Denim For a Teenager's Bedroom

Oy Vey!!!!

@#$&!!!!

Kris has been giving me a hard time about not writing my blog.

I know you guys don't care, but I am under a deadline on getting my first couple of fabric designs completed,

so I can have strike offs printed,

so I can have something for Traditional Home to photograph when they come here next month.

If I'm lucky, they will push back the photoshoot till September, so I have a little more time.

Since I am not a graphic artist,

and I am having to learn two different graphics programs.....

plus figure out how to design fabric,

which I know nothing about.....

It's taking me a leetle bit of time.

I figure this is good for my brain box,

learning a new skill.

RIGHT?????

Please tell me this is good for me.

ANYWAY.....

back to my blog.

We left off in Kris's son's bedroom.

We tucked a small upholstered arm chair in the other corner of the room.

We found it in a junk store and had Drape It recover it in a blue denim that matched the Pottery Barn curtains we had hung.

I had them do a baseball stitch at the boxing of the seat in red thread to go with the feeling of a true jean.

But since I didn't think to shoot this detail when I was in the room, I blew up the picture, and the detail blurred.

Just another wonderful blog post by your's truly.

Kris had a pillow made out of pennants she found on eBay.

The girl can be very clever!!!!! 

The yellow throw is from the 2011 Bruins Stanley Cup!

Go Boston!!!!

(The Bruins are a Boston team, right?????)

The stuffed dog (AKA floppy ears) he's had since the dawn of time.

Along side the chair we hung a trio of 1930's football etchings that Kris found in her hunting and gathering OCD.

They were drawn by Rosamond Tudor, daughter of Tasha Tudor.

If you have never heard of them, don't feel bad, neither had I, and Kris made fun of me.

Sooooo....

I did what I always do, and googled it!!!!!

click here to read  Wikipedia Tasha Tudor

I know this is short, 

and you probably all are mad at me.....

BUT I have to go grocery shopping as I have no food in the house.

How can I have my glass of milk at night, if I have no milk????????

On a different note,

how can I have dinner if I have NOTHING IN THE HOUSE?????

I am truly excited about my fabric collection,

but I absolutely haven't a clue what I'm doing.

Reinventing myself after I closed my design business has been a blast!

P.S. next post I will discuss the wall of cabinetry we added for extra storage.

On that note,

Latah, Gatah

A Teenage Boy's Room, part II

Hiya!!!!

Last post I'd started showing what my buddy Kris and I did when we decorated her teenage son, Kieran's bedroom.

Sooooooo,

let's continue where we left off.

Kris and I placed a desk across from his bed.

We had visions of him working on his homework there.

I don't know if he ever did, 'cuz these days kids use laptops and sit just about anywhere when doing their work.

The rosewood desk and chair are Anglo Indian.

We found them in a local antique store.

Anglo Indian furniture is very often made from rosewood, which is native to India.

I tried to do some research for you guys on this style, but got bored and didn't finish.

From what I could gather, it's highly carved and turned and

made from rosewood!

So that's all I know, 

and now you know it too!!!!!

We wanted to hang a shelf over the desk, to hold his trophies and memorabilia....

 We found this one at auction.

It's called a whale back shelf and is American from the early 1800's.

The sides of this type of shelf are shaped, many of them resembling whales, giving it it's name.

I stole this image off the internet to explain this better, since I didn't take a better shot.

source

Since the boy was growing up, we gave him a desk lamp with a little more sophistication,

 not that he gave a rat's behind.....

but

Kris and I did!!!!!

It was another Pottery Barn find,

So

here is a side by side of the bed and desk, so you can see how the room was coming together.....

Next post.....

the other corner of the room!!!!!

on that note.

Latah, Gatah

Decorating a Teenage Boy's Bedroom

My buddy Kris has a son who is now a young man.

A college graduate!!!!!!!

But he wasn't always that way.

When I first met him he was a little@#$!!!!!

He would play cards with us, and go to the movie's with us.....

He would insert himself into every conversation asking....

"What's that mean?????",

now I'm lucky if I get a hug.....

AND I HAVE TO ASK FOR IT!!!!!

But,

over the course of him growing up, we decorated his room.

The bed is a mahogany Empire sleigh bed that Kris snagged from a local antique store for a really good price because it is an odd size.

But that's OK because her son is odd!!!!!

(see what happen's Kieran when you don't want to hug me?????

You get trashed on the internet!!!!!)

Over the bed we hung a 1920's football homecoming banner that we had framed in black with a yellow mat.

It works with the sporty themes in the room.

For lighting we found these swing arm sconces at Pottery Barn.

The dark tones of the metal relate to the black hue of the frame.

I always think of how every thing will relate that I plan on hanging together on a wall.

That's if I plan in advance.

I usually just collect a ton of #$% and see what goes together.

Then we hit Bed Bath and Beyond for the bedding.

We decided that denim was the way to go, as a teenage boy couldn't destroy it.

The bucking bronco pillow was something that Kris has had so long that she doesn't remember where it came from.

NOTICE HOW WELL IRONED THE PILLOWCASES ARE!!!!! 

This is how they really looked.

I used the wrinkle remover in PicMonkey that's used on faces to remove the wrinkles in the pillow cases!!!!

Another of my stellar side by sides!!!!

This just tickles my funny bone.

I mean....

I got home after photoing this room, and looked at my pictures, and was horrified by how bad the wrinkles were.

AND I WAS ABLE TO FIX IT!!!!!

I did the same thing to Kris's portrait.

But don't tell her I told you.....

(I mean, she is over 50 for goodness sake!)

I will show the rest of the room next time.

On that note,

Latah Gatah

A Close Up Detail

After my last post, a couple of you asked me to show more shots of the lamp in the vignette.

Soooooo.....

if a couple of you asked, I figure a much larger number must want to see it also.....

LIKE 10!!!!!

So, today I am doing a special request blog post on.......

MY LAMP!!!!!!

I had been writing about how I used green repeatedly in my family room.

I noticed this as I was scarfing down sipping my wine the other night.

I had this lamp made out of a vase I found while junking high end antiquing.

I loved the shape and the chrysanthemums hand painted on it.

I have no idea how old it is.

None.

Nada.

Zip.

Soooooo.....

I will authoritatively state that it is from the 1930's!!!!

Or 40's....

or 20's.....

or maybe turn of the century.

BUT.....

I CAN DEFINITELY SAY IT'S NOT FROM HOME GOODS!

Anyway....

I loved it and bought it and decided to transform a reasonably priced vase into an expensive lamp!!!!!

Sooooo.....

I took it to Blanche P Field in the Boston Design Center, and had them drill it and wire it and add the top cap with sockets and make a wooden base and paint it the color I specified and then make a custom lamp shade.......

Here's a close up of the vase.....

I decided to try to get rid of that shiny glaring spot in the middle of the vase, so I used PicMonkey to try and fix it.....

I used their cloning tool, and I was having a rough time.....

Below is my first attempt.

As you can see, it was not a screaming success.

I tried again, this time a leetle better.

Side by side.

I probably should have just left it alone and saved myself a half hour of dicking around.

anyway.....

forget about the wasted minutes of my life, and let's get to the lampshade details.

The trim was comprised of a twisted, braided cord overlaying a folded green and gold ruffled ribbon.

These are trims that are in stock at Blanche P. Field.

Their supplies change over time, and you never know what they'll come up with when you go in to design your custom shade.

This twisted cord was really cool.

It sorta dives into its middle and comes out the other side.

The ruffled ribbon had a gold metallic edge which added just a touch of glimmer and reflective light to the shade. 

The base was custom made to fit the bottom of the vase, then painted to what my tiny brain thought would work in my family room.

You may have noticed that the trim and the base are two different tones of green.

There are lots of different greens in my family room, and we decided that the lamp could have different hues.

This is not something I normally would do.

Especially not for a client, as they would complain that it was off,

but that's the joy of decorating for myself.

I can paint outside the box.....no wait.....outside the lamp!!!!!

On that note.

Latah, Gatah

Little Details Make Me Happy

Sooooooo......

last night I was drinking my glass of wine.........

And I looked over to my left, and loved the vignette it created while I watched the

 Real Housewives of Hell!!!!!!!

So I had to run and grab my camera, because I just loved the way all the greens worked together.

Then I thought.......

"Betsy.....you need to write a post about how all the greens go together while you drink wine!!!!!!!!!"

So this is what I'm doing.

obviously I love green.....

The little cabbage leaf plate is what I use for a coaster, as I sit and watch TV and scarf down my dinner.

It's Wannopee Pottery, and I have a whole collection of them hung on walls and spread around the house,.

The little green box that's in the background of the vignette has a rose on its lid, and a chip on its corner.

So that you could see it.....I took another shot of the vignette from a different viewpoint this morning, because that's the wonderful blogger that I is!!!!!

I've had this box since my 20's, it's green milk glass and I love it.

I DIDN'T CHIP IT!!!!!

This is what can happen when you are too lazy to clean your own house.........

I have a set of tiny multicolored dishes from Japan.

I use the green one to hold my pills that I have to take.

BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY!!!!!

As a child of the 60's, I am proud to be on so many drugs!!!!!

And last but not least is the glass that holds my wine....and my water.....and my milk.

THAT'S RIGHT.....MILK!!!!

I drink a glass every night before I go to bed.

Lactaid Skim Milk!!!!

YUM!!!!!

Livin' large in my 60's!!!

So, my advice to you is to drink wine and skim milk and create vignettes by grouping items with a similar color or theme together. 

But I think the most important lesson to take away from today's decorating session is:

Drink wine and milk.....not necessarily in that order.....

On that note,

Latah, Gatah.....

Oh, wait.....

I don't want to forget the green accents in my lamp.

scroll back up and notice the base, lampshade trim and leaves around the flower..... 

My Coy Koi Pond

Hiya!!!!!

I'm sorry I haven't written in a week, it's been very busy in the Speert family, and my mind has been elsewhere.

Since many of you may have been occupied over the 4th of July weekend, I hope you didn't miss me too much.

If you did.....

get a life!!!!!

Today, I'm going to show you my fancy schmancy koi pond!!!!!

It's the pond in the center of my condo development.

Isn't it purdy?????

This is what I walk around every day for my exercise.

This is the bench that my folks sit on, half way around the pond, to rest before they tackle the return trek.

Sooooooo.....

this pond has TONS of carp.

I looked up what koi were, and couldn't find the difference between our colorful carp and koi.

If you're interested, I read this article in Wikipedia, click here.....

This year there seem to be more fish than ever.

All you need to catch them is a net and to stand alongside the pond.

I know all the following pictures look like I'm shooting the same fish over and over, but if you looked at the markings, you can see that they all are different fish.

I was just standing at the end of the pond, taking tons of pictures!!!!!

There are white ones too.....

These are shots of the same guy.

They are more unusual.

They are way cool!!!!!

On hot days they like to frolic around the fountains.

I have no idea why, if some fish expert person out there knows, leave a comment!!!!!

You can just barley see them to the right of the fountain, so I'll give you a closer look.....

Here's a guy jumping for joy, cause the fountain is so much fun!!!!!

 I think this is like a single's bar.....

I find this pretty amazing.

I think of all those people out there, fussing with their special koi ponds, and we have this overflowing natural situation.

WELL, it's not natural completely.....

Carp are not native to this country.

These guys are descendants of some imports.

 I believe they were released into the wild in an attempt at a food source......

I read it somewhere.....

I can't remember.....

I'm probably wrong.....

this week has been really busy!!!!!

Anyway, 

that's my post for today.

On that note,

Latah, Gatah