Magnolia House….. the Master Bedroom

The Master bedroom sporting a fresh coat of paint is slowly but surely taking shape. I wish

I had taken a picture of the magazine page that served as the inspiration for this room. We

smile at each other and think, ‘Well, it was a good try.’  It had that Gustav/Scandinavian

feel. Really the colors are about the only thing that’s close, but I like it…for now anyway.

Though it looks a little rumpled, the velveteen coverlet was a recent $5 estate sale find.

The ‘hand me down’ mirror and chaise have been a nice addition. I think I’d like to try

Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint on the stained mirror. Have you tried it yet?

Our headboard is new and was oiled rubbed bronze but I dabbed on almost dried up, thick

latex paint, scraped it off (after it was dry) and quickly wiped on and off  Dark Walnut

Minwax stain. It definitely looks old and chippy like something I loved in a magazine.

Roman shades (above right) will be hung as soon as I can talk someone into helping me.

It’s a restful room that always makes you want to take a nap when you walk through it.

It’s our favorite bedroom ever!

RE–Decorate

I love to RE- decorate, RE- using, RE- cycled stuff. It’s so RE- sourceful! The windows @

2nd Street Emporium are a great example. Wire Christmas trees were made of inverted

tomato cages and decorated with Re-tro ornaments. J O Y was spelled on the walls with

vintage greeting cards and pushpins. RE-give interesting old items from the 2nd St.

Emporium, the like a RE-store. It’s also RE-creational and RE-ally fun! Open M-Sat

…a little art–Sunday!

Today Carter and I spent a couple of hours down in the green house, creating Picassette

– loosely translated [trash art]. It was Carter’s first time to time to intentionally break

something. I removed the lids on six very large rolling tubs and encouraged her to pick

out her favorite pieces. Whatever she liked, was hers. With great care and time she did

so. With safety goggles and an old garden tool, she broke her first dish…just like that.

I struggled with my first one, but not Carter. She took to breaking, like a duck to water.

She loved all the little drawers full of beads, button, marble and shells. She also liked dip-

ping her fingers into the bucket of adhesive and slathering the mud all over her frame

and said it was like frosting a cake. Below is her beautiful creation which she did alone.

By now the sun was heating up the greenhouse so we opened windows and got big glasses

of sweet tea. Refreshed, Carter was ready for another project and decided to make a

birds nest, too. She began gathering her treasures while her little sister Emme found a

cute blue bird with a broken tail. I tried to exchange it for and old plastic chicken but

she was having none of it and off, she toddled. Later, when Carter showed me a pretty

blue piece she found for her nest I realized it was the birds tail. We went hunted for

Emme’s blue bird and were about to give up when we discovered she had taken it

back to the house to show her mommy and daddy (who probably didn’t think it was a

good idea for a 1 and 1/2 year old to play with a broken piece of pottery). Back to the

nest, Carter did a fabulous job of choosing, breaking, slathering, placing, hunting and

creating. I can hardly wait for them to dry and for her to come back so we can mix up

tile grout, cover them in thick mud and clean it all off. What a little treasure she will

have to take home and what fun memories we will share. Soon Emme will be able to

join us and we’ll all be in on the fun. Today, Carter showed me why being a grand-

mother is going to be so much fun. I’ll show and teach them all my favorite things!