French Cottage Bedroom Makeover

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Roeshel

Hi, my name is Lee and I’m fromAuckland, New Zealand, the country with 4 million people and 40 million sheep :)…I’m aprofessional artist and adore interior design, crafts, cooking, fashion and I’m addicted to Houseand Garden magazines so much so that I have copies that go back to early 1970’s. I stumbledupon Roeshel’s gorgeous blog a few weeks ago and I’m so excited and honoured to feature asRoeshel’s guest post today.

Twenty months ago I returned to NewZealand from 14 years living abroad in Brunei, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. I bought a small littlecottage in a seaside suburb of Auckland called “Mission Bay”. Its a wonderful location butyou pay a lot of money for property around this location and all I could afford was a boxy littlebrick house on a very tiny section. However, I knew that I could make this house really desirableand I am gradually working through it one room at a time adding character and making it feellike a home. Today I’m sharing the makeover of what was a very boring small master bedroom. My bedroom does have a little en suite and walk in wardrobe which is a great bonus,however I needed to do something to make my bedroom feel special.

My favourite places on earth are Italyand France, with this in mind and the idea that I love anything French I decided to buy someold French shutters (yes from France!) and use them as a headboard. The shutters are duck eggblue which is my favourite colour for the moment. Wallace Cotton a lovely homeware shop in Auckland, providedthe bedlinen for me to take some pretty shots of the bedroom once it was completed. Iam sharing all my photos with you today including a before and after shot of the bedroom.The “before” shot was the previous owners’ look prior to me purchasing the property.

My design board

My gorgeous pair of distressed French Shutters.

I added a sconce between the shuttersas I felt the gap was a little wide. However, I needed this space to balance the shutters againstthe width of the bed.

Paradiso quilt from Wallace Cotton

Simple steel bedside tables that were originally bought for the living areabut didn’t look quite right. I think they are perfect in the bedroom.

I love the seersucker pillow for added texture

My mother gave me this lovely Royal Albert cup and saucer I adore thecolour as I am mad about “duck egg blue”

I used a lovely linen for the Roman blinds in a neutral beige and whitecheck

I hope I have brought some inspirationto you, a simple addition such as the old shutters can make a plain bedroom into a fantasyescape to France!

Have a great weekend

Lee oxo

Poppy (my little Schnoodle)

See more from Lee & Poppy at Lee Caroline Art.
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DIY at Stardust – Decor & Style

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Roeshel

Hello “The DIY ShowOff” readers!My name is Olga from Stardust – Decor & Style and I am just one of you… a fanatic reader and follower!

I’m a new blogger and I blog about DIY, decoration, makeovers and transformations, house tours and whatever beautiful catches my eye.

I can’t describe how honored I am to be here today and share some of my recent projects with you!So grab a cup of coffee, make yourself comfortable and here we go…This was my master bedroom a little after we had moved in. At first it was OK, but then I wasn’t satisfied with the colour and even more I hated this awkward wall behind the bed. I was trying to figure out a way on how to cover it and make the room feel more dramatic. The first makeover that I attempted didn’t turn out as I expected. It kept me thinking. And then it struck me… curtains + paint + a few new accessories… I had it all in my mind. Well check this out for yourselves:

BEFORE

FIRST ATTEMPT OF MAKEOVER

AFTER

What a transformation, right? It seems like a completely different room! And it cost me less than $100.00 (except for the light fixture which was somewhat expensive… but couldn’t resist it…you feel me right?)!For more pictures and details please go here.

And then we have the hallway. It was a plain, common, and boring hallway. I’d tried to spice it up with some wallpaper and a mirror from IKEA. Had it like that for about two years. And then one day I decided to do something about it. I ripped off the wallpaper – not an easy job – and painted big horizontal stripes which I lurve!

Let’s take a look of the Before and After pics:

BEFORE

AFTER

Well what do you think? And this project didn’t cost anything at all. The paint was leftovers from previous paint jobs which i mixed all together. And there you have it! I loooooove horizontal stripes! For the full tutorial please go here.That’s all folks for today! If you want some more you’re most welcome to come and visit Stardust – Decor & Style, where you can also see my balcony update. It would mean the world to me to see you over at my place!

Hope you all enjoyed the post.A big Thank You to Roeshel for having me here today! Roeshel you are such a sweetie!Merry Christmas everyone!!!

xoxo

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Reminder:

12 Bloggers, 12 Colors, 12 Days

of Holiday DIY

Dec. 1st ~ GREEN ~ The Design Confidential

Dec. 2nd ~ WHITE ~ Domestically Speaking

Dec. 3rd ~ BLUE/PURPLE ~
Fireflies & JellyBeans

Dec. 4th ~ SILVER ~ Freckled Laundry

Dec. 5th ~ GRAY ~ Primitive & Proper

Dec. 6th ~ SPARKLE/GLITTER ~ A Girl and a Glue Gun

Dec. 7th ~ MIRROR/CLEAR ~ The DIY Show Off

Dec. 8th ~ EARTH TONES ~ Making the World Cuter

Dec. 9th ~ RED ~ It’s So Very Cheri

Dec. 10th ~ GOLD ~ 504 Main

Dec. 11th ~ CHALKBOARD ~ WhisperWood Cottage

Dec. 12th ~ MULTI-COLOR ~ The DIY Club

CRAFTY SCRAPPY HAPPY ~ Bedroom Reveal

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Roeshel

If you saw my tongue twisting post title before I changed it…I’m sorry! No excuse except that it’s Monday. I knew I was twisting it around and even proof read the post repeatedly (forgot the title, I guess). I apologize, Jaime! Now –>Meet: Jaime from

I love her blog – so many beautiful transformations, DIY and repurposing projects to see! Today, she shares her beautiful bedroom makeover. I love that it’s so personal to her and her style, with pieces that have special meaning. We have a master bedroom to makeover and I love Jaime’s ideas.

“I am so excited to show you guys my Bedroom Makeover, it has been something I have been wanting and thinking and putting off doing for a LONG time now…. I just kept pretending that I didn’t mind the look of my room…. Butttt I was finally inspired to make the room HOME—and I am SUPER excited!!”

She refinished all four of the above pieces!

Bed frame:

Old bench/coffee table – upcycled with a new home:

Dresser:

Not a fan of the curved top. What’s a DIY girl to do? Make a new one!

MUCH better, right?!

Night stand:

Sweet and simple, light and airy.

chair:

Pretty!

Total cost for furniture makeovers: $6!

Accessorizing:

August 1st has special meaning.

Beautiful and relaxing…

She’d love to know what you think! Know what I think? I want my room to look this way! Seriously, she’s crafty/DIY ambitious and so successful – she’s even participating in two craft competitions and hosts an awesome linky party. She’s crafty Scrappy Happy – Superwoman! See more amazing DIY at

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Easy DIY Pelmet/Cornice Box Tutorial ~ My Old Country House

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Roeshel

Lesli from My Old Country House is showing off her super easy tutorial for:

PELMET/CORNICE BOXES

The supplies you will need:

1. Fabric

2.Foam Core Board

the kind your kids use for school projects (unbelievable!)

(They come 3 in a pack for about 8-$10. You will need 2 per Cornice

so, that means… you will need 2 packs total.)

3. Packing Tape
4. scissors,
5. a box cutter
6. and batting to line the Cornice.
7. Normally this would be staple gun, BUT
I could not find my staple gun so I ended up using Packing Tape for the whole thing!

Talk about EASY!

Okay here we go…

First, measure your window width and then add 9″. You will need 3 1/2″ on either side to be the SIDES and one extra inch on either side to set the Cornice out from the window frame. (You will need to adjust YOUR personal measurements if you want your Cornice shallower or narrower or wider.

Next, take your board, (I just used the exact size of the board 20″ x 30″ (NO cutting!) and I cut the second board so that the EQUALED the measured length I needed.

After you get the right combined length, tape the two pieces together, back and front.

Then on one side of your board, which will be the FRONT, measure out 3 1/2″ on all sides, draw a line, and cut with your mat knife, BUT only a cut half way through, you are going to bend this to make your BOX.

When you get to the corners, you will have a little box, and the LOWER part, the LINE part that is on the sides (parallel with the floor) , you are going to CUT all the way through until you reach the side line, because when you fold that down and tuck it into the side, it will make your BOX!

Lay your batting down on the FRONT Face of the Cornice. This is where I discovered that I did not know where my staple gun was and took a break and ran to the grocery store and got packing tape.

Tape the edge down on the bottom and on the top to hold the batting in place

I had also discovered that I did not have enough fabric to cover the WHOLE piece so I pieced together a coordinating DWELL STUDIO Fabric, and created a lining.

I then sewed this fabric together …

I love how this lining peeks out of the bottom

I taped the fabric to the board…

I put the curtain rod, which held the Bedroom curtains inside the top of the Cornice…

Okay…are you ready for the REVEAL???

Isn’t that awesome?! WOW! Take a look at the rest of Lesli’s beautiful bedroom…

She has plans to make a cushion and upholster the bench.

Lesli even made the pillows (Amy Butler fabric).

Lesli, you’re cornices are awesome! Unbelievable! You make it look super easy and super cheap but the results are so professional and custom! Great job! Thank you so much for sharing your creativity!

See more from Lesli at

My Old Country House

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Bedroom Renovation – Memoirs of a little thing called life

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Roeshel

Hellooooo, DIY’ers. I recently “e-met” Chloe from

Memoirs of a little thing called life | Fashion and life in Leeds

“We recently bought a house that was built in the 1830s over in England. (How cool!) It needed a complete renovation, serious renovation works, we may as well have rebuilt it. This is the main bedroom which we split into two. We tried to keep as much of the character as possible including the original floors and fireplace.”

I love old homes and old European homes have so much character. This was Chloe’s bedroom before: