Thursday, September 18, 2008

not quite martha

when we were house hunting last december, our realtor was REALLY excited to show us a particular room in our soon-to-be-purchased house. he said that i would just LOVE the little girls room. i was pretty excited to see it too. the previous owners had a little girl so i figured that they must have done an extra special decorating job in her room. boy did they. extra pepto special.



i remember walking into the room and having to take a step back. my eyes were assaulted by fuschia overload. ON EVERYTHING!



the ceiling fan:

the walls:
the ridiculously cutesy lightswitch:
the curtain rod and tie back(not visible):
i HATED it. but we bought the house nonetheless. it's a good house. the perpetual pink problems were all cosmetic. like zitty skin, all the room needed was a facelift.

(scarlett in february at the beginning of the project.)

and for some reason, i thought i was the woman for the job. i took design classes in college, i consider myself an unpaid professional. so i cleaned walls, taped the molding, picked out colors, and ordered bedding. and then the real work began. who was i kidding? i am no perfectionist and this room is evidence of that. i think of my special closet full of half- finished crafts and random projects that i never got around to finishing. it looks like where bad crafts go to die. indeed, a bad craft graveyard. martha would shriek.
the pink paint was nearly impossible to cover even with my tinted primer. i scraped the bottoms of the cans of paint like my life depended on it. i should have purchased more paint. instead, i was tired of painting and considered the job finished. shortly after finishing thomas told me that if i had wanted, i could have hired someone for the job. that was information that would have been useful in january. people who have seen the room probably think i am trying to get all romantical with them since i only show it to them with the lights dimmed. my mistakes are less visible that way.



even with a flawed room, littlebigmouth still loves me.

(this was scarlett yesterday, at the end of the project. yes, all the decor details took me forever to finish. a true labor of love. someday when scarlett is an insolent teenager, i will remind her of this often. and yes, i totally put her in that dress for my little photo shoot so that she would match the room.)

my "theme" was southern belle. someday i will let scarlett pick what she wants to have in her room. that day is not today. and tomorrow looks cloudy too. perhaps when she starts bringing some money to the table i'll let her have opinions.

my little gone with the wind collection. until she can make up her own mind, i am forcing her into being a miniature fan. i sewed that table runner. the objets d'art are covering the mistakes i didn't feel like fixing.
the ceiling fan was probably the hardest thing to paint. it looks terrible. if the fan is on, you don't notice the splotchiness of the paint. i am quite pleased with the black ric rac trim. i am a glue gun extaordinaire.

in this pic, please note the FANTASTIC gone with the wind signage above the closet door. prolly my favorite item in the room. facing the closet is a print of some majestic georgia oak trees. it reminds me of the street we lived on in savannah.
feeling romantical?
you can find ANYTHING on ebay. like this switchplate. and it was only $6! someday i plan on bankrupting our vast fortune on gone with the wind knick knacks. like the cookbook i spied yesterday. or the metal character magnets. and salt shakers. and lamp. and juice glasses. and a handmade version of the infamous red velvet dress marked down to the bargain price of $400. perfect for grocery shopping. i will be the belle of wal-mart and everyone will be vying for me to come through their check-out line. this will be about the same time thomas commits me to the asylum. but frankly i won't give a damn.
in short, (but when i am ever short?) i am hanging up my paint roller. the drop cloths are retired. this was my first and last major painting project. from here on out i will be in supervisory positions only.

the end.

27 comments:

lrbodine said...

I have to admit that I actually think the original room was adorable (but I love pink!!). The end result is great though - I love the yellow and black and white. I think your makeover will be classic for years to come.

lrbodine said...

Oh and Scarlett's skirt is fabulous!

Jeppson Clan said...

Fun, fun, fun!
It looks SO great! I am still in love with that lampshade! Can I come sleep in Scarlett's room?

Ryan and Julianne said...

I lovey it!!! It really looks so great, no evidence of pink diamonds and fans anywhere! You totally did the "southern belle" thing very well. And I love that you dressed Scarlett up to match the room.

Maybe you should consider keeping the old lightswitch plate for your room. Or give it to Heather for her birthday. Either one.

Jessica said...

amen, sister. i've hung up the paint brush myself! what i didn't point out in my post about painting is that i oh so strategically took a picture of grace's ONE pepto wall, because the rest i have not mustered up the strength to paint yet. so her room looks REAL fantastic.

scarlett's room on the other hand, is classy and timeless. much like the fashionista herself. and her dress? ADORABLE. i would have donned it for a photo shoot myself.

Nicole Bolinger said...

I have witnessed this room in person and it is FABULOUS!!! But, shame to hear that you weren't getting romanitcal with me when I say it! shucks!

Sarah Beck said...

Nice job, Heidi! You've got a great eye for decorating.

P.S. I think I recognize those paper dolls?

Paula said...

I really like the lamp but the whole room is very chic and adorable. I am super impressed with all you did with a glue gun. Scarlett is a cutie with the outfit and if I were you I never let her change it...ever:)

Mindi said...

i can't believe you didn't keep the pepto theme!!

i always think that people who have a vision like that must either be temp. insane or must not spend huge amounts of time in the room. in the daylight.

i'm loving the yellow--i just don't understand why you didn't do huge vinyl letters that spelled out, "frankly, my dear....i don't give a da*#"

that would have been perfect.

Rachel said...

Martha wishes she was a Southern Belle! Awesome job! Are you jealous Scarlett gets to sleep in there? I like the sign too!!

Carie said...

yellow + black + white = you are a genius.

Not sure about the light switch cover, but I'll go with it.

Leigh Collins said...

I love the new decor! Its a good thing you didn't live in our house in the past month! I decided to paint our dining room, Sam's Men's Den, our bedroom, and Mary Mac's room (did you see the pics of her new room on my blog - painted it half green and half blue - by myself i might add!!! I found a love for painting so who knows what is next!

Andrea, Mrs. said...

I'm a fan! I love it!

The High Family- said...

I adore that room! My favorite color is yellow and well you rocked it in that room! Though I must admit that I do like pink. Not everywhere in a room, but I do make my boys sport pink shirts way more often than Cameron would like me to...sorry getting a little sidetracked. Anyway, love it!!!

Anonymous said...

Heidi-you are so obsessed! Love the color combo. I, too am not a fan of pink and not looking forward to all the pink overload I am about the be forced to experience. Richard and I are headed to Athens this weekend for the Alabama/Georgia game! Roll Tide!!! Let me know if you have any suggestions of what we need to do, where we should eat, etc. etc.
Valoree

Angie said...

Scarlett's room is adorable and she looks so cute too. I love the black, white, and yellow. I'm really proud that you finished the room too. I always get sidetracked from my projects.

BTW that's not the worst pepto room I've ever seen. The house my parents lived in had a room that was painted wall to wall the EXACT shade of Pepto by the people before them. It was everywhere and then there was this cool Noah's ark border that they super glued to the wall that ran all the way around.

Mink News said...

I absolutely love Scarlett in that dress for the photo shoot! You did great. I got really excited when I saw this post, because I remember you telling me at dinner you were putting it up, when all was complete. I too, painted one room -for Collin- and decided from then on out, I would supervise. :)

Lesta Sims said...

I actually liked the pink room, but I love Scarlette's new room! You did a great job!
The sign, the light switch, the print...WOW! Love it!! Oh yes, and Scarlette's dress? Love that too!
When it comes to mistakes in the paint job, frankly Heidi, no one gives a d*#@%! It is FABULOUS!

tracyp said...

Very cute Heidi!

THE AUG BLOG said...

Cute! Love the black accents. Good job on the decorating. It is so fun to see a room that's not predictable. Love it!

Elizabeth said...

beautiful!

Jessica said...

That's so fun to see such a similar room...you'll have to come back and check in a few weeks and see if I have mine done.

I ended up buying a black dresser...the yellow didn't work with the yellow I'd painted my wall.

THanks for your suggestions!

Melissa said...

Oh, I love it! Huge improvement over the annoying-ly pink room. And Scarlett is getting so big! I guess it has been a while since you were here in Savannah. We are getting ready to move now, too. We'll be out of here end of October.

Melissa said...

Heidi - in response to your comment on my blog earlier, you absolutely MUST read Rebbecca. You'll love it - I promise. Especially if you liked the movie. Tell me when you've read it.

Becca said...

I love your improvements! I like pink--but not that much. The yellow, white and black look so sharp!

My blog is private, but if you'd like an invite, email me at dearheart (dot) becca (at) gmail (dot) com.

P.S. You still owe me a happy birthday song. ;)

Emily C said...

holy smokes you have a lot of comments here!!

i wish i had as many friends as you do!!

scarlett's room is soooooo much better. i love that lightswitch. it is such a heidi thing to do. hahaha

and btw, if you want me to make you a blog header, i totally will!! i love makign them!!!

Marie said...

i love the new bedroom's color ! even if i love the pink color, the other one was too pink ! this one is so romantic !