Inviting Spring Bedroom Makeover

After that snowstorm I was ready for some color!  

I'd been thinking about reclaiming the original bedroom here but have also enjoyed using it for storage and projects, not to mention the room I'd been sleeping in is closer to the wood stove.  

I began with a fantastic piece of art that I had my eye on for some time.  I love all of Mike Kraus' art pieces, but the birch series are my favorite.  This piece (in the photo) was at the top of my list and I knew the wall color should accent it.

I ordered the print and frame and picked up the paint chip samples I thought would work.  When the print arrived I was able to easily choose the color for that one wall, where there are two windows.

There was prep work to be done, including finishing the window sill woodwork and painting it a very light grey.

I also installed new mini blinds and would later choose a temporary room darkening drape.

But first let's roll through some before photos.

This was the state of that room even at the halfway point!  Before this I had a large old TV on this wall sitting on an old heavy cabinet.
So all this stuff had to go - out - somewhere. Needless to say my living room was a bit crowded for a few days.

Next came the prep work.

Now for wall color.  This is a very light purple, or dusty lavender.

 Then the windowsills were painted and installed along with the new mini blinds.

I painted the nightstand I used in the other room, once yellow, now a light grey.

And the finished look is perfect considering I also have a shade of lavender carpeting.

I have since learned that this shade of lavender goes really well with other colors such as light green and darker grey, of which I also have sheets sets in both!  

I'm really happy how this turned out.  I'm sticking with white or possibly light grey on the other wall and a low key print.  The opposite wall is a large shelf, and the other wall is the closet.

This was a great project, fun and very affordable! 

2016 - It's A Wrap!

Huckleberry hollow underwent some major improvements this year.
To recap, here's an overview, follow the links to read the full posts.

Back in April of 2016 I decided to redo the bathroom - again - and it really turned out nice.  New paint, trim and floor paint.  You can read the full post here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/04/bathroom-make-over-again.html .

All Spring and Summer a friend helped me install a new 6 foot cedar fence along my property line.  This was labor intensive!  Together we cut the labor costs and although it took us several months of part time work, we were able to finish it in time for some outdoor deck sitting - with privacy.
You can view the complete post here: https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/fence-me-in.html .

In the middle of the summer I started working on new ways to skirt the mobile.  I love Pinterest and get a lot of my ideas there.  I found some great ideas on alternative skirting concepts and used two of them for around my place.
One was a row of concrete blocks placed just under my addition, leaving about an inch of air flow space.  Another was to use cedar fence boards like pickets, around other sections of the home.
Two posts covered this subject and they are here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/skirting-issue.html .  And here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/skirting-issue-part-ii.html .

By the time summer was winding down and had a little more free time from work, I decided it was time to tackle the mud room and front deck issues.  There was dry rot and leveling that needed addressing.  Again my friend helped me with the leveling and I replaced the top deck boards last.
That post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/10/restructuring.html .
 You'll notice some additional upgrades to the paint around the place too.

After that we transplanted 2 of my very large bamboo into 4 bigger pots, as well as dividing them.  They are 12 feet tall now and have occupied those pots for about 10 years.
They add the perfect privacy screen above the new fence!
That post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/10/bamboo-transplanting.html .

By then the weather was changing and it was time to focus indoors.
I needed to finish working on a back bedroom that needed some odd repairs, not pictured, but not interesting in photos anyway.  The goal here is always about insulation and sealing, while still trying to maintain aesthetics.  It's not a pretty place, but it is very functional.
I also worked on the other two little bedrooms, carrying on the same theme with new paint.

I also revamped my first poetry book, Poetic Zen, with new color photographs.  The post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-book.html , with a link to ordering it.

After the fallout of 11/9 so many of us were devastated by the news of a new leader that when I finally regained some optimism, I decided to pull together some artists and writers and publish a book about hope.  It's called Messages of Hope and the post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/12/messages-of-hope.html .  You can order from the links there.

I wrapped up the year by reopening my Etsy shop and diving back into metalsmithing.  I purchased a new domain name for it as well, you can visit it here: www.jgray-design.com .
My goals this year are to increase my work-from-home income with finished jewelry pieces as well as supplies for other artists in similar mediums which lead to a second shop just for supplies at www.jgdsupplies.com

So the smallest bedroom has been converted into half storage and half art studio.  Upcoming posts on that as I try to squeeze another work space into an already tiny space!

Thank you all for following along with me on my journey to remodel my life.  :)
Farewell 2016, and hello 2017!  May we all prosper and find joy. 

Indoor Projects

After a myriad of outdoor projects and the eminent arrival of Fall rains, I moved my motivation indoors at the beginning of October.  This next project was already brewing in my mind while I was working outside.

I had a plan to caulk the remaining seams in two of the bedrooms and repaint.  I had such good success in the bathroom from earlier this year that I was eager to get started.

I don't have any photos of this project because honestly, seams of walls and ceilings just don't translate well in a photo.  If you've ever done any caulking work you know what I mean.

One of the biggest problems I ran into was an old patch / fix from the former tenant.  I'm still not exactly sure how to make a permanent fix, but for now I have at least made it look better and used a small piece of sheetrock to patch a hole in the ceiling.  Originally there was a really long piece screwed to the ceiling tile that also covered an old water stain.
I just put a few coats of Kilz paint over the stain and it was fine.  (Reminder:  this mobile had previously been rescued from Mt. St. Helen's).  Now of course it has a full roof-over structure, so these water stains were quite old.

The overall goal here is to eliminate the need for trim and give it a more finished look.  I did indeed accomplish this!  Floor trim, of course, remaining.

There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint!  Both bedrooms got a country white which will be greatly appreciated come the long dark winter here.

Those Final Projects

 

There's a section of my yard that you can't really see and I rarely visit there, but there it is and something needed to be done about it.  I had built a retaining wall of concrete blocks and planted a few things up top and called it good.

Recently I was inspired to make a few adjustments (of course that only came after some work I did on the hill which opened up the sunlight to this area.).  Below is the "before" picture.

 
 I moved the flat wall out into a curved shape, filling it in with some excess dirt from another area, and then designing a mini labyrinth - of sorts.

Below is the "after" photo of the blocks moved out.

(Ignore that 1x2 in the foreground, it is marking the property line).

I went on to adding some chives and other plants that I knew would do well in this spot and don't mind getting moved around.

 Photo from the top.

 I wanted a small path and am filling it with rocks every chance I get to the beach.

I will be adding more ground covers to this area next.

There's even a little bird bath in case the wildlife back there was feeling left out.

One last thing I needed to do was to paint an L shape section of the back of the house that no one can see - except me of course.  So I got that taken care of as well, since I was working back there.

Below are the before and after shots of just one section, I don't have after photos for the rest of the area and of course I have already stacked up the project wood there.

 Before

 After

 This is what happens when the ex husband leaves the house unfinished and the pioneer woman is forced to figure out how to finish it - with no funds and what's available.  But I digress, and that was 8 years ago.  

Not bad considering I pieced together these odd siding panels before I bought a compact miter saw!

That's it for the summer to do's around here.... I think!