Project Post: Bedroom Wall Paint and Window Treatments

Alice's Room at Mayowood Mansion

Our bedroom was dark and cozy. Too dark. Too cozy. It looked like something might be lurking in there. (And to be honest there usually is - at least one cat is usually hiding somewhere in the room.) I gave up finally and repainted the walls.

I found this lovely green in a room at Mayowood Mansion in Rochester. It's Sherwin Williams' Shagreen. They actually looked it up for me.

I loved the curtains, too. I basically just wanted to live that room. But it turns out after you attend meetings at Mayowood, they make you go home. So I had to recreate Alice's Room at home.

Here's what we ended up with:



I bought the fabric on eBay. The seller nicely sent me a sample so I could check colors before purchasing. It's a printed cotton with a one-way design and an easy repeat to work with.

I bought lining fabric and ivory colored sheers, also on eBay. I already had one curtain rod; I bought a set of double brackets and a second rod for the sheers at Menards. I am not a huge fan of grommet topped curtains, or thought I wasn't, but they seemed to be the ticket here, and I bought grommets and finished these off and actually like them enough that I think I'll try them elsewhere in the house. (They scream "shower curtain" to me but not if done a little differently, I learned; I did not space them evenly, I spaced them in pairs closer together, so that the deeper folds face forward.)

I need to figure out what we'll do with the floor. I'm thinking a paint somewhere in the beigey range, more beige than the trim.

Project post: Waterfall buffet/dresser repaint

Repaint, sinners!

I was raised NEVER to even CONSIDER painting wood. We stripped wood, we didn't paint it. So what did I do recently? I painted an old waterfall style buffet which I use as a dresser.

I don't have before pictures, but it was once a really pretty piece, with bookmatched walnut veneers. It was given to me by friends who found it in the attic of the house they bought. It had gotten dripped on by rain through some roof leaks and the veneers on each end were bubbly and broken. I still used it as it was for quite a few years. I had to replace the door hardware but found some vintage door pulls that were a great match.

I'm sorry, I don't have a "before" picture.... Duh.

Anyway, I decided I had lived too long with the broken icky veneers. I was redoing our room in lighter colors and it was this big dark blob of walnuttiness in the corner, absorbing light. So I got brave and painted it.

I didn't prep the surface, and the old varnish did this on my first coat of paint:



I thought, wow, I love that!

I ended up keeping it. The two doors on the ends have more paint on them so they are not as crackly as the rest, but look at all that. I kept the old hardware.



I covered the whole thing with a clear acrylic to protect it, as the latex paint layer was fragile. It's now a sturdy finish and much lighter and brighter to go with the room.