Do You Ever Have a Hankerin'?

Ok, so I open Blogger and it's been completely revised....grrrrr....

In the south, we often say that "we have a hankerin" to do something...a hankerin' for fried catfish, to take a walk, to work in the yard...well, this morning I got one...a hankerin'...a hankerin' to repaint my foyer.

Yes, I know...it's tiny...like really, really tiny. But that's the great thing about it! It doesn't take much paint or much time and before you know it...you have a different look! It's been painted red, rust, light green, dark green, aqua, cream and now Duck Egg Blue! Above is before...mossy green. Below is After!

This picture isn't the true color...too much light coming through the front door.

Below is the before of the wall you see when you enter the front door.

This is a Betty McCool print. I love the colors and the print itself, but I had another place to put her and I wanted to change it up a little and hang a new painting by Brandon artist, Cherry Roundtree. Mrs. McCool is probably my all time favorite Mississippi artist. I have a number of her prints and would never move them out of my house...this is just a little departure and shakin' up the place was part of my hankerin'.

I moved the pineapple container I had this arrangement in and put the arrangement in my McCarty cotton row vase. The color of the wall appears to be two colors, one lighter on the top, but that's just the sunlight coming through the door. It's all one color. BTW: I lightly painted the berries in the arrangement...what color? DE blue, of course. I've gone DE nuts.

On to the living room. The couch (as much as I like it) is "heavy" in the summer months. I need to lighten it up. Using another Betty McCool print as my inspiration, I set out to bring Duck Egg into the living room by using small touches of the color here and there. Found some pillows, but they aren't doing it for me. 

If you will look carefully in the upper right hand corner of the above pic, you will see the print. It has all the colors of the couch and in addition to those, the little boy has on duck egg stockings and cuffs and collar. Now, I know I missed on the blue pillows. Tomorrow is another day and I will do better, I promise. But I photographed them on the couch to see the effect. YIKES! Looks like some type of  road kill.

Do I dare paint this little old table? It's been in my mother in law's home for ever...do I or don't I?

Why, heck yeah, I paint it! It's just enough and I Annie Sloan-ed it. (Secret revealed...I couldn't afford to Annie my foyer...so I matched the paint at Wal Mart and it's a VERY good match!) But the table has the real deal.

One other little tip...I Annie-ed the old book below, too. Painted and waxed it. What fun!

Tomorrow will be a treasure hunt for two pillows and any other little touches of the DE I can rummage up. Last thing my sister said to me this morning was, "Now don't overdo it".  Me?   Please.

If you are ever "blue", I hope it's Duck Egg,

Angela

Master Bedroom MakeOver

What possessed me to post this today? I've been working on it since 5 a.m. and have just gotten to the "posting" part....Anyhooo, I am notorious for changing things, rooms, colors, accessories in and outside my home. HOWEVER, when I finally get it right, I am satisfied and I rarely change it again...for several years.

Thus, began the saga of the master bedroom makeover. It wasn't going to be anything but a duvet cover at first. Then it sort of snowballed...you DO understand, don't you? Below is the before picture I snapped at some odd time.I have no idea why my husband's red shirt is in the chair (except he used to use that chair as a second closet...but NO more!!)

There were two of those chairs, one in each corner. I owned them for over 40 years. It was time for a change. I had paid too much for the HEAVY comforter and velvet bedskirt and I had determined that I'd use the comforter to fill the duvet. Everything looked grandmotherly...well, since I AM a grandmother...let's change that to great grandmotherly.

The process began. I was staying with my wall color...Dried Grass....Wal Mart...love IT! (The green behind the fabric is a file folder, NOT Dried Grass!)


Now, this is Dried Grass (above). This color matches ANY color! I promise!

Carpet would have to stay...too new. Finally after an exhaustive search, I found a duvet on Overstock. It was ridiculously inexpensive, but I have been soooo pleased with it. It's heavy, really nice material. Shams and cover totaled out at around $40! (That 2.95 for shipping is the greatest!) Found some really nice taupe and black material for extra shams at Hancock's..that's it above and it was heavy and woven so it can be used on either side...I chose the light side. THE duvet ad is pictured above the fabric. I also found another fabric piece that was on sale 40% off, so I got enough just to do some throw pillows...$21 a yard is a tad over my budget..ha. (See side pillows below.) I covered old pillows that already had black cording around the edge.

Pattern mix above. Shams of reversible material at top; matching shams from duvet; $21 a yd material on either side and middle pillow matches the lining of my dresser lamp shades!

Now, what to do about those chairs...after some real fast talking, I got the hubster to consent to getting a new one....that's right ONE. The room had too much furniture and I couldn't breathe.

SIDENOTE: Uploading pictures is the only thing about blogging that I don't like. It takes me forever. I don't know if it's my computer or what, but I have time to put on make up in between uploads..drives me over the edge.

I found the chair at Haverty's. Good price, linen weave, neutral and no little skirt around the bottom. Clean lines and look were what I was going for. (Uploading...putting on eyeliner...) Pictured below are my new drapes. I lived here for 17 years without any...it was time...I paid my dues. They are lined and are a little darker than the wall color. I hung them 12 inches from the top of the doors and let them puddle just a tiny bit. I'm not too much into the BIG puddle look.

After 5 anxious days, the duvet arrived! (See August 4, 2010 post on that experience. Look under labels on the right...duvet cover. Title: How To Wrestle An Alligator) It was perfect, once I tamed it and got the other comforter into it.

Now on to accessorizing.

Left side of bed...silhouette is by artist Betty McCool, a wonderful southern artist, milkglass container was a gift from my son, McCarty June birds from my grandchildren! The silhouette was the subject of an Early American Life magazine article. I had a new mat cut but I was very fortunate to be able to purchase the original Mrs. McCool used for the article. See below.



Right side of bed. (I just realized something, I can upload and keep typing at the same time! Oh, happy day! )

I cut these silhouettes of my grandchildren years ago. I took their pictures in front of a window, printed them out, traced them onto silhouette paper, cut and viola! Frames from flea market.


I love my old books and use them everywhere! Some were my grandmother's. They add depth and character to everyday items.

Now for a quick tour of the finished product. The dresser and chair area are pictured below. Found the little stool at the flea market and recovered it with a remnant of black and taupe polka dot. Added a small pillow and "mink" throw.

The table beside the chair is an antique purchase from years ago. The white bird container is a gift from my son and the paperweight is the first ever given to me. My mother saw it and started my collection!



The front view of the dresser. I found the two silk flower embroidered pictures at the flea market. The lampshades are taupe on top and underneath have black velvet flowers. The flowers only show up when the lamps are lit. I love it...Ross's for $4 each!!!



As you can see, I love details, details, details...those lampshades really rocked my decorating world!

I know what you are thinking, " I am very traditional"...but I also enjoy modern clean lines. So, yes, I do have all this bedroom furniture, but no, I don't think it's too much. The room handles it well. Losing the extra chair and bringing in smaller pieces here and there helped reduce the
visual noise. Plus, I taught summer school one summer to buy this furniture. It's staying.


View of the chest of drawers.

I purchased this twig cone and filled it right up! One of my students provided me with the peacock feathers from a peacock owned by his grandfather.

Picture of completed dresser side of room.

Below is Final shot (whew)...poor old Blogger uploader probably has to take a nap after this boatload of photos! Anyway, this is my little nest and I love it. Comfy, clean and the wall color changes with the time of day. I love a paint that does that!

I am linking to: Boogieboard Cottage, Metamorphosis Monday, Shabby Nest, Decor Chick and Polish the Stars parties...click on the buttons to the right.