Taking on Water But Loving It

Ever started a home project only to find you've open not one, but a dozen cans of worms? That's what Mr. Golightly and I did while the girls were at summer camp. For three weeks we worked tirelessly, late into the nights painting our sitting room and our bedroom. It's an old house with funky shaped rooms.

Our bedroom is a sleeping porch of sorts, added in the 1920's. It features four huge three-paned casement windows overlooking our backyard oasis on the high plains desert (Denver's official ecosystem). To get to our bedroom, one walks through a what we call the sitting room. Both have been freshly painted and the wood of a built-in dresser exposed and finished. It looks gorgeous. We just need to finish restoring the bedroom casement windows. I've learned restoration is no small task. Burnout made us put down the window glazing and polyurethane for a spell. A spell being a couple of weeks with plastic on the windows. But, it is time to begin anew. Sigh.

In the interim, thought I'd share a few photos of items acquired during the process and give me an excuse from window duty. Our first night back in our bedroom we felt like it was a stay at a hotel, even with the windows unfinished.

Below is our thrifted bedding ensemble. The Columbia comforter was $12.99 and the five decorative pillows totaled $18. When buying thrifted pillows, I prefer those where the cover can be unzipped so the pillow case can be washed. That's Alley Cat. She stays in our bedroom. At 15, she is very skittish around the two upstart cats Cleo and Lily. The vet recommended we separate them so Alley remains in our "apartment." When I was single I swore I'd never have cats. Mr. Golightly had two when we married. Since then, we've been as high as four. I attribute this to my taking Comparative Anatomy in college and having a cat to dissect for an entire semester. Karma caught up with me. We also have a "sucker" sticker written across our foreheads when we walk into shelters. It's a blessing and a curse.  

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Items sitting atop my wardrobe, all thrift. Yes, that's a ceramic goose lamp. His name is Ferdinand. The vintage overnight case is my sewing kit, always available. Mr. Golightly loves mysteries. The series of books were a gift to him from Little Pie. She was so excited to give him this gift, she wrapped each individually and she purchased all with her own money; making it all the more special that mom didn't help her out. Children want spending power too.

Metal shabby chic plant stand for $2. I love ferns.

How cool are vintage lamps on vintage bamboo three-legged tables? All under $35.

 

Petite Poe even wins with this handmade rug for $3.

Then, when I'm swamped in projects, a deal comes along I can't pass up. This vintage trunk for $2. It won't be a big project and will be so worth it, but it's more work. Here's a teaser as to HOW COOL this (3 foot wide) trunk is...

I figure I'll cover the bamboo edging and lightly paint the sides. The top is in horrible condition. At first I was going to place fabric over it. But, remember I have cats! Think I'll just sand and leave wood exposed.

Nothing needs to be done to the pristine inside!

 What's that honey? Oh, guess I need to get back to this 5-foot window:

See, we're so close. They'll be beautiful once done. We're just crawling up our personal Heartbreak Hill at the moment to finish the job.

We'll take the lot of frames we took down and put our favorite family photographs back in the rooms.

If you haven't read from our slightly neglected blog, Mommy Golightly, you might enjoy this post, Make more than just a mark, about the threshold between our sitting room and bedroom. 

I should get back to finishing some projects before Mr. Golightly discovers the ones I haven't sprung on him yet.