The yellow bedroom is yellow no more. Even the closet has not a vestige of yellow left! We are mulling over a new name — just “the bedroom” doesn’t adequately cover its transformation. The change has been slow. I’ve been working on it by myself when unskilled labor is not needed in the kitchen. Taping and priming and painting the woodwork,
patching the walls, taking off doors, priming and painting the closet, sanding and painting doors… It all sounds impressive, but it wasn’t. It was tedious, hard-on-the-poor-old-knees-and-back work. Mr. H.C. stopped work in the kitchen long enough to help me do the actual painting of the ceiling and the walls. There are still some minor embellishments to be added — I’m working on the bedskirt, the bed will be getting some fancier pillows, and there are still pictures to hang on the walls — but it sure looks amazing to us! Come in for a peek —
What I really like about this room is that mostly we’ve used antiques and family collectibles that we already owned. The dresser, the metal shelf and the quilt belonged to Clara, Mr. H.C’s mom who slept in this bedroom long before we did; the nightstand belonged to Mr. H.C. when he was a little boy and still known as Mikey; the cedar chest was made by Pa — my grandfather who first built the cottage; Dad made the little wooden lamp, and the mirror and the bookstand under it came from him as well; my mom painted the birds. And Diane and Emily, my sister and niece gave us the footprint for the colors, the design, and ideas on how to use the furniture.
That’s Clara’s appliqued quilt on the cedar chest. She told us it was probably the most valuable thing she owned. We’ve found the date on it, but it is embroidered in white on white and it’s hard to read — 1882 or 1932 — we just aren’t sure. Clara gave me a whole bag of vintage linens before she died, because she knew I love them; the two pillowcases on the bed and the lacy cloth hanging on the shelf are part of her collection. 
The closet doors were old fashioned paneled doors that Mr. H.C. found at Construction Junction for $30 each; we were delighted to get rid of the boring sliding doors that didn’t slide. The new/old doors were in my sanding shop for several days (five coats of paint and shellac as the bottom layer!) and then primed. Mr. H.C. hung them, and unlike usual, we painted them after they were hung. The handles were left over from our kitchen cabinets. If you are reading about this bedroom for the first time, its transformation was planned by the online decorating company, ReHabitat Design and you can read about the stages in posts 37 and 43.
Pa — my grandfather who built the cottage originally — made the cedar chest as a Christmas present for my grandmother in 1924 — he even put a plaque on it. Before we brought the chest down from our city house, we were skeptical whether it would fit. After we put it at the foot of the bed, Mr. H.C. said, “This actually makes the room seem bigger, dont’cha think?” Yes, I do.
The headboard is made from an old door that Mr. H.C. scored (also from Construction Junction) for fifteen dollars. He cut it off at five feet to fit our queen-sized bed, and I sanded it. The inspiration for this is from the website Hometalk: I really liked the look of the door on this website, but doors have different personalities after sanding, and I had to respect what it was. I fooled around with paint and glaze and came up with this. It isn’t exactly what I had envisioned, but I was trying to be open about this project, and we both like how it came out. 
The oak shelf on the top was taken right off the wall in the living room where it once was Clara and Joe’s mantle. It fit perfectly on the headboard; I think they would be pleased. And my mom painted the birds that sit on the shelf. They used to be in the bathroom in the house where I grew up; I love them on this headboard shelf.
This mirror and little bookshelf/table under it came from my dad; he also made the small wooden lamp on the dresser.
Sister Diane made the hand-crocheted afghan that’s on the bed for my mom many years ago. I bet she wants it back now. :-) And the pretty little carved basket on the headboard shelf was a Christmas present from sister-in-law, Rita.
These new finials dress up Clara’s old curtain rod, which I spray painted eons ago. The finials were new from Bed Bath and Beyond and they didn’t fit the old rod. But Mr. H.C. cut a piece of wood to fit in the rod and added a couple of screws — Voila! I think he can fix anything… And just in case you forgot what the room used to look like…
Factoids: The wicker lampshade, the duvet cover and shams, and the curtains are from Pottery Barn. The two other lampshades are from Target. The curtain rod finials are from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but don’t count on them fitting any other curtain rod except the ones that are sold with them! The rug on the floor was from Rug Depot a few years ago, but it is still a great place to buy rugs and runners. And the little art on the left of the headboard is from a great little Etsy shop, McWissenville. The walls and ceiling are painted with Benjamin Moore Winter Wheat (232) matte; the trim and closet doors are painted the same shade we used in the kitchen — Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk (7554) semi-gloss. The paint and glaze for the headboard came from Sherwin Williams as well; the color is Brandywine.
Four phoebes have made two nests on the porch ceiling, much to the consternation of Henry the cat. The nests are in different corners, so four birds flying in and out is driving him crazy. This nest is above the sliding glass door from our bedroom to the porch. We open and close it hundreds of times a day, much to the consternation of the adult birds. They fly off every single time the door opens. There’s a lot of consternation going on here…
the circle of life 