Inspired Rooms : Sadie Olive Master Bedroom Retreat

Sadie Olive, amazing photographer (prints and vintage items sold here) and an eye for the truly remarkable, has the most beautiful, and cozy bedroom. I love how natural, primitive and comforting the space feels. These are before and after shots of a mini make-over (complete with details), but both are beautiful.

Homefront: My Very Own Frame Wall

Remember my frame wall rant post? I bought tons of frames with the intention of painting them white and doing a nice gallery wall, and the pile sat there collecting dust, stressing me out, so I got rid of most of them. Here is what this space above my couch looked like before. I love the wrought iron circle I painted in a distressed aqua, and now it's over the tv.

Well... while I was at Goodwill the other day, I saw this lovely painting of this little Native American girl by Bettina Steinke. Really, isn't she just a precious doll? It was in some obscure aisle, and I picked it up and put it in my cart. I walked around some more, and decided, what am I going to do with it? So, I put her back in another obscure aisle (shame on me, I know).

An hour later (yes, when I go to Goodwill, it takes a few hours) I stumbled across this girl in another part of the store and I walked by. By the time I got to the frames, she had been brought back there. By this time, it kept getting harder to walk away, so for $3.99, I brought her home, and my son has named her Sammie.

I also brought home the embroidered flower photo, oil flower vase painting, raccon sketch and the automobile photos. I even put several things back, they just had tons of great vintage finds! Some frames I already had, so I filled them with bits of vintage maps and bookplates of flower sketches. I really need to add more family photos, but since this digital camera age has sprouted, I haven't printed photos off in ages! (sorry Grandma).

Since we will most likely be leaving this apartment in a few months, I figured, why hesitate on the frame wall? If we don't like it, we will be moving so who cares!

All I did, was lay the frames on the floor until I liked the arrangement. Then, I took a picture of it. I picked up the pictures from the ground and brought them up to the wall one by one and nailed them in. If I forgot how one went, I referred to my camera screen. Easy.

But... I love it. I'm so glad I did this. And when I showed everyone my frame placement floor layout ideas, you all persuaded me to make it grand instead of a smaller grouping like I intended. And really, with these high walls, the larger grouping looks best. Adding in the wood letters and smaller pieces helped close in odd gaps and hide nail holes I used when trying to get the placement right.

 

This post is linked to A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day!

Homefront: White Slipcovers and Touches of Aqua

I've talked about my slipcovers before, but never really showed them to you in much detail.

I love how versatile they are, I can change my style throughout the year by simply rotating pillows and pillow slipcovers, adding maybe a throw or whatever. By changing out simple accessories in your home and maybe art on your walls, is a good way to take you through different seasons, or to change your scenery every once in a while. I rotate most of my decorations throughout the year. I prefer decorating with only one or two colors at a time, right now, it's aqua and a soft green.

Even though I have a busy and active family (that enjoys snacking on the couch) and little boys that enjoy writing on the couch with yogurt and ink pens... I find it surprisingly easy to take care of.

Before I had slipcovers, the boys ransacked the couch cushions on a daily basis, my bones hurt just thinking about how many times a day I put those couches back together. This was my life pre-slipcovers and pre-bungie roping my kitchen chairs to the table legs in our old apartment. (I also bungie rope my fridge and oven shut ;)

I wash the slipcovers about every 2 weeks with detergent and bleach, though I will be switching to maybe borax or oxiclean since bleach can gray out whites and deteriorate fabric over time.

I made a baking soda and water paste and applied them to stain spots, let it sit for about 30 mins or so, then added the slipcovers to the wash with some detergent, about a 1/2 cup of baking soda and a tad of bleach.

They come out great and if there is a stain that doesn't come out (which is inevitable), it usually fades after additional washes.

Really, I love the casualness of them, how much better I feel that I can just clean them (I'm a little ocd about unwashed couches... really you wouldn't lay on a mattress without a sheet, would you?) and how versatile they are. It's more affordable than buying a whole new couch set as well.

The slipcovers I have are the Pottery Barn box pleat in white. They don't always carry them in white, so I found mine on amazon and ebay. The sturdiness of them are nice because it helps keep the tucks better than a stretch type slipcover. I have these Surefit covers in taupe too, and though I love them, they do come untucked easier. I've read, that rolling up a magazine and tucking it in the tucks help them stay in place better.

For more slipcover advice, I turn you to Holly from In the Fun Lane. She is the queen of living with white and has some great slipcover advice. Here she talks about maintaining a white home, and here on how to pick the right premade cover.

You can also make your own slipcovers as shown above from Nester. Pink and Polka Dot helped Nester make hers here... it really is just like piecing a puzzle together and sewing it. Using white duck, denim or canvas are great choices because they clean well, are comfortable and crisp, sturdy fabrics. 

Pink Polka Dot has a good tutorial on slipcovering a chair here and writes some great advice about making your own slipcovers.

I'm joining Pink's Slipcover McLinky party as well as Emily's Chatting at the Sky, Glimpses of Home party today, can't wait to see what everyone elses!