Master Bedroom Updates

Before I show you one of the many things I have been up to since I last posted almost four months ago, I wanted to thank everyone who wrote to check on me.  I am doing well and it really touched my heart knowing that many of you were concerned about me since it had been so long since I had written anything on my blog.

To catch you up a bit on what I have been doing, the past several months have been a whirlwind of activity.  Beginning in October and lasting through the first of the year, I became extremely busy with my Etsy shop and had my best holiday season ever.  There were lots of late nights and long days to get all the orders finished on time.  So to everyone who bought one of my stockings, pillows or tree skirts – Thank You!

In the fall I had a photo shoot at Donna Talley’s studio with photographer John Bessler.   Donna is a Regional Editor and Producer for Meredith Publications and asked me if I would be willing to share one of my favorite collections in an upcoming issue of Better Homes and Gardens Flea Market Style magazine.  It was a fun few hours and as usual I enjoyed the time I spend with both Donna and John.  The magazine should be on newsstands in March. 

After the holidays were over, I felt as if it had been so long since I had been able to do anything in my own home that I went into project overload - painting, sewing, cleaning, updating small things which had been on my “to do” list for too long, designing and creating new items for my Etsy shop etc.  I was great at getting things finished but not so great about writing about them.  I will try to do better!

Anyway, I am happy to be back and to share one of my latest projects – the master bedroom. 

If you have been a long time follower you know that over the past several years I have been slowly making changes to this space – one piece at a time.  While I still have a few more things I would like to do, the addition of a new bed really makes a huge difference.  Here is a reminder of what the bedroom looked like before.

Back in October I finally found and ordered a bed.  We had lived with only a bed frame for quite some time and after lots of time searching I was excited to make a decision.  (The bed and side table in this picture were moved to my son's room.)  I ordered Hickory Chair’s Simone bed by Suzanne Kasler. 

I love, love, love the bed!  What I did not like was the fact it took over three months to arrive. Evidently they had an issue with one of the bed parts which caused the very long delivery time – three times longer than normal.   When I asked if they could at least reduce the shipping cost or have the bed delivered to my house rather than to a warehouse for me to pick up I was told no – they would do nothing.  Not the best customer service on Hickory Chair’s part so in all honesty I am not sure I will order anything from them in the future.  Enough said, so I will move on.

Besides the bed, I also made new linen pillow shams and replaced the silk curtains with ones made from the same linen as the pillows.  I added a glass top to the basket by the side of the bed which made a big difference in that everything on top is now level.

I am so very pleased with how this space is coming together.  As I said before, I still have a few things I would like to change but as I have done up to this point – it will be one piece at a time!

November RDH Blog of the Month – House of Turquoise

via House of Turqoise - Coastal Living Magazine

Annie Schlechter,  photographer - designed by James Radin

If you love the color turquoise and all its many tones and pretty shades, then you are in great company!  It seems lots of people love this wonderful color.  In fact, Erin loves turquoise so much that she created an entire blog called House of Turquoise dedicated to showcasing this pretty color.

I have been following Erin at House of Turquoise for quite some time and was so thrilled when she said yes to being featured today as the Red Door Home November blog of the month!  

Erin from House of Turquoise

Erin finds and shares the prettiest pictures - all featuring some variation of her favorite color. I have shared a few of my favorites from her blog throughout this post.

via House of Turquoise

Michelle Balfoort, architect - Adam Cohen. photographer

via House of Turquoise

Design by Tobi Fairly

Most people probably think of turquoise as being just one specific shade of blue.  House of Turquoise shows that there are so many hues and deviations of this wonderful color that there really are no limits when it comes to decorating with turquoise. 

via House of Turquoise - Kitchen by Young Huh

via House of Turquoise

Geoff Chick, architect - Jack Gardner, photographer

Besides her wonderful blog, Erin also has a great online store called Everything Turquoise. 

Here you can find anything from pajamas to scissors to linens and everything in between all in – you guessed it - the color turquoise.  It really is a great concept.

I hope you will take the time to visit Erin at House of Turquoise.   Her blog is simply beautiful!

Curtains, Curtains and more Curtains!

Today I am thrilled to be guest posting at I am Momma Hear Me Roar as part of Cheri’s week long Behind the Curtain series. 

I hope you will stop by my post HERE to see curtains from my home, curtains I have created for magazine photo shoots and some all-time curtain favorites.  There is a lot to see!

Refinished Coffee Table – the details!

A little while back I shared a sneak peak of a coffee table project I was about to begin using a new-to-me refinishing technique.  I am happy to report it is complete and turned out even better than I had hoped!

Above is what the table looks like today and below is a picture of what the table looked like when I started.  I loved the shape and scale of the table for our office sitting area but it was very orange and too shiny. 

My original refinishing plan was to use a furniture stripper followed by sanding with a palm sander.  My plans changed, however, when I visited my local Lowes store.  The salesperson I worked with just happened to be a woodworker and suggested I try using acetone for removing the finish, followed by a good hand sanding.  The acetone, he said, would remove all the inorganic elements (stain and varnish) from the wood and by using a 00 grade of steel wool the table would require only hand sanding to achieve a perfectly smooth finish.   It sounded pretty simple so I decided to give it a try.

After he explained the safety considerations when working with acetone – it will burn your skin and eyes and is highly flammable and should only be used in well ventilated (outside) areas away from any open flames – we went around the store gathering up the supplies.  I needed acetone, chemical safe gloves, a full chemical face mask, 00 grade steel wool, fine grit sand paper and a small metal bucket.

I began the project by removing the brass casters and decorations from the table. The table was then placed outside on rocks (acetone will kill grass) in the corner of our garden area on top of a layer of plastic and newspapers.  I tied my hair back, wore long pants, a long sleeved shirt tucked into the chemical safe gloves and the face mask to make sure I was fully protected.

Once I was ready to go, the project was fairly straight forward.  Simply pour about an inch or two of acetone in the metal bucket, dip the steel wool into the acetone and then start scrubbing with the grain of the wood.  (Acetone will evaporate quickly so you only want to pour a small amount in the bucket at a time.)  Keep dipping the steel wool into the acetone and scrubbing.  When the steel wool “wears out” grab a new piece and repeat the procedure until you are satisfied with the results. 

After all the finish was removed, I sprayed the table with water using a garden hose and let it dry outside.  When the table was completely dry it was time for a hand sanding to even out the grain of the wood and remove any residue. 

It took about 3 hours for me to remove everything from the wood using the acetone and steel wool plus more time for sanding. It was a lot of work but the results were worth the effort.  The table was returned to the natural wood color and was extremely smooth.

Since I wanted the table to have a light, slightly white finish, I decided to try another first for me - Briwax liming wax.  I could not find it locally so I ended up ordering the wax online.  I simply followed the directions on the can and applied small amounts using a cotton cloth.  I kept applying the wax until I had the look I wanted.  Once the wax was dry it was time for a top coat of furniture wax.  I used a clear finish furniture paste wax by Minwax. 

The table turned out wonderful!  I also have to say liming wax has now been added to my list of favorite products.  I have already used it on another project which I will be sharing shortly and have found myself looking around my house to see what other wood pieces I can use it on!

I am curious to know, have you ever tried using acetone and/or liming wax?  Were you happy with the results?  Looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

Note:  Please be sure to read all the instructions and warnings on the acetone container and wax as well as consulting with a salesperson to make sure you have all the proper equipment to order complete this project safely.

Segreto Secrets – the RDH September Blog of the Month

There are several blogs I follow which truly get me excited when I see a new post has been published.  These blogs are filled with a multitude of beautiful images, lots of inspiration, along with well written and thought out text.  I learn something new each time I visit and many times find myself going back to reread the posts again and again.  Segreto Secrets, the RDH September blog of the month is one of these special blogs.

Many of you may be familiar with Leslie Sinclair and Segreto Finishes through Leslie’s book Segreto: The Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors.

It is a fabulous 300 page book filled with incredible photos of some of Segreto Finishes best projects.  The book is full of inspiration and shares the secrets to fine finishing and how it can transform a room.

I purchased my copy a while back and have to agree with all the positive reviews I have seen. The book is truly wonderful! (A link to purchase the book is available on Leslie’s blog.)

Segreto Finishes is located in Houston Texas and offers a wide variety of decorative painting and plastering on almost any surface you can imagine – walls, ceilings, furniture, cabinets and more.

Leslie’s company has rightly received national acclaim and has been published in many leading décor magazines including Veranda, Beautiful Homes, Southern Living, and Houston Lifestyle and Home.  Below (and scattered throughout this post) are a few of my favorite photos of her work.

One of the biggest changes at Segreto Finishes is their new office space.  For years, Leslie has been working from her home and recently purchased and renovated a 1950’s ranch. This project is the perfect illustration of how transformative Leslie’s work can be.  Here is the house before:

Here is the new office today.

What an amazing difference.

Kitchen before

Kitchen after

Office Entrance

New Office Space

There are many more incredible projects to see at Segreto Secrets so please be sure to visit Leslie and leave a comment letting her know you stopped by.  (Leslie also has a business website filled with more amazing pictures which can be found here.)  She is super nice and would be thrilled!  Segreto Secrets is one of my favorite blogs and I know you will love it too!

Monday Mish Mash

Happy Monday!  Hope you all had a great week and weekend. Today’s post is a bit different than normal – lots of odds and ends (hence the title) – instead of just one topic. Things have been quite busy around here and I wanted to share a few of the smaller projects which have been happening at Red Door Home.

We took advantage of the perfect temperatures to replace the hydrangea bushes which were planted on either side of the boxwoods in the front of the house.  The super hot weather this summer did not sit well with them and they had become quite sickly looking. 

I don’t think they ever really liked this location as I can’t remember them blooming since the first summer they were planted.

So we dug up the old ones and relocated them to a more shady location and planted oak leaf hydrangeas in their place.  I love the oversized white blooms which are in keeping with the other hydrangeas we have planted along the back of the house.  

I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will like their new home.

Another outdoor project was the installation of a new mailbox.  Not too exciting but something which had to be done.  A few weeks ago we received a note saying our current mailbox (which has been in place for over 10 years) was now no longer tall enough. The postal carrier has switched to a truck instead of a car to deliver the mail so our old mailbox had to go.

The mailbox is from Walpole Woodworkers and is a nice improvement from the old cedar post one we used to have.  I ordered it online and because I had it delivered to a local distributor I did not have to pay shipping.  It came in two boxes and was easy to put together.

In other “plant” news, I finally found topiaries!  I have wanted to try my hand with these for so long and was thrilled to find two at a local nursery.  They are a bit small but hopefully by following Loi’s great tips they will grow to look like his beautiful topiaries.

via Tone on Tone

Finally, I began a refinishing project which I have had it the works for quite some time.  The coffee table in the office needed a new look – much too shiny and orange looking.  I had plans for my normal stripping, sanding and then finishing but had a change of plans when I spoke with the sales associate at Lowes.  He shared a new to me way of refinishing wood pieces so I decided to give it a try.  I will share the details and let you know how it all turned out once the table is done.

That is all for now.  I hope to be back later this week with a finished coffee table and more updates on the bedroom sneak peek I shared earlier.