friday favourites

I've come a across a few gorgeous bedrooms lately that make my favourites list for this week. The natural elements, neutral tones and unexpected hits of colour make these rooms really fresh and interesting.
 Enjoy and happy weekend. 

                                                                        Source: elledecor.com via refresheddesigns. on Pinterest

                                                             Source: inastateofluxe.com via refresheddesigns. on Pinterest

                                                                       Source: elledecor.com via refresheddesigns. on Pinterest

                                                                             Source: marthastewart.com via refresheddesigns. on Pinterest

                                                                Source: marthastewart.com via refresheddesigns. on Pinterest

                                                                   Source: houseandhome.com via refresheddesigns. on Pinterest

friday favourites!

I just love the rustic modern style and I'm so glad that it is making a big splashy return all over the world of design. Just look at this fantastic renovated Spanish farmhouse, posted by The Style Files. I am in love and booking my ticket to Spain...

the importance of a concept

Designing and decorating a room requires creativity and vision, and this can sometimes be even tougher when redecorating. It is easy to hit an inspiration roadblock when looking at an existing room with existing furniture, and getting off track in the middle of the project can often happen. That's why it is so important to map out a concept for the room from the beginning. Creating a design board with the colours and furniture you will use allows you to constantly go back and be reminded of the feel and mood you are trying to achieve. I always start with something that the homeowner loves, and use that as a jumping off point. It might be fabric in a favourite colour, a piece of art, or a decorative accessory.

Here is an example of a recent project I did, which I posted about this week. This was a master bedroom refresh, using much of the existing furniture. The design board shows the colours and feel we were going for, and although some things were tweaked, it kept us on track and the outcome was what we wanted.

If you would like to have a design board created for a room you would like to refresh, go to my online refresh page. I would love to help out!

master bedroom refresh

Well I"m back in Calgary after two fantastic weeks on the East Coast at "home" visiting family and friends. I was busy while there, and one of the projects was refreshing my mom and dad's bedroom. The budget was slim to nil on this one, so I had to get the creative juices flowing. I started with wallpapered walls and a lovely wood floor, a bed with black iron-look head and foot board, and two tired old dressers. And it was quite dark, with only one window facing east.

I was very excited to see what was possible by using the sustainable design concept of reusing and re-purposing. Here is the before picture...

And after...

I wanted to create a brighter, lighter feeling country bedroom. The dresser below was painted a dark sage green (see my previous post on painting the dressers in this room). The curtains were an old shower curtain cut in two to make panels.

Everything on the walls and shelves was either something already in the house or from the yard outside. Birch branches are leaned against the wall as a point of interest and to cover up a bad crack in the wall underneath the wallpaper.

This is the second painted dresser with matching grey-green paint on the back of the existing shelves.

Jewellery is displayed on an old picture frame with a ribbon tied across the back.

The head and foot boards were painted with white semi-gloss trim paint and then distressed with sandpaper.

This bench was an old deacon's bench. We sawed off the back spindles and side arms, painted it out white, and made a foam cushion for the top.

The side table is a block of firewood sawed and sanded with a Varathane finish. 

Snowshoes complete the country feel and were found in the basement, so again, no extra cost for decoration.

This project cost only $100 dollars - for paint and fabric for the cushions. The rest was all re-purposed and reused.  I'm pleased with it, and so are my parents. What do you think?

Stay tuned for more budget-friendly refreshed rooms- including the bathroom and kitchen.

a tale of two dressers

I've been busy while on vacation working on refreshing a few rooms for family and friends. These two dressers were old pieces that were useful, but not very pretty in a master bedroom. Nothing a little paint can't fix! 

I gave this tired old dresser a good sanding, then primed and painted on two coats of a greenish-gray latex Behr paint (I actually didn't like the beige-gray colour that I had picked out, so did some custom mixing by adding some black and dark green paint I had left over from a previous project).  I then sanded the edges to give it a distressed look and let some of the wood come through, and added new hardware. Voila!

On the tall dresser I spray-painted  a high gloss sage green Rustoleum after a little sanding and a coat of primer. I finished off with 3 coats of water-based high gloss Varathane.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and I will show you how they fit in the the refreshed master bedroom in my next post.  For now I'm off to paint more furniture. I wonder if my mom will let me at her hutch yet...

I'm also linked up on:

Domestically Speaking

Primitive & Proper

(aka)design

My Repurposed Life

a showhouse-inspired slow home

The real life Houston home featured in the latest issue of Traditional Home is based on ideas gleaned from show homes, but it also stands out as a great example of what I consider a slow home. Virginia Mary Brown carefully considered the design of her home to suit her family's needs, to preserve history, and to responsibly re-purpose materials salvaged from her grandmother's home that used to sit on the property.

For example, look at all of the light coming through the windows that were put on three sides of the house for maximum ventilation. The sofa is handed down from grandma and recovered in white cotton duck.

The wonderful brick pavers that run from inside to outside are from her grandmother's home. The downstairs is open concept in order to keep the family close together, but the big sliding barn doors can be closed to separate the family room from the kitchen when needed.

The reclaimed pine floors are warm and stand up to kid traffic.

The kitchen is deliberately placed so that everyone goes through it to go in and out of the house. It is therefore a gathering spot, and has a big table in the middle to accommodate all kinds of activity.

All of the bedrooms were placed upstairs, bucking the trend for a downstairs master.

The fantastic marble mosaic tiles in the bath were purchased at a hotel salvage sale.

This home was obviously well thought-out and its contents were found and purchased with deliberation and patience. Finding the right pieces can take time, but it is worth it in order to end up with a home that is highly functional and durable, will grow with your needs, and will last for generations. All that and high style as well! Not bad.

refreshed bedroom project

My mom would like me to refresh her master bedroom and has given me a few directives. She wants something airy, since there is only one window in the room with limited light. She loves apple green or blue. Wallpaper is a must for the wall treatment. There are two existing wooden dressers that we can paint, along with a built-in bookshelf. The bed with black iron headboard is staying. The floor is a lovely medium toned wood and will stay.

So, here are two options. Both wallpaper choices are available in-store from Home Depot. The only other purchases will be paint for the dressers, fabric to cover a bench that already exists in the house, pillows, curtains and a lamp. Overall it is a budget and consumption-friendly make-over.

Which option do you like best?

I would love your input and any other suggestions!