Bedroom Makeover Ideas

Thanks to Camille, I was able to round up a few more inspiration photos for my bedroom makeover.   

I do love this headboard.   And aren't the flags are cool?

This room is a little too rustic

but I do love a nice graphic quilt or blanket on a bed.

Remember Tommy Smythe's chevron quilt in the Black Walls post?

Another nice masculine bedroom.  I love a headboard that has a fun shape.

Like this...

...antique headboard I saw at an online auction.

Aren't the turnings and headboard shapes wonderful?

Do you remember Furlow Gatewood's bedroom from Veranda?  I love the warm gray walls with white trim and brown wood pieces.  I think this gray-brown-cream color palette is my favorite color palette.

Did you notice the floors are painted white?  Love them!

It's a little too fancy for my house and my taste but I love this room.

I love a nice iron bed too.

Here's another favorite room, again with white or ivory painted floors.

Swap out the wall color for a gray and it's a more

casual version of the Furlow Gatewood room.

Every time I redo a room and think about painting the walls, my mind goes back to the walls of John Derian's house in Provincetown.  These look like old horsehair plaster that were perhaps painted white one time and then had layers and layers of wallpaper over them for year

This is another one of my favorite images where the crusty plaster walls are left exposed.

I wonder if there's anyway I could recreate this look by applying wet brown paper of some kind that stains the surface of the wall.

Or maybe some kind of paint technique that looks like raw plaster.

Maybe applying paint with a trowel?

Or maybe dark walls with lots of graphic black and white artwork to break it up.

Too many ideas; too few rooms. 

Black Walls

I know this is a little lame post but I've been sick this week so this is all I've got.

A few weeks ago when I showed the Middle Bedroom, Razmataz said she thought my style reminded her of Tommy Smythe.  I know Tommy Smythe from Sarah's House (whose work I love) but I had never seen any of Tommy's work.  Everything I saw was great, especially this 180-square-foot apartment of Tommy's with black walls.

I really love this room.  I'm not sure I would have thought to pair black walls with darkly finished wood pieces but I think it's really handsome.

I probably would have deferred to a black and white color scheme but wood furniture seems to really glow and I love the use of the persian carpet and the graphic red and white quilt.

I've always wanted to have a room with dark walls but I feel one dark room might need to be balanced by other dark walls around the house to balance it out.

Here's a few other black-walled rooms that I love.

This one's a little monochromatic but I do love the vignette at the bottom of the bed.

I've seen this vignette all over blogland and pinterest lately.

Love.

Love, love, love.

I'm seeing black and orange a lot lately.

Here's a room from this year's Highpoint from my friend Carol's (formerly of Sofas and Sage) new blog House and Home Defined.  I've also always wanted an orange room....the color of Chicken Tikka Masala.

Great foo dog vignette.

I'd love to spend my weekends getting cat hair out of this rug.

This might be a really, really dark green...but nice room.

Since my ceilings are low, I think I'd lave to paint my base moldings black as well.  I do like the casings painted black and I've always loved black window mullions.

I think Mary McDonald's drapes... 

...would look great in this room.

Could you ever have a black room?

Or do you think they're better to look at than live with?

P.S. Oh, after the Tommy Smythe room, I stole all this stuff off Pinterest.  Pinterest makes it really easy to find inspiration photos.  I just searched black walls and I found all these places.

I said it was lame.

Louis XVI Chairs: Strip Search

Today was a snow day.  I don't want to talk about it.   Every time I do, people leave me comments about how it's 70 degrees here, 85 degrees there or that they're sitting on the beach; they're picking their first crop of snowdrops or planting their sweet peas.  So I'm just going to sit here in my igloo and be happy.

I wanted a diversion from shoveling and painting windows so I decided to strip the Louis XVI chairs I bought on ebay and search for some inspiration for their makeover.  The welting must have been glued on with gorilla glue and there must have been a thousand staples  in the upholstery.  It took me a few hours with a screwdriver and pliers to get the job done.

And here he is stripped down.  Isn't it a huge improvement?  They remind me...

...of the Louis XVI chair from Wisteria found here.

I tend to want to change paint colors, drapes, duvet covers, pillows, etc., every few years so I'd like to keep them fairly neutral.

via houzz.com

I'm thinking that a medium gray with a neutral linen would look great with the new wood and zinc pedestal table.  But I'd love to put some pattern on that opening on the back.

via houzz.com 

I've been thinking that I'd like to use a light with a more contemporary drum shade over the table.  Except for the table, I really love this room.  I love the light, the bookcases, the window seat and I even find the lucite chairs with grain sack cushions an interesting juxtaposition.  I really don't dislike the table, but it might be nicer for my imaginary summer home in Spruce Head, Maine.

via houzz.com

The metallic finish is interesting and I love the combination of gray and brown (in the floor).

The boys love them too!  

I think I'll go get some paint this weekend if I can get out of my igloo.  A few light glazes might be all they need.

Any suggestions?

(To Mommy of 3:  Thank you for all your great comments!  You don't have an e-mail address attached to your profile so I have no way to respond to you.  If you'll leave me a comment with your e-mail, or send me an e-mail to urbancottageblog@gmail.com I'll be happy to get back to you.)

Marblehead, Massachusetts (Part 2)

If you missed my first post on Marblehead, Massachusetts, you can jump to it here.

On my walk up to the Old Burial Hill, this house caught my attention, not for the salmon-colored door, but for the meandering path to door.  Not only is it much more visually interesting, the path provides a direct view past the house to the harbor beyond.

Let's take a little walk down the driveway to get a peek.

View of Marblehead Neck
(Click photo to enlarge)

And here it is.  Can you imagine coming home to work every day and enjoying a nice glass of wine watching yachts and sailboats drift by?  Pure heaven in my opinion.

Right at the steps up to the burial ground, sits this house backed right up to the granite ledge which creates its own little enclosed space.  It's really unique.

If you've never had a chance to walk around an old New England cemetery, you're missing an interesting experience.  The imagery and narratives on the headstones are really quite intriguing.   This particular burial ground is notable for its huge granite ledges...

...as well as the wonderful views of the harbor these spirits get to enjoy.  There are many heros of the American Revolution buried here.

On my walk back down the hill, this is one of two entrances on the front of the house...

...and this is the other more ornate entrance.  It's not my favorite color scheme but the woodwork around the door is gorgeous.

I've collected a lot of images of homes with monochromatic color schemes.

I think such a color scheme instantly creates a historical look.

This is one my favorite all-green houses.

This almost medieval-looking door...

...is on the Ambrose Gale house built in 1663.  347 years old.

Just a little farther down Franklin Street, one of the "oldest wayes in towne," the houses almost meet in the street like good old neighbors.  I love the castle-like pattern of shadows created by the dormers.

I wander back and forth between the water and the center of town not knowing what to focus on.  Lights, hardware, shutters, paint colors...

or pretty gardens, windows boxes and pots.



Doesn't this street seem unreal?  Like something from the movie Pleasantville.   I didn't even realize at the time I took the photo that there wasn't a single car in the shot.

This house was built 1683.

Some of the shops downtown.

The flower store.

I love these doors made of planks with the wide wrought iron hinges.

On my way back to my car, I admire this handsome house in Washington Square.  Everything is impeccable and restrained.  I love the curved fence and, surprisingly, the lack of a front garden. 

Notice the louvered door.  It's unusual but seems appropriate.

I've had a wonderful day and look forward to coming back sometime to explore more of Marblehead.

Where should I go next?  Maybe Salem in search of witches?