how do your pillows stack up?

Is there a secret method to pillow arrangements for a king bed? 

If there is I'd love to find out.

I got a comment from a new reader Lisa...Hi Lisa! and I laughed out loud

(as in lol for all you tech savvy peeps).

Here is what she had to say:

I just found you through your painted curtain tutorial on pinterest. I've been checking out your projects and they are fantastic! I wanted to comment on this one because you asked about the king bed pillow situation. I could have an hour long conversation with you on that subject! lol I tried 3 euros and they looked wimpy. So I suppose I need 4 but dang! that's just the first layer of pillows!! I'd love to talk about this more, I need more input!! Following you now darlin!

So what is a girl to do...I Googled a few key terms and came across a few options.

First up it looks to me that there are either 6 euro's (eek) or the back standard pillows are turned vertically. In the front are standard shams then finally they layered in some fun accent pillows. 

source

Loving the wood bench at the foot of the bed by the way.


Next up a lovely image from House Beautiful. A more streamline approach. It looks like 3 standard shams with two accent pillows. I think there may be something behind the standard pillows to prop them up that way...obviously for magazine styling purposes but lets just venture a guess that in the real world it could be the regular pillows you actually sleep on or a long body pillow.

Love the black, white & red color scheme...and the few pops of hot pink with the throw and flowers!

I then stumbled upon the HGTV Dream Home circa 2010. I don't know about you but that Linda who designs all the spaces does a great job! I mean when you have an endless budget it helps but still she has a great eye.


I dont think this bed is a king but lets pretend for the sake of the point of all this. I see two euro's, two standard shams, a long bolster and an accent pillow. For a king I can maybe try 3 euro's, 2 standards, a bolster and an accent..let's call this the 3, 2, 1 effect.

HGTV Dream Home 2010

Lastly, this neutral textural bliss. A happy blend of all the combos. Three euro's, two standard pillows, two orange accent pillows and topped with a green and white accent pillow.

source

So I did my homework and that's what I came up with. How about you what combo are you stacking on your bed?!


If you have something you'd like to share please email me with an image and I'll post it!

blue envy dresser.

Today is brought to you by the color blue.

If you can't tell already I love the color blue and use it often. Although it is not my favorite color. That would be Green.

I wanted to test out ASCP (annie sloan chalk paint) in another fun color. Remember I used the red here.

I love the softer blue's her paint line offers like the Provence and Duck Egg but of course I couldn't resist that bold statement color. I love it. Like I love cadbury mini eggs...I just can't get enough.

So this dresser isn't 100% wood but I went with it because it is actually very well made and very sturdy. It also was in great condition and very clean. What drew me to it initially was the interesting details on the drawers and the chunky moldings.

I decided to replace the "wood" carved piece with mirror. I called up my local glass place and gave them the measurements and within 20 minutes it was cut!

It fits like a glove and we also cut a piece of backing to add underneath it for additional support. I love the effect it gives and it is a pretty place to display some jewelry if you were to use it as a dresser.

After it was all painted I knew I wanted to distress it. Initially I wasn't going to go as heavy with the sander as I did but I let the furniture talk to me and that is what it wanted. 

Yes I can talk to furniture.

I sanded the entire thing down which fogged up the color a bit and highlighted all the interesting details.

I ended up styling the piece two ways. As a dresser for a bedroom and as a server for a dining space. It has great storage for all your party needs like extra tableware and fun accessories.

Did you know this has 7 drawers not 9. Sneaky, sneaky.

I chose aged brass knobs for the drawers. I wanted something subtle that was a nice fit for the blue not something that totally stood out and drew your focus away from the overall piece.

Another use for the mirror surface. Reflecting those pretty bar bottles.

So there you have it. Two different ways to look at the same piece of furniture.

hi.

It's April 14th. Where has half the month gone? 

I apologize for being MIA but it's been a busy month so far and I'm hoping to get back into my regular groove starting ummmm, now!

I thought I'd share a few highlights of whats been going on these past few weeks since we last chatted.

- My parents arrived home from 2 months in Florida so Avery & I have been visiting with them here and there...Riley is actually there for a few days now, I'm sure enjoying a little piece and quiet from Avery.

- April 6th was Avery's 2nd Birthday!! I started the tradition of decorating her door with streamers. She came downstairs to a few wrapped gifts and a birthday balloon. The look on her face was priceless!

- On her birthday Jeff and I and a few friends took her to the Aquarium in Boston. She had her first train ride which she loved...every time it stopped she would say "all done". I can't even begin to explain how much that girl loves animals so she was thrilled to see all the fish, seals and penguins!

- Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe with a complementary Birthday Sundae...which she couldn't get her hands on fast enough.

- Had a Saturday night dinner and a movie date with Jeff before his schedule switched again. We saw American Reunion...of course it was funny but I'd wait for it to hit DVD.

- It has been at least 3 years since I went to the movies last. I brought a nip of rum to add to my soda...note to self: movie drinks are enormous a jug of rum would have been more appropriate.

- Easter. Hunting for eggs and too much candy. 

- I forgot to grab some shots of Avery in her outfit outside and it was chilly and she had walked into a piece of plywood a day earlier which lead to a cut on her eye and Riley knocked her down in my parents driveway which lead to a bruise on her cheek. She was ready to change so I snapped a few quick ones at Jeff's aunt's house. You'll notice sneakers are all she will let me put on her feet right now.

- Oh to be 2.

- We had her 2 year check up. She weighs 22lbs. and is 35 inches tall.

- I had a regular check up as well...it had been 3 years. I am usually super good at making sure I go every year but after getting pregnant with Avery that all went downhill. So now I'm back on the bandwagon and all is well. phew.

- We built new front stairs. Yes I use the word "we" loosely. Just need to paint and stain them...I think that's where I come in.

- Next up painting the front door and getting a new knob!

- Avery got a virus. Two days of fevers and a faucet for a nose and sleeping pretty much on top of me means one tired momma.

- One of my best friends turned 30 yesterday! We celebrated with dinner and drinks and memories. We've been friends for 24 years...wow!

- Tea Party birthday party today for a 5 year old! A lot of fun except Avery still isn't 100% so she wasn't really into all the festivities.

And in between all that I've been doing some freelance work and furniture of course.

Which leads me to my next topic. I'll be revealing a new piece soon but I wanted some input. The top of the dresser has a "wood" decorative panel. It is more like plastic but we could reinforce it to give it more stability.

So here is where I need you. Do I...

paint the decorative panel to match the dresser?

Replace it with glass and put some fabric underneath like a burlap or something?

or

replace it with a piece of mirror?

I'd love to hear what you'd like to see done to it, so I can wrap it up and share the finished product!

One final note. I'm not sure where you are reading my blog from or if you heard the news that a town in NH lost  it's Police Chief and 4 other officers got shot the other night. Very sad story he was only a week away from retiring. Thoughts with his family.

DIY Upholstered Headboard.

And the winner is...

HORIZONTAL!

Thanks for all your input I though long and hard but for me horizontal won out. It was easier on my eye and flowed better with the pitched ceiling. The vertical seemed to stop the movement of the stripes while the horizontal keeps your eye flowing around the room.

So now let's talk details.

We roughly followed two plans and mixed them together to make a headboard that best suited us.

One being Ana White's plans for the "low modern cutout headboard"

And the other Big Box Detox's "upholstered bed"

The frame is made out of inexpensive 1x3's and a sheet of plywood which we had Lowe's cut down to size at the store for easier transport.

We added in the vertical pieces of 1x3 for extra support. The frame seemed a little unsteady to us and since we had scrap 1x3's it was easy to cut them down and add them in.

Here is the frame completed without the plywood.

Once the plywood was attached I used spray adhesive to lay down the 2" foam. This stuff is expensive so I used a 50% coupon to Jo-Ann Fabrics to get mine. 

You'll notice the foam doesn't cover all of the plywood (it's 2 feet wide). That is for two reasons. The price and the mattress height.

After that was set we covered the foam in batting. Not this batting though after I opened it I decided it was too thin even doubled up so I exchanged it for a more heavy duty one.

At this point we brought the headboard up to our empty "dining room" to staple on the fabric. I got the fabric online through Buyfabrics.com it was $7.75/yard!

Obviously since my fabric is a stripe it was crucial to make sure they were straight and not waving like a flag.

We started at the top of the headboard and I would pull the fabric tight and keep it in line while Jeff stapled. Once the top was attached we flipped it up to double check. Pretty much right on...Phew!

From there we went to the bottom, same routine. I did cut out little pieces of fabric so it would lay better around our frame supports.

To do the sides we ended up standing the headboard up and leaning it against the wall. I would pull it tight and make sure the striped stayed straight as I pulled it around the sides and Jeff stapled.

The corners were last. I played around with a few different folds. I ended up cutting off some excess fabric and doing almost a gift wrap fold to get a nice tailored look.

I love the beefiness of the sides and top.

Ok it was the moment of truth. Bringing the headboard up to our room. We measured a few times to make sure our frame would fit our headboard legs but I was still sweating it out just a little bit.

The frame of our headboard fit the metal bed frame perfectly...double phew. We attached the two with a few screws.

So here is a good shot so you can see where the foam ends. I did run a line of staples right below the foam to hold it and the fabric in place. 

Boxsprings back on the bed frame. Then the mattress which again fit perfectly right to where the foam starts.

Maybe I should have ironed the fabric before all this but I didn't. Once everything was set I took the steamer to it and the creases and wrinkles came right out.

I left off all the pillows so you could get a good view of the headboard. And because we don't have any official bedding yet.

Which leads me to my next question for all you king bed owners out there. How many pillows do you have and how are the arranged? 

I didn't get the king pillows. I'm thinking I may just get two more regular pillows for a total of six and then a few throw pillows.

So there you have it our DIY Upholstered headboard. Hope you like it! Now stick with me while I work on completing the rest of the room!