Finding rusty old junk is fun! Nevertheless, I have found that no matter how much "stuff" I find and collect, only God can fully satisfy my heart. Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Romantic Cottage Bedroom Reveal!

I don't know about you, but I am just not ready to give up Christmas! The holiday season lasts until New Year's Day, so I try to savor every last minute of celebrations and decor. Today it snowed and it seemed to keep the magic alive just a bit longer.

I have been wanting to post our attic bedroom renovation since we finished it in June but I never had the time for a proper post, so you are going to get to see it this evening all decorated for Christmas.

You will notice a lot of feminine and romantic touches in these photos, but there are some mantiques and masculine items to balance things out on my husband's side of the bed that I haven't photographed as of yet. Once the Christmas decorations are down I will hopefully get around to covering the whole bedroom.


Here is our attic bedroom, completely gutted and rebuilt by my wonderful husband. Imagine insulation and old wires, spider webs and exposed floor joists. You get the picture. That's all that was here before. There was only a crawl space in the hallway ceiling for access, so he completely built a second floor out of the attic, including a new set of stairs from our foyer. He also built our son's room and a bathroom that we are getting ready to finish.

I told him I wanted a dreamy, vintage cottage bedroom and that's what I got!
The floor is simply 1/4 inch plywood cut in strips and painted white.You can see it a little better in the picture below. We got the look of pine flooring for a fraction of the cost! It really doesn't take any more maintenance than darker floors and has held up nicely so far. He also made the board and batten for the walls and installed the beadboard ceiling himself. Actually he did every bit of it himself. With the help of my opinon and "constructive criticism" which added to his sheer enjoyment of the renovation process...

I chalk painted this yard sale bench to give it the appearance of antique grain sack, and it fits perfectly at the foot of the bed now. I showed the before and after in my last Christmas post.

                I just love the headboard we repurposed from a flea market door! I adore lots of pillows, so I  am looking forward to making some more from vintage fabric remnants as part of my New Year's resolution of learning to sew. The gorgeous antique chenille bedspread was the first puchase we made for the bedroom two years ago before we even got started on the room. We found it at the annual Court Days festival in Mt. Sterling, KY. At the time we hadn't even decided what look we wanted for the bedroom, but finding the bedspread gave us the inspiration to go all white vintage-cottage. Total cost of the what you see in this picture (minus the mattress) is only $50.00!

This year my husband and I will be spending our 13th year together, and we look for nothing but GOOD LUCK to come our way in 2013! Our bedroom is filled with little nods to romance and lots of vintage bling. It was so easy to incorporate a dreamy Christmas feel to the room since the bedroom is all white and sparkly to start with.

     A picture from our wedding day is tucked in this little antique jewelry box filled with vintage tinsel and a bottlebrush tree. Notice what I am wearing in the picture...

I display my wedding suit on this old mannequin all year long. It is also the perfect place to drape my collections of vintage pearls. For Christmas I simply added some tarnished tinsel and my hand made angel wings.


Below is a unique window treatment I designed using my oldest and most delicate lace. It actually is a panel but I used it in a different way. It had several holes that needed to be camoflauged so I turned the panel sideways as a sort of swag and draped it over a curtain rod with a vintage silk scarf and lots of strands of pearls in various shades.




Before we finished the bedroom I had the curtain panel displayed over an old window.
I love how light streams through as if in a dream


Under the window is an old metal trunk I repainted white. I especially love the hardware.


And on top of the trunk I created a shabby Christmas vignette

Meet Joy, the sweet little antique composition doll. Isn't she an angel?
 

 Next on the tour is my dresser, a $20 side-of-the-road-sale special. It was pretty cruddy before but it turned out great with some TLC.


Love the French country details...
$5 chair makeover--- white chalkpaint and burlap, the perfect combo...

 with an 1800's romantic prairie chemise displayed on the back


Everything in this picture was stitched by hand! Can you imagine the hours?


I love using this shabby chic towel holder to hold my favorite antique garments, scarves, gloves, pearls, and any other romantic girly-girl pretties I may find on my adventures.

My dresser is a great place to display my own embellished bottles and flea market treasures. I carried a bouquet of real ivory roses on my wedding day, but this summer I crafted a bouquet using the same shade of faux roses. I was experimenting with making a brooch bouquet using vintage brooches, hankies, doilies, ribbons lace, pearls and buttons, with the intention of selling it, but once I brought it up to the bedroom it was mine. ALL MINE!





Can a girl really ever have too much bling??? Especially vintage bling? I never can really pull off the look of a lot of jewelry unless I am getting all decked out for a date or formal occassion, but I discovered that our house can pull off  lots of bling, so I love to collect it and display it unexpected ways.

I am fascinated by small treaures and I adore making little vignettes, like this antique powder compact opened to reflect the beauty of gorgeous vintage rose and rhinestone earrings, an old hair pin, and an antique English angel sticker from the early 1900's. I get so excited by such little things as these.



And I will ask again...Can a girl really ever have too much bling?  Maybe some girls, but not this Junkaholic!

This is the collection of treasures on the desk beside my bed: More of my embellished bottles, small vintage  items, antique jewelry collections, old buttons, lace, and pearls.



My favorite display in the whole bedroom is this old train case that I filled with things I find beautiful. The candle in the center is the unity candle from our wedding, and the ribbon around it is from my bouquet.

In a previous post I discussed how I am changing my holiday decorating style by adding seasonal elements to what I already have.  Here is how I tweaked the train case...

With some simple additions like my handmade bottlebrush tree/spool ornament, angel wings and a halo for the sweet little doll, along with Christmas carol ornaments, the train case evolves into a charming Christmas treasure box.

I really do decorate my home from top to bottom for the holidays! On the floor of my side of the room sits more of my favorite Christmas loot. The room really is as romantic and cozy as it looks here. Since we couldn't incorporate a fireplace into the bedroom, the next best thing is an old stove filled with white lights, which makes a perfect night light.

And what better place for David, than right beside me when I sleep? (I explained a little bit about how David ended up in our bedroom in the previous post.) My husband jokes that one day I am going to leave him for David. Actually he first started making that joke when David was still in our antiques booth and I kept going back and forth on keeping him or selling him. Now he is not only at our house, but right beside me in the floor by my bed. No one ever said junkaholics weren't a little crazy!


He really is stunning! But at least I have him facing the opposite direction so he isn't staring deeply into my eyes...
Love, love, love that grain sack stocking...

...and the old chippy plant stand loaded with my collection of vintage lace, doilies, and linens...




This tour of the bedroom makes me want to go snuggle up to my sweetie for a long winter's nap!


But in case we decide to sleep in too long, we made a personalized sign to remind to us to get up and get going, because...


Sweet dreams fellow junkaholics, lights out!
 
 

17 comments:

  1. What a beautiful bedroom! LOVE the headboard and linens too! So dreamy! And the answer is NO!A girl can NEVER have to much bling :-) !
    Best wishes to you and your husband in 2013!
    xx
    Anne

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  2. Your bedroom is gorgeous! I love the beadboard and all white color scheme. I had an old stove like yours in my hands a few months ago and decided not to buy it. Now, after seeing yours, I'm sorry I did! And I'm drooling over your $20 dresser!! Love it all!

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  3. This is one of the most beautiful posts I have ever seen. I am in love with your bedroom. I find great inspiration in your window treatment, and would like to duplicate as best as I can in the living room of my new apartment. I have tried different treatments, and none speak to me. I have downsized, and kept only my favorite pieces of furniture, and accessories. It is exciting.

    I would be interested to know if the background sheer is plain or has details. What type of curtain is the on the overlay? Or is it a bedspread?

    Thanks so much for sharing. May you be blessed and live peacefully throughout the new year.

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    2. Ellie, Thank you so much for your kind words. I went back and added another picture of the antique panel from before I used it in the bedroom window.

      For the bedroom window, I did not put the panel actually through the curtain rod, I just draped it over a cutain rod and pulled down some in the center and let the excess hang to the left. Underneath is cheap, sheer ivory panel from Wal-Mart. It is not part of the antique swag/scarf/pearls treatment but is on a separate tension rod at the inside top of the window.

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    3. Thanks so much for your detailed description. The little tricks you shared make such a difference in how my curtains drape. They are beautiful.

      The ladies in blogland are so fantastic. The ways in which they share inspirations and tutorials and ideas is beyond belief.

      Thanks for all of your posts, and sharing.

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  4. Your bedroom is so dreamy and romantic. Love your headboard. Your vignettes are lovely, especially those with all the bling.
    Mary Alice

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  5. Your room is lovely. Our old house had attic bedrooms and I loved sleeping up there. Enjoy your lovely space.

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  6. I'm your newest follower. Love all I see....beautiful!

    My friend who passed away survived breast cancer 16 years ago but it was pneumonia that took her life. We are all so very sad.

    But...life is good and we must press on. Thank you for your sweet words.

    Love, Rebecca

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  7. Beautiful and romantic!

    Peggy

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  8. How beautiful! And, I love your blog! I'm definitely following you now!
    Farmhouse Blessings,
    Dru

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  10. This is so beautiful and classic. I love all the white and cream. It's so useful to have a handy husband!

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  11. Gorgeous blog! Just found you thru Knick of Time. I'm a new follower. Lovely decorating ideas!!

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  12. What a beautiful room - the kind you dream of. Stopping by from Elizabeth and Co....

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  13. Wow, totally dreamy! Enjoy every moment in this lovely room!

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  14. What a Beautiful Boudoir! And Congrats on your 13th Year Together! It's not so much that I wasn't ready to give up Christmas... I'm just too busy to take it all down... so we may throw some Valentine's Hearts on a half undecorated Tree and just leave the Christmas Village Scene on the Mantle as a Wintery Reminder since it's still 80 degrees outside so something needs to feel like it's the appropriate Season?!? *Winks*

    Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian

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