I fell in love with this Osborne & Little wallpaper from the moment I laid eyes on it.  But of course it wasn’t cheap, Osborne & Little and cheap are usually not used in the same sentence.  So to save money and still be able to use the wallpaper,  I framed it with a contrasting orange molding to make it pop.  I got the impact I was looking for, saved some major dough and still added depth, texture and color to the walls

But you don’t always have to attach the wallpaper to the walls like I did here.  Putting it on foam core boards from a craft store works just as well for a non-committal application. It is a great option for a renter to bring in color on their walls when they can’t use paint.

Another great idea is to use using foam insulator boards from Home Depot, like Shannon from The New England Southerner  did for her high rise rental

As I have mentioned before,  I am helping a friend with the design of her new hair salon and she is on a tight budget.  She has an esthetician room that needs some sound absorbing art on the walls and asked me for some suggestions.  I thought that this idea of wallpaper or fabric on a foam board would be a perfect solution for her room.

I remembered that I had found this double roll of Candice Olsen wallpaper at a thrift store for $5 a while back.  I was shocked to see it there, but you never know what you are going to find there sometimes.  It is similar to this one,  a pearl background and beaded raised design

and as luck would have it

I had some 2′ x 4′ acoustical tiles laying around.  I thought it would be a perfect combination for making wallpaper panels for the room.  So I made her 4 of them to hang in the room.

I used spray adhesive on both the back of the wallpaper and the acoustical panel since the wallpaper was thick and the acoustical ceiling tile has those crevices in the.  I just wrapped the corners to the back side of the panel

It was a really quick project.  The same application can be used with fabric if you don’t have any wallpaper laying around.  Like Diane from In My Own Style did for her hallway

I am having the handy man at the salon {aka her Dad} install a similar molding treatment like I did in the pink bathroom using some white MDF molding.  It is going to be a big impact for the room, yet very budget friendly. But since the handyman happens to have a real day job, it might be a week or two before I can show you how they look installed on the wall. And when he does, I will be taking pictures to show you how it turned out.  Anyone else ever used fabric or wallpaper panels? I’d love to hear!

Easy wallpaper panel is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Well, I didn’t get the armor, it was too thin of metal and a lot of sharp edges.  It was only $100, but it just wasn’t doing it for me.  But I did get the settee! Scored on the settee is more like it.  $50.  As soon as I saw the price tag I snagged it off of there so fast, I knew it would be gone if I didn’t.  And sure enough, a lady walked by it, looking and looking for the tag, and I told her that I was buying it, and she asked how much, and when I told her $50 her eyes got real big with envy and said “wow that is a great price”.  Yep, score.

I have already started to refinish the frame.  And since I got it at such a great price, I am going to get it professionally reupholstered.   I decided to gold leaf and glaze the frame,  not the easiest finish to do but it is the look that I feel will tie in with the rest of the “Fun” room.

My goal is to match the finish on the light fixtures I hung in the room

Here is what she is looking like so far with some of the gold leaf on it {the glaze comes after all the gold leafing is done}

I have a long way to go.  Gold leafing is tedious and I am not an expert at it, so it might take me awhile.  Which is fine since the fabrics I picked out at Calico Corners won’t be on sale until Presidents Day.

This dijon velvet is going to go on the outside perimeter of the settee

And then a silver crushed velvet for the inside perimeter and cushions {still keeping the tufting on the back }

Speaking of Calico Corners.  I saw they had a similar fabric that I put on my settee in my dining room.  I got my fabric at Home Fabrics, but have never seen it again.  It is such a great fabric for chairs, settees or even drapes

I also got that pretty candle holder with the plant in it at the estate sale for $3

The pillow I got from Restoration Hardware last year

The fabric at Calico Corners is called Acorn Filagree-Gunmetal and it is $20.99 a yard { Their President day sale will have all fabrics 25% off }

So overall the estate sale was well worth going to, I am so happy with my purchases.  The only bummer part is, the target couch I ordered just in case I didn’t like the settee is on it’s way.  If I like it, I might find a spot for it somewhere else in my house, I am anxious to see the quality for the price I paid.  Now I am off to gold leaf for a couple of days, wish me luck.

Estate sale score is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

But!  Since my husband is all for this holiday,  I might  actually  bend my rule and get him something this year for Valentines day.  Thank goodness he doesn’t read my blog {just my luck he will today} because I am going to show you what I am hoping to get him.

I saw this picture at an Estate sale in an email I got this morning.  I am hoping to get that armor statue.  He has always wanted one of these, and it would fit perfectly in his office.  I want to write on the card

You Are My Knight and Shining Armor

Corney isn’t it? Guarantee he will shed a tear when he sees that {did I mention he is soft hearted?}

I have NO idea how much it is going to cost, or how much they cost in general.  I may not like the quality, it kind of looks like it might be a painted statue and not the real deal, I need to see it in person.  Plus I want to check out that green settee as well.  It is the perfect size for the “FUN” room and I could really jazz it up with new upholstery and paint.  Unfortunately, yesterday I ordered this settee from Target because I didn’t think I could find a vintage one that I could fix up

It was $324.74 including shipping.  Steal right? I couldn’t pass it up.   It wasn’t the vintage look that I wanted, but it does have the glam factor to it so it will work as well.  I have never ordered furniture from Target, and at that price, I don’t know how great it is going to be.  So to cover my bases,  I am hoping to buy that settee as well if the price is right.  If you have any ideas on what you think is a reasonable price to pay for that armor based on the picture, I would love to know!  Are you a fan of Valentines Day or am I the only one who feels this way?

I am not a fan of Valentines day is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

They are in the same room as the queen bed that I have previously posted about here, and here

To give you a visual of how this room is laid out, when you are laying on the queen bed, the bunk beds are on the other side of the room.  The ceilings in this room are from the original house, and they are really low.  Back in the day when I first put them in the room, my girls were little, so sleeping on the top bunk wasn’t a problem.   But they grew and so did their friends.  No one really wanted to sleep up there in the last couple of years.  And I thought I would need the extra storage with the drawers under the bottom bunk, but honestly, they never got used

Not to mention the ladder was taking up so much usable space.  Then an idea came to me.  I wanted to make these beds more enticing and less bulky in the room.    We took out the drawers, cut about 10″ off the bottom legs and attached the ladder flush with the beds.  Wow what a difference that made! {sorry about the quality of the picture, my contractor sent this to me from his cell phone}

Making an upper bunk bed is still a pain, but at least no one will be hitting their head on the ceiling!  I can’t believe how much more wall space their is now since the ladder is gone.

I have been on the hunt for a small loveseat or settee to put along that wall.  I think it would be a great little area for watching tv or lounging.  I actually ordered this settee from Joss & Main the other day, but then canceled the order. I just thought it might be too girly with the floral pattern, plus I was apprehensive of the mustard color exactly matching the room.  The customer service at Joss & Main was superb when I called to cancel my order by the way.  Love that kind of service, you don’t always get that now a days.    I really think I want to go with a solid grey fabric and use mustard and purple pillows.  Home Decorators Collection has a nice one that I like but don’t love

The arms are too high for lounging, and the reviews say the seat cushion is stiff.  Plus I am not a fan of the seat cushion being stationary.

I fell in love with this one from Anthropologie, but it is no longer available {not to mention the price was WAY more than I wanted to spend} It has that glamor factor to it I want

So if any of you come across anything similar to this one, but more reasonable in price,  I would love for you to send me the link.

I did find this fun and rusty sign that I hung above the top bunk

Good thing I don’t have to sleep up there…I might exceed the weight limit LOL

Altering a full size bunkbed is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I kept being asked by my family what I wanted to do for my birthday, the big 50, and I just couldn’t decide.  I knew I didn’t want a big party, but I felt the need to do something but I just couldn’t come up with anything.  They kept asking me day after day, so I just told them my dream day… I would love a day at the spa, lunch with some friends, dinner at my house with just my family prepared by a chef and served by a waiter, and play a murder mystery game during dinner.  Sounds good right?  Well, to my surprise, those three girls pulled it all together and made my dream day happen.

I want to show you my wonderful day, captured with unprofessional pictures, some of them not too flattering, {which I am sure is going to make some of my family members irratated at me}, but hopefully it will depict the love my girls put into my special day. {settle yourself in, cause there are lots, and lots of pictures!}

My morning started out seeing this cute note made by Tiffany in front of my coffee pot {she knows that is the first place I go once my feet hit the floor}  I say the letters O.M.G. a lot, so she made sure she put that on her sign LOL  Yeah, turning 50 is OMG!

Breakfast was prepared by Shannon {and baby Carter}.  Then I was told to get dressed and meet them in the garage.  They said to bring a change of clothes but that was about it.  Here I am looking confused but dressed and ready to go

Throughout the day, I was given these cute cards made by Shannon as to what to expect on my adventure

The night before, Shannon had sneaked over late at night and decorated my convertible {Shannon has a 5 month old baby, which means very little time to sleep.  To take the time to go out late at night to do this just for me, just melts my heart} Dang I need to go get that car washed after seeing these pictures

My daughter Tara was the designated chauffeur and event director. {Daisy the dog was just trying to figure out what the heck was going on}

Then they gave me a boa and crown to wear to the spa which I reluctantly did.  I think secretly they wanted to see their mom look goofy, a pay back of sorts LOL, One lady asked me at the spa if I was dressed up for Marti Gras…guess she couldn’t read the “birthday queen” tiara.

I was greeted at the spa with a glass of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries

After my spa treatments, we all had a lite lunch.  Then I was whisked away to a Dry Bar in Del Mar to get my a scalp massage and a blow dry. I had never heard of a Dry Bar before, it is a salon that just does blow dries.  It was pretty cool.  And they served Skinny Margaritas along with the blow dry, yum.

The night before my birthday, I was given Tiffany’s surprise.  She amazingly put together the Murder Mystery game, I was shocked!  That was NO little accomplishment.  She spent 14 straight hours of figuring out the characters, sending emails and printing out the script for all of us to use for our characters.  They say to give yourself 6 weeks to do put together a Murder Mystery party, that kid did it in one day, and rocked it.  Here is the youtube video she sent all of us.  My niece Alexis did the opening line, and then Tiffany read the story.

Amazing right?  Tiffany gave me the character of Janis, the younger woman wanna be actress/model of the murdered husband.  I decided to do my best and play the part.  I searched through my closet and found a dress one of my girls had worn for their formal back in the day when they were in high school.  The dress was perfect for the part, something I would never of worn outside my house since it was a little risque for me, but I poured myself into it for the sake of the party.  When I came walking out in it, Tiffany gasped!  She said “Mom!!!  That is the dress I wore my freshman year for Homecoming!”  Even though she was horrified seeing me in her dress, I must say it felt pretty good as a 50 year old that I even fit into it lol.  Here are most of us dressed up in our characters before we sat down for dinner.

Here I am getting prepared for my part {I was just goofing off here, I don’t drink gin from a bottle…well not when people are looking that is…}

My husband opted to be the Roy, the murdered person.  So he had Tiffany put ketchup on him and took a picture.  He always wanted to be an actor, he acted well for his part don’t ya think?

My nephew Brady was the accountant

My daughter Tara, the mystery writer author

My daughter Shannon, the sculptor

My son-n-law Nate, the motorcycle store owner

My daughter Tiffany, the lawyer

My nephew Connor the house manager

My sister and brother-n-law shared the doctor character

My friend Tammy the loner daughter who still lived at home

Tammy’s husband John, the inspector

And of course Carter just hanging out enjoying the festivities.  A HUGE thank you to my niece Alexis who took all these pictures for me!

I have to tell you, we had a BLAST doing this murder mystery game.  Yeah, we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for our parts, which is why we are always looking at our folders in these pictures, but it still was so fun!  We laughed and laughed and just enjoyed ourselves in our characters.   And not having to cook and be able to enjoy myself…priceless

For dinner the chef prepared a cream of cauliflower soup with a really cool egg in it {they gave us all the low down on the special egg but I can’t remember what it is called.  It looked raw but it wasn’t}

Then a berry salad which I don’t have a picture of.  And the main course was a Filet with a potato puree and prawns

Ending with dessert, banana foster and bread pudding

Then to top it all off, as if they hadn’t done enough, right?  Shannon made picture collages called “then” and “now” with some cute notes and stuff from over the years.  You can see in the boards in the background in this picture.  She even gave everyone a trivia test at the end of the meal.  My sister got the most correct, 12.  My husband…he got 5 correct.  LOL

{I don’t know if you notice it or not, but I say “seriously?” a lot on my blog, because I actually say it a lot.  So from now on, when you read “seriously?” on my blog, this is the look I am giving}

This party was my dream, and my girls made it come true.  I don’t know how in the world I got 3 wonderful daughters who are so thoughtful and caring, but I do know that I am the luckiest 50 year old mom in the world!

I couldn’t of asked for a more perfect birthday is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I ended my 40′s doing something I always wanted to do.  It is really nothing huge, like going sky diving or something, but I felt more empowered after doing it.  What is the big accomplishment? You are going to laugh, but I hard wired a light fixture all by myself! {well my sister held the light fixture for me while I wired it, so I did have a little help}  But I wasn’t electrocuted and the light even works! {I did tell my sister who was very, very against me doing this task on my own, that if I was electrocuted, I would probably be remembered as dying young cause I was still in my 40′s, LOL  luckily that didn’t happen}

I fell in love with these two empire style beauties at a vintage store in Ocean Beach

I couldn’t believe there were two of them, and they had the vintage glam look to them that I was looking for at the river house in the “FUN” room

They were the plug in style fixtures, but I knew I could cut the cord and hard wire them {well, I knew it could be done but I had never done it before} So I convinced my sister to go out to the river house with me for 3 days to work on the “fun” room.

When I told her that I had planned on doing the wiring myself on the hanging lights, she was not on board with me.  But she stood by my side as I carefully took down the old fixtures, cut the cord off the new fixtures and wired them to their new location.  Ok, to be truthful, the first light I hung didn’t work.  We even changed out the light bulb, thinking it must be a bad bulb and not my electrical work, but that didn’t work.  So I took down the fixture and low and behold the wiring had slipped out of the wire nut.  From there on I made sure the wires were put on a lot more tighter and secure, and ta da!  They worked!

Here are the before hanging light fixtures, just to jog your memory

Of course in all my excitement of now being an accomplished electrician {cough, cough} I forgot to take a picture during the day.  But wow, these beauties are stunning in the room, and they give off the funnest shadows on the walls at night {ha, ha, get it? FUN shadows?}

I seemed to be on a roll attempting stuff I would normally have my husband or hire someone to do these last days of my forties.  I went out and bought all the components at Home Depot to make this rod and bracket that I had seen on Show and Tell

The only problem was, they only sold the galvanized steel pole in a 10′ long piece and I needed 9′ 6″.  Home Depot does not cut galvanized steel for you.  So what is a girl to do?  Take out the hack saw and use those 40 something muscles that I have been working out 3 times a week and cut, cut cut.  Oh my GOSH!  Cutting galvanized steel is so dang hard!  I could never make it as a lumber jack.  Then to top it off, I miss cut the pipe and had to go back and chop another 1/2″ off a second time.  What a work out that was.  Since I didn’t have any clamps to hold down the pipe, my sister was my trusty assistant and held the pipe for me as I huffed and puffed that skinny blade through the steel.

This rod and brackets were so simple and inexpensive to make! {well, not including cutting the pipe which was hard} I got all my supplies in the electrical department, a flange to attach to the wall, and an elbow for the rod holder.  Both components came threaded,  which meant I only had to screw them together.   Can’t get any easier than that! Using 1″ galvanized pipe eliminated having to use a center bracket, it is solid as a rock.  I tried to finish sewing the curtain while I was there, but unfortunately I ran out of time.

I also switched the box spring to a low profile one.  Having the bed lower really shows more of the headboard now

I picked up a grey 15″ drop box pleated bed skirt at Target, and then just cut off the excess fabric I didn’t need and used iron on hemming tape for the hem {I did iron the bed skirt, but evidently my ironing skills aren’t one of my strong traits}

Slowly but surely this room is coming together.  Which is kind of like how I feel right now, slowly getting used to being 50.  I just have to remember to keep this picture in my mind when I think I am getting old

Goodbye 40′s… is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.