Mountain Cottage Bedroom

Before I get to today's decoratin' story.....

I first would like to tell you guys about the gentleman who woke me up this morning from a 

sound sleep.

I was sleeping a little late, due to having a headache, 

or as an old neighborhood kid used to say..... a head egg......

8:30, and the phone rings.

Now, you'll probably be surprised to hear that I was polite to the Indian guy who interrupted my slumbers.

He claimed to be from Windows Service Center, and was calling about a problem with the software on my computer.

I have gotten a couple of these calls in the past few weeks, and I told them in no uncertain terms to .......

leave me the hell alone!!!!!!!

BUT.....

over the past couple of days, I have started having issues with my laptop.

iTunes disappeared, and couldn't be reloaded.

Then PICASA  took a walk!!!!!

Sooooooo.......

I realized something was up.

Soooooooooooooooooo......

when this guy woke me up, I wondered if he was legit, because my computer was acting WACK!!!!!

But....

not being a total pushover, I got my cell phone and called my niece Miriam, the computer programming techno nerd wizz......

and had her listen in while I talked to this guy.

His scam is somewhat believable.

The webpage he directed me to was believable.

BUT

be warned, this is a phishing site trying to get credit card info.

Sooooooo.....

I told him that I needed some time to wake up, and then I would call the company back.

He had given me a number, but he said he would call me back in an hour.

He warned me that I should do something quickly, because my computer had been infiltrated with malware, and that the whole thing could crash, and that I would loose everything.

That was the point that I was sure he was full of crap.

All he had to tell me was to turn off my machine till I had time to deal with this.

I mean......

hello!!!!!

There's an off button!!!!!

soooooo.....

I jumped in my car with my laptop,

and drove over to Staples,

and they are fixing everything for me.

The tech guy at Staples said he had gotten similar calls,

whereupon he informed the caller that he was a computer technician, and that he could deal with his own damn computer.

So.....beware!!!!!

Just a little public service announcement for today.....

Now, on to the decoratin'!!! 

Since I can't show you more of Connie's Florida home.....

let's return to her Vermont house.

We still have 4 more spaces to go over.

For today, we'll look at the guest room over the carriage house.

Connie's hubby, Chris, collects antique cars,

soooooo

we designed and built a garage for them with an apartment on the second floor.

I only took a picture of the bedroom.

I don't know why.

Probably because I'm brain-dead,

or an idiot,

or something like that........

We decorated the room in an Adirondack mountain style.

I used a barkcloth from a wonderful company that started in Rhode Island called Full Swing.

The pattern we used is called Moonlight in the Pines, color: Juniper.

This fabric was the jumping off point for the room.

Then we found these wonderful Lloyd loom wicker chairs for the foot of the beds, and used

the fabric for the seats. 

Connie loves a country feel, and found a wonderful local resource for braided and hooked rugs.

We found one with an oak leaf pattern that worked with the woodsy feel I wanted to achieve.

 .

I had Drape It make a pair of upholstered headboards in a green and tan awning stripe with matching bed skirts, and we used the barkcloth again on the toss pillows, to bring the pattern up onto the bed. Connie found some cozy red blankets and bought a pair of mismatched Hudson's Bay Point blankets to fold at the foot of each bed.            

Between the beds I placed an end table that Connie already had before she ever even heard the name, Betsy Fabuloso Speert.

 

We found the Art Nouveau lamp with the painted glass shade, along with the turn of the century little oil painting while poking around in local antique stores.

I love this room, too bad it's so far away for me to visit, but then......

who says I'm invited?????

On that note,

Latah, Gatah

The Perfect Chair....

This one was too big.....

This ones too small.....

And this one is JUST RIGHT!!!!!

If you've been following my blog,

 and shame on you if you haven't.....

you know that I've been looking for a chair for the corner of Kris's master bedroom.

It's opposite her bed.

To the right of the chest of drawers.

We first found a chair while antiquing, that ended up being too short.

I can't remember if I told you guys the story of finding this.

Sooooooo.....

at danger of repeating myself.....

here's the story!!!!!

Once upon a time, 

this past summer,

Kris and I went antiquing down to a new spot we had found.

NO I WON'T TELL YOU WHERE!!!!!

I NEED TO KEEP MY SECRETS!!!!!

anyway.....

there were a whole bunch of stores and dealers and antiques and junk.

Just what we like.

wellll.......

as is wont to happen when I spend a long time antiquing.....

there comes a point when I have to pee.

Sooooooo.....

I'm in the bathroom, doing what folks do in the bathroom.

When I left the stall to wash my hands, 

my tiny little eyes spied a chair in the corner of the room.

It was a large bathroom.

Not the normal little holes in the wall of your average antique store.

I am a conn-new-sour of places to pee.....

anyway.....

back to the chair.

I saw a chair!!!!!

I liked it!!!!

So, I started to scream....

"Kris, Kris, Kris, come look at this chair!!!!!"

Now the problem with yakking as much as I do,

making lots of noise,

creating commotions......

is that when I call my buddy, she doesn't always pay attention to me.....

So, I had to go out and drag her into the bathroom.

This is what I saw.....

I figured I could try to reupholster it.

We asked the proprietor if it was for sale.

Whereupon she said.....

give me 20 bucks and it's yours.

So we did, and it is!!!!!!

We dragged it home in my trusty Subaru Outback, and carried it upstairs to Kris's bedroom.

only it was tooooo small......

way too small.......

bummer!

So, ever since then, we have been looking for a taller chair.

I found one that would have been perfect on Craig's List.

It was pricey, but that's because it was an antique.

I've never reupholstered channels.

It would have been a challenge.

Kris wasn't sure,

then she saw the same type of chair in a picture of a beautiful room, and she decided that....

"Yes!!!! it would be the perfect chair!!!!!"

Only by then it had been sold.

I tried not to give Kris a hard time.

I really, really did.......

Soooooo.......

I kept looking.

Kris found this one at Baker.

Tres Stylish!!!!

Nice and tall.

But I kept looking,

and looking,

and looking.

And I found one on First Dibs.

We both fell in love with it.

Sooooo....

Kris bought it, and we are just waiting for it to be shipped.

Depending on it's condition, we might leave the upholstery as is and just fix the welting around the outside.

Or we might have to redo the whole shebang.

Here are some more details of this great chair that is NICE AND TALL!!!!!

The legs......

The arms.....

The back.....

The front.....

The side!!!!!

It's just the right style for the room.

I hope it's the right size, 'cuz this baby wasn't cheap.

But then.....

what do I care?????

It's not my money!!!!!

On that note,

Latah, Gatah

Tweaking Needlepoint Pillows.

Well Kampers.....

I'm back up in friggin' Massafreezinchusetts.

Florida was great.

I'm goin' back down in a couple three weeks.

Lots to do down there.

I know I told you about Connie's new project, but she wants me to hold off blogging about it for another month.

Sooooooo.....

being a grown up,

and not needing immediate gratification......

(oy, oy, oy, oy.....)

I will wait.......

Sooooooo.......

you will have to wait too.

I know, I know, it's hard being an adult.

At least I no longer get carded in liquor stores!!!!!

Sooooooo.....

For  now, let's return to Kris's house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had you vote on what needlepoint pillows you thought we should buy from eBay for her guest room.....

Remember?????

We considered the rabbits.....

We looked at flowers.....

and more flowers....

There was a lot of discussion, ruminating and opinions asked for and shared.

Then Kris did what I told her to do.......

(no, that's not right......)

Then, Kris did what I suggested would be prettiest!!!!!!!

And she bought the pair of pillow covers that looked like they went together.

The pair immediately above these here words.

Soooooo.....

They arrived from eBay.

(you can see we are waiting for the sconce custom shade......)

I had told Kris when we looked at them on line, that I would want to cut the tassels off.

When they came, we definitely thought that they were too 1990's in style.

Soooooo.....

to show her what I meant, 

I tucked the tassels under to give the effect I was describing.

SOOOOOO.....

I carried them back to my home, and spent a couple of hours removing the excess stuff on these here pillows.

Here's a close up before I started.....

Come closer.....

There is a rope trim sewn over the tassels, so I had to cut that off first.

Then I cut off each tassel.

Here they are, one done and one still to go.

Look how uncluttering the shape gives it more of the style of today.

Without the tassels, the trim became very simple and gave a nice edge to the pillow cover.

Here they are, both done.

I still need to order the feather pillow forms.

I told Kris that I would do that while I was in Flerida.

I lied......

I think these will look great on her guest room beds.

 I feel so torn.

I have so much to do in both Florida and Massachusetts.

But at least it gives me a lot to blog about.

And that's a good thing for you guys!!!!!

On that note,

Latah, Gatah

Another Big Project For Betsy.....O, OY, OY VEY

La La La La La.....

I'm down here in Flerida,

chilling out....

puttering around my house, 

getting things done that needed to be done since I've been away so much.....

takin' it easy, man, just real easy.....

When my buddy Connie calls me and tells me that she's thinking about putting her beach house, that I designed for her on the market.

It's right by the ocean.....

I've shown you guys the whole inside, and it's been in Traditional Home Magazine.

Well....

Connie and Chris are thinking it would be a good thing to get a larger home because they have 6 kids between the two of them,

which means a lot of grandkids.

It's also time for them to live more on one floor.

We aren't getting any younger,

Ya know?????

Sooooooo.....

Connie has been looking around at some houses, 

and she found one she liked,

so she put her home on the market,

AND IT SOLD RIGHT AWAY!!!!!!!

Sooooooo.......

she and Chris offered on the home Connie found.....

and now they're buying it!!!!

It's still close to the water, but not right where the weather beats the house.

Soooooo.....

I now have a whopping big project to do down here in Flerida.

Lot's to tell you about.

Lot's to show you guys.

Since I'm retired, I told Connie I would only charge her for doing the stuff that's not fun.

She was my client.

Now we're friends.

I would be doing this anyway.

If she hired another designer, it would just piss me off..........

The way I am going to get paid, is that I can blog my little heart out about it!!!!!

We are just going to tweak it a little to make it more good!!!!!

Not a lot of construction needed.

Just fix a couple of things to make it more our aesthetic.

Let me just give you a little taste of the inside.

These are some of the pictures I took when we went yesterday to look at the house.

Connie couldn't get me in there to see it fast enough.

I am going to do this room very differently.

But I think the ceiling is spectacular.

Here's a peak at the back yard.....

After we looked at the house, and went to lunch, we started looking at new furniture as this house will have a different vibe from the one she lives in now.

Soooooo.....

today when I woke up, I was so tired I could barely move.

This is why I'm not showing you guys more of the house.

I am too tired to write about it.

I need to rest.

Tomorrow is my magazine photo shoot of my own house down heah in Flerida.

I need to be fresh and cheerful for the photographers.

So that's it for today,

I can't write any more.

Poor Betsy.

On that note,

Later Gater

A Very Pink Bedroom.....with flowers.....

Well Kampers....

I'm back down in Flerida for the week.

Harris publications is doing a photo shoot of my little home down heah this Thursday,

 so I hauled my old saggy butt back to the south.

I'll let you know which magazine it'll be in, when they decide.

SOOOOOO.....

When I went to write about the pillows Kris and I had chosen for her guest room.

You know.............

do the big reveal!!!!!

I realized that I hadn't downloaded the pictures from my camera to my computer.....

So, you guys will just have to wait until next week when I am back up in Massafrigin' cold chusettes.

SOOOOOOOO.....

today I am going to show more of Connie and Chris's Vermont home.

I know, I know,

this house just keeps on having rooms to show you guys!!!!!

Connie wanted to do a pretty girly pink room for a guest room.

We found an absolutely stunning print.

I know, I know,

can you believe it's not cabbage roses?????

anyway.....

we designed the room around it.

I had the headboard, draperies and pillow covered in it with a hot pink contrast welting detail.

The room was first painted yellow, but it didn't feel cozy enough, so we added the wallpaper.

If I had my way.....

I'd wallpaper the entire world!!!!!

For the table next to the bed.....

we didn't find an old one that worked so Connie threw that pretty yellow throw over what she had.

We found a pink oil lamp at a local Vermont antique store, and I had Blanche Field, my lamp workroom, electrify it and make a shade for it.

Since we were going for a simpler country look, Connie didn't want sewn fabric shades, so we did a linen on paper instead, with a pink rope trim at the top and bottom.

We found a wonderful little antique chair that I had my slip cover lady rework.

It's covered in a Brunschwig cotton taffeta with contrasting yellow welting and ties.

(The taffeta may have been silk, it's so long ago I can't remember.....this is over 10 years people, my mind can't hold onto info that long.....)

I could have sworn that there were some tulips in the print fabric.....

I mean,

we did a tulip theme in this room with the prints that we chose for the walls......

Connie keeps fresh tulips by the bed.....

orrrrrrr.....

those may be fake, I can't tell.....

hmmmmmm.......

Anyway.....

I'm going to stop now, I'm tired as my flight was held on the tarmac for 2.5 hours before we were able to take off yesterday.

I had animal crackers for dinner, since we were still on the plane when it was time to eat.

Luckily I had my trusty iPad with me.

I had loaded it with three movies, a great book and fun jigsaw puzzles, so I didn't need to drive the guy sitting next to me crazy.

OH!!!!

And there was no one in the center seat, so we were able to stretch out.

Livin' Large People, livin' large!!!!!!

On that note,

Later, Gater

Adding Custom Lampshades to a Bedroom

Let us leave off with the animals for a bit,

and return to my decoratin'!!!!!

I have shown you guys the behind the scenes process of creating custom lampshades.

Sooooooo.......

I will now show you the custom lampshades in the rooms I designed for my buddy Kris.

Above is a lamp that used to be in her living room that we moved to her master bedroom.

One of the advantages of having a house with color schemes and styles that flow from room to room.....

is the ability to move your stuff around,

and have it work!!!!!

            Living Room                          Entry Hall                         Dining Room

               Kitchen                         Upstairs Hall                    Master Bedroom

                  All these rooms flow, that's why I was able to pull the little chair from the upstairs hall to the side of Kris's bed.                    

       

           In the above picture, we put the lampshade from the living room lamp on the alabaster lamp by the bed.

It was a temporary fix until we could have new lampshades made.

Sooooo...

here's the new shade...

Ta Daaaaa!!!!!

        We chose trim that picked up the gold and green of the room.

And decided on a octagonal shape for the pair of lamps.

Here they are in their new home.

They were sized a little smaller than the other lampshade.

Here's a side by side.

This shows how just an inch or two can make all the difference in scaling a shade.

The picture on the left is blurry, 'cuz, once again I blowed something up.

Damn those pixels!!!!!

Now let's go into Kris's guest room

This room is a departure from the rest of the house, 

and therefore,

Nothing from the rest of the house can go in this room.....

and nothing from this room can go in the rest of the house!!!!!

I had a shade from Home Goods kickin' around that I placed on the lamp resting on the chest of drawers.

I thought it was just fine and dandy.

However....

Kris wanted another shade.

Don't tell her, but she turned out to be right.

The new shade makes a big difference.

Even though the shape and size are similar, the strong color or the trim pops the impact of the shade.

It doesn't blend into the wall any more, but stands out.

We chose green pink and white ribbons for the trim.

I wanted a vintage feel, so I chose the more old fashioned shape.

I wanted it to feel like we had found it in a junk store.

(a very expensive junk store........)

I love the way the flowers from the lamp pick up the flowers from the plate that pick up the flowers from the wallpaper that all go with the trim on the lamp..................

We are getting this room close to completion, we've received the toss pillow covers for the bed, and I am in the process of cutting off alllll the tassels.

So, that's what I will show you guys next time.

On that note,

Latah, Gatah