Dreaming of far off places

I think ever since B, our oldest son, started learning about the world beyond what the eye can see, he has become obsessed with maps.  Starting with our next 15 min. journey in the car, advancing to following the location of grandparents as they travel through Norway and Sweden, some off to Mexico, and a dear friend in Benin, West Africa.  It is only natural that with his interest in maps he would request one for his bedroom.  Except his request wasn't satisfied with just a globe, or a framed map. He envisioned a whole wall to be filled with the world.

 

Ever since the big switch, the boys room has been in limbo.  A smash up of what was left anchored to the walls before the boys took over this space, combined with everything we moved over from their previous bedroom.  It worked, it wasn't terrible, but their bedding needed to be replaced desperately so therefore justified a whole room redo.  Plus a nine year olds dreams needed to be fulfilled.

 

 

My mission was to give B his wall map in a subdued way that satisfied his dreams but still worked with the direction I longed to see the room go in.  Lets just say it was a win win.

 

My map was printed from my computer, then traced onto a transperancy, and projected onto the wall. (I don't have a projector so therefore my transperancy was suspended in the room with a lamp shining behind it to get the image projected onto the wall.  The room had to be pitch black in order to see the image so therefore the only night that worked was after a nice date night with my man while the kids were away (date nights are rare, kids being away is even rarer).  What better way to end a date night than tracing a map onto the wall?

 

Once I had the map outlined on the wall in pencil I went over those lines with paintable silicone.  Yup, you read that right silicone.  Tip: don't cut your opening too large.    Then the lines were primed and the whole room painted.  One color.  Not in your face world map but beautiful subtle texture. 

 

The color is Benjamin Moore's Black Panther.  My house recieves a ton of natural light so every color I tried in this room read very blue.  I was aiming for a nice charcoal grey.  Couldn't find anything so settled on a jet black.  During the day it appears to be a beautiful dark navy (very classy) and at night deep deep grey.  I couldn't be happier and my two little boys dream of adventures across the world at night. 

Coffee Tables

Just popping in today to show you a few updates I made to our living area a while back.  It's still far from my vision for this space but each new addition gets me a little closer.

Just a reminder of where I was at:

 

Back in the summer I moved the rug to our master bedroom and lived without one for a while. It took me a while to figure out why the kids started playing on the front entry rug (the only rug in our main area).  My beef with this rug in the living room was all the lego pieces getting lost in the long shag and wool fibers until one pierced your foot or you heard them journeying through the long dark chambers of the vacuum hose.  My wish list for a rug for this space was low pile, durable and 8 x 10 or larger.  Enter Homesense with the 8 x 10 cow hide rug.

 

 

Of course the furniture arrangement gets changed just about every time I vacuum.  And the former floral chair backs have just been covered by an inexpensive Ikea throw.

 

When my husband goes away I like to play and that usually means building something.  I had been dreaming of a similar coffee table for a while from restoration hardware so when I stumbled across some more unused timber I had just the project for it.  I had our local welder put together the base for me and then I brought it home and sprayed it.  I had never tried this spraying method before but it worked like a charm.  I took two different spray paint colors (rustoleum's hammered nickel and rustoleum's graphite) and sprayed them simultaneously at a 45 degree angle (sorry no photo - both hands busy).  Once dry, I just spritzed the metal lightly with rustoleum's bronze.  This created a subtle worn look with nice depth.  Then of course sanding the timbers, stain and varathane.

 

 

 



Rustic, tough, durable.  Perfect for our family.

 

Tribal Girls Bedroom

 

I have been MIA around here lately.  I decided to spend the summer away from the computer with the kids.  Then summer turned into fall, and fall turned into winter and I still never found myself in this space.  Today I have two off at school (that only happens 2 days a week) and my little guy is off at Grandma's for a play date with his cousin. So that leaves me with a little extra time on my hands and I am (temporarily) caught up on laundry, cooking and cleaning.  It feels good to be stopping in today. 

 

Back in September we switched the kids rooms around.  You know how it goes when you move in.  Everyone's helping, beds get put into rooms,  ambitious helpers start putting together beds, bone tired you crawl into those beds and call it a night.  Weeks of unpacking and then finally decorating and you realize the beds are not actually in the rooms you had intended them to be.  Fast forward two years and we finally switched the rooms around so the two boys now have the larger bedroom and Indianna finally gets a 'girl' bedroom. 

 

Indianna's Tribal Girl Bedroom:

 

And just for a quick reference.  Here is what her room looked like in the larger space:

 

Her new room suites her personality much better. 

 

So here's the low down. 

 

www.theanimalprintshop.com
A little Inspiration

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Frog Tape

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Gold Metallic Craft Paint

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Tribal Feature Wall 

 

 

The old curtains + some Rit Dye =  Dip dyed curtains

 

Foot board removed + chunky timber in its place = platform bed that makes the room feel bigger.

 

Leftover MDF painted same color as walls + cute saying  + 4 screws = art

 

Large chunk of leftover timber from exterior stairs + stain + polyurethane + Ikea legs = long desk

 

Drift wood + craft paint + feathers + jute string + beads = Great place to hang artwork

 

And my favorite picture.  Waking up sleepyhead after her first night in her new room. 

 

Just a little sampling of what has been keeping me busy over the last six months.  If I get another day like today I'll share a few more projects around the house. 

Wonderful wood!

Hi, Joanna here! I’m a writer for Design Shuffle, an online portal for interior designers to show off their work and for design enthusiasts to enjoy. I love every minute of my job. I get to bring together the coolest interior design ideas and images and share them with blog readers like you. Thank you Timber & Lace for allowing me to share today!

Wood is one of those elements that are so versatile in its many tones and finishes. For example, it can bring warmth to a dark kitchen or a rustic feel to a modern space. You can mix wood types and finishes within the same room to add interest and texture. Following are a few ways to add wonderful wood to your world.



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Wood is one of the hottest trends in design right now! Find even more wood inspiration on Design Shuffle here!

Master Bedroom: Building the Bed

I am apologizing in advance.  There are a few steps I failed to take pictures of.  Apparently I got too busy and missed documenting a few steps.

I started with a 6' long piece of 8 x 8 timber. With the assistance of my father we cut the timber down into four 2" boards using the bandsaw.

We then glued and clamped these boards together. 

Don't mind the dark stain on one.  One side of the timber had been stained for the exterior of our house before I was informed that it wouldn't be needed.

While waiting for the glue to dry I drew out the shape I wanted for the headboard.  You can see from the various lines that it took me a few tries before I got it right.

Once I had my shape ready I cut it out.

And then propped it against the wall to make sure it was going to work like I wanted.

Once back out in my Dad's shop, we traced my cardboard pattern onto the timbers and cut it out using the bandsaw. 

I really can't take much credit for this step.  He did most of the work.  I simply helped support the headboard.

This is where there is a large gap in the photos.  Next step:  sanding, sanding, and more sanding.  I only sanded mine to 60 grit as I wanted a rustic look to remain. 

Then I stained it with early american stain by minwax and finished it with three coats of glossy varathane.

Once inside we screwed the headboard into the wall.

Time to build the base. There are a many upholstered box spring tutorials floating around on pinterest.  They intrigued me but posing this idea to my father and husband they both agreed that there is no way that the box spring is designed to support the mattress with the addition of a few feet.  Therefore we had to create a frame for the box spring. 

Using 2x4 framing lumber, we created a base the exact dimensions of the box spring, adding a center support.  We then added 4 support legs that would not be visible once that bed is set up.  The base is screwed into the bottom of the box spring.  (I'm not sure if all box springs are the same but ours has a lite wood frame on the bottom.)

You can see our 2x4 legs in this photo placed at what will be the head of the bed but inset.  The legs coming down from the headboard are the 'faux' legs that will look like the base is using for support.

And two additional legs running down the center support piece. 

You can also see in the below photo how we clipped the corners to match the curve of the box spring.

Now its time to upholster both the 2x4 frame and box spring to create the base for your mattress.  I used 1/2" foam.  The foam was wrapped around the box spring and frame and stapled to the underside of the frame.  Here is another lack of pictures.  The top of our box spring has no wood but rather a metal cage-like structure so I simply wrapped the foam over the top by about 4 inches and hot glued it into place. 

Adding the fabric.  The fabric I selected is a dark grey heavy canvas type fabric (mixed fibers).  I wrapped it over the edge of the frame and stapled to the underside.

Folded the corners in and stapled away.

This is the top of the bed which will sit against the headboard.  I chose not to wrap the fabric across the whole top as it is not visible.

And again wrapped the fabric over the top of the box spring and hot glued.

I then screwed the legs that I made from the timber into the front of the frame. 

And positioned the base into place against the headboard.

Complete! Now go dress your bed!

I'm extremely sorry for the lack of photos.  I thought I had done a better job at documenting each step.   I cannot stress how simple it was to build.  If you have any questions or need more details please email me and I will try to assist you. 

Master Bedroom: The Before and After

Although any room decorating is never finished, I have completed most of the projects for my 'operation:Master Bedroom'.  You can check back at my inspiration and then plan for this space. 

So lets take a look at what I started with:

Not bad really.  Other than no headboard and a duvet cover that is 20" smaller that the actual duvet so bunches everywhere and doesn't adequately cover when sleeping, thus many cover wars.

A quick refresher of the plan:

And the real deal:

No the transformation did not happen overnight.  Or over a weekend.  In fact I have been working on this for over a month.  This biggest job was stripping and refinishing the furniture - not only the two nightstands you see in this picture but also a large armoire.  Then making the headboard and upholstered base, sewing the duvet cover and bolster, and redoing the lamps and shades. Yup - all DIY.   

The view from the ensuite:

I really like how the natural stump stools tye in with the new headboard.

The updated end tables work great with the headboard thanks to my inspirational kitchen photo.

A close-up of the textures I used in the bedding.

The small touch of the wood buttons also helps bring things together for me.

And the lamps got a paint job and a new shade.

Of course I'll be back with all the DIY details.

Building a timber headboard and upholstered bed.

What I learned about stripping furniture.

Painting the lamps and DIY wood shades.

Sewing a bolster cushion from a throw blanket.

Sewing your own duvet cover and shams.

One more peak since I love our new room SO much.

Of course it could use some window coverings and a sitting area still.  I'll be waiting for inspiration and funds before I do any more in here.  For now I'll just enjoy all that hard work.

What do you think?

Linking To: Simply Creation, Frugalicious Friday, Remodelaholic's Anonymous, Flaunt it Friday, Show and Share, Tickled Pink, Free For All Fridays, Furniture Friday, Link up with Liz Marie, Redoux Interiors