Pirate Room Done: I Don't Have To Walk The Plank

You know I was thinking if this blog was a teenager it would be on a shrink’s couch right now complaining about how neglected it is, and how I don’t pay it any attention.  Good for me it is an inanimate object that comes from my own little brain otherwise I would be in big trouble. 

The entire month of August got away from me before I realized it. I have been crazy busy with life, work, a last minute vacation, and the start of a new school year.  I know that a lot of moms were fired up about school starting, but for me it just means homework in the evenings.  Okay I confess, I purchased the summer bridge activity workbooks, but the atmosphere for those is quite a bit more relaxed than homework.  Any who…on with today’s post.   

The “Pirate Bedroom” is finally finished.  Well, finished in the sense that my part is complete.  I am sure things will be added, subtracted or just generally tweaked by the kindergartner as his taste and interest change.  So without further ado her you go. 

 

A few things have been added since the last update, I made some books ledges, and my sister put a few decorative pillows on the floor to create and reading area for him to lounge around and read. The side table painted and topped in this post.

Some items were placed on shelf I installed previously, a few more treasures that he picked out.

The art holding octopus and some metal palm trees. He was kind enough to provide me with some of his favorite art from this summer. 

I added an upcycled toy box on which I painted some treasure chest artwork.  I don’t think I will be quitting my day job to become a trompe l'oeil painter, but he loved it.  There is the chalk board fashioned from a mirror frame found here.

I added a mirror that I purchased from the ReStore.  It was green of all things, and I painted it the same white I used to whitewash the night stand and book ledges. 

Last but not least, my favorite, a lamp that I purchased at the Good Will and refinished.  I searched high and low for this one and the thrift store gods shined down on me one Saturday afternoon.  I so wanted to keep this one but alas I have no nautical themed room in which to put it. 

I could have kept going with, silk palm trees, sea shell curtain tie backs…and on and on.  But I put my hands up and backed away from the kid’s room.  I needed to quit while I was ahead and remember that kid friendly was what I was going for, not the cover of BHG.  Insert a chuckle here.

So there you have it finally.  My nephew was so excited with each new item that I put in; he couldn’t wait for me to finish up so he could hang out in his cool room.  Come back soon, I will be showing you all the major happenings in the front yard. 

Trash to Treasure: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but in this case it is Marta’s treasure.  My sister joked on Mother’s Day that I am not allowed to drive through our neighborhood unsupervised on Monday or Thursday.  Which of course brings me to today’s post. 

Passing my sister’s house on a Monday morning a couple of weeks ago, I put on the brakes for a dresser I just couldn’t drive by.  I immediately pulled over and put down the back seats to load up my find.

I was originally going to take just the drawers for storage projects, but the dresser itself was solid and only missing one damaged top drawer.  To my surprise there was more than the dresser, there was a mirror frame that matched the dresser, and a large mirror that was solid wood. 

I am thinking about an entertainment cabinet for the dresser.  The mirror frame is being re-purposed into two projects for my sister’s house.  And the last mirror, well that has already found a home in my dining room.  

The buffet is something that my mother found years ago, and having purchased my childhood home from my parents, I inherited the buffet when I signed on the dotted line.  Yay! In the South that’s what we call lagniappe y’all.  I store serving pieces, table clothes, place mats, and all kind of things in the buffet.  The lamps I was fortunate enough to get at an estate sale of a good friend, I had admired the lamps for years and she gave them to me for helping out with the sale.  I had a mirror hanging above the buffet, and it is a very nice mirror, but the scale was a little small for the space.

  

I washed the frame down with Murphy’s Oil Soap and gave it a coat of furniture oil. I had to try this new-to-me mirror in the space, and placed on top of the buffet leaning against the existing mirror.

I was so pleased with how it looked that I committed to taking down the smaller mirror and will use it somewhere else in the house.  When my family was having dinner at my house this weekend, they all agreed that it looked nice leaning against the wall and agreed that I should leave it leaning rather than hanging it. 

So there you have it my road side rescue for the week.  Today I worked on two more projects for the Pirate Bedroom, and another for keeping the critter in my yard. Come back soon,  I can't wait to show you how these other projects turned out.

Mirrors Ahoy

Good Monday morning to you all and Happy Veterans Day.  Let’s all take a moment to thank the great men and women who served this fine country in the branches of the US Armed Forces.  Thank you to my father who served as an officer in the Air Force.  Presently I have a nephew stationed in Japan in the Navy, and a niece stationed in California in the Marines.  So we have several branches represented in the family. 

It was a busy weekend. I had a garage sale on Saturday; I will spare you the details because when it comes to organizing a garage sale I am the worst.  I had stuff piled high in the dining room for weeks, and at 7o’clock on Friday night I put it all under the carport and slapped a bunch of price stickers on it.  Not very organized I tell you.  Just a foreshadowing of this week’s post I have 2 (that’s right I said 2) crock pots going today. 

Today we are going to get into a little bit of that eclectic style I mentioned before by hanging some mirrors in my formal living room.  Back story coming at you: I fell in love with a sunburst mirror at Target. I searched for months through all the choices out there and decided on the one pictured here.

 

 When I went to buy it at Target, it was on clearance. Woo hoo! There was just one little snag, when my husband saw it he gave it the veto.  He liked the wood, but not the antique finish on the mirror’s surface.  I worked on changing his mind over the next 24 hours and finally convinced him that the frame was my favorite part, and promised him I would change out the mirror for one that would give him a nice clean reflection.  He finally relented and I rushed over to get it the next morning.  Shock and horror, they were sold out.  I scoured the internet high and low for the mirror to no avail. 

I knew I wanted a round mirror, not necessarily a sunburst and I came across this beauty on the same aisle at the Target, and on clearance.  It’s as if the mirror gods were shining down on me and wanted me to have the perfect round mirror for the space I had in mind.  I didn’t even consult the hubby on this one I immediately brought it home.  When he helped me unload the trunk I began to explain my choice and he stopped me mid-sentence and agreed that it was very nice and he loved it.  Score!

So this morning I decided to hang it.  Here’s the run down on this table. It lived its first life in this very house while I was growing up as a fish tank stand. In the 90’s my mother passed it to me and I had two pieces of glass cut for it and used it as a sofa table.  Then when I purchased this house I had it the den, my mother asked why I was still holding on to such an unattractive table.  I told her I just couldn’t part with it. 

 

Last Easter I found a way to keep the table and make it more presentable in the form of a table skirt I made from a table cloth I received as a gift. I cut two melamine shelves to fit and reused the glass top and placed a few accessories on it.  There not so bad, right?

 

 

Today, to finish the corner I hung the round wood mirror along with colored mirrors I purchased at Hobby Lobby some time ago. There were 50% off and I loved the colors, but I had no idea where I would hang them until this morning.  I am enjoying the mix of formal and fun here.  I have a side by side here to show you.  I moved the little lamp to the other side to add a little height to the left side.  What do you think?

 

You can see in this final picture the back of an antique chair I am dying to slip cover, but for now you’ll have to make do with this little preview.  I will need to dust off the sewing machine very soon. 

 

Have a wonderful day and come back later in the week for some fantastic recipes.  Mmmm, it smells so good in this house right now.