page found under the Living tab in my menu!

I bought myself a couple of these enormous frames from IKEA because I was feeling rather large and in charge and wanted a big piece of art for this space to reflect that. It might have been a tad too big, but it serves it's purpose, indeed!

I used the print above, by Fabian Tabibian as my inspiration for this project, but you could just as easily buy it if you prefer.

Because I'm kind of a lazy crafter I used the paper insert as my canvas. I traced out the inside edge of the mat so I would have my boundaries and then divided it up into relatively equal sized squares using a pencil.

Then I simply painted the squares using my trusty craft paints in a pattern and color scheme that worked for me and looked like it might be an image blown up into it's pixelated form.

And then I decided I hated it in this space... womp womp. So I switched it out with a painting from another room and I'm a much happier cranky pants mama. I will be back later to show you where she ended up and what took her place! Yahoo.

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Happy New Year 2013

01|01|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

Happy New Year my friends! I hope you all had a fabulous night and celebrated the new year like rockstars, on my behalf. I am fairly certain I fell asleep well before midnight, BUT I was awake for the turning of the clock for EST (east coast time)... Too bad I live in the PST, but in truth I am still on NBT (newborn baby time) and will probably stay that way for several more months! Eek! I can't believe it's 2013, but I am super duper excited to see what this coming year has to offer. I feel so blessed for what 2012 brought, with a new baby and a crazy 5 year old, 2 dogs who finally like each other and a hubster who is adored by everyone (except me, I'm cranky when sleepless, grr).

In true DIY blogger fashion I had to at least try and cram in one crafty project with sparkle. I used Martha's tinsel New Year's Banner for 2011 as my inspiration, and just made my own number 3. Heck I even whipped out the old glue gun for this one (that baby had cobwebs on it, I swear it)

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Oh Christmas Tree in Green 2012

12|28|12

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

Last year I didn't put up my standard big tree in the living room, because I simply didn't have time. I was frantic the entire month of November preparing for a live tv segment I was doing, for my local News 10 channel. Throw in the actual holidays themselves (Thanksgiving hosted at my house) and my monster mash boy Blake's birthday (also at my house) and you have one frazzled mommy blogger on crack. Ya true story...

The segment I did was on budget friendly holiday decor and I created 3 mini trees each decorated in a different color scheme. Once the segment aired I was so burned out on holiday decor that I quite literally brought the trees home and plopped them on my dining room table... all 3 of them... and I ended up loving the mini tree on the table set up so much I repeated it this year for no other reason than that I wouldn't have to rearrange furniture to fit the ginormous tree of yesteryear! yahoo...

This mini tree in shades of green is what we used for our main tree and where I put all of our family gifts. Of course I am neurotic about my decor so all of the gift wrap matches the tree... I even used a few unconventional items for wrapping this year including an old map and some fabulous printed wrapping paper I found here. It really brought the whole spread together nicely, which you can see in the images, and gave the gifts some fabulous visual interest. yay...

Stay tuned for more holiday decor from this year to come, and my holiday card to all of you (late of course)... what can I say...

Being a brand new mommy of 2 boys has put my schedule so far behind that it will very likely take me until the end of the first week, of the new year, to finish sharing all of our Christmas adventures, but hopefully you don't hold it against me. #newbornbabymamadrama

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A Little Storage in the Master Bedroom

03|29|12

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

I had the most amazing pleasure of visiting The Container Store last month, as part of my attempt to make over my Master Bedroom. A bit of storage was precisely what I needed, and if a trip down yonder for a little in-store browsing and organizational drooling was required, well that was just fine by me. It takes a very 'special' person to want to make an entire day out of a trip to a storage mecca such as this, but apparently for me, this kind of store is practically Disneyland. Bring on the Org.... Mama needs a new set of baskety bins...

Bins with an Ombre fade? Yes please.... and paired with charcoal gray jute? Double triple yahoo...

Has there been any organizational goodness happening on your end? do tell... and don't leave out any of those fabulous juicy storage details.. Yes I probably need help. Maybe there's a group for this?

Check out other articles from my Master Bedroom Makeover here

Sources

Psst... check out the crazy good prices on these bad boys... unreal.

1. Horizon Crunch Can Laundry Baskets

2. Horizon Crunch Can Basket - for My extra pillows and Blankets

3. Charcoal Jute Baskets - Sadly these beauties will be used to contain all of the toys that spill over from Monster Mash's crazy endeavors.

Note

This post brought to you by self storage units

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A Paper Craft I Adore and Alphabet Soup Free Printables

02|29|12

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

I needed a little something between my upper windows and the top of my headboard, and I figured a typographical paper craft was just the thing. I chose a word that is fairly standard vocabulary for me (If you know me, you aren't very likely surprised...) and created templates from 8 1/2" x 11" paper. The letters are cut from standard poster board stock in a metallic bronzey gold color (I think the back side was actually silver) and was purchased from my local crafty store! Easy Peasy...

I have created free printables for all of you so that you might make your own 'word-like' art... simply download at your leisure from the links down below!

Note: please excuse the doggy blurs and smears in the images, it appears I was interupting some very important Doggy Games to bring this you this post! Gah.