The Winner... and a New Project.

The winner is...hammered nickel! I have to give a big thank you to everyone who left comments. I was really tempted to try out the red and yellow suggestion, simply because I am all about doing the unexpected. If I were keeping Angelina for myself I probably would have painted the hardware a rusty orange color, but because she is going to the shop I decided to err on the more conservative, so I opted for silver instead {it's still unexpected, but not too in your face}. It was a really hard decision between the black and silver, but when it came down to it, I really liked the contrast of the silver on the black. I will really miss Angelina {though it will be nice to finally have the room to pull the cars into the garage now}. But, I am really looking forward to the next project...perhaps something I could call Brad, so that Angelina doesn't get lonely.

I ended up glazing the hardware so that it wasn't so brash.

I think it looks so much better now.

Here's a better pic of the glazing. And here's the full monty

And now for the project I have in the pipelines. It involves a certain, simple, Swedish bed {nice alliteration, eh?} and some faux, white leather. Here are some other clues:

My mind is swirling.

Square?

Slightly rounded?

With nailhead trim?

Or really big nailhead trim?

Or just simply tufted?

Decisions, decisions. Fortunately, these are the kind of decisions I like making. Stay tuned.

Meet Angelina

The feedback I recieved about painting the hardware for the dresser I've been working on was pretty much a unanimous "yes you can".
If the dresser were for myself I would have painted them no questions asked. But because it is going to the shop when it's done, I wanted to make sure that the handles would stand up everyday wear and tear before I tried to sell it.

Would you like to meet her?

This is Angelina!
{I call her that because she is sophisticated and beautiful, but also a little wild and audacious...no I didn't say bodacious}.





I painted the frame my favorite turquoise hue, Ocean Breeze by Krylon. I painted all of the drawers in a high gloss black, also Krylon, then stenciled them with a zebra stripes using a stensil I made { I bought stensil plastic from the craft store and then using a zebra printed shower curtain I already had, traced on the stripes and cut them out using an exacto knife. It ended up costing me about $4. Most of the zebra stripe stencils I saw online were retailing for $15-$24}.
Once the paint was dry, I...

glazed


and distressed

Then she was perfect...except for one thing.

No hardware.

I know that I have already appealed to the masses on the matter of {painting or not painting} the hardware, but I must appeal for advice once more...this time to help me decide what color to paint the hardware. {You know how when you've been working on a project for a really long time and things just start getting blurry and you get really confused and indecisive...no, that never happens to you? Well it happens to me all the time.} Here's where you come in.

Somehow I've managed to narrow down the color options to the following three:

turquoise



black


and silver





I need help on narrowing it down to just one. So, if you feel inclined to share, I'd love your input, cause Angelina is really looking forward to getting out of the garage and into the spotlight where she can dazzle and shine.

To paint or not to paint...hardware edition.

I picked up an "awesomely eighties" dresser a few months back at the thrift store. I have been avoiding it for a couple of reasons. First, because it has been way too cold for painting outdoors and second, because I just wasn't feeling inspired. I really wanted to do something more than paint it a bright color.

Up until a few days ago it was just sitting in my freezing garage waiting for a fresh coat of paint and a craptastic new look.

I finally came up with a paint and color scheme I like. It's totally me...turquoise {but with a wild, little twist}. So far, everything has come together except for one thing {which is the point of this post}...the hardware.

The dresser has 16 handles and 8 pulls. I would have to take out a second mortgage in order to purchase all new hardware, so instead I've opted to reuse the origional hardware which have a brass finish {it's the true frugal fashonista way}.

Here's where all of you come in. Have any of you ever painted/tried to paint old hardware? I am skeptical about whether or not it can be done. So, if any one out there in bloggy land has any suggestions or opinions on the matter help a sista out will ya?

Thanks a million.

Yippee!!! Problem solved.

Which means that I can finally make good on my promise...my too-long-in-the-process British Invasion bedroom.

Before I show any pics can I just say that I love this bedroom, but I am so ready to move onto my next project.

Here was the space before:
Guh-ross!!!

And here it is now:


I started out by moving the bed to the adjacent wall to open up the room . I know I said I was gonna paint the bunk beds red and I still want to, but just not right now. Studly was none too excited when I asked if he would take the thing apart...he's a very practical individual you see {why paint something when it's perfectly fine the way it is?} Obviously he is no David Bromstad, but that's okay. What he lacks in interior design he makes up for in his ability to solve mathematical equations {which means a lot now that we have a middle schooler}. I know it's hard to see, but the accent pillows say "love is all you need" and "money can't buy me love". I don't love them which is why I didn't bother taking close ups. I am going to redo them and see I can get a better result. But, they'll do for now.
I think the study area is my favorite part of the room. I bought two, little dressers from Ikea. I love their simplicity. They were the perfect canvas for the $3 decal I found at Target. Studly put his mathematical skills to good use and concocted this corner table out of scrap board from Ikea {did you know that they sell all sorts of shelves and boards in the AS-IS section of Ikea? I never realized, but I got a huge piece of white, melamine board for $6. That's what I ended up using for the middle section of the desk. I ended up using metal piping for the legs to give it a modern/industrial look. You can have them cut to size and threaded for free if you ask.

I decided to keep this last wall simple and understated. Them room is quite small and I didn't want to make it feel cluttered and tinier that it already is. I opted to showcase a few, fun pictures of the fab four

along with a cherry red electric guitar for an added pop of color...and because it just seemed like the proper thing to do for a rock 'n' roll, fab four, British invasion themed bedroom.

I had a hard time decided what I wanted to use for accessories. The possiblities were endless in a themed room like this. I ended up...

I personalized the space by "jacking" out a "c" for Carter {union jacking that is}

as well as a small picture frame. {Aren't teenagers just precious when they can't talk back?}

And no, I'm not afraid of windex, I cleaned the frame yesterday...which means nothing with a household of five kids.

I knew I wanted to incorporate some "vintage vinyl" into the room. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to do it, but I finally decided on reinventing them into items a little more functional like :

Paper/book holders {and just FYI, no, listen-worthy records were harmed in the making of this project. I pretty much used the most obscure, hideous albums {whoever heard of Seraphim?} I could find. So no nasty comments, mmmkay}.

Jacket/hoodie hook

Bowl for accessories and odds & ends

And a couple extra's for whatever.

Now, you may have noticed one, very important element that was missing...wall color. That, my dear peepsies, is where you all come in. I'm having a heck of a time deciding on a wall color. So, if you have any opinions at all I would truly love your input. Don't be shy...I won't bite.

I am leaning towards something in the grey tones...something in the medium range to add contract to all of the white furntiture and frames. But, I am open to anything.

Security Scam- Beware

I know, I know, I never posted my British Invasion bedroom.

I will spare you the excuses, but I have to tell you that the little virus my dear Phyllis contracted was not a little virus at all.

Studly spent the bulk of yesterday trying to fix the poor thing. Finally around 1:00 a.m. he deemed her cured. I guess we will find out for sure today.

I only share this with you to warn you. The virus {called Smart Internet Protection} will pop up onto the computer as a warning, saying that the computer has been infected and that a security scan needs to be performed to protect it. Thankfully, I didn't click on anything and "x"ed out of the pop up and continued on with what I was doing. I thought I had avoided any problems.

However, everytime I got onto the computer after that to work, I would see the {smart security icon} on my task bar. I didn't notice anything significant, mainly that my internet accessability was really sporadic, but I attributed that to my crappy internet service and blew it off. I have since learned that this trojan, disguised as a security device was actually the culprit. And...after researching it further, Studly learned that even if you don't run the security scan it can still gather all sorts of personal data...which really freaked me out {I had my purse and identity stolen last year. I had charges on several different credit cards, and two separate checking accounts hacked into. It was the biggest pain and violation of personal space I've ever experienced}.



My biggest concern at this point is that I am a huge interent shopper and few credit card numbers on file. I am just going to have to keep a close eye on things for the next little bit and pray that nothing got hacked into.



The moral of this story, if this stupid trojan pops up on your screen, don't assume that by not clicking on it the problem is avoided. And just be aware, it. If you do encounter it remove it ASAP...there are step by step instructions you can use online.



Have a great, un-trojany, day.



P.S. I will be posting pics of the room reveal a little later, so long as Phyllis cooperates.

P.P.S. I am sorry not to have posted pics of the virus, but I was nervous that I might accidentally catch it again. It pulls up a white window with a red bar along the top that says {Smart Internet Protection}. It will most likely have a little button on it that reads "remove all"...DON'T DO IT THOUGH. You will know you definately have it if you see a red, shield icon on your task bar, that wasn't there before.

Biggest Slacker Award

...goes to ME!!!

I am the worlds biggest flake, I know. I hope you can forgive me.

I wish I had a really good excuse for my hasty and unannounced exit {something along the lines of..."I was having an organ transplant"} but truthfully, I just needed a little break...I didn't anticipate it would end up this long though.

The first few days of my break were great, I cooked {meals that didn't originate from a box or can} and I cleaned {believe me it was much needed}. Then I spent the next few weeks...ordering take-out and watching my newly cleaned house turn back into a pig sty as my duties turned to disinfecting the joint, taking kiddos to the doctor and doling out medications. I felt like I was on full time HAZMAT duty {with a house full of strep/sore throats, coughs, runny noses and a gut wrenching case of the "rhea's" to round it all out...thankfully that one skipped me.

The kids were not the only ones catching things...it appears my sweet, innocent little laptop also caught a nasty virus whilst on holiday {that's what the Brits say}. Every time I tried to access the internet I was promptly booted off...left to wander the barren land that was my desktop. I have never felt so lost and alone.

The problem is still not totally fixed. Studly, tried his best to restore Phyllis to her former , internet accessing glory, but was unable to. I am left with intermittant access to the world wide web, usually in ten minute increments, but at this point I'll take whatever I can get.

In keeping with this title's post, I have yet to finish the British Invasion room. Tut, tut, tut, I am almost done. But, it is still missing something and I want to make sure it's up to your standards before I reveal.

I know you probably don't believe me, but I swear it will be soon...by this weekend even. No really, I am serious. I have to get it done, my ADD is kicking in and it's time for me to move on. So, for realsies I will have the room ready to reveal within the next couple of days...{I hope, j/k, I will}.

In the meantime, here is a sneak peak at some of the projects I have been leisurely working on the past few weeks...hope you enjoy.

And...I'll see you back here in a few days. No seriously, I will.

The room was in sore need of some color, so I painted the closet doors to resemble one of those fantastic red, phone booths. I had in mind to actully make a phone booth to put in the room. I was gonna use old patio doors...the twelve paned ones, you know what I talking about right? I wanted to put a little desk area inside where the boy could work on homework in quietude. But then I remebered that the boy doesn't ever do his homework, so I didn't want to waste my time...no j/k. Kay, but kinda not. Really, the room just wasn't big enough for a "real" phonebooth, so I just did this. Not my first choice, but it brings in a nice pop of color. I vow here and now, however, that I will make a phone booth someday and it will be epic.

Abby road is one the first things I think of when I think of the Beatles. This picture is my homage to that. I painted the union jack and then distressed it. I finished it by adding cutouts of the fab four from old sheet music. This is probably the project I am most proud of in the whole room.


Besides the Abby road picture, this is all the union jack I used. I really like how the cushion turned out.

Here it is on the red chair, and along side the boy's cherry red, electric guitar. Maybe, this room will inspire him to dust it of and start playing again.


I love my $3, Target score. I had almost forgotten about this cool, vinyl decal I picked up awhile back. I didn't want to just use it on the wall, however, so I opted to dress up a plain, white dresser I picked up with it instead. I love it.


Here it is at a wider angle so you can see it a little better.

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