Master Bedroom Design Board

I am now working on my master bedroom. I want it to be ageless, comfortable and updated. The furniture I have was purchased in 1990. It is a king size rice bedroom suite. It was the IN thing back then but so outdated now. The pieces are well made and I am trying to reuse and redo what I can.

Here are pictures of my bedroom now.

You can see the door to the hall has already been painted black and I plan to paint the others in this room as well. The bedroom now looks great but I just want to update it.

Anyone who has been to my house may remember the fireplace in the original brick which is the same as on the outside of my home. Last year I painted the brick white and the transformation is amazing. Sometimes little things like this can make a big impact on your home.

Here is my design board.

The headboard is already here. I purchased it at Kirklands for $249 and I had a coupon that reduced the price enough to cover the shipping and taxes.

The bedside tables are Paula Deen. I first found these on Joss and Main for $199 (regularly $359) but they wanted $110 for shipping. I found them at a local furniture store Turners Fine Furniture for $199. Yeah me! Any money saved is more I can spend in other places.

The fabric is here. Purchased from www.buyfabric.com with a great discount. I have already sewn the pillows and the bedskirt will be done this weekend. The coverlet purchased on Joss and Main is beautiful.

The chest and dresser are from the Paula Deen collection but I plan to use mine and paint them to look like these. This is a major savings! I just loved the look and actually saw them at Turners Furniture while I was there. It is called Linen but it is really an off white with taupe under tones.

I painted the walls this past weekend and it is looking refreshed. I will not post anymore pictures until it is completed. Maybe another 2-3 weeks. Progress is slow when I am doing the work myself instead of hiring it out. Since I have major OCD, I would only drive anyone hired crazy.

I am getting new carpet and I plan to add an area rug but I am having a hard time making any decision on that. I think when things start coming together, the decision for an area rug will come to me. Right now all the rugs are looking alike and nothing is really jumping out at me.

In the mean time, I will post other projects I have done lately.

Refinishing Antique Brass Door Knobs

While painting my interior doors black, I wanted to do something different with my door knobs. They were 1970's antique brass. I have search blogs about refinishing door knobs instead of replacing which can be pricey to say the least. I have 26 doors to paint and at approximately $25 per knob, this would be almost $700.

Here is a picture of my antique brass knobs:

 

Ugly isn't it. I know many of you have these. You are like me, you bought your home for the details and large rooms that are common in the 70's home.

I saw these knobs on Emily Hewitt's blog www.awelldressedhome.com

She used Rustoleum Pure Gold spray paint. And since brass and gold are coming back in I thought this may be a good choice.

I also saw this blog from Emily Clark http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/2013/01/embracing-brass.html

 These are real interior designers who are using brass knobs.

So I decided that I would paint mine like Emily Hewitt. I first started by soaking them in straight ammonia. This made the outer shellac easy to remove. I rinsed them well and started with a Brillo pad. I had to remove old paint from the edges where the doors had been painted by a lazy painter who had not removed the knobs and got paint around the edges (I have many issues with this same painter in other areas of the house). Then I started to sand them with a spongy sanding block I got from Home Depot to prepare for the spray paint. I did find that they sanded much easier when sanding with the sponge block and knob wet. I couldn't believe my eyes. The knobs are solid brass and the look was GEORGEOUS!!!!!

This is the before and after. I left a little of the antiquing in the grooves. Then I changed my plans and decided to just spray with clear gloss. Here is the pictures with the knobs replaced on the doors.

I can't wait to continue on the other doors of the house.

BTW, when we added the upstairs, the builder but the shiny brass plated knobs. I am looking to buy more of the 70's antique brass knobs. If you have any you want to get rid of or sale, let me know.