Reveal Day (plus three days) has finally arrived for Q’s bedroom. And since I have waited too long already, let’s just cut straight to those photos...
Okay now let's back up a bit...
These past 6 weeks I have been participating in the One Room Challenge by Calling It Home, making over Q's bedroom. Alongside me are 20 Featured Designers and hundreds of Guest Participants that deserve your eyes as well.
If you missed the weekly progress of Q's bedroom, you can catch up below.
WEEK ONE I WEEK TWO I WEEK THREE I WEEK FOUR I WEEK FIVE
If you have been following along from the beginning...
Then you saw all of the bad and ugly, thank you for sticking out these weeks to see this room finally as it should be. I am so excited to be sharing it like this, so cozy and full of memories, history and wonder. It is everything I wanted for my little 7 year old boy. He isn't a baby anymore, so this is sort of my coming to terms of that and giving him something that suited him. But, I didn't want just "handsome". I needed this room to be his haven, a hug that he could wake up in and walk back into at the end of the day. So let me tell you how I made that.
The walls...
First of all, the color was his idea. When asked what color he would like to paint his room, "green" was what I got. I showed him tons of different shades of green. We even had a moment of browns when he was helping me paint the kitchen and declared that he wanted his room the same color (what the what?!). But he circled back around to green and gave me more direction towards a dark hunter green. I narrowed it down and then we lived with large swatches on the walls for a bit to see which one would win us over with the lighting and other elements of the room. It was Sherwin-Williams, Olympic Range.
I knew that I didn't want to just paint the walls and be done with them though. I wanted to go big with color and add in more character that this Victorian house deserved. So I added a picture rail (which came in real handy for hanging lots of pictures), shoe mold that was missing, and plinth blocks at the doors to hide a mistake. Painting everything in the same color gave this room some drama (it feels so much taller than before) and helped tremendously with how badly things had been done in previous renovations.
And we love it.
The bed...
I found the antique bed frame years ago at a local thrift store not realizing the issue I would come into with an old bed and modern times. I couldn't find a mattress to fit it! I did a lot of rigging to make it work with a full size mattress for awhile, but I tired of it falling and looking silly. I reached out hoping a solution would finally present itself. And it did! @greely6 told me about a friend who bought a foam mattress that was bigger than needed and then cut it down! After some online searching I found this one that was priced so I didn't feel so crazy taking a saw to it, and then I did, and man it was fun...and it worked! I was so happy to finally have a mattress sitting down in the side rails like it was meant to be, which was really why I bought it in the first place, the side rails! Now it looks like it did way back when and sleeps even better than before (we camped out in the floor a night to test it out).
For the bedding, I decided to keep it light and simple so maybe it will actually get made every once in awhile. The quilt and jersey sheets combo is a favorite in our house (I also have a quilt and jersey sheet set on my bed). It is so comfy and easy to throw in the wash. I went all white this time to help brighten the moodiness of the room, not that I hate it or want to fight it, I like moody.
Then I added a faux fur blanket for cuddly nights and something really special. The Forbes Tartan. This was one of the most important pieces that I wanted to put into this room. It represents the history of Pop. Vernon Dewell Forbes Jr. was one of the greatest men that ever walked this Earth and was adored by so many including my little man. A few years back we learned there was a lot of Scottish blood running through those veins of his and naturally ours too. And if you know me, I love digging into history. But just learning it wasn't enough, I wanted to own it and honor it. Thus, that tartan made a trip to the states all the way from Scotland so we could have a piece of it here with us until we make it there one day. You will spot a few more pieces of Scotland scattered about the room.
I also bought this "magic bedskirt" and attached it with velcro so I could add toy storage hidden underneath the bed to free up the cluttered closet. It was such an easy and cheap fix that paid off big time. The storage bins are actually from our local Family Dollar, and I happened to find very similar ones at Fred's and Dollar General (I picked these for their height to work with the bed). So remember to check out your local dollar store for easy solutions that will help out the day to day life.
The desk...
Yes, I painted it in that wondrous green too. You know, maybe it is the Scottish blood that calls us to green and hilly pastures, I'd like to think so. But I had a reason for painting it this way, because it was right inside the door and felt so in the way. It wasn't a nice antique either, it was an awful yellowish tone that stuck out amongst the rest of the furniture in the worst way. Now it blends into the walls, creating a more peaceful entry into the room, and dang it you know everything just looks good green. There I said it.
I paired the desk with a cute bentwood chair I found in town for $4 and gave it a good sanding before wiping it down in Old English, because that stuff can fix anything. Above it I framed the four variations of the Forbes tartan, which you can easily find for any clan on Locharron of Scotland (where the pillow tartan came from). This blog post explains the reasoning behind the variations if you are curious like I was! Add in some bric a brac and a snapshot of one of the sweetest memories we have with Pop, and I think this spot holds a lot of that history, memory and wonder I wanted in here for Q.
I love the old books of cowboy and indian tales with the stag heads on the binding, I thought they fit in perfectly and Q just might pick one up to read it. The turtle shell came from one of our hiking trips. And the globe was a last minute buy when we made a "big town" trip earlier this week for frames (those with the tartan are from WalMart), while I was trying to decide which frames to buy, Q was having fun looking at the globe and pointing out to me where all he has been (he just made his first out of the country trip a few weeks ago), so the globe came home with us.
The art...
That cute little globe also came in handy to point out to Q where Scotland is when he saw the two old maps above his dresser which I found just googling. Other, better, sources that I found prints from were The Met which has free downloads (came across this source via @thegritandpolish, thank you Cathy!) and Home Love Network's Printable Club!
Note: The lamps were a thrift find that have plug-ins on the front! Which will come in really handy for all of Q's gadgets that have to be charged. Make it easy, make a special place, it will happen, right?
The lithographs are my favorite. The top is from The Met and the bottom is from HLN's March printables. Both of landscapes with cows. And you know what they remind me of. Being out at the pasture with Pop watching cows. Q and I still walk out every now and then, but those cows are also gone now. So this could be a sweet way for us to "watch cows".
The hunting scene I thought was fitting with the book binds and antlers above Q's bed, which were given to him by my dad. We mounted them fairly easy with plaques that I found in the WalMart craft section!
Which brings me around to the reading nook...
It was really important for me to find a comfy reading chair and make a place for Q's books. He has become quite the little book worm and writer, he has asked me to make a place on my blog that he can put his stories so stay tuned and bring your littles! I want to support his creative little mind in any possible way that I can, especially in this time of so much technology. I kept watch on Facebook Market (where I actually found his desk) and also on antique shop pages which is a lot easier than driving to them all. I caught this chair as it went up for bid and snagged it! I had waited for weeks, good things do come I tell ya. We took a little road trip to Cleveland to pick it up at Moonstruck Antique Flea Market where I also found that gorgeous lamp and the stag books! A lot of things for this room were found in places like that, so giving you a shoppable link is not possible, but if you are willing to go look, you will find amazing pieces that come together to make a space really your own. If you aren't sure where to start looking, Antique Trail is a great site to check out! Actually, even if you are an all-the-time antiquer like me it is a great site to find new places to check out. If you really gotta have a chair like this now, it is as comfy as it looks by the way, then check out this one I spotted on Wayfair! I have a few things that I got from Amazon, which is my go to for specific things I need NOW, like this table. I needed a bedside table that could do double duty here and this one does it perfectly.
Straight across from the reading nook used to sit a pile of books on the floor but is now a shelf for more book storage. This is actually a cute plate rack that I just added hooks to and painted. Q has a lot of bags: for school, for sports, for road trips. And don't get me started on all of the caps he has...we needed hooks, okay. A room can't just be pretty, you have to have function too. Hence the toy bins hidden under the bed, the double duty bedside table and this altered shelf! Hopefully this things will HELP the room stay pretty.
And of course, Scottish men in dress, where do you think all of that tartan goes?
Two more things...
These drapes and this plant, brought to you by Nanny and Q himself. I knew I wanted black drapes, but do you know how difficult it is to shop for fabric online and not see it and touch it? Well, I do what I always do when it comes to fabric. I went to Main Street Fabrics in Ackerman, MS and told Ms. Kristi what I was looking for and what kind of mood this room had. And she nailed it. Of course it is hard to tell in a photo, but this fabric is so soft and "old man" tweedy which is right up my alley. I like the way the black/grey texture talked to the white bedding instead of them just being solid black and falling flat against the other black accents in the room. They are 100% wool and she explained it as a "suiting wool", whatever that means just know that they drape perfectly and the light shining through them is lovely. I got 14 yards and surprised Nanny with a sewing job, she loves when I do that! :) These pretties were then hung with black clips on antique brass rods, and man oh man, it is good.
If you saw any of the sneak peaks, you might have seen that there was actually a different plant here. Well, Q did not like it. So when we made a Lowes trip, I let him pick out a plant that he DID like, and he picked this! It is actually an air purifying plant, so win win (little boys stink).
Okay one more thing...
Upon removing the door hardware to paint the doors, I realized that the back plates were actually brass and had been painted! Also, that some of the knobs aren't the original. Sooo I boiled the backplates to help with scraping off the paint (pretty sure that is the only cooking I have done these past 6 weeks) and then spray painted the mismatched knobs in a glossy black. And they look so much better now.
And just in case...
You still haven't seen the befores, because I really want you to see the "big picture" overhaul here, here are the before photos from Week One:
Yes, that pitifulness used to be this room. No more. Now it is a beautiful place that we both love to be in, with a huge thanks to Ms. Linda of Calling It Home for beginning the One Room Challenge that has been inspiring me for years, challenged me this year, and made some sweet memories for us as well as making me get this. room. done! If you haven't checked out the other rooms, I advise you to do so, here and here. It has been so fun working along with and getting to know these other creatives! I have learned quite a few things from them and one thing I am really excited to work on this summer, the amazing photo and video content tips I have seen!
And thank you for taking the time to stop by, your presence here means a lot.
Now, I am going to go hibernate.