PEG'S BUNGALOW
Peg will be the first to admit that she
bought the little two-bedroom bungalow because she fell in love with the
back yard! The only problem was the only way to get to the charming back
yard was out the kitchen door, around the garage, and through the gate.
If that wasn't enough, the only windows which faced the lovely wooded
yard were located in the two small bedrooms and were almost too small to
reveal more than a sliver of the charming view.
None of this concerned the original
Homegirl at all. Upon taking possession of the little bungalow, she
hauled her bucket buddy and some of her favorite power tools to her new
home and went to work. Within hours the wall between the living room and
the back bedroom had a large, floor to ceiling, 5' wide opening. The
beautiful backyard was now visible from the front of the house! Before
she moved in any of her things she had all that horrible plaster dust
cleaned up and the opening trimmed out. All of the sudden, the modest
sized living room was a large comfortable room with a lovely, adjoining
den. Of course Peg didn't stop there but hired some local contractors to
tear out the small window and replace it with a set of beautiful French
doors. What a transformation! After building bookcases around and above
the new doors, this Homegirl was done, and it's a good thing, too,
because her entire decorating budget was gone. With a view like she has
now, combined with all the furniture and decorative accessories she had
already hunted and gathered, plus a few yards of fabric from the remnant
table at our favorite fabric store, this little bungalow is now a
showplace!
THELMA'S KITCHEN
This weeks' Homegirl, Thelma, called us
in for help replacing her window treatment and brightening her
combination kitchen/family room. We found her existing style to fit
perfectly in the comfy country category as described in our booklet,
"Choosing Your Style" (Available through our Shoestring Shop), and
Thelma was ready for a change. At eighty plus years old, she was not
interested in replacing any of her furniture or accessory items but
thought she might like to change the wall paper in her kitchen as well
as update her window treatment. Her color scheme consisted primarily of
mauve and country blue. Armed with the facts, we went to work.
Our first thought was to bring in some
yellow to update her style and brighten the area. Together with Thelma,
we decided to tear down all the old wallpaper and borders and add a
large yellow check wall vinyl, lots of yellow paint, and a lovely Laura
Ashley border with blue roses on a yellow background.
As we removed the comfy country style
accessories from the walls, we started to get a glimpse of how the room
would look when we were done. The yellow paint really made a big
difference, and we didn't even paint the walls in the family room! After
the new paint and wallpaper were in place, we went to work removing the
rest of the comfy country style accessories. Lucky for us, we found a
set of white dishes with blue roses in her cabinets. We hung several of
the plates on the wall with plate hangers and arranged the rest of the
dishes in a bookcase that Thelma's late husband built for her years ago.
The dishes, combined with wonderful old books from her library, some
framed photographs, and some lovely vintage linens and vintage American
pottery from her linen closet finished off the accessorizing. I'll just
bet her lady friends will be impressed when they come over to play cards
next week!
A NURSERY FOR
ISABELLE
Just a few months after Isabelle's 1st
birthday, when she was still sleeping in her crib in Mommy and Daddy's
room, she found out she was going to have a new baby brother or sister.
Plans began to create a nursery for Isabelle and her new little sibling to
spend the next several years.
The new nursery has windows on three sides
so offers little wall space for furniture. As so often happens, a very
small budget inspired what was to become the crowning glory of this
adorable nursery. Not wanting to waste money on carpet, we painted the
existing floor white and then added a teal, fuchsia, and purple plaid
pattern with inexpensive acrylic craft paint. A little girl's water bed,
inherited from an older cousin, was angled from the corner and storage
drawers from another discarded water bed were topped with painted, 1/2"
plywood and became play tables angling out from each side of the bed. Not
only do these tables have enough drawers for both children's clothes, but
also the tops are at the perfect height for the children to stand and play
with their toys. The entire structure fits under the windows and was built
for the cost of a sheet of plywood and a gallon of paint. An inexpensive
white shelving unit was outfitted with colorful buckets and baskets to
hold diapers, socks, shoes, and bathing supplies. The baby's crib is
placed on the only other available wall. Our famous twenty-minute special
is used on the windows with inexpensive black out shades underneath for
nap time light control and late night protection from monsters. The fabric
was purchased from a remnant table for $1/yd and the roll-up shades cut to
fit at a local discount store for under $5/each. An antique rocker from a
garage sale finishes up the room.
ASHLEIGH'S ROOM
This
enchanting bedroom was designed to take ten year old Ashleigh from her
childhood all the way through her teenage years. We asked our miniature
Homegirl to pick a color from a paint deck, and she selected the lovely
periwinkle that was to become the focus of the room. Because the color is
so striking we chose to emphasize it with the use of lots of white fabric.
Ashleigh wanted a big, tall, canopied bed that she had to climb into so we
extended her existing full size bed an additional 2' off the floor. We
then built a canopy from closet poles and PVC pipe and attached the entire
thing to the wall at the head of the bead with closet rod "pockets" for
stability (thanks, Christopher!). A fabulously flowing, 60" wide polyester
knit that we purchased for $4.00/yard was draped from the frame and tied
back in the corners with miniature white rose garland. White trellis was
attached to the walls on both sides of her bay window and miniature roses
wound through with miniature white lights.
Finishing touches included hanging a
wonderful antique quilt from a wooden curtain rod on the wall and filling
the window seat with big comfy pillows.
