Before + After... Marsh Street!

{click image above for a closer view}

Last night I ran across a folder on my desktop full of renovation photos of our Marsh St. space.

These make me feel SO proud of us!   I mean... seriously.  Sometimes I forget how grody things were and how much hard work went in to creating a place we really love.  This is of course, just a snippet of the work... but it's a good example of the overall improvements.  

Before + After DIY chair makeover...

Hello friends...  See that chair up there?  

Here's the backstory; I've been parking my butt on it for nearly 3 decades.  

My mom found it at a teacher's estate sale a long, long time ago along with a matching desk.  The desk/chair set lived in my room as a kid, and it's where I did homework, listened to Joni Mitchell for the first time, wrote and edited a zine, cried into my journal, and ate meals with my head buried in a book during my parent's fancy dinner parties.  

Quick!  Look away for a sec, mom...  

I also secretly carved my name into both pieces.  

Somewhere along the line the desk went rogue, but thankfully my mother had the foresight to load this chair into a Matson container and haul it over the ocean with her when she moved to California.  I still use this chair just about every day.  I love it.   

Needless to say, the chair deserved a little facelift.  The white paint had some pretty well-worn indigo stains from years of my denim-clad posterior sitting in it.  SO...

Step 1: A fresh coat of ivory paint (but only on top, b/c those distressed legs are where it's at).

Step 2: Squiggly branches with dark brown paint.

Step 3: Emerald green + golden brown leaves - 1 quick stroke w/ sideways brush that ends in a point.

Step 4: Messy pink abstract flowers - stamping motion in center w/ swirly edges.

Step 5: Stamp red paint just in center of flowers.  Use dry brush.

Now I love my favorite chair even more!  ♥

Get outta town!

Hi, friends!  It's been a little quiet on the blog this week because Jeff and I ran away from home!  

Ok, ok... that's only kiiinda true.  We packed up the kiddos and skipped town to visit with his parents, swim in saltwater, smell roses + play with ponies.  Oh!  And did I mention that his mom made us a big yummy artichoke/chicken dinner?  Or that she scrambled ranch eggs in the morning?  Such a treat!  I love Jeff's parents so much.  With my own parents far away, it's such a comfort to be around family and just put everything else on hold sometimes.

W E   H A D   S O   M U C H   F U N !  

What's your favorite way to spend "family time" together?

3 adults + 2 days + $510 = major room make-over...

Sooo... with the kids getting older now, I thought I'd give them something a little more substantial for Christmas this year. Rather than go the usual toys/clothes route, only to see the new clothes shoved in the back of a drawer in favor of the old favorites- or new toys played with for a few weeks and promptly forgotten (or worse, broken), I wanted to give them something special and lasting; that could be appreciated for the long-term. I gave myself a $500 budget, which I'm very proud to say went only $10 over in the end. I enlisted the help of my dad, which was indispensable, and poor Jeffrey stayed up until 4:00 am varnishing on his hands and knees Saturday night, but WE DID IT! In one weekend, we managed to completely overhaul the room and it turned out even better than I'd imagined.

The dreaded BEFORE pictures... Of course I thought to take these after we'd begun to disassemble the beds and move things out. But you'll definitely sense the impact of the change. Note the sad, white walls and the HORRENDOUS commercial carpet.

During...

And AFTER!

Because space is always of the utmost importance in any shared room, and bunk beds are typically used as a space-saving sleep system- I thought long and hard about transitioning them into twin beds. I sketched, measured, met with oppposition, and finally took a leap of faith. Guess what... It was so worth it! The twin beds opened the room vertically, unblocked a window- letting natural light flood in, and made the room feel so fresh and mature. Our initial plan was to make a trek to Ikea, but I'm so glad we didn't! Not buying everything new was a huge asset to the space. It's incredibly cozy, soft, and serene, with a comfy, lived-in quality; like a great little B&B. Evelyn says it makes her feel like her room is its own house inside our home.

They came home on Sunday, walked into a brand new room, and were totally thrilled. So sweet, and excited, and truly grateful.

I have to say- though we did this for the children, the project has really affected the whole family. We actually find ourselves hanging out in their room with them. Not typical for us. This is by far the best Christmas present we ever could have given them. The kids are genuinely enjoying the time they spend in there, taking pride in it (i.e. keeping it CLEAN *gasp*), and while we were out yesterday Evy said "I can't wait to get back home to be in my room" - that in itself is pretty heartwarming. James even blogged about it.

Amazing.  :)

I cut a few corners by:

1. Leaving the trim "as is", both above and below the new paint-job.
2. Purchasing a big California King sized duvet from Ruby Rose, and sewing it into two twin-sized duvets. I fell in love with the classic ticking, and the oh-so-soft-washed-ten-bazillion-times feel of it. :)
3. Cutting a sturdy, old, wooden bunk-bed into two twin beds. THANK YOU, DAD!!!
4. Sewing an amazing pair of 1940's curtains (that I've hung on to for 10 years) into pillow shams.
5. Using hand-me-down inherited antiques, Louis XVI chairs, and gigantic rug from Jeff's grandma.
6. Dresser was a thrift-store find. Handles are painted with Montana 94 paint in "Magenta".
7. Window cut-outs are our old Sam Flores shower curtain, re-purposed.
8. Set of 4 vintage curtains from Ruby Rose.

I splurged on:

1. An awesome faux-fireplace heater, on stone base hearth. This thing is totally mesmerizing and really took the whole project over-the-top in terms of awe-factor with the kids. Also, it heats the room SO well, and has both high and low wattage settings to save energy. I want one in our room!
2. A new ceiling light fixture. The old fluorescent lighting was just awful. Cold, clinical, unflattering, and so depressing. We replaced it with a really pretty bronzed metal track with amber colored glass shades. It casts a warm, glowing light throughout the room and really elevated the project.
3. New throw pillows for each bed.

*Paint is Behr's "French Grey Blue" in eggshell. I'm definitely buying more of it and using it wherever I can. It's incredible. It feels very clean and contemporary, but also like it's been there forever. Calming, soothing, beautiful and somehow both warm and cool at once... a dream color.