I am too much of a perfectionist when I blog, I re-read every sentence over and over again, then change it, {like I am doing right now}, then mess with my pictures until I can’t get them to look any better.  Needless to say, one post takes me hours, so I would rather read and comment on other blogs and pin then do a post, it is less stressful for me.  But I have to get over that perfectionist attitude and just go with the flow of what I have written and be ok with the pictures.  I also had a sick husband for the last two months, so that has been more of priority for me.   He is fine, doing much better, and is on the road to recovery.   So I should be able to post more now.

If you can believe it, I have been working on sprucing up our guest house for over a year. It is 95% done, but there are  just little projects that I wanted to do for the finishing touches.  One of them is to use maps on a piece of furniture.  So far it is a fail.  So I won’t be showing you that one just yet!

But I did finally change out some lampshades in one of the bedrooms.  I ended up using the existing shades but freshened them up a bit.

They were covered in a floral fabric.  You can see one of them on the left in this picture here

Since this picture has been taken, I had grass cloth wallpaper installed on the headboard wall, which I love.

My overall concept for this room was to try and keep the colors muted for the room, but still use the existing fabric covered headboard and the two red side tables. I had envisioned making a ruffled linen shade for the wall lamps, but realized that the project was not an easy one, which is why I kept putting it off.  I just needed to get this done, it was bugging me.  So, I went with plan “b” and decided to come up with something that I had in my stash, that would be quick and easy.

I pulled off the old fabric on the shade, and replaced it with a natural grass cloth wallpaper I already had.  That was pretty quick and easy, but I felt it needed some type of decorative element.   I had some dollies {actually, truth be told,  I have a lot of doilies, I am really drawn to them when I go to Estate sales and they are always so pretty and inexpensive} that I made into flowers.  The ribbon I had was the right color for the room, but a little thin, so I did a double row on the bottom.  It was fun just to use what I had.  It really makes you be more creative.

I love the relaxing feeling this room now has, the view from the bed isn’t too bad either

I love that green cabinet.  I have had in there forever.  It holds the tv and fits so perfectly in that corner.  I love how the sage green color with the red accents picks up the headboard and side table colors.

I thought I was done, until tonight when I saw this picture on House of Turquoise

It made me realize I didn’t add any accessories to the side tables, DUH!  Guess you can tell I don’t stage my pictures.   I like how they added the books on the bottom shelf, with some texture of a basket.  And dare I say?  I like the map art work on the walls.

That grass cloth wallpaper is almost identical to the one I used, so I know it would look amazing.  But that would mean having to take down that tapestry…hmmm I don’t think I will ever REALLY be done with this guest house.  But that is the fun of decorating, right? Changing things up.

Speaking of changing things up, I wanted to show you how much my grandson Carter has changed.  He is 3 months old now!  He is so darn cute and such a good baby.  He is now giggling, just melts my heart.

I found that collared onsie on sale at Jack and Jill, so stinkin cute!  Seeing his little toes makes me miss him.  I just love being a grandma.

To see more of the guest house projects click here

Getting cre8tive with a lamp shade is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Last week I used it in my sister’s bathroom re-design here

I made good use of the extra I had left over from her bathroom and used it at my house for one of the guest house bathrooms.

And since there was even more leftover, I used it on the wall where the little dining area is (still no chandelier yet)

But since I was on a roll (pun intended) I decided to do accent walls in the bedrooms with another grass-cloth wallpaper I had ordered from Designyourwall.com

The bedroom with the famous Miss Mustard Seed Music Sheet Dresser.

I felt that the main wall above the beds had enough going on with art work and a mirror.   No need for wallpaper there.  But the window wall needed something.  I didn’t want more art work or decorative accessories, I could see that start to get too cluttered looking. I didn’t want to take away from the rest of the room (aka The Music Sheet Dresser)  But that window wall looked barren when you walked into the room because is the first thing you see.  So I decided a textured wallpaper would do the trick rather than painting it an accent color.

Then…since I had some of this wallpaper left over as well,  (I always err on the heavy side when ordering wallpaper, can you tell?)

I added it as an accent wall behind the bed in the other bedroom.

{Still need to have my husband put those wall lights back up next to the bed}.  I like how the lighter green wallpaper compliments the upholstered headboard and tapestry.  The red side tables keep the flow of the two bedrooms consistent.

I am now all out of grass-cloth wallpaper, but I think I had just enough to add a little pizazz to my ongoing guest house re-design.

Linking up to these wonderful parties

Me and my grasscloth is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I stopped by HomeGoods today to look for a bulletin board my sister wants.  They didn’t have it, so on my way out I stopped in the lamp section.  Woohoo, am I ever glad I did.  Look what I found

I know it isn’t the same exact one, but the style is the similar and the price a WHOLE lot cheaper.  $39.99 for the lamp and $12.99 for the shade.  Compare that to Pottery Barn, $150 for just the lamp, no shade, score.

I think I might need  to tone down the wood color a bit to match the dining table, and maybe distress it a little.  But for now I am just going to live with it the way it is and enjoy my savings.

Pottery Barn Knock Off Score is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I had the two parson chairs slip covered

I bought the fabric from OneKingsLane a couple of months back, and the quality of the fabric was unbelievable.Since the damask print was more expensive than the plain fabric, I decided to just use it on the bottom skirt.

I love the subtle strip on the main fabric.  I had these made by someone else, I didn’t even try to attempt it, I know my strengths, and slip covering isn’t one of them. She did a wonderful job.

I bought the table at Pottery Barn.  They had it displayed as a side table next to a couch, but I knew it would be perfect for the little dining area.  I love the wood color and the rustic look of it with the more tailored chairs.

The rug, well it was the perfect color, but the style of it was nothing like I thought.  That is the risk you take when you order on line.  It is a popcorn loop, rather than a plush shag like I thought it was going to be.

I thought about returning it, but then decided it wasn’t so bad, and the color was spot on, so it is a keeper.

I am thinking about getting this lamp from Pottery Barn for the glass side table

and pairing it with this damask lamp shade I bought at Homegoods for $12.99 {overlook the silk flowers, they aren’t staying there}

And then adding a chandelier over the Pottery Barn round table with something like this

Or a little bit more glam like this

So the progress so far is from this
To a freshened up look of this
I still haven’t finished that large cabinet, I need my husband to fix the cabinet door and drawer.  Not his fault though, I keep forgetting to remind him, you know how that goes.

Unfortunately I have to keep those elephant tusks in the room.  I have no where else to put them.  They were never my favorite, hence the reason they are in the guest house. They make a great conversation piece when people come over, they are made with very intricate inlaid ivory.   But to me they are like an elephant in the room {pun intended}

Guest House Progress is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Here is a perfect example of one of the many projects I am working on at our house. This is our guest house.

It is a cute little 2 bedroom 2 bath with a kitenette and living room.  This is where Shannon and Nate stayed for over a year after they got married while they were looking for their first home.  Now that they are moved out, I thought it was time to spruce the place up a bit.  The inside has been the same decor for many years, there was nothing wrong with it, but it was one of those things that I decided it needed a change.

What a mess huh?  I didn’t take a picture of how nice the living room kitchen area looked before I started moving all the crap around.  {this is SO out of my comfort zone}  The couches are slipped covered, so I took them off.  I have had these couches for over ten years, and was thinking that I might want to buy new ones.   But once I took the slip covers off, I kind of liked them.  There are no stains, rips or tears, they are in perfect condition.

{again, a non-staged picture, aren’t you proud of me!}  They are a taupe color and go really nicely with the travertine floor.  I took out the large 9 x 12 sage area rug, and put down this 5 x 7  flokati rug from another room just to see how a smaller rug would look.  Can’t decide on that one yet.  I know I want a solid blue rug though, the same color as the blue Pottery Barn pillows that are on the couch.  Like this one

My main goal is just to freshen up the feel of the room by using lighter colored furnishings and accessories.  I like the taupe color of the walls {plus I just don’t want to start a huge painting project in there}  So I am infusing some blue/green spa colors with the taupe.  I decided to start the process by painting this cabinet that was already in there with my new color scheme.

It was too heavy to move out of the room, so I just painted it where it was. {I didn’t even move that statue on top, it was too heavy, how lazy is that?}

Wow what a mess!  Can you tell this was NOT a planned project?  I didn’t prime the piece because I knew that I was going to distress it anyway, plus I was just lazy.

I am almost done with the cabinet.  The door on the left has never closed right, so I am waiting on my husband to fix it for me.  I really want to add something in the two middle lower cabinet fronts, like a french saying or some type of grain sack feel… but for now I put some accessories on it, so that I could see how I would like the new look.  {plus the room was out of control with all the stuff everywhere, it was driving me crazy.}

Since the guest house is separate from our main house, I am able to go at a slow pace.  I just close the door and walk away until I can get to it again. I just hope that we don’t get a call from a friend or family member saying they want to come visit anytime soon.  But maybe it would make me get my rear in gear and finish it all up.

I know I said I wasn’t going to post finished pictures, but these were already in my photo file,  I couldn’t help myself.  Here are some close ups of the accessorize I have put together in the cabinet. 

Do you think it is weird to use these books?  “The Day Diana Died?”  They were already in there so I just took the jackets covers off  to prop up the accessories.

Old habits are hard to break!  But I am working on it.  And one last pretty picture…the view outside the guest house.

Have a great day!  I am off to work on that list of projects, which I hope to share more often here with you.

Revealing My Guest House Chaos is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.