Tag: August’s room

August’s Room, After Stripping the Wallpaper
Last time I mentioned August’s room, we were starting to strip the wallpaper. That was right before a crew came out to photograph the house, so we wanted to take the peeling wallpaper off and throw a coat of paint on the walls as quickly as possible! I hate rushing to make decisions, and the color I chose is a good example of why. Blech.

You’ve seen a couple of glimpses here and there, and today I have more to share.

The old wallpaper was cute, but August ensured its exit status by peeling a huge portion of it off. So the room is looking better now than it was, but it’s not looking great yet. More to do!

The rug is not staying. It looked good in the bedroom at our old house, but it doesn’t work with the wood here and I think it’s time to let it go. I mentioned before that I’m not in love with the green, and that’s still true. Once I bring in a new rug for the room, I’ll reevaluate the wall color and decide if it needs to be changed.

The toys are a mess! I picked up whatever and put it wherever so I could vacuum, and everything kind of ended up on the available horizontal surfaces. They could (and should) look a lot neater.

To do:
- paint the bed frame
- upholster the headboard
- no more bed rail
- new rug
- rearrange the furniture
- repaint (maybe)
- add shelves above the radiator
- more art
- organize (and pare down) the toys
- replace the light with a ceiling fan
That green looks even worse in these photos than it does in real life. Oof. I’m excited about pulling his room together though! I’m rolling up that gray rug today and getting it out of there.
July 8, 2015
Starting to Strip

The wallpaper in August’s room, that is.

He had already gotten a head start on removing the wallpaper shortly after we moved in, so we’re finally helping him finish the job. The top layer peeled off just fine, but we’ll need to wet the paper backing that’s left behind and scrape it all off in sections.

Looks like our weekend is booked!

February 19, 2015
The Spruce Upholstery Book, and Plans for August’s Bed
I know how to upholster a simple chair seat. Years of Trading Spaces viewings taught me to start with a staple in the center, pull the fabric taut to the opposite side, staple, and work out from there. Beyond that though? I don’t know. Stick some batting in there under the fabric if you’re feeling fancy, and call it a day? And forget about webbing and springs. That wasn’t covered by Hildi. Of course, my lack of knowledge in this area didn’t stop me from purchasing an inexpensive wooden framed bed for August’s room, with the intent to upholster it.

I waffled between several blue fabric choices, but I fell for a design with tree slices during a recent trip to IKEA. The color palette is neutral, and I’m thinking of it as a manly take on polka dots. You know, for my manly two-year-old.

I felt like I could approach the project with my limited sewing skill set and do a decent job, but I wanted to do an amazing! job. I searched for tutorials online, but there are a lot of people out there putting out a lot of tutorials with questionable methods. Then I heard word that Spruce’s Amanda Brown was coming out with a book (Spruce: A Step-by-Step Guide to Upholstery and Design), so when I was asked to take part in her online book tour, I agreed.

The book is divided among five key projects, and from those, you can adapt the techniques to whichever piece you want to work on. It’s thorough and covers what I would consider to be complex reupholstering jobs, but everything feels doable rather than overwhelming. I’m paying close attention to the section on the frame of a three-seater sofa, as it’s pretty close to what I’ll be doing to the bed.

Win a Copy of the Book!

Do you have any upholstering to do? The Spruce book tour and classes are about to start, and they’re also holding a giveaway with their “Ugliest Chair” contest on Facebook right now.

I received a copy of the book for review, but I’m also giving a copy away. Just leave a comment below to enter*, and I’ll choose a winner at random. Good luck! And be sure to visit the other blogs participating in the online book tour.
- Monday, 11.4 — Bromeliad
- Tuesday, 11.5 — How About Orange
- Wednesday, 11.6 — Our Humble Abode
- Thursday, 11.7 — Inside Storey
- Friday, 11.8 — HGTV’s Design Happens
- Monday, 11.11 — Seventh House on the Left
- Tuesday, 11.12 — Making It Lovely (Hi, you’re here.)
- Wednesday, 11.13 — Our Style Stories
Open to US residents only, 18 and over. Ends Friday at midnight, CT.

*The giveaway has ended. Congratulations to the winner, Annie!
November 12, 2013
Wallpaper in August’s Room (A Cautionary Tale)

August’s room was already wallpapered with pale blue and white stripes when we bought the house. August is an awesome little boy, but he’s not the kind of kid we’d trust to be gentle with the walls. I’d planned to work with the wallpaper until it got trashed (in a few years?), then redecorate. I had already picked up some bedding for him six months ago, before we had even thought about moving, but look how great it looks with the stripes!

I bought a plain wooden bed from IKEA over the weekend, and I’m planning to upholster it myself. I’ve already ordered a few fabric samples, and I was excited about how cute his room is going to look. It’s not much yet and the furniture placement may change, but can you imagine it with that bedding and the bed done up in a great navy blue? So much potential!

We already had a brown rug and a brown corduroy glider, so I brought those into the room too. I know some may say that brown and blue is so ten+ years ago, but you know, in a kid’s room? Working with what we’ve already got? It’s not bad. Plus we were continuing the transition from crib to bed that we’d started with August up at the lake house, and I thought it might be comforting for him to have the familiar glider in his room.

Except my boy decided to speed along the wallpaper removal. Yesterday, I noticed a little hole about the size of a quarter, right in the middle of the wall. I didn’t think it was there before, but then I thought that maybe I had scraped it with the bed while I was assembling it? It was possible. I hoped August wouldn’t notice and that it wouldn’t get much worse.

It got much worse.

He called me in last night, about twenty minutes after I left his room and said good night. His blanket was messed up. I guess he didn’t think I’d take notice of the giant portion of peeled wallpaper?

I had to stifle my laughter. “August, no! You’re not supposed to do that.” “No, it’s OK,” he told me. “See?” He pointed to the space between the bed and the wall. He had been peeling the wallpaper and dropping it down there. Like, ‘hey mom, it’s OK. I’m being neat about it.’

Looks like we don’t have to work around the wallpaper anymore.

September 12, 2013
The Victorian House: The Second Floor Bedrooms

Up the stairs…

This will be our bedroom.

The closet has amazing potential. Also, there is a random sink inside that doesn’t work. Yay!

There is no central air in the house, but there are transom windows above each of the doors off the hallway for air circulation.

Here’s the second bedroom on the second floor. We think this one will be for August.

And here’s the last bedroom on the second floor, most likely Eleanor’s. I did have to reassure her that we could add some blue to the room, because she really liked the stripes that August got.

And the house even comes complete with another porch upstairs, like the one off of my office. It’s small, but charming.

* Edit: In an earlier version of this post, I mentioned the location of the porch in relation to the other rooms. I’ve since come to the conclusion that it would be better omit that information.

August 28, 2013