New Things at Dodo's House

First of all, I made this blog site originally for my grandkids.  I spent so much, I mean SO much time telling them stories of 'Bramble and Brownie' that I thought I could post them here and then they could just read them when they want a story. 

Now I realize that these stories have magic because they aren't 'crafted' beforehand.  They are purely off the top of my head.   And once off the top of my head, they are gone like fairy dust.  To prove it, when Sheldon asks me to tell him about Brownie when the marshmallow storm came, I haven't a clue!  That happens every time they (Cally and Sheldon) come to visit Dodo's House.

So I'm changing this blog up a bit.

I'm going to include things that go into Dodo's House as well as things that come out of Dodo's brain.
I will start with some ideas I have about decorating  my bedroom.

It's been beige, pink and green for a long time and I was thinking I would change the color scheme (more for my husband, who looks good sleeping in flowers and lace but I felt deserved a little more masculine decor).

So I thought I might go with red or brown and green. I changed the bedspread a lot.
But after blog hopping (I didn't even know that's what I was doing) and looking at sites like Aiken Home & Gardens, My Romantic Home, Craftberry Bush, Hammer & Thread, Positively Splendid, and I'm so vintage, to name just a scratch on the blog world surface, I have returned to Pink and Beige and Green.

I dreamed about this look after living for at least 5 years with painted walls with at least 6 layers of wallpaper underneath.  I could see every seam.  Yes.  I actually saw this in my head before I did it.   I sponge painted the walls with some reject paint I got at Fred Meyer's in some sort of tannish beige and white,  I went down to the bay in front of our house and chose some nice long pieces of driftwood for curtain rods and a picture hanger, and I painted 5 wooden birdhouses I got at a craft store on sale.  My husband, Mr. Bill,  drilled large holes through the sides of the birdhouses, ran the driftwood ends through them and then attached them to the walls above the windows for curtain rods.   Back then I wrapped a long length of plain white gauzey cheesecloth around the driftwood and attached some thrift store silk flowers.  It's been like this ever since (Except I took the cheesecloth down when it became so encrusted with dust that every movement sent a cloud showering down upon us *cough*)

Now that my farmhouse is 100 years old (built in 1912) , I decided that the best I could do to update the old beast is by going with a shabby chic look.  Coupled with the fact that Mr. Bill gave me an antique clawfoot bathtub for Christmas (I know.  He's romantic like that. Not), and it looks like the pastel pallette will be with us for a bit longer.

So as I bloghopped, I saw lots of inspirational ideas.  Painting and distressed furniture how-to's.  Quilts, linens, paper roses, lacey stuff.  It's been simmering around inside until this week it boiled over!  So here now are my inspiration pieces for the next phase of my room transformation:

This stamp cost .75.  The acrylic paints were .50 each. I'm not ready to redo the walls so I just enhanced them a little bit...

I like the new look. It blends in well, don't you think?

And then I got some other stuff.  I'm going to post pictures of lots of things in my room.  The one thing about them all is that they all came from the thrift store.  It only makes sense. Old things for an old house.

There's a whole story (with pictures) about this.  The original print was in a pink plastic frame with a maroon (!) stripe around it!  This  wooden frame was on another shelf looking old, worn and lonely.  With a little trimming of the print I think the two were made for each other!

I love the pewter look to this lamp.  I have a neat idea for a ruffled lampshade. When I find the right lampshade. Oh, and I'm looking for another lamp similar to this one.

And I found a selection of linens and material that I'm thinking on for a quilt, some throw pillows and what have you:

These were very soft pillowcases.  I like.

An old section of a Chenille bedspread.

                                          A nice mix of texture and color.

Yes, everything here needs to be incorporated into my new 'old' bedroom.  I'd like to find an old iron headboard and to paint my dark oak dressers/nightstands/bookcase in a distressed milk or chalk paint in cream or white.  Then I'll add this little thrift store feller:

And then this room will be ready for the grandkids to come plop down and hear some new stories about Bramble and Brownie.