pottery barn inspo

Posted on 01/30/2015 by amberunraveled

I love Pottery Barn Kids. I don’t really know why. Some of the stuff is just so effing expensive it doesn’t even make sense. But all the bedrooms are super matchy-matchy and freaking adorable. I wanted that for my girls but at like a Walmart price point.

So cute, right? It’s been finished for like 6 months and no one has slept in here yet!

Money well spent!!!

So this was O’s room and had a lot of stuff in it originally. I made these little side lamps before O showed up. They were old Pier 1 side lamps and I just bought new shades and some boa’s and stuck them around the rims.

When O got a little older I saw all these precious DIY dress-up cabinets on Pinterest and just had to have one.

I could totally see it, all the little dress-up clothes hanging on little tiny hangers and looking so freaking cute. Well guess what – as you can see from the image below we just shove all those pretty little outfits in the door and close it. O never hung her clothes up and so not only did I have clothes everywhere but she would be running around with hangers too – uhhhh helllo dangerous!

This was my moms dresser as a baby so it had some sentimental value. I spray painted this since it wasn’t real wood and glued fabric to the door because it was cracked. I also got the butterfly knobs from Target.

I got this bookshelf from my mom also. I painted it and backed it with the same fabric as the dresser.

O’s room was Mauve but I repainted it this candy pink color to match the bedding I ordered from Pottery Barn. I got the cheap last season bedding but it worked out for me anyway because I really liked it and it coordinated with the monogrammed pillows I wanted.

Always wanting to help, unless it cleaning up her own toys, clothes, etc, etc and then she wants nothing to do with it.

Love Love Love this sign we got from a burnt down barn. It was a charity event and I just haaaaaaaad to have it.

O’s aunt made that wreath from pink tissue paper for my front door when I had my baby shower. It’s soooo pretty!

This toy box was my dads growing up and I sanded the weird sketchy clowns off it and painted it 6 million times with that Martha Stewart Glitter paint. You can’t even see the glitter, total waste of time.

It is also filled to the brim with small $5 bribes. It typically costs about $5 to peacefully grocery shop with O, and it is so worth it. I would gladly pay double that to peacefully do anything with W but we haven’t reached that bridge yet. Apparently her patience and cooperation is priceless.

Found these two on Craig’s list. Luckily C went with me to pick them up for one because they weighed like a million pounds each and for two you never know what kind of sketch ball is waiting to chop you up into tiny little pieces off craigslist. SO always bring someone with you!

And don’t be scared to turn the sale down either! Unlike me who bought broken $10 packnplay with baby vomit inside and actually spent $20 because the crazy woman didn’t have any change. My fault for not bringing exact change, I will admit – but ewww so gross for not cleaning your baby puke up before you sold your packnplay! I mean seriously have some dignity people!!!!

Anyway. I painted and distressed these two and I love how they turned out. I was too impatient to order that Annie Sloan chalk paint so I used the Americana from Home Depot. Boy that is some thick stuff. We shall see how it holds up. I guess the good part about them being distressed is that scratches won’t matter???

playroom

Posted on 01/27/2015 by amberunraveled

Once upon a time I had a fancy dining room.

It had beautiful beaded curtains and a wall with a bunch of lovely black and white photos and a pretty bar table that would collect large quantities of dust.

Then came baby O. I first relocated the beautiful beaded curtains because they posed a huge strangulation hazard. Then I had to move the bar table into the kitchen because our kitchen table was baby-face level and glass which posed a hole new set of lethal hazards.

Then my dining room sat empty. I discussed it’s playroom potential but C wasn’t convinced and we utilized our bedroom’s sitting room as the playroom. That was great until O’s second birthday when all the kids wanted to play in there and I was uncomfortable since it was technically my bedroom. That’s when I decided to hell with our fancy decor, our lives were over anyway. Might as well accept fate and be comfortable in our own house.

Then I stole C’s favorite couch from his office and convinced C’s mom (grandmom) to make pretty curtains.

Begin transformation playroom….

Oh, I mixed the steps up a bit – I did paint first. This awkward sea foam color. I had a lot left over from the upstairs hallway so I tried to use what I had without having to buy new.

I didn’t like the way it looked like a kindercare so I painted over it wit another color I had – and I hate cutting in so I taped a trim line since I did like the sea foam color.

These are the curtains from Joanne’s that Grandmom fixed up for us. I drove to two different Joanne’s for enough fabric but I really liked it. That’s the cozy couch I stole from C. That couch has seen better days. But it’s nice and low to the ground so when the girls fall off it’s no big deal.

Then I painted the black frames yellow.

I had some of those cubes with the girls toys in them but with all the bright colors I wanted something a bit more formal. I found this great armoir (<- I think I spelled that wrong) anyway, I found it on craigslist for like $100. But the guy wanted it gone asap so I got it for $50! It took forever for me to paint it.

I hate Pinterest BTW. It makes me think I can do all this crafty stuff. Then I buy all the stuff just to figure out I am not so crafty. From afar it looks good – and that is enough for me.

It did not come with that smallish child inside.

Here is the finished result. Not gonna lie – I kinda love it. I reclaimed that coffee table too. Lets see if I can insert that post – it was one of my earlier attempts at entertainment…

https://amberunraveled.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/reclaimed/

I got a little silly and painted some shelves yellow too. And found this little canvas that matched, O sings the song all the time anyway so it had some sentimental value an all (but it mostly matched). I wrapped yarn all around that letter O and then said there was NO WAY I was going to do it again so W got the shaft, as per the norm and I painted her W.

And that’s how we got our cozy playroom. I really like it, it’s functional and gets lots of hours.

reclaimed

Posted on 07/31/2014 by amberngwin

Hand painted, then messed up re-sanded, and hand painted again. So it is essentially doubly reclaimed. If that is possible. Go figure.

Why is it that everything I see on Pinterest makes me think “pshhhhh, I can do that!” I must have an inflated sense of artistic ability. Plus my manic obsessiveness totally messes with me. I decided a few weeks ago I was going to repurpose furniture bought off Craigslist, then resell it and get loaded. Well, I have shined. I am a professional at purchasing from Craigslist and getting loaded, just not the right kind of loaded. I originally thought I was going to get rich, not drunk on wine and paint fumes.

But today is a milestone. I have finally completed my first piece and listed it on Craigslist and Ebay and, well that’s it. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to list it. But I have faith! It will sell! Hopefully. Here it is in all it’s original glory, or lack thereof… I didn’t even take a pic of it’s partner in crime. Here they are. Coffee and End table, let’s call them Bella and Edward. (I just watched Twilight)

Oh, wait – look who it is back there, so shy.

These little buggers gave me a fit. I sanded, stripped, stained and then painted a couple times. Then I distressed, stained some more, ooops stained too much. Had to sand back down, repaint and re distress, uggghhhh. But now they do look great, if I say so myself.

So now onto the next ones, I have quite the lineup of furniture too. Many of these I plan to keep. At least until something else sparks my interest.

Until next time.

I love summer

Posted on 07/15/2014 by amberngwin

It’s been so long since I’ve blogged. I often think about doing it but just haven’t had the time. It’ mostly because I love summer. The days are longer and there is so many more options to do stuff other than sit in front of a computer. And I have been doing so much recently. Here is a mini update on my kind of exciting life;

I finished my improv class. What a success!

I signed up for an acting on camera class. This has been a rollercoaster class, it’s on Saturdays and I’m alllllways late, arriving disheveled and stressed. But it’s great to practice on camera and I do get to see myself on the silver screen!

I also signed up for an acting class. Guess if I am going to continue to go on these auditions I should, oh I don’t know, learn the basics? I have taken a hiatus from submitting for auditions to work on this script analysis class. The first class was also a success! Woo-hoo me.

I have a recent and almost disturbing obsession with thinking about refurbishing furniture purchased from off craigslist. I have made 3 large furniture purchases from craigslist in the past two weeks and cannot stop myself from stalking the site every day for more.

I have moved on from the days spent on frivolous Target purchases to become a compulsive Amazon Prime shopper. They lured me in with the 30 day free trial and I am smitten. I love when I run out of something these days because I just hop on amazon and wham, bam, than you ma’am it’s delivered to my door step within 3 days. It’s so exciting seeing boxes on my door step awaiting my arrival home. What is it, what is it?! Oh, it’s the vacuum bags I ordered. Fun!

Amber Unraveled

Tag Archives: craigslist

pottery barn inspo

playroom

reclaimed

I love summer