My Room's "After" Pictures

I am so happy to finally be posting the first "after" pictures of our new farmhouse. As Mama wrote in the previous entry, getting moved in to this very old house hasn't gone as smoothly as most of our other moves. Sadly, our lovely goal of being finished by July 4th was far from a possibility. There are still many, many unfinished projects and the rest of the "after" pictures will probably be ready only a few at a time over the upcoming months.

However, as of this morning, my room is finished so I am very excited to share some pictures!

Before:

I began by pulling the carpet out, tearing off the wallpaper border, pulling the nails out of the walls, filling in the holes with spackling and sanding them, and then everything was painted. We decided to use white paint throughout the entire house in an attempt to give the house a clean, cottage look similar to what is popular in our favorite decorating magazines. After:
In the past, I've always bought "bed-in-a-bag" sets, but this time I decided to pull together the bedding items individually so I could get the exact look I wanted. I was hoping to find something that incorporated red, white, and blue, and gave the room a classic American country and coastal theme. The Lord blessed me with some amazing deals along the way! I found Lands End sheets on sale and the white vintage matelasse on eBay. The red and white quilt was the only item that was a bit more expensive, but when I got to the checkout counter, I found out it was 15% off, so that helped a little. I found the white lacy pillowcases inexpensively at a thrift store and felt that they gave the otherwise neutral bedding a dainty, feminine touch. In front of the white pillows are chambray decorative pillows with the little red, white, and blue Tommy Hilfiger flags dotted across them. They were saved from a bedding ensemble I had when I was 16. At almost every house we have lived in, I usually set my bed at an angle so I have access to a ton of storage space behind the bed. I have 5-6 "hope chest overflow" boxes in the area behind my bed. I sewed the three front pillows and was even able to use some old fabric my grandmother gave me for the two mongogrammed seersucker pillows. I love monogramming, so I used my new embroidery machine to monogram Sheridan's initials on one of the small pillows and mine on the other.

The most incredible deal was the dust ruffle/ bed skirt. I was in a huge rush one recent Friday afternoon at a thrift store all the way on Little Creek Road in Norfolk and had to get to Greenbrier in a very short amount of time. Knowing the traffic would be absolutely terrible at that time on a Friday afternoon, I just glanced at the dust ruffles and noticed this light blue and white gingham dust ruffle. The thrift store workers had marked it as full size (which is what I needed), but I knew I should unfold it and make sure it was indeed full size and there weren't any huge stains or holes on it. Since I was in such a rush, and because it was only 75 cents (!), I decided to just risk it and purchase it without barely looking over it. I figured I could use the fabric for something else if it was the wrong size. When I got it home, I found that not only was it truly the correct size, it also appeared to have never been used (some of the original tags were still attached), and it was made by Laura Ashley, which is a brand I can rarely afford! It was a wonderful blessing for only 75 cents. My very servant-hearted brother (he insisted he didn't want anyone to know he helped so I can't say which brother he is...) helped me tremendously by building shelves and a desk in the corner I hoped to make my "sewing area". This window overlooks the front pasture and the little white Mennonite church across the road, so I thought it would be a perfect place to sew and write.
After:Under the desk is an incredible amount of storage space! I'm using half of the area for fabric and sewing-related items and the other half for books, CDs, and business-related items (bills, marketing materials, etc.). For the curtain, I took a very inexpensive gingham tablecloth (it was $3.99-- cheaper than fabric would have been), cut it in half, sewed it together to make one very long, narrow curtain, and added a red floral fabric (that I found for just pennies at a yard sale) to the hem. The blueish chair was in one of the old barns we cleaned out and I felt it gave the room some added color and rustic, farmhouse flair.

As I began to pick out fabric colors, I went to one expensive fabric store in a very affluent area outside of Richmond to get a few scraps so I could take them home and decide what would match best with my bedding. Usually, at other fabric stores, they just give me a small scrap of the fabric, but at this fabric store, they charged me for a 1/8 yard piece of each fabric! Since I didn't end up using those colors, and I had no use for several 1/8 yard scraps, I sewed them together like a quilt top and am using them to drape over the back of the old blue chair. The far end of the desk was not necessary for my "sewing area" so I am using it as a "writing desk" area. I love the thought of writing in my journal late at night or reading my Bible in the mornings in this quaint little corner, however, I have yet to do either there! I found the lamp, with a shell-filled mason jar as the base, at a thrift store.On my white wicker chest of drawers I have a collection of pictures of just Sheridan and me, from the time she was a newborn until fairly recently. I want our room to be special for her too! It has affectionately become known as, "the girrrls room", as she sweetly says it. :)The lamp on my night stand was also a thrift store find, but I didn't like the lamp shade so I found a cheap one at a discount store to replace it.
I broke my long-standing rule and took my red toile plates out of my hope chest (I hate using things from my hope chest-- I want to save everything for my future home!) to decorate above the windows. The old brown plates were a treasure I found in one of the barns. Hanging on our shelf is the handmade gown and bonnet Mama sewed for Sheridan when she came home from the hospital as a newborn, a bundle of wheat I collected from my first investment property, and a white old-fashioned hat. The blue tinted Mason jars throughout the room were all found in the junky old barns, as well as the white and blue bottle also sitting on the shelf.The little table in the corner needs painting, so I sewed a small tablecloth to cover up its scratches. I hope to get a tea set to place on the table so Sheridan and I can have tea parties together. :) I didn't know how I would feel about sharing a room and bed with Sheridan, but I absolutely love it. She is a wiggle worm in our bed and I feel like I wake up several times every night just to "re-situate" her (i.e. remove her chubby little leg from my neck!), but I really think this time together is priceless. When she wakes up in the morning, she cuddles up to me so sweetly and smiles so cheerfully... I am so thankful we get to spend this time sharing a "girrrls room". :)