My New Headboard and Master Bedroom Reveal! {DIY Project - Before and After}

We have been without a headboard since our last one broke when I tried to move it myself several years ago. The old one was a great Ikea wood bed frame that honestly lasted much longer than expected considering how many times it had been moved, taken apart, and put back together.

When my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday back in January, I showed him the plans for the King farmhouse headboard online and he totally came through, as he always does! Of course it took a few more months and some teamwork to actually get it finished, but all the best projects do:)

He got all the materials at our hardware store. Here is a picture of all the wood cut and laid together on my birthday:

I couldn't decide whether to paint or stain it. Or what color. After we put it together and I sanded it, we put it in the bedroom to see how it would look and think about what finish we wanted to give it.

So here is the BEFORE of our bedroom: 

And here is the AFTER!

We LOVE how it turned out. I ended up painting it white and spray painting the lamps black.

At first I was thinking of painting it black because I love contrast and it would look great against the white bedding but he didn't want to hide all of the beautiful wood.
Then I was thinking of staining it but there's nothing that would look good with my wood nighstands or hope chest. And I love my nightstands and hope chest even if they are a little dated. The nightstands are very high quality and solid wood Ethan Allens that belonged to my parents. The hope chest is a Lane cedar chest that I got from my parents for my high school graduation. Yes, even as a youth I wanted furniture for gifts, haha! Interior decor and design has always been my passion from a young age!
I love how our bedroom is full of meaningful pieces that bring me joy. Even the bedding that has been put together over the years and not bought in a bed-in-a-bag type set, makes me happy :) The quilt was a wedding gift from my husbands grandmother and he will never let me replace it, even though I have tried just because I've had to sew a few rips and tears! The king and standard pillows have pillowcases from my favorite super soft and affordable Target Threshold sheet sets. The throw pillows are my favorite color and I love my homemade Pottery Barn napkin accent pillow.
All together it has the perfect look and feel I was going for and is so "us!"

I'm so glad to be finished with this project, and on to the next!

MASTER BEDROOM SOURCE LIST:
(Click on the links below to be directed to the product page)
Ana White Farmhouse King Headboard
Headboard paint color Sherwin Williams Alabaster
White quilt is Laura Ashley from 15 years ago
Threshold Organic Cotton Solid Sheet Set in White
Threshold Printed Flannel Sheet Set in Gray Stripe
H&M Home similar Canvas Pillow Cover and Insert
Pottery Barn Block Print Blue Floral Napkin (can buy in store individually) and Napkin Pillow Cover Tutorial
Threshold Yarn Dye Stripe Ringspun Cotton Blanket Metallic Blue (not pictured)
Vintage Ethan Allen nightstands
Ikea Barometer Lamp (spray painted black)
Hobby Lobby Gray Diamond Patterned Cement Pot
Plants, similiar
Magnolia Art Print Set from here (no longer sold)
Majgull Blackout Curtains
Vintage Lane Cedar Chest

DIY Pottery Barn Napkin Pillow

Did you know Pottery Barn napkins are perfect for making throw pillows? They are 20"x20" and already hemmed, AND they're cheap compared to the cost of a Pottery Barn pillow. A few weeks ago I got to browse around the Pottery Barn store and I found this blue Block Print napkin. Individually, they're $5.95 a piece. I loved the colors and pattern and thought it would make the perfect pillow.

I washed and ironed the napkin and grabbed an old standard pillow we're not using anymore. Standard pillows are 20" wide so I just needed to cut one side off, keep all the filling to make the pillow more full, then stitch up that side.

I hand stitched the napkin around the edges to the front/sides of the pillow following the hem stitch that was already on the napkin. It blended easily.

You can see where I got the napkin here. There's lots of cute Summer prints right now, and lots of other patterns that could work year round like the classic solids and ticking stripes. I love how my pillow turned out!

Harvest Blessings Pillow {DIY No Cost Project}

Here is another project from my "Pinterest To-Do List" of Autumn pins. (To see my last one go HERE). First I started with some neutral off-white cotton fabric from my fabric stash, a pillow form I already had, a fabric sharpie - although a regular sharpie would work just fine also, fabric cutters/ruler/mat, and the "harvest" word template I found HERE, which actually are really cute printables you could frame on their own.

While looking at the template, I free-handed the word with a pencil then mimicked the calligraphy style to write "blessings".  I then went over it with the sharpie, then sewed up my pillow cover into an envelope style cover so I can easily take it off and store it every year with the fall decor.

It's cooling down a little and starting to feel like fall. Have a great week! ~ Rebecca

"Children at Play" Boy and Girl Shared Bedroom

Time for baby girl to share a room with big brother! I gave the walls a fresh coat of paint, repurposed the curtains, sewed a pillow and got a few new pieces of art/decor for the walls and the rest we already had. It turned out so great and the room feels bigger and cleaner. I am happy to report everyone is sleeping through the night now :) Sources at bottom of post.

ROOM BEFORE:

 ROOM AFTER:

Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Worldly Gray

Curtains: homemade by me using queen size sheet and old red panels

Letters: old, from Kohl's

Crib bedding: old, pink chevron sheet from Target; quilt: gift; pillow handmade from Sarah Jane Children at play fabric "On Parade." 

Twin bedding: levi quilt old, handmade by me; standard pillow sham made from repurposed mens dress shirts; throw pillow handmade from Sarah Jane Children at play fabric "Rocket Launch Club."

Wall decor/art: Art clip boards from craft fair/sister in law; I love to see the temple and Rocket Launch Club art prints from Sarah Jane Studios; On Parade canvas handmade by me; Love one another and Seek after these things art prints from Jones Design Company.

linking to: http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/2015/04/april-15-before-and-after.html

DIY $2 Engineer Art Print and a little Thanksgiving Decor Preview

Wow. Is that really the date today? It was JUST Halloween and now it's November 10th. That means we could be putting up a Christmas tree in 3 weeks!!!

Today's project I'm sharing is my first engineer print. You've probably seen these all over. They're great because you can print whatever you want - art, printables, photos, etc - in a large poster size for just a few bucks! 

There's this great online shop that has cute printable paper goods. It is called {Caravan Shoppe}, and some of their prints are even free, like this one I did. So with a free download and an engineer print from Staples, you can get really cute art for your home for CHEAP!

To make this is really easy. I went to the Shoppe, found the print I wanted, added it to my cart and checked out. They then send the download to your email with instructions on how to download, print it, and save it to your computer. 

After I did this, I went to Staples.com, found the engineer prints, selected the size I wanted for $2, uploaded it and bought it. DONE!

I already had this frame and I just put it right in and it looks so cute in our living room. 

Sorry for the weird angle, it was the only way to get it without a ton of glare and reflection. And you can see a little bit of Thanksgiving Decor also:

Have a great Fall-filled week!

~ Rebecca

No More Missing Socks {DIY Laundry Room Counter}

Hi everyone! It's Karen again. Thanks for having me back to post a project I just finished. So for a long, long time, pretty much since the day after we moved into our house 8 years ago, I have dreamed of a countertop over my washer and dryer in my laundry room. A couple of years ago, I redid the countertops throughout the house and I had a bit of laminate left over. It has been sitting in my attic as I have contemplated how in the world I was to make this project a reality. It's a really complicated project because my dryer gets hot and I need something that can easily be removed by a lady of my size alone when her man is busy bringing home the bacon. 

I had a 6 inch gap behind the dryer and the wall. 

And about a 2 inch gap on the side.

So one day while I am discussing this problem of how to get the countertop over the washer and dryer to my friend Carol she says, "Hey, what if you use those really heavy duty shelf brackets?" What?!! Awesome! I had been trying to figure out wood along the back and sides and a pole down the middle for support. I found some brackets at a garage sale and they worked perfect. Can't beat $2 for those. 

They are all screwed into studs and are super sturdy.

Then I found a door.  A hollow core door with oak veneers on the exterior for $3 at my favorite thrift store. It didn't have a door knob hole in it and it was light weight. I trimmed it down to size (actually my man used the circular saw that's not my cup of tea). I had to re-build the door a bit with the pieces that were no longer supporting the edge. I added the oak trim along the face of it because it matches all the custom cabinetry in my house. I notched out the area for the water lines and where the plugs need to drop down through the back.

I used my router (thanks Dad) to bevel the front at a 45 degree angle also to match my house. Do you like my saw horses? Who knew two tall garbage cans are the perfect working height?

I wish I would have taken more pictures of putting the laminate on but the day I did, I put the contact cement on the laminate and the wood and just as it was about ready to stick them together, it started to rain and I was in a hurry. So just put your laminate on your wood by working one side to the other as to avoid big air bubbles, use a J roller (buy a nice one, and you will smile that you did) and roll the entire surface out. After that, don't leave it in the sun when you go to the pool - learned that this time. And yes it rained and was hot enough to go to the pool all in one day. I re-rolled the edge that was in the sun and then beveled the front with my 45 degree bit on my router. 

I then used the straight bit (thanks Carol) around the other edges and into my notches. Work slow and steady. Take your time otherwise the laminate can chip if you work too fast.

Ta da! Here we are! I love my countertop and am so excited not to use my BBQ tongs to have to reach all those missing socks!