This is what happens when I watch hours of HGTV.....

While I was home over the holidays I got bored and watched hours of HGTV. Which I will admit is never safe considering who I am. I was so mesmerized. I knew I should have turned it off, but I couldn't. Every time they took a sledge hammer to the wall, I became more and more excited by renovation. The whole day furthered my love for home design and decor, and specifically inspired me to finish my own house. So, here we go. First I revisited my bedroom. Below is what it looked like before.

I always keep a running list of projects I want to do in each room.  The bedroom consisted of:

1. Lamps
2. Redo Starburst
3. Table for Jewelry Armoire
4. Dresser upgrade with new knobs
5. Frame for mirror
6. Bracelet holders
7. Setup ironing board in closet
8. Knobs for nightstands
9. Fix back of Jewelry Armoire
10. Fix paint spill on baseboard
11. Add in some accessories

Funny thing is this list originally only had 5 things on it. After HGTV Palooza it seemed to more than double to 11. I did the small and cosmetic things first. I rearranged some of the furniture, fixed the paint spill on the baseboard, set up the ironing board in my closet, and fixed the back of my jewelry armoire. 4 things crossed off the list just like that. Once the cosmetics were taken care of, I got to the fun part....making things! I went on a bracelet binge a couple of months ago when Michaels had a sale on beads. However, now they were all over the place. I created a few holders a while back, but they were long and a giant pain when I wanted a bracelet in the middle of the tube. So, I decided to remake them smaller. I grabbed a bunch of empty toilet paper rolls from my bathroom. I stuffed them with plastic bags for support, and then wrapped them with felt. 

I made 6 holders and loaded them with bracelets.

Next up was the Starburst. Now I know originally I said I loved it. I also said I liked the sparseness of it. Well now I'm not feeling it so much. It's still nice, but I needed to fatten it up a bit. I wanted it to make more of a statement. I was going to just add more spokes to the current one, but then I took to Pinterest. I came across one with an interesting shape, and it inspired me to do something a little different. I sketched out my idea first, and then used mat board to cut it out. 

I painted it with a silver spray paint and added a mirror to the front. To hang it, I added a picture hook to the back.....and VOILA!

Next up the jewelry table. Since I moved in, my Jewelry Armoire has been on an IKEA Lack table by the side of my bed. 1 Lack table was too small, and 2 tables was a little bigger than I needed. So, I decided to go with my gut on this one, and made something the exact size I wanted. The Jewelry Armoire is 12"x 24", so I went with a table of 18"x 30". I made a trip to Home Depot and got a sheet of plywood and some 1x2s.

Using wood glue, I put all of the cut pieces together to create the table base. 

To create the edges I used 3" craft wood. Much to my delight when I found out that Home Depot now sells these pieces. I used to only be able to get this size wood at Lowes. I am so excited, one stop shopping. 

For legs I wanted something with a girly feel. I bought 14" decorative legs. They didn't have much of a selection so I was limited in my choices. I ended up with the same legs that are on my ottoman. However, to make them just a little bit different, I added decorative wood pieces I found at Hobby Lobby. That way they weren't the exact same, and it also gave it a little bit more height.

I glued a piece to the bottom of each leg and let it set. 

While I waited for the legs to dry, I added the leg plates to the bottom of the top. 

I put all of the pieces together, and painted my table black. 

Now for the pizazz (because you know it wasn't going to just stay black). For the top of the table I got the idea to use mirrors. I had a bunch of mirrors left over from another table I did and then changed my mind. So, I decided to repurpose them on this table. 

To push the flare further, I covered the mirrored top with decorative transfer paper. This was the same paper that was originally on my desk, and then the plan changed. I bought a ton it, so I feel like I need to use it now. 

I covered the entire table

Isn't it fancy! It so girly and decorative.

My Jewelry Armoire fits perfectly.

As you can see I moved the whole situation to the corner and away from the bed. I actually like it here a lot better. 

For the last project I made lamps. Well maybe not make lamps, but rather constructed shades. The area by my bed needed some color. I really really wanted to buy finished lamps. At the most I was expecting that I may have to recover the shades. However, I was unaware how expensive lamps were. I just could not find anything that I wanted. However in the midst of Home Depot research, I found decorative sheet metal and thought it would make perfect shades. So, all was not completely lost 

Only problem is that the diameter and height of the shade was now contingent upon the size of the sheet metal. Which in theory sounds a lot easier said than done. To make an actual frame requires heavy metal and specialty tools. I can't see this becoming a regular thing, so I didn't want to invest the money. I did however find wood embroidery rings in Michaels. They were not only the right size, but also durable enough to hold up to the process. 

I spray painted the sheet metal bright pink, and let it dry completely. Then I attempted to glue the sheet metal to the wood rings. I did some research and there was a suggestion to use liquid nails. I used binder clips (so nicely provided by my coworker) to clamp the pieces together while the glue dried. I let the whole thing set for 24 hours.

Unfortunately the liquid nails was a total joke. Might as well have used Elmer's School glue. I had to go back and do it again, this time I used Gorilla Glue. 

The Gorilla Glue worked perfectly. To finish off the shade, I used craft wire and wrapped it through the holes to create a closure.

Again I let the piece dry 24 hours before removing the binder clips. 

Now here is where it gets a little experimental. I had the shade, but how do I keep them attached to the actual lamp base. At this point I could not believe I just did all of this work. I should have tried harder to find a cool "already made" lamp shade. I'll admit this part is not organized, and very much so trial and error.  I walked around Home Depot and just looked for pieces I thought might work. 

I decided on galvanized wire (which is what lamp structures are actually made from) and random plumbing pieces. You'll be amazed at all of the useful things you can find in the plumbing and electrical section of Home Depot. Just a wealth of unconventional project pieces. I created a tripod situation using the thick wire and glue to hold everything in place. 

Then I set the piece inside and used Gorilla Glue and binder clips to affix the piece permanently in place.

I have shades, but what about the base? After all of that headache I found one I liked in Walmart of all places. 

I wanted to add a little bit of color so I spray painted them gold, and added the shades to the top. 

Now since I took this pic, I came to the realization that the shades weren't very secure. So, I went back to Home Depot and found additional pieces to attach to the bottom to create more of a tube shape. Also I didn't like the color. It was too bright, so I spray painted it again this time in a Mauve color.

So after all of that, this is the result.

I found this cool rose gold box at Homegoods.

As you can see the frame for the peanut mirror didn't really end up a frame at all. As I started putting the pieces together I didn't want anything too bold that competed with the rest of the room. So, I ended up using the same spray paint that is on the Starburst, and creating a few cutouts to create interest. 

After all is said and done, my list now looks like this

1. Lamps

2. Redo Starburst
3. Table for jewelry armoire
4. Dresser upgrade with new knobs
5. Frame for mirror
6. Bracelet holders
7. Setup ironing board in closet
8. Knobs for nightstands
9. Fix back of jewelry armoire
10. Fix paint spill on baseboard
11. Add in some accessories

As you can see a few things were not crossed off. The knobs on the nightstand, I can kind of do without. I did make some at some point, but felt it didn't really add anything. The dresser upgrade, I could not figure out what I wanted to do. I'm contemplating a lot ideas, and must have run at least 15 different designs in my head. So for now I'm going to just hold out, and do it when I'm completely sure. Don't worry, there will be a blog about it. 

So how was that for a month long project. Sorry for the overly long post. I just thought it made more sense to cover it all at one time. Hope your eyes aren't burning. Until then...it's on to the next project.