Creating a bed nook.....( and overcoming obstacles )

John says - This is absolutely ridiculous -
John says - This is STUPID
John says - The room's too small - this is ridiculous
Suzan says - You already said that
John says - I can't believe you're hanging a curtain there - the room's small enough - this is absolutely ridiculous

3 times............................

GET.  OUT.  OF. THE.  ROOM.  PLEASE...................................
Obstacle no. 1 taken care of.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Now for the second one and this is huge - we couldn't get the box spring upstairs.
For the first guest room we were able to cut the box spring and fold it in half since it was a spring ( coiled ) one.
Assuming this would be the same, John began sawing away
( Yep - right through the gauze - don't ask - we had plenty to fight about last night - this didn't seem worth it at all )

You cut the 3 main pieces of frame like this

and then simply fold it over

John says - There's nothing " simple " about this
John says - I don't know anyone else on this earth that does this crap
Suzan says - Trust me - people do this - in fact a lot of people do this that live in little old houses
John says - WHY COULDN'T WE JUST PUT A SINGLE BED IN THERE FOR GOD'S SAKES?
Suzan says - Because a double fits in and I want to create a nook

Except -

Suzan says - Oh oh - there's no springs - we can't fold it in half because of all the wood slats
John says - Oh well - there goes that idea - we'll get a single bed - and he gets up to walk away
Suzan says - No way, Jose, we'll just cut the entire thing in half and then re-attach it upstairs - in place
John says - WHAT DO YOU MEAN  " WE'LL " JUST CUT IT IN HALF?
John says - I only see one of us with a saw in his hands
John says - I'm really at the end of my rope with all of your sick ideas
Suzan says - THEY'RE NOT SICK IDEAS !!!!!!!!!!
John yells - WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING NOW?
Suzan says - taking all the fabric off to one side so you can remove those slats...............it'll be easier for you that way, trust me
John says - EASIER FOR ME????????????????????

They were just stapled in - so they were in fact quite easy to come off - here it is with all the horizontal slats removed

John says - THIS IS THE LAST TIME - DO YOU HEAR ME - I'M NOT DOING CRAP LIKE THIS ANYMORE
Suzan says - Aw c'mon - you just have to saw the 3 main piece of wood now and it's done

Here's how it looked when it was done

John says - I BASICALLY HAVE TO REBUILD THE BLOODY THING UPSTAIRS NOW
Suzan says - Could you please stop shouting?  You're giving me a headache
John says - YOU ARE A HEADACHE

It was incredibly light to carry upstairs LOL

We placed it on the bed frame and John reinforced where the 3 cuts were made

and then he nailed the slats back in ( I patched up where the fabric had been cut )
I only kept the fabric on the sides since the mattress is going to hide everything else..................everything else was cut up and thrown out

Obstacle no. 2 taken care of

A bed skirt would have been difficult - ( plus I didn't have one LOL ) so I cut up a drop cloth - folded it in half - and stapled it along the edge of the slats

Obstacle no. 3 - done !
And there you have it -
By hook or by crook - I've we've created a nook !!!

This tiny little space took me over a week - not the room - just the nook - so that's all you're going to see
( and by the way the entire room is basically double the size of this -

The " curtain " is a duvet cover I had on hand ( you can see that post HERE )
Did you notice that little window?
I put the matching pillow case on it - I can fold it to whatever size I need ( shorter in the day ) again I didn't cut the sham at all - just simply folded it - the top part of the window only shows roof lines and tree tops so I didn't think it was necessary to cover that part ( unless there's a chimney sweep in the area, it's perfectly safe)
 I also painted a frame around the window to give it a little more substance

It's not easy getting photos of this small area, let me tell you but I'm going to do my best to show you
" around " lol

I added a mirror to my wood plank " glam " frame - and installed 2 reading lamps on the wall -

A picture of the Eiffel Tower - and benches that I actually used to read on once upon a time !!!
( and fell asleep on one sunny beautiful afternoon )

The mirror is painted white and distressed ( a long long time ago )

And I guess that's kind of it .................almost ready

but not quite

John says - Why do you always work a$$ backwards?
Suzan says - I don't !!!
John says - You've decorated half the room - and you still have to paint the floor on the other side
Suzan says - It gives me hope when I can look up and see the other half done

He doesn't even realize I've only painted half the ceiling also LMHO

Oh and here's the seller's photo from MLS and how it looked when we visited the house

Later on in bed...................

Suzan says - Maybe our next place should be a loft
Suzan says - You're becoming quite the carpenter you know
John says - The next time I move it'll be in a pine box
John says - In fact - that may be the next project I work on.....................

Have a wonderful day everyone - and weekend for that matter.
I'm praying I'm finished this room by the end of it -
Please don't let it take another week

Much love,
Me ♥

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Stone Gable

Using a duvet as drape/curtains

Good morning everyone !

This last little guest room feels like it's taking longer then the entire kitchen to do !

But at least the beginnings of a bed nook is well on it's way.

Remember I showed you the duvet cover I was going to use in this room ?

What I didn't tell you was that it would be used as a " curtain " to create the " nook "
Since I didn't want to destroy the duvet in any way, I simply took the open end, folding it once and placed hook rings to hang from the rod.
It's important to use the open end of the duvet for the top for 2 reasons -
1)  It allows you to have a little substance on the top
2)  It allows for perfect " puddling " at the bottom

We hung a rod across the room using simple hardware you'd use to hang a pole in a closet
( I spray painted it of course lol )
I think it cost 2.00 or so - you can get metal ones but this one works fine since it's only holding a curtain

and the best part is that the duvet was in no way altered or damaged to create this !!!

Ok - we have to saw a box spring to get it up the stairs...................so I would imagine there's going to be conversations and a half going on here this weekend.
Yes - you actually heard me right.
Why stairs were ever built this narrow I have no idea - didn't they have box springs 100 years ago?
( it's not so much that they're narrow - it's that turn half way that stops us from getting it up there )

Have a Happy Hallowween and a wonderful weekend everyone -
Much love,
Me


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I WANNA live there Wednesday # 100

Good morning everyone !

I found the cutest little bungalow for this week -

Hudson, Quebec
( an area that we looked in last fall when we first sold our last place )
229,000
2 beds - 1 office ( could be 3rd bedroom ) 1 bath
Wood Fireplace
Partially finished basement
Realtor : CARL POIRIER

I'd love to see this hanging light even closer

I just love this tiny kitchen - filled to the brim with charm

I want a mug shelf now !!!
This kitchen proves you can still go " big " in small spaces - the floor length drapes and light fixture bring elegance to the room

And I LOVE the bedroom

They'd have to include the chiffonerie in this sale - how beautiful

Basement

The little house in the woods ! ( with lots of room to add a pool )

I think it's just adorable - and had it been available last October when we were frantically looking for something - anything - to buy - this may very well have been where I'd have been blogging from tonight!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone -
I'm working non stop to at least show you something from the 2nd guest room by tomorrow

Much love,
Me

Sharing at these fabulous parties !

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Between Naps on the Porch
My Turn for Us                                                      It's Overflowing

When the stars align.........................

Sometimes you just gotta grab them - pluck them right out of the sky and just be grateful that you happened to be looking up at just the moment when they' were about to cross each other.

No conversations with your better half that go on for days

No second guessing

I was looking for a love seat for the " reading room "
A full 3 seater sofa would be a little crammed because there's no way John is giving up his arm chair
( please don't look too closely - I'm trying to fluff out what isn't finished - which is basically the whole room still )

So I've been checking online for one - without any luck - until I decided I would just purchase an Ektorp from Ikea - the best solution for me because it comes with removable slip covers and they're so reasonable ( 79.99 ) that you can change them out seasonally without much cost involved.

I originally wanted to go with white - to tie in with the white slip covers in the living room - but was torn between getting the grey to tie in with the stencilled floor in the room

Anyway the decision was kind of made - done deal - it was necessary to have it because the t.v. happens to be in that room as well....................

And then I happened to be online and came across this ( in a neighborhood adjacent to mine almost )

_________________________________________________________________________________

EKTORP LOVESEAT - GREY

Date Listed	14-Oct-14
Price	$50.00
For Sale By	Owner

Very good condition! Must go because new couches .............

_________________________________________________________________________________

And it was still available when I contacted the seller !

That, my friends, is what I call perfectly aligned stars.

White slip cover for under 100.00 -

A perfect match for the room across from this one

You can see the post on these slip covers HERE

THEN THE STARS GOT CROSSED - BECAUSE THE NEXT NIGHT WHEN WE WERE GETTING READY TO PICK IT UP - THE SELLER SENT ME AN EMAIL TELLING ME THEY'D CHANGED THEIR MINDS..................

A huge disappointment - but hey - IKEA still has them, right?

Until I came across 2 very pretty loveseats ( better then 1 I suppose ) that I figured I could have slipcovered
 - in new condition -
The seller and I agreed on a price  - and then..............
Nothing -
No reply - just vanished into thin air.

Now it's getting heartbreaking

Until I came across another EKTORP Love seat - great price - new white slip cover had just been purchased - again 10 minutes away - ...................
Too late - just sold M'am.................

That's ok - because I saw a another Dark Grey one further down - I'll take that one instead.
Eagerly sent off the email - too late - sorry - just sold.

Now I've come to terms with the fact that I have to get to Ikea - and so I type EKTORP IKEA in my browser and up pops another Craig's list ad - just listed - for a White Ektorp - 3 seater this time.

We picked it up last night.

SELLER'S PHOTO

The strangest thing of all of this story is that in all the years I've been cruising online for furniture - I have never - not once - seen an Ektorp love seat OR couch for sale.  ( other than in the last 2 weeks )
MY stars are like everything else in my world - they get sidetracked - they collide - they explode - when there's a fork in the galaxy, they obviously take the wrong path but somehow - amazingly - every now and then they align -
And for a moment or two it's glorious

I'm still liking the grey ( for the winter at least ) so a trip to IKEA may still be happening this weekend.

IKEA

But last night we both sat watching the Hockey game together - until John asked me to please leave the room or stop talking.
Hmmmph - I've been kicked out of far better rooms, let me tell you

Suzan says- Can't you talk and watch hockey at the same time?
John says - No actually, I can't
John says - And neither could you if you were actually watching the bloody game
Suzan says- John - I could play hockey and carry on a conversation - I'm all about multi tasking.

I've never bought a second hand couch before - and I'm a leetle teeny beet terrified.....................but I'm not going to voice my concerns - and that way everything will be fine, right?

Have a wonderful day everyone !
Look up - you just never know when your stars will be doing their magic.

Hugs,
Me