Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 637 Comments

Updating Yard Sale Frames With Spray Paint

We found these babies at a yard sale and haggled them down to $10 a pop. Let’s call them our twig & berries.

Berries Yard Sale Find

We immediately thought the extra tall shape of the frames would be perfect for either side of our bed above the glass based lamps on the makeshift just-for-now side tables (they’re way too small and don’t have any drawers for storage) on this very unfinished side of our master bedroom:

Finials Wide With Art

We definitely had plans to change out the art. They’re prints of the berries and wildflowers of Alaska (which is kind of fun and fitting since we honeymooned there) but they felt a bit too grandma for us.

Berries Close Up On Text

But we loved the long rectangular shape of those $10 frames. So we hung them up, just to see what we were dealing with. Don’t mind all the blank space on either side of the walls, we still have furnishings to add to fill up this cavernous room. And once we change out the side tables we might rehang the art a bit further out from the bed or higher up depending on the new furnishings.

Berries Before Full

We definitely liked the shape of our new frames, but we weren’t crazy about how the warm wood tones sort of clashed with the darker tones in the thrift store wood candle holders on either side of Sir Ram above the bed…

Berries Before Johns Side

… along with the leaning mirror, and the leather chair in the corner:

Canvas 4

And yes, we’re aware that not all couples aspire to sleep under a giant resin ram head. We are indeed a rare and special breed. Akin to centaurs and unicorns. Speaking of that above-the-bed stuff, we originally mentioned that the maybe-too-small-art might go, but months later it’s still there and has strangely grown on us.

Berries Before Sherry Side

But back to the yard sale frames. I actually decided to do something completely insane for me when it came to them (but totally ain’t-no-thang for anyone else). I opted to spray the frames with oil-rubbed-bronze spray paint. I know you might think that given my recent ORB kick (here and here and here) this isn’t news. But, you my friend, would be wrong-O with a capital O. Why? Because virtually every frame that we own is white (both in this house and our first one) and we must own five million of them! Dark frames have never been our preference. White is my eternal jam..

Keys Side Shot

Console Other Side Rhino Bu

Clara Art Detail

Until now, apparently. Total curveball. At least to a white-frame loving fool like me.

I’ll spare you the spray painting play-by-play (you can find some general tips here) except to point out these two things:

  • the glass was so tightly fitted that I worried I’d break it if I tried to remove it before spraying – so I just covered it with newspaper
  • I laid each frame up on a big ol’ rock from the yard so the sides wouldn’t stick to the “drop cloths” and peel off the finish when I picked them up

Berries Frame On Raised Bri

Berries Sprayed Frame

While I was at it I carefully removed the mats and sprayed those white for a cleaner look.

Berries Rustoleum Can

Berries Sprayed Mat

Now brace yourself for the hottest picture you’ve ever seen on the internet:

Berries Sherrys Sexy Socks

My white mom legs + black dress socks = sexy beast. I can’t believe I’m sharing this, but the whole dark sock thing is actually a spray painting trick I implement nearly every time. Instead of worrying about getting rogue drips on my shoes or flip flops (or my feet, which I could then track into the house) I just don some dark socks, spray to my heart’s content, and slip them off at the backdoor so I don’t track anything in (and don’t have to worry about scrubbing my feet or ruining my favorite shoes/flip flops). As for the rest of my outfit, I’m nude. Just kidding. I wear painting clothes that I do not slip off at the door (big drips only seem to fall on my feet).

A few minutes after snapping that photo was when John and I both started giving each other crazy eyes. Which means we were both having strange and exciting ideas (ideas that are completely unrelated to bedding each other under the ram – get your mind out of the gutter).

John: “What if we put those old botanical-looking prints back into these now that the mat and frame is all updated and graphic?”

Sherry: “Just to be suuuuure we’re completely over them – I agree!”

So we hung them up and we really liked them. So we are in fact completely under them (you know, as opposed to over them as we originally anticipated). Sure, they’re still a little grandma, but they’re also something we could picture in Elle Decor or House Beautiful (with more than a $10 price tag on them). And most of all, they make us smile.

Berries After Johns Angle

Here’s where I’ll stop to acknowledge that not only is hanging a big white ram head over your bed one of those personal preference things maybe-I’m-crazy things, art in general is definitely a place where all folks on the internet won’t come together and unanimously agree. But we’re loving our twig and berries – er flowers and berries. I mean it’s not like we’ll ever entertain in our bedroom – so we don’t have to worry about what other folks might think. Which I hope is nothing weird and kinky due to the ram. Yikes.

Speaking of weird, we got an embarrassingly huge kick out of hanging the berries on J’s side and the flowers on my side. You know, because ladies have flowers and guys have berries. Too far? My deepest apologies.

Berries After Close Up

Then something crazy and completely unexpected happened (manage your expectations, our lives are not that interesting).

John decided to exercise his veto power on the leafy duvet cover that we ordered around seven months ago.

Canvas 4

Didn’t see that coming did you? See, back when the duvet cover was one of the first things we bought for our house (deeply clearanced from West Elm) John agreed that we could get it (we have a full agreement agreement, meaning we’re not allowed to buy things without both being ok with it). But he only agreed with one stipulation: that it wouldn’t necessarily be a forever choice. He reasoned that it was affordable enough and I loved it enough not to keep me from ordering it (I was so worried it would sell out and I’d forever regret it slash hold it against John The Tyrant). But he asserted that if someday he should decide that he no longer liked it I would have to be open to looking for something else that we both could love – especially if the price was right and we could sell this baby on craigslist or something.

At the time I grinned and nodded, never thinking that day would actually come. But wouldn’t you know it, John loved those 10 dolla (holla!) yard sale art infinitely more than the compromise duvet. So he decided we should revisit the whole new-duvet-cover-idea and leave the art as-is (since it was kinda circus-y and compete-y to have them both going on at the same time). And you know what? In an even more shocking turn of events I agreed.

Maybe we’re just sentimental suckers and sleeping between prints of wildlife from the place we honeymooned is our idea of romance? Maybe we think rams and flowers and berries somehow belong together? I don’t know. Either way, the leafy pattern in the duvet cover was fighting with our new leafy art so I stripped things down to our white duvet insert from Ikea and we stepped back to survey the scene.

Berries After Full

The weird white duvet insert was definitely more compatible with the art than the competing leafy duvet cover, but not quite perfect. Meaning a white duvet cover isn’t going to be what we go for. We’re hoping to find something with less of a bold pattern and more of a subtle texture (like a soft chevron or crosshatched design or something striped or something else entirely). The jury is still out on what will come home with us, but we’re planning a few HomeGoods and TJ Maxx runs just to see what’s out there. And maybe even an Ikea road trip.

Berries After Johns Side

The lesson? Grrrrr, don’t compromise. Just hold out to find something you both love. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, right? And I like to think the Alaska prints “found us” because it was meant to be. And we certainly had our fair share of decorating mind-changing in the first house, so it’s only fitting that we work in a few control-alt-deletes in this house too (look honey, it’s a bad computer joke that I threw in just for you).

So yeah, we’re thinking about selling the old duvet cover on ebay or craigslist. There are some on there for over $100 and we only paid $42 for our king-sized guy thanks to sales and coupon codes. So who knows, maybe we can recoup the entire cost and list it for $45 in great-but-slightly-used condition. We shall see…

Berries Burger

As for what the kids think, Clara toddled into the bedroom and gave the new art two thumbs up (not lying, but she does happen to do that gesture a lot). And Burger gave it one paw sideways. He’s such an art snob.

Do you guys have any duvet cover switches or “rewinds” going on? Has anyone else had their man exercise veto power in a surprising but serendipitous-in-the-end way? Does anyone else spray paint while wearing black dress socks or sleep under a white resin ram? Yeah… probably not.

Comments

  1. KathyL says

    Just for kicks and giggles, why not upload your picture to a paint website and instead of painting the walls, paint the bedspread in a different color, trying pastels and taking out those gold pillows. Just for fun.

    Reply

  2. Heather says

    I absolutely LOVE everything you just did to the room you guys!!! :) I can’t believe how much those two prints and taking away the duvet changed the whole look of the room! I actually LOVE the idea of just a plain white duvet cover. I think it looks great!

    Reply

  3. Kirstin - The Olive Seed says

    When I first saw this duvet cover on WE I was all over it like white on rice… But then you guys apparently bought the last one. If you’re seriously considering selling it, let me know – I’d gladly cover your costs plus shipping. The pattern and colours would be great in our guest room. It’s queen size, yes?

    Oh, and back to your post. I love the twig n berries art. I agree it’s always best to go with something YOU like, not necessarily something EVERYONE would like (for that ends up pleasing no one, right?)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s actually a king (even though our bed is a queen we like it to not be too short so a king usually works with a queen bed and gives you more blanket each- haha). We’ll definitely share the link if we get it up on ebay or craigslist though, so thanks for the interest!

      xo,
      s

  6. Kayla says

    I’m not going to lie, I suprisingly LOVE the all white duvet. Which I know has no cover, but I vote to stay with the WHITE. It really brightens up the room. Sad that the pretty duvey has to go, but my husband won’t sleep under flowers let alone anything “leafy”. lol

    Reply

  7. Kel says

    Were these frames bought at the same garage sale that you got the chairs from you mentioned last week? If so it sounds like that was a great garage sale.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Actually we got the frames before those little chairs but they sat in our playroom for a week or two. So glad we finally sprayed and hung them!

      xo,
      s

  8. Emily says

    I’m sure you guys have heard this from a million other people by now, but if you decide to sell your duvet and are in need of a buyer, please let me know! I’d love to buy it. Absolutely love your blog btw! I just can’t stop reading it :)

    Reply

  9. LauraK says

    I know you are planning to replace the nightstands at some point in time but I wish you would scooch them away from the bed just a bit more (along with the newly hung pictures). They are just so close to the bed they lose something.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      They’re a good deal shorter than the mattress so we can’t scooch them away just yet (we need to be able to reach the lamps from bed to turn them off) but once we get taller nightstands we can definitely add some scooch factor!

      xo,
      s

  10. Meredith @ La Buena Vida says

    Ohhh, you’re right–the prints definitely look better with the new frames and mats!

    As far as the veto power goes, it’s happened a few times around here–for example, I would love to build a farm house table, but J really loves the hand-me-down table that was his great grandpa’s and vetoed a new table. It’s not my favorite (by any stretch of the imagination), but it’s important to J so I’ll let it be for now…but MAN, do I ever have amazing plans for if he ever decides that he’s ready to let it go!

    Reply

  12. Jess says

    Great post as always!! Ironically, my in-laws (who live in Alaska) have these prints hanging in there bathroom. How funny! The minute I saw the pictures, I giggled. LOVE that you honeymooned in Alaska, we just got home from a trip up to see the fam. Have a good night!

    Reply

  13. kathy says

    Just wondering if you would consider white lamp shades now that you’re changing out the duvet cover? (I really love how the paint updated those vintage prints!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeah, I’ve been meaning to switch out those shades for a while now- so dingy! They sort of tie into the curtains and the moody horse art on the other side of the room, but you can’t go wrong with white- so we might end up there someday!

      xo,
      s

  15. Mika Anna says

    I also ditched my duvet cover a few months ago (which was a delicious, but dark, chocolate brown) and have been using just the duvet insert as well.

    After spending some time in luxurious hotel rooms (hmm, sounds seedy), I decided to try out the “fluffy white king bed” look and find it so much more inviting. I added a couple of bright Indian-printed throw pillows for colour.

    Reply

  16. Rachael says

    I am sooo jealous of your large bedroom! Our room is almost 10 feet by about 15 feet, but the way that it’s set up, our bed can only go along the narrow wall (closet on one side heating vent on the other) and we have a KING sized bed! I am now FINALLY going to be buying a duvet cover, and am so excited yet nervous because the Hubs and I have total opposite tastes! I have made plain duvet covers by sewing together 2 flat sheets and that works, but I am looking forward to something that I don’t have to sew. However, the duvet on our bed is oversized, and all the duvet covers at Ikea are too small :( What’s a girl to do?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, maybe try places like overstock.com or target to see if they have sales on king duvets? Or coupon codes you can use? I love the idea of you sewing something if you and the hubs can’t agree because you can use a sheet or fabric you love one one side and stuff your man loves on the other side and alternate! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  17. Rachel @ Common to Moms says

    I have to say the bed/nightstand/lamps/prints are feeling squished to me, like the poor bed is claustrophobic between those frames and nightstands. Is there room to spread it out a little? (My hubby and I have a very tiny bedroom so I understand that sometimes the night stand has to go rightnext to the bed.) It just seems like if the side tables/four poster bed looked a little more like your inspiration pic in terms of spacing, Ed the bed could breathe a little. haha okay- that might have been a slightly OCD moment I had looking at pictures of someone else’s house :)

    But getting rid of the old bedspread- genius!!! It reminds me of how in college I had this dance professor who would pick a song to choreograph a dance to, using it as inspiration for the movement. Then she would change the music to a new song and keep the movement the same. It always turned out brilliant. Just like this move! So excited to see the new duvet you choose. And excited about the prints. Amazing how a new frame made the old pictures work!

    Signing off from a very long comment now:)
    -Rachel

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The makeshift night stands are a good deal shorter than the mattress, so we can’t scooch them away just yet (we need to be able to reach the lamps from bed to turn them off). But once we get taller nightstands we can definitely give everything some breathing room!

      xo,
      s

  18. Kristin says

    As I was reading this post I was ready to jump to comments to tell you that if you didn’t want those prints, send hem to me — I love them. But then I saw your change of heart. I am glad you kept them — they look great.

    Reply

  19. Andrea says

    Must be duvet day! I got a flyer for a home sale at Bloomingdale’s Jul 30 in the mail today. The ad showed several beautiful duvets on sale for $99 (any size!) I have fairly new bedding, so shouldn’t even be looking, but, oh, so many pretty patterns! Tempting! Then I read your posting with its duvet subplot — funny timing. Maybe I’ll get to live vicariously through a new duvet find by you all sometime soon!

    Reply

  20. Ruth says

    OMG. My DIL just sent me the link to your ramblings. I opened it up and saw my prints. I have those same RW Tyler prints. I bought them from him when I was a teen in Alaska. They have been kicking around here forever. Think I’m gonna done the black socks and grab a can of paint.

    Reply

  22. Sara says

    Great job as always! My last duvet regret was having our initials embroidered into our pottery barn duvet cover. Seemed like a great idea at the time but not so much my style once on the bed. Plus my 14 month old loves to pull at the loose threads in the embroidery. Since then I decided not to cover my white ikea comforter, get patterned sheets, and make the bed halfway to expose the pattern in the sheets.

    Reply

  23. Meagan B. says

    I didn’t go through the comments to see if someone else posted this but, if you make it to ikea o the 19th of august they apparently do some annual crayfish feast… We are four hours form the closest one (boo!) so I would love to eat vicariously through you guys :) p.s. Your blog is fantastic, I just got done reading all the posts, and now am working on a console table, coffee table turned ottoman and general organizational tricks thaks to you guys!

    Reply

  24. kelley says

    I love the twigs and berries prints! it’s amazing how much better they look with white mats. I never would have thought to spray paint a mat, I’m definitely trying that soon…

    Reply

  25. Nicole Reiner says

    exercising his veto… HAHAHAH

    what are you doing man?

    exercising my veto man.

    Listening to this stuff makes you sterile.

    Maybe I wanna be sterile.

    I LOVE EMPIRE RECORDS

    Reply

  26. Charlitan says

    First I cracked up at “Twigs & Berries” because I am apparently a twelve year old boy trapped in a woman’s body. Then I cracked up again at “manage your expectations our lives aren’t that interesting”. Seriously awesome post.

    I love the art. I like older grandma/vintage looking things. I also think it looks great where it is, but then again, I didn’t notice the clash in wood tones OR that the art clashed with the duvet, so take that for what it’s worth! I just think it all looked good, clashes and all! Try not to picture what this means about the state of my house. It will only give you a headache!

    Reply

  27. MB says

    Bought a MS quilt at Macy’s. Neither my husband nor I can stand duvets as they never seem to sit quite right. Loved the simple pattern and thought I could improve it by dying the quilt a richer blue color. Unfortunately the dye covered not only the original blue but also the fern pattern, which I thought would have ended up only light blue. Bummer. It did come out the perfect color (rit dye, four blue, one violet and one black) but without any remaining pattern. Currently on the hunt for a new quilt. Not easy. EVERYONE offers duvets or quilts with kind of dated patterns. Grandma prints look hip and eclectic. Grandma quilts look like well, Grandma quilts.

    Reply

  29. Eve says

    I definitely agree that it works better without the duvet cover. Before I saw the art there, and the leafy duvet, the light fixture was sticking out to me a bit… making me think it would look better spraypainted gold (a la Amy Butler). But now with all the white, it works. And I sort of like the baffle-poofiness of the duvet insert… makes me think one of those pintuck duvets or something eyelet-ish would work well too (though the pintucks don’t hold up well to kids, I’ll let you guess how I know).

    Reply

  30. Christina says

    I was born and raised in AK and my parents have the same prints in the hallway of their house in Anchorage! I think they bought them back in the eighties, so you found a pair of classics.

    Reply

  31. Joanna May says

    First of all, I’m loving the new direction. LOVING. Love the art, and the duvet switch decision. I also have a sad sad duvet story. Before hubs and I got married, I found my dream duvet on sale: the Wentworth Linen from Restoration Hardware. http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1619043

    Then I discovered that dogs were going to sleep on our bed. 2 big, sometimes filthy labs, and that this duvet weighed like 30 pounds and almost kills our washing machine. That and I kinda shrunk it. Oh but it’s gorgeous, and is all linen wrinkly after washing, and it’s now a not-quite-king. Bah humbug, it’s not ideal.

    Reply

    • kathy says

      haha! This reminds me of this week’s episode of The Marriage Ref! The woman who had the pillow addiction.

  33. Addie says

    I laughed out loud when you said that you don’t entertain in your bedroom, because…well…we just did. We had invited six people over for dinner Friday night, it was 103 degrees in Philadelphia, and our 75 year old house doesn’t have air conditioning on the main floor. Luckily, though, our bedroom is huge, and it has the best window unit in the house. So, up went the folding table that we usually put out by the grill. Up went six dining room chairs. Up went our wedding china, candlesticks, flowers, and the three course meal I’d made (you can’t even imagine how hot it was in the kitchen while I was cooking). It was actually a fantastic dinner party, and everybody had a good laugh about our, ummm, intimate dinner party setting.

    Reply

  34. Erica in SF says

    Love it, as always! Funny I was just feeling as John was about the duvet, though I loved it in the beginning! The room has just evolved since then… I predict you will sew a duvet cover on Oh Bro… I like the look of the bedskirt in the Country Living photo.. I just got a really nice thick one from Amazon it’s textured white (brand is Pinzon Matelasse). I just got 4 nice frames with nice mats for $32 at goodwill- talked the manager down to half the marked price since I got all! And a “Sherry Jewelry holder” egg tray thing, I love it for earrings!!!

    Reply

  35. Chrissie says

    You know, I was thinking about you and your ORB habit the other day (at 4.30am when I couldn’t sleep). Before you get too creeped out, I was thinking about my upcoming wedding (just under 6 months now, eep!).

    For our centrepieces I’ve been collecting mismatched candelabras and was planning to spray them all black, so they’d be matching but mismatched if you know what I mean.

    But I was worried plain black would look too flat, too dull. Then, BRAINWAVE! Oil rubbed bronze! It’s dark enough to go with the lovely rustic venue, but has enough of a gleam to be visually interesting.

    So thanks Sherry – I never would have thought of ORB if it weren’t for you!

    Reply

  36. Marla says

    Have you looked into the story behind the prints/artist? I thought for sure they were Robert Furber prints until I saw the RW Ty.. in one of the pics. I found an April flower print by Furber at goodwill for $7. I bought it bc I liked the vintage hand colored look, the matting is a very pretty pink, and my little girl’s bday is in April (he has a flower print for each month of the year). It looks so sweet in her bedroom. Love the significance of the Alaskan reference with your new find!

    Reply

  38. Melanie says

    I have to tell ya, I was a bit upset at the beginning of the post. “Grandma?! What do you mean those are grandma?? They are kitschy and AWESOME!” And then you guys came around and I was happy again. Nicely done. Way to take me on an emotional journey just by blogging.

    Reply

  39. Renee says

    you have such a great eye for this stuff! i would have considering painting the frames, but the fact that you sprayed the mats white is what really makes this art work so well! i think the art really brings out the color of the pillows and the walls… well done!

    Reply

  40. Pawky says

    I definitely need more practice at the ‘yard sale’ thing. I would have walked straight past those frames and missed a great bargain. Like some comments I’m not 100% sure I like the lamp-frame overlap but I can’t criticise, I would have missed the great purchase altogether.

    Well done!

    Pawky

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Those would be pretty! I think we really want a storage drawer or something though- just to keep some of that clutter off the top. We’re hoping to find a secondhand set to refinish!

      xo,
      s

  42. katalina says

    how about covering the bench with a patterned fabric and switching to a different color and shape for the side lampshades so they will not compete with
    the alaskan art…and a polar bear instead of the ram as well!

    spray painting is inspiring and powerful but can lead to changing the duvet!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      There’s definitely an ottoman upgrade (or update) in our future along with a planned lamp shade switch down the line (I’ve been craving white shades for a while, although the ones we have sort of tie into the curtains and the horse art so they’re not terrrible). Lots to do in here for sure!

      xo,
      s

  43. The Catty Cat Lady says

    I love the white duvet. I’ve actually been contemplating going more subdued in my bedroom. I have a bright patchwork quilt from Crate and Barrel, some bright prints and a bright yellow vanity in my bedroom (not pictured):
    http://thecattycatlady.tumblr.com/
    Ignore the clutter on my bedside table. I’m a med student and study in my bedroom. Anyways, it’s been feeling less than serene especially cause it’s a small space (I live in a 750 sq ft loft). I’m sure the study clutter contributes to the -non-serenity but that’s not going to change. My bedspread on the other hand…

    Reply

  44. Kathleen says

    Ikea has some pretty nice duvet covers. I just got one with floral print on one side and soft stripes on the other. The price isn’t too bad either.

    Reply

  45. Jill says

    Before I got to the “we’re keeping the prints” part, I was planning to beg you to do a giveaway. I LOVE the prints. So much so that I think I have to track down something similar. Does the artist’s name appear on the prints?

    Reply

  47. Maya says

    I’m on team keep-the-duvet white… I wasn’t crazy about that whole area (and the art above the bed) until I suddenly saw it with the white duvet! The posts of the bed tie in so much better now!

    Reply

  49. Izzy says

    If you (Sherry) love the duvet cover so much, why not keep it and turn it something else – cushion covers, table cloth, dress for Clara?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s always a possibility too! It’s the age old question of whether it makes more sense to sell it and put the money towards something new or repurpose the fabric as something new! We’ll just have to see where we end up…

      xo,
      s

  50. Tara G. says

    We used to live in Alaska and the prints and ram head work together- the big horn sheep climb all over the rocks on the Seward Hwy! :)

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *