The Year in Review

2011 was my first full year of blogging.  The year was filled with lots of DIY projects, crafts and ideas. 

 Here's a recap month by month.

January

I started the year off with a makeover to my daughter's room taking it

 from toddler to tween...or so I thought.  

Who would have thought that the room update wouldn't even last until the end of the year?

February

These almost no-sew pillows that I created out of placemats I found at Home Goods 

were one of my most popular posts.  These pillows took no time to make.

March

In March I took on my first board and batten project and revealed a whole new mud room.

It's so amazing the difference just the board and batten made...even before all the finishing touches.

Also in March I created this beautiful ottoman out of an old Christmas stand. 

April

In April I created a pillow and a tote bag using four dinner napkins I found at Home Goods.

May

In May I took a Craigslist find and turned it into something special using chalk paint and drop cloths to reupholster it.  Now it's an awesome chair in my guest bedroom.

June

In June I updated our downstairs bathroom with paint and accessories.

There were some projects in that bathroom as well...

and...

July

I picked up my first trash from the side of the road and created a treasure out of it.  My kids were mortified, but were impressed once they saw how I made over these chairs.  

 August

Our outdoor sectional and coffee table finally arrived.

It finished off our outdoor patio perfectly.

September

In September I made lined pinch pleat drapes for my guest bedroom.  They were a little time consuming, but very easy.  The tutorial is here.

October

Who could forget October when I climbed up above my front door and decorated. 

 Is there anything I won't do in the name of decorating??

November

In November I updated my daughter's room.  She was finally ready for a full size bed and wanted the colors more tween-like.  I knew her original makeover was a temporary fix, I just didn't realize how temporary...what I didn't count on was the changes that happen when you start Middle School.

December

In December I created this Pottery Barn Teen inspired style tile board for a fraction of the cost.

  A few days later I made these fabric covered letters to go above the memo board.

I want to take a moment to thank all of you.  Whether you stop by everyday or just once in a while, I appreciate all of your visits.  I look forward to a wonderful 2012!!

Happy New Year!

-Judy

Kids Bedrooms

Roomspiration continues today over at All Things Bright and Beautiful with kids bedrooms.  I have a son and a daughter.  In honor of Roomspiration today, here is a tour of both of their bedrooms:

My daughter's room was updated a few months back on a budget.

I made the bedskirt and the euro pillows as well as the neck rolls.

The chair was reupholstered.  It started out looking like this:

I think everyone had a glider chair like this.  

Big transformation and so much less money than a new chair.

I recently found a desk and chair on Craigslist for $30.  Using AS Chalk Paint I transformed the desk and chair and reupholstered the chair with fabric I had on hand.

The wall in her room was stenciled by me.  It took five hours but the end result was worth all of the hard work.  You can check out how I did it here.

Here is my son's room.  Clearly a baseball fan, his room definitely has a sports theme. 

This was his room about four years ago.  We were in transition from his toddler years Pooh room to a sports room.  He didn't want to totally get rid of the mural my brother painted until he was ten when he was finally ready to let us paint over it.  The side table was an unfinished piece of furniture from AC Moore which I painted and added baseball knobs.  All pre-blog...imagine that.

My husband and my son are visiting all of the MLB baseball stadiums.  At each stadium they collect a baseball for his case.

I sewed the valance for his window.  I wanted it to look like pennants to go with the sports theme.  

Here's a close up of the table I painted for his room.

I headed over to link up my kid's bedrooms.  I hope you will stop by All Things Bright and Beautiful and link up your kid's rooms too.

Hope to see you there!

-Judy

My Daughter's Room - The Big Reveal

As you know I have been working on redoing my ten year old daughter's room for some time now.  I have tried every furniture configuration you can imagine (thanks to those handy gliding furniture movers).  I think I have the best layout to maximize space in her space challenged room.  I think I have also made it a pretty, calming space for my ten year old taking into account the colors she wanted (it all started with her wanting a room with aqua in it) and that she wanted to keep her daybed.  Here is the final reveal.

Much of what you see I made in her room.

That beautiful chandelier is a Schonbek we purchased for her a few years ago.

The bedskirt and the euro shams were easy projects.  You can find out how I did these here and here.  For now I flipped her quilt over to the striped side.  The other side seemed to be too busy for the new pillows and bedskirt.  For now I think it works.  The lamp on the left is from Home Goods and the lamp on the right (on her desk) is from Target for the base (shabby chic) and Pottery Barn Kids for the lampshade.

The drapes are from Target's shabby chic line and were very reasonably priced.  The curtain rod is from pottery barn kids.  You can see a closeup of the rod and how to hang drapes like this here.

The pink wall was stenciled by me.  That wall alone took almost five hours.  Click here to see how I achieved the look of wallpaper with a stencil.  The memo board was made by me.  Click here to see how I made it.  Super fast and easy project for less than $20.  The desk and chair I found up in my attic.  I moved the desk next to her bed and it really opened up her room.  Using fabric I already had I recovered that chair.  Click here to see how I transformed the chair.

Ultimately this desk got moved next to her bed as seen in the pictures at the top of the post.

The word art I made as well.  The flowers and hearts on the word art were made using paint samples from Lowes.  You can check out how to make the word art here.  The vines and birds are decals from Home Goods.

I replaced the formica furniture she had (which was a hand me down from when we were first married) with a find I got at the Ethan Allen annual warehouse sale.  I got the armoire for 40% off the regular price.   It's a perfect fit for her room.  I got humpty dumpty to come off the wall...my daughter wasn't willing to completely get rid of him...so for now he will sit on top of the armoire.

The banner behind her door was made by me a few years ago.  I totally copied the idea from a banner than posh tots sells.  I just did it for a fraction of the price.  The little heart table with the dolls on it was painted by me as well.  I got it at AC Moore when I was pregnant with my daughter.  The "S" door hanging was also homemade by me.  You can check out here how I made it.

up close picture of table...I stenciled her first and middle name on each leg

This is her wall of closets.  Makes it tough for furniture arranging when one entire wall has closets.  Also, I would love to remove the bypass doors and replace them with french doors.  The downside to that is that the doors would then open up into her room...using up even more space in her space challenged room.

The birds and flowers on the doors are decals from Home Goods.  

The mirror you see is from Home Goods.  I didn't mind putting her beautiful armoire behind the door since you can see its reflection when you walk into the room in this mirror.  This mirror is huge and heavy.  It was only $39.99 at Home Goods! (I still think it had to be mis-marked - Home Goods was selling the same brand mirror in half the size for twice the price).    The little side table is from Target's shabby chic line.  The lamp shade was embellished by me.  You can check that out here.
The chair in her room didn't start looking like that.

It started out looking like this.

The chair was reupholstered to look like this.  Pretty amazing, right?

The "dream" and "imagine" are also decals from Home Goods costing $9.99 (the rest of the decal was used on the other side of the room near the memo board).

The picture I already had in the house (technically it was under a bed waiting to reappear somewhere in the house).  It seems to go well with the soft feel of her room.

Her door sign started as a heart shaped piece of wood bought from AC Moore.  I decoupaged scrapbook paper on it, painted letters and used my hot glue gun to attach them.  I then used industrial strength sticky back velcro to attach it to the door (I used regular strength first and it fell off the door within two weeks-too heavy I guess).

Here's the before and after:

Before

 I think I am done...or at least for the moment.  Let me know what you think of her room now.  I'd love your feedback.

-Judy