Interior Design, Of Sorts

How To Beautify a Goat Room:

My Grandma T. had a spare bedroom where she placed good stuff that she wasn't using anywhere else.  She called it her "goat" room.  Sometimes you could not even walk in there, and sometimes it was organized enough to have a path weaving through but it didn't look very good.  That is what had happened to our home office/craft room.  I certainly used the computer, but that was it.  So, yesterday, when most people were taking down their Christmas decorations, I decided to clean and organize it that room and make it beautiful.  Here are photos of the process.


The finished product:

The process:

 

This was my inspiration piece, the quilt that my friend Patty made us for a wedding present.  It used to be on the bed in the guest room.

 

This is one "before" picture.

 

This is another "before" picture.

I began hauling stuff out into other rooms.

 

This is the wall where the quilt went.

I took the artificial tree into the kitchen and sprayed the dusty leaves down with Windex.  After it dries, the dust is gone ... like magic!  It beats trying to wash off every leaf by hand.

 

Everything is off this wall now.  This room needs to be painted, but that didn't happen today!

 

The quilt is now up, and the craft table is underneath it.

This cupboard was next to the front door.

 

I moved it into the corner of the new room.

 

I began filling in the shelves.

 

Done, with the sewing and art supplies.

 

Now ready for card making, using my photography.

 

Partially done.

 

The sewing table/desk.

 

The computer desk.  I still need to get a filing cabinet and hang up the dry erase board and bulletin boards.  I took the extra Christmas tree and put it behind this desk.  I like how the table is at a slant.  I can see the living room, listen to the t.v. and look out the window at this angle.

 

Here it is, pretty, welcoming and functional.  Now I want to be in here, and will hopefully begin sewing my dolls again.  Plus, now I know where everything is again.  This project was a lot more fun and much easier than switching those two bedrooms last fall. 

Yeah!  Good job, Kathy Matthews!

Tricking Out the Living Room with Garage Sale Finds:

I have been working hard around here trying to find where to put all those things that I found at the the garage sale. A lot of them ended up in our living room, and I am pleased with the effect. So's my best friend husband. He did comment, however, that if we ever moved, it would take 20 days just to pack. Thank God he is so patient with all the holes in the walls around here. All we need now is paint with some color in it, but oh, what a lot of work taking all this stuff down it would be!

The folding screen behind the love seat
and the carpet came from the sale.

This teacup shelf and the spoons
were also garage sale finds.

The blue floral carpets are also new to me.

It's been fun, and it makes me happy.

The Rooms Project:

Oh, my aching back. I started rearranging and reorganizing the two back bedrooms on Thursday afternoon. It all began because I needed space to place my finished gifts as they are awaiting to be given or sold. You know, the Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy gifts? That really would have only involved the closet in Nigel's old room but I thought that while I was at it I would go ahead and switch the two rooms all together and make them better. Like things alike was my idea, which is how I like to organize anyway. My friend Doyce suggested that I become a professional organizer, and that thought has crossed my mind. But, if I ever do, I am not moving the heavy furniture!

Room #1:

Here is a before/during picture of Nigel's old room. He hasn't actually lived here for 5 years, but it had his stuff in it. Now that he is all grown up and on his own, I decided to reclaim it and use it for another purpose. And, that purpose is, the Den/Library. I've always wanted our own library, by the way. I gathered most of our books into this one room. There is still another bookshelf in the living room, but it is okay where it is.  It holds a bunch of my college text books.

This is what it looks like now. Lot's of books, toys, art supplies and a VCR-TV, hooked up to cable, with Nintendo 64. There is a lot of sentiment in this room. The hide-a-bed couch and quilt were Grandma T.'s, the coffee table and entertainment center were Cary and Susan's, Bob and Karen Byers made me the bookshelf that is under the window, a lot of the baby toys were Casey's, the big plant came from Troy's funeral, Julie handpainted the pot and the plant stand, and the painting came from Uncle Sonny's living room. My girls gave me most of the Mary Engelbreigt stuff, and the postcard picture is from Nanny. That is how I am ... sentimental about our stuff. I'll add new things to our home when needed, but I love the hand-me-downs and gifts the most. Here is the room:

See those two old porcelain dolls on the entertainment center? I bought those at St. Vincent's in La Pine for $2.50 each. Score!

I made the collage picture when I was still living at the camp house. It was kind of like art therapy. Click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see it better. I ended up with 6 kids, 4 girls and two boys. At the time I thought, hey this is wrong, because I had 4 boys and 2 girls. But, now it's right. Prophecy?

Room #2:

This room was the playroom, for when the grandkids, nieces and nephews and friends came over to visit. They were a lot younger 5 years ago! Now it is the guest room. I really like it. It wasn't always this messy! I thought about taking the pictures after I already began tearing everything apart.

The closet holds childrens games and gift basket/bags/wrapping paper. The curtains are actually shower curtains came from the Outpost a few years ago. They are lacy and only cost me $5.00 each. I bought the M.E. throw years ago from the bonus money Karen and Greg Biben gave me for watching Joey and Ben. Oh, memories, memories.

My friend Patty made this beautiful
quilt for our wedding present.

I still kept the Star Wars posters. The little pillow in the foreground was one I made from my Grandma J.'s old quilt that she made for my Mom and Dad. The nightstand once belonged to Grandma J.'s mom, Grandma Barker.

My Mom never lets me forget that this dresser is really Nanny's. The lamps were Darlene's, and I made almost all of the pictures.

The LaBranche kids made their
Grandpa Cary the shirts above.

I love being surrounded by love!

 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Decorating: The Dining Room

Okay ... the last room re-doing for a while.  I first changed the dining room curtains, and then changed the rug.  The old curtains matched everything, but when I did a tablescape photo they stood out like circus tents!  Now I will be more likely to go to the trouble of future tablescapes.

I had the "new" curtains and "new" rug in other rooms, so this did not cost me a dime.  The shelf where the boombox was is now located in the small bathroom.  


This is what I do in the fall.  I reclaim my space from summer.


Before #1:

Before #2:








After:

Oh, so much better!

Decorating: Different Living Room Window Treatments

Yesterday, my mother-in-law Darlene and I went into Bend for lunch and shopping.  Our first stop was at Big Lots.  I didn't even know that Bend had a Big Lots.  That shows you what a shopper I am.  I guess it just opened up a couple of months ago, to be fair to me.

Anyway, I have been wanting to get new drapes and new blinds.  I was so happy that I found everything I wanted for only $50.00!   Here are a couple of "before" window treatments:

 

 

This Summer:

This Morning:

During:

After:

Now ~ ta da!:

Now, that was a morning well spent!

Thrifty Bathroom Redux:

Yesterday I decided to fix up our little bathroom in the hallway.  It has not matched or flowed in looks ever since I put a new shower curtain in a year ago.  And, it has always bugged me.  It probably bugged our guests too, especially my stepdaughters, because they knew even I could do better (and their bathrooms are super pretty).  I know, I know, it still needs to be painted, but I think it is much improved!

First, I removed the frogs:

Just kidding!  These little guys were by the front door at work yesterday, and were still on my camera.  

I had three inspiration pieces for the bathroom, and that made it go fast.  They were these three little rugs from Jill and Dad's garage sale ($3.00 each); my Grandma T.'s shower curtain that was out in the trailer, and the shelves I bought at a garage sale for $3.00 on Memorial Day Weekend.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

So, there you go.  It isn't the fanciest of bathrooms, that is for sure, but it is much prettier now than it was yesterday afternoon.  Progress, not perfection, ya know.