Brass Button Tufting

Speaking of buttons, can I tell you how much I LOVE the brass buttons Amanda Nisbet used in the headboard she created for her Kips Bay room?

I've been planning a DIY tufted headboard project for one of my clients and I think this little brass detail is going to put it over the top.

I'm pushing for a bright cobalt blue fabric. Won't that be gorgeous with the brass accents?? Can't wait.

Carleton Varney for HSN

Recently I got an email from HSN with a coupon for 15% off. I clicked on, thinking I might look to see if the Nate Berkus line had anything new for me. Before I could get to the Nate stuff I was reminded that Carlton Varney has a line for HSN.

His look is very preppy, very southern. I love his style in small doses for common room or in full force for a little girls bedroom.

These sheets are great!

And how about this adorable ottoman? So cute for the bathroom, the end of a hallway or a little nook.

This vanity stool is a tie for my favorite piece in the line. Comes in all different colors.

But this bedding is what excited me most. It features my favorite Carlton V print - Tobacco leaf.

Okay, now. I know this image is not exactly current. But put on your ugly blinders for a sec and imagine this bedspread as a duvet. Ditch the unfortunate throw pillows and the stripey pieces and replace the euros and skirt with a crisp inky blue/navy trimmed out in white. Awesome, I think!

Canopy Beds

I'm guest blogging over at Simply Seleta today and chatting about canopy beds. I spied this pretty canopy recently at FAO Schwartz:

And this gorgeous canopied bed belongs to one of my all time favorite girls rooms:

Palmer Weiss

So stop on over to Seleta's and say hello! Maybe tell me your favorite canopy style while you're at it.

Lack Hack

I love the IKEA lack side table. It comes in all sorts of great colors, and at $7.99 each, you absolutely cannot beat the price. I use it in all sorts of projects and often add to or embellish the simple design.

It's fun to be on the look out for new lack hack ideas. I love this photo, from MWM design, featured on Kelly's blog yesterday. Also! This is the cover of the new online magazine from Australia, Ivy and Piper. It's a must-read check it out!

And it got me thinking... could a couple of simple corbels from Home Depot and a little time with my sander make a Lack table this gorgeous?

House Beautiful

Dresser as Night Stand

Do you have a long and narrow bedroom? Ditch your night stands in favor of a pretty dresser. Maybe a desk on the other side of the bed?

image via Elle Decor

My Recipe for the Perfect Bedding=

Matteo linens (so worth the splurge!) + quilted coverlet in a solid color + gorgeous, fluffy patterned duvet rolled up at the foot of the bed.

Since you spent a small fortune on the Matteo sheets and quilt, you'll be happy to learn that these amazing patterns at Urban Outfitters are less than $100 a pop. Score!

The colors here are so fabulous, throw one of these pretties on the foot of your bed and your bedroom will practically decorate itself.

Can you tell how in to floral patterns I am?

Also, who can resist a 'Pendleton' (AKA Hudson) blanket?

Two Beautiful Bedrooms

Recipe for the perfect room: 1 part traditional, 1 part modern, with a twist of chinoiserie...

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

images of (A) Joe Nye's gorgeous (and only 900 sq ft) LA apartment, and (B) David Kaihoi's stunning 390 sq ft NYC apartment (July/August 2010), both via House Beautiful

Lonny Jewelry Armoire

Remember this photo from Lonny's third issue?

I didn't notice before that the little chest is actually a jewelry armoire. (probably because I couldn't stop staring at the gorgeous venetian mirror!)

I did a quick search on my local craigslist and came up with a couple of options for my bedroom that could have a similar feel with a little paint and some new knobs.

If you want something brand new, this jewelry/lingerie chest from Wal-mart is pretty darn close, though I wish the legs were a little more delicate. I would add these tiny bun feet to the bottom.

Don't forget to add some pretty hardware.

Green Tufted Headboard

I stumbled across this headboard again the other day, and it made me happy that I can still copy Chloe Warner's bedroom to a tee if the mood strikes.

P.S. Did you know there are some Domino videos on Youtube? Here's a little house tour from Chloe Warner where we can get a glimpse of her bedroom. She has a gorgeous apartment in San Francisco.

Campaign Dresser Boost

I spy with my little eye...

a pair of vintage campaign dressers.



But with feet?



I wonder if the designers at Carrier and Co had legs added to these vintage dressers? I would love to do something like this with my campaigners.

Box Spring Covers

One of the commenters from yesterday's post reminded me that I forgot to explain the box spring cover solution in my mom's room.

I read about the idea of using a fitted sheet to cover box springs in Martha Stewart Living several years ago and have used the idea in many bedroom projects. We used a simple blue-gray fitted sheet from the clearance bedding section at Bed Bath and Beyond to cover the box springs of my parents' bed. While I love a good bed skirt, sometimes they are just fussy looking. This is an easy and inexpensive solution.

If you want a streamlined look, but don't want to use a second sheet, I have a client who uses and loves these matelasse box spring covers from Restoration Hardware, available in many different colors.


And if you do use the fitted sheet idea, do yourself a favor and pick up some fitted sheet clips to help everything stay nice and tight.

My Parents' New Bedroom

Are you ready for a crazy amount of pictures?

Welcome to my parents' new bedroom...

You've come a long way, baby.


The drapes are really the focal point of the room. I love how they turned out. And the yellow Home Goods lamps really pop against them.

Someone asked why we didn't buy vintage lamps and just paint them yellow. The idea crossed my mind at one point, but between the cost of lamps, paint and new shades, I thought it was a better use of our time/resources to just spend the $39 on these. Also, I wanted a ginger jar shape, or something similar, with a smooth surface. Anything with more pattern or texture would have been too much with the drapery fabric.

The nickel alarm clock is from Target. The blue decanters are vintage and the tray is from IKEA.

Here's the other side of the bed. Do you spy the tins we spray painted from Home Goods? The side tables are painted in RL's Hopsack and the bed is RL's Smoked Glass. Many of you asked about painting the furniture here. It's always a good idea to prime and put a coat of sealer on furniture that gets a lot of use, like bedroom furniture does. Remember that the secret to a smooth and long-lasting paint finish is multiple thin coats with drying time in between!

The small sunburst mirror is from the Home Goods clearance section ($10, I think). The yellow rosette pillow is by Dwell Studio for Target.

The white duvet is from IKEA. It has a lovely pleated detail that makes it look more expensive than IKEA bedding usually looks. The quilted coverlet at the foot of the bed is from Home Goods.

We bought the down Euro shams on clearance at Home Goods and made new covers out of the Robert Allen yellow ticking stripe from Home Fabrics and yellow piping from Joanns. Mom was so sick of sewing that she decided not to put in zippers and just made envelope slips.

The botanical prints series is one of my favorite parts of the room.

If you'd like to purchase the same book we used to make this print series (Wildflowers in America), there are sellers on Amazon basically giving copies away. Some are only a penny, plus shipping. Not bad for 400 botanical prints! There are all sorts of gorgeous, colorful prints in the book. We went with yellow, white and blue flowers for our print series here.

We didn't finish this project before I left, so my mom just sent me pictures of this little footstool that she reupholstered in the subtle leopard print.

It belonged to my great grandparents years and years ago. I think my mom swiped it from our old family cabin. :)

In case you didn't notice, my parents' bed is really high off the ground and this small stool helps the little kids climb into grammy and granddaddy's bed for morning cartoons.

My Grandpa Russell made my mother's cedar hope chest, so it has a lot of sentimental value to us. It really needed a paint job though.


And I think the addition of some decorative moulding did just the trick to break things up a little. We also reupholstered the seat cushion with a soft floral. The pale blue bolster is from IKEA.

My parents' en suite bathroom got a serious make over too.


New paint on the oak cabinets (Zinsser primer first, then two coats of Martha Stewart's River Mist).

New black marble floors. Bath rugs from Home Goods.

A new shower curtain that my mom sewed using the Lee Jofa Hollyhock from Home Fabrics. I had her sew it extra long (about 85"). We re-installed the rod at the taller height. It's amazing how that simple change really opened up the room.

Then, of course, there was the mirror project. We hung this IKEA mirror on top of the old boring sheet mirror using 3M picture hanging strips.

It really took things to the next level and I can't wait to use this idea again in another project.

And lastly, here's the vanity area. My mom turned a second hand (and broken, I think?) dining table into a console table by cutting off the end and adding a pair of legs to the back. Looks great, right?

It used to be an antiqued white color, but we gave it a fresh coat of Martha's Magnolia Yellow. The little bench was purchased at a vintage shop for $12. We reupholstered the seat in a pretty damask that mimics the wall color.

Didn't the circle mirror project turn out pretty? I think it's sort of like a feminine version of a Captain's mirror.

The floral wooden appliques were purchased at Michaels and adhered with a little wood glue before painting.

We hung the mirror low enough to be useful while sitting and high enough so that you can see yourself while standing.

The photoless frames (whoops! ran out of time!) are from Home Goods, as are the blue lacquer boxes. The curvy gray box on the end used to be a hideous gold (from Marshalls clearance aisle), and I think it looks great now, painted in Hopsack. The tray is from IKEA and the other accessories are vintage.

Phew! That was a lot of photos! :) Last ones:

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my parent's overhauled master bedroom. True that it was a lot of work to accomplish in a week's time, but we had so much fun doing it together.