Charm's Restoration Hardware Knock Off Bed

Several months ago, I found this bed online:

Industrial Cart Platform Bed

Restoration Hardware Baby & Child

I love the simplicity and thought it would be perfect in Charm's room!  It could definitely help solve the 'mattress on the floor' dilemma we were experiencing, but at $549 it was really pricey for four casters and 4 pieces of wood.  I knew we could build one ourselves for much less, but Bill wasn't sold on the whole 'bed on wheels' concept.  He had safety concerns given the weight of the bed, and the idea of Charm pushing the bed around his room.  We thought about putting 'locks' on the wheels or bolting the bed with 'one million screws' into the wall behind his bed, but ultimately, I realized the simplest solution would be to squirt a little epoxy in the wheels to permanently lock them.  I could get the look I wanted without putting Charm's safety at risk.

Once that issue was settled, Bill and I came up with a plan that included deeper sides to allow us to hide the box spring that we were kindly given by my parents when they made some mattress changes at their lake house.  It also would allow the overall height of the bed to be closer to a standard size.  The Restoration Hardware version is only about 11 inches tall (plus the height of the mattress) which would be awesome now, but we are hoping Charm enjoys this bed for many years.  

I stained and sealed the wood, and then Bill put the bed together.  He used metal corner pieces for...you guessed it...the corners.  We sprayed the casters (6" fixed casters from Northern Tool) a dark charcoal color, although I think I may go back and spray them more of a stainless steel color in the spring.  We also found metal trim much like that seen on the Restoration Hardware bed for $1.50 per 8 foot length at Home Depot.  We couldn't decide if we wanted to add that detail or not, so we held off for now, and may add it in the spring when we finalize the wheel color decision.  Our total cost for the bed including the casters ($56), spray paint ($7), wood ($35) and 4 metal corner pieces ($12) came to $110.  (We had the stain and polyacrylic on hand already).  

Here's how Charm's room is looking now:

We made a stand for Charm's Ship Wheel using a crate from Joann's ($6 with a coupon) that Bill stained to match the bed and ship wheel.

The white duvet cover is from IKEA.

Of course, the room is not totally finished and probably never will be because I'll keep finding things to change:).  As of now, I plan to upgrade this plastic IKEA stool:

Charm can actually get on his bed without using the stool, but it's a bit of a struggle for him.  I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the 'perfect stool'.  Hopefully, I'll find one before he outgrows the need for a stool:)!

And his 'night stand' needs work or replacement.  It's actually a $10 Target clearance find that I blogged about here since it's a knock off West Elm table:

I'd like to paint it or add color in some way.  Also, I'd like to make it taller....it needs some heels, I think:).

And finally, this lamp shade needs some attention:

We've had our eyes out for a lightweight lamp with a kid friendly on/off switch for a couple months now, and I ended up finding this one in our spare bedroom upstairs.  It's from IKEA and was purchased several years ago.  The lamp shade is a bit girly...although, I think it has red leaves on it, not flowers, so for now it works.  I plan to recover the shade, however. 

I'll probably let these projects come to me rather than seeking out 'fixes' immediately.  I'm moving on to other rooms and other projects for now...and you know one of those rooms is Lucky's.  We've made a few changes in her room too that I am very eager to share.  If I could get as motivated to work on our master bedroom as I am to work on Lucky and Charm's rooms, our second floor would be in fantastic shape:)!!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick.
Linking up to Primitive and Proper.
Linking up to Miss Mustard Seed.

Anchor Applique Pillow

I'm not even sure if 'applique' is the correct term to describe what I did to this pillow, but it is in my head so I'm going with it.  I decided I wanted to make an anchor pillow for Charm.  I originally planned to hand stitch an anchor onto a pillow using felt like I did with my Pottery Barn Teen look alike letter pillows, but I decided to try using some of the iron on adhesive that I had leftover from the pirate eye patches that I made for Charm's Pirate Party to make an anchor applique.

The process I used was very simple.  I made an envelope pillow cover with white piping using fabric and a pillow form we had on hand already:

Next I made an anchor template by folding a piece of paper in half to make a symmetric anchor shape:  

I double checked to make sure the scale was appropriate to my pillow:

I raided my fabric stash for a few anchor color options, then I cut out small pieces and ironed the Hem 2 Hem on the back of the fabric, and stenciled the anchor with a pencil onto the fabric:

I cut out the anchors and let Charm pick out which one he liked best:

Green Velour

Red stripes

Multicolored

Charm chose the simple green option.  I used tape to keep the applique in place on the pillow and then ironed the center of the applique (avoiding the area with tape on it) with a thin towel placed between the anchor and the iron.  I removed the tape once the center of the applique was well adhered to the pillow fabric.

Final product:

I love that I could use regular fabric without fear of frayed edges!

I have one more update to post, and it has something to do with this whole 'mattress on the floor' situation that was going on for a while after we switched Charm from a toddler bed to a twin sized mattress:

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Hand Painted Canvas Treasure Map and Play Like a Pirate Art

(So...I guess this week is all about 'gallery walls' around here:))...When I decided Charm's Room needed more of a 'pirate' feel, I decided to switch out a couple of the frames from his gallery wall:

Specifically, these two 't-shirt' art frames (and then one more just for fun:)):

For one of the frames, I decided that a treasure map would be appropriate.  I already had leftover duck cloth that we used for Charm's pirate party treasure maps that could serve as a canvas, so I cut a piece to size and then found this map online:

Cartoon Treasure Map

I used this map for total inspiration since I'm good at recreating images, but not coming up with them on my own...maybe someday I'll have the ability to be more original:)!

Here was the process:

Step 1: Pencil sketch the image on the cloth:

2. Choose your colors and start painting!  (Helpful hint:  Choose coordinating colors to those in the room where the image will be displayed.  Don't just pick them from memory or because they are similar to the colors of the image you are recreating!  I would have used different shades of blue and green had I taken the two minutes to run upstairs and look at the room again.  Ah well...lesson learned!)

3. When you're done painting, add an optional secret message that will get hidden by the frame or on the back of the canvas:

4.  Frame your work (or hand it to your kiddo for play time):

5.  Stand back and look at your handiwork and try not to get distracted too much if you're paint colors aren't spot on:).

Total cost: FREE since I already had the duck cloth and paint on hand!

With the other frame, I decided I wanted to capture a fun saying or quotation.  I LOVED this one:

via Monorail on Etsy

...but the orientation was wrong for the frame I needed to fill.  

They have t-shirts with the saying on it:

by Lalakay at Red Bubble

...but instead of doing more 't-shirt' art, we created a similar look using Powerpoint on photo paper:

We printed it in the size we needed for about $3.

And here it is on the wall:

And then I decided to change out the green 'fretwork' frame to this image:

I took this picture of Charm staring at the ocean on our trip to Florida last winter.  I just love it!!  I stare at it and wonder what was going through his mind in that moment.  Perhaps he was pondering how far away the pirates might be:)!!

Now his gallery wall looks like this:

 These new chairs were purchased online from Target for about $13 each on clearance with a coupon:)!

I just have a couple more updates for his room...one small one and one big one...more to come soon!

Linking up to Finding Fabulous.

Pirate Rope Mirror

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!  Ours was full of family adventures with a trip to a local 'big truck' show for the kiddos, a visit to a fun castle playground and a dinner at the beach.  Now that the weekend is over, it's back to the daily grind with work, school and Mom taxi services to all of the activities we signed up for this fall.  The time continues to fly by...I can't believe it's October already.  According to Lucky, October is the best month ever, which means her birthday is approaching in the next few weeks:).

Happy October to you!  

Here's a little project I worked on a couple weeks ago:

It's a nautical rope mirror for Charm's Room, which adds to a few other pirate items that were already in his room!

I made it using a Nate Berkus tutorial from The Nate Show and these items:

A 16" diameter mirror from Joann's, a 18" cardboard like wreath form from Michael's, some rope from Lowe's and some twine I had on hand (not pictured).  The total cost for the materials (using coupons) was under $15.  You could also just add rope to a mirror you already own or a Goodwill mirror would work too:)!  Also, in Nate's tutorial, they used a simple piece of cardboard cut in a circular shape instead of the wreath form, but I didn't have a piece of cardboard the right size needed and even if I did, I didn't want to have to pull out a huge compass or plate or round object/s to make the circle shapes and then cut them out.  The wreath form seemed sturdier and easier, and was worth the $3 or so that it cost.

This project required lots of hot glue and a little patience.  I added rope to the sides of the mirror for a more finished look.  The top loop on the mirror was created by simply making a loop with the rope and gluing it down.  The end pieces were covered by wrapped twine, and then the mirror was hot glued to the back.  

Here are some finished pictures of the mirror hanging in Charm's closet:

I love it!  The quality of the mirror given the inexpensive starting materials is quite impressive in person, in my opinion.  If I ever start selling my work, this would be an item I'd offer and be proud to sell:)!

Linking up to Finding Fabulous.

Charm's Pirate Updates

It wasn't long after we 'finished' Charm's room that he really started to get into pirates.  I felt like I should add a few pirate themed accents to his room.  He already had a big wave canvas that reminded me (and hopefully him) of the ocean:

Charm's room is also home to his treasure chest:

 

 

and ship wheel:

I added to these pirate props with a few DIY projects that I tackled in this past week:

Details to follow!!

 

Have a fantastic fall weekend!