I find that things never tend to look quite like I pictured them in my head. This is especially true when I am decorating a room. I’m sure there are people out there who are much better able to envision exactly how something will look, but those people are probably professionals while I am definitely an amateur. Although then again, I’ve been watching old Fixer Uppers on Hulu lately and I just saw one where Joanna Gaines repainted an entire house because her first color choice didn’t look right. So maybe we all have this problem.
When I started planning my bedroom makeover I knew I wanted to paint the jelly cupboard in my bedroom that I use for storing my clothes. Easy enough. I painted it in Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in Grain Sack, and then I added some Iron Orchid Designs transfers to the doors. So far, this is exactly how I pictured the cupboard would look.
By the way, the IOD transfers that I used are meant for clay pots (google ‘Iron Orchid Designs French Pots III’ to find sources for purchasing online). They come in a set of 3 different designs. To get two of the same design I purchased two sets. As you can see the design is curved to work with applying it to the curved surface of a pot, but I thought it worked just fine on the flat surface of my cupboard door as well.
I felt like the design of the one I chose was particularly appropriate. Les industries d’amateurs for sure!
It was the next step that threw me off. I had this vision of bringing up the vintage suitcases that were beside the Welsh cupboard in my dining room. In my head they were going to be perfect stacked next to the cupboard.
But once I had them in place they looked really … well … brown.
Don’t forget that on the other side of the room is my black headboard …
But I do also have the brown bench. And the bedding and walls are very warm greige tones. So brown isn’t wrong, but I felt like the stack of suitcases was throwing the balance of the room in favor of brown tones and I didn’t like it.
So I took them away and I brought up the cane back chair from the living room. I also added an old black shutter on the wall layered with a framed architectural drawing.
Definitely less brown.
But the height of the chair is a bit off, don’t you think? It’s just too low for next to the tall cupboard. But I love the shutter and print in that spot.
So I took away the chair and shopped around my house for something else to put in front of the shutter and I came across my faux dress form, Lula.
Turns out she is the perfect height for that spot, don’t you think?
When it comes to adding details to a room I often tend to ‘shop’ my own house. I like to move things around, they always feel fresh when they are placed in a new spot.
I had to laugh when I was editing the above photo by the way. Can you see why? There are two things that are upside down. I hadn’t really noticed that until I took a close look at the picture. Did you spot them? The Arctic Aire label on the fan, and the label on the spine of the book are both on upside down. What a weird coincidence!
Anyway, I didn’t purchase any new things for this side of the room. I just worked with items I already had. Which is a good thing since I am pretty much out of money for this makeover after buying all of that bedding. Luckily it’s almost done. I’m just waiting on some mail order items and once they arrive and are installed I’ll share the full reveal. In the meantime, I’m back to working on other projects. I have a gorgeous dresser almost completed that I’ll be sharing soon. So be sure to stay tuned.
q is for quandie 
When it’s your vision you want it just right. And speaking of fixer upper there is also an episode where she took 3 trucks of furniture and accessories to a house so she could stage it just right – so the professionals want options too. We all have an idea in our heads and a way of looking at our homes and knowing when it feels right. And you got it right!
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Thanks so much Laura! I’ll have to keep an eye out for that episode, I don’t think I’ve seen that one yet 😉
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It’s exciting to see all of the tantalizing little reveals for your new bedroom! I appreciate you sharing your thinking processes and seeing that someone WAY more experienced and talented than I, occasionally needs to back-up and reconsider their vision. A while back you published a post on choosing the right color where you actually REPAINTED something to get just the color you wanted. Whew!…felt so relieved! Creativity is certainly a journey and a process and a flexible mind is a big part of the end success. This philosophy drives my Chief Assistant crazy, so I am glad I’m not the only one!
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I hate resorting to repainting, but sometimes I just have to do it. Colors can be so tricky! And they look different in different environments. Even just from room to room. For example, I love the color on my kitchen walls, but when I painted the walls in the piano room (right next to the kitchen) with the same color they looked awful. So awful that I repainted them almost immediately. The lighting was different, the floor color was different, the ceiling color was different … not sure which one was the culprit, maybe all three!
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Love it, love it, love it! Bear in mind that interior design encompasses both the arts and sciences because it includes construction using electric and plumbing etc. Decorating is mostly an art. I consistently try to express that to my clients. Sometimes you just have to wait for the right piece to come along or shift things around. I find most people just want to “get her done”. Mainly because that’s the part they see on tv reveals. I always have to buy more stuff than I actually use. You are ahead of the game because (1) you have a great eye but (2) you also understand the concept of creating “a look and a feel” for your space. And that seems to be a difficult concept to grasp. But you’ve got it down and in spades!
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Thank you so much Victoria! Not just for the amazing compliment, but also for reminding me that I don’t need to be in a rush to ‘get her done’ (and you are so right about the tv reveal thing, it has us all thinking we should be able to re-do a room in a week). I’ve been struggling with that a little in this room. It still feels a little bit ’empty’ to me, and I feel a little pressure to ‘finish’ the room so I can have a grand reveal. But you’re right, I’d rather wait for just the right fab vintage thing to come along that is perfect for the space.
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It looks great Linda!! I do that too, shop in my house! After all, we buy things we like and they always seem to blend together well.
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Very true Lisa!
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Yes, the dress form is perfect there. Love it.
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Thanks Sheila!
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YeahShelia you are right that dress form is perfect there!
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Hi, I am no decorator, but because of that I probably try things that aren’t typical, like what about angling the cupboard in the corner and then putting taller things behind it or squeezing something next to it….it looks lovely as you have it and you do such a nice job of blogging. Thank you!
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Thanks for those ideas Mary!
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I think your room looks wonderful with the white and dark wood, but I think you need larger transfers on the cabinet doors. I always love your makeovers and I love this one too, except the small transfers…they kind of look like eyes.
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I would have preferred a little larger transfer as well, but the large ones were too big to fit on the doors. I thought about using one large one and placing it over the whole front, sort of like I did on {this dresser}, but I wasn’t sure that would work either.
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Lula is perfect! Your room is looking great!
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That dress form is perfect there…I want one!
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Thanks! Mine is ‘homemade’, or at least I cobbled it together out of an old styrofoam manikin and a lamp table base. You can read more about it here.
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