We found these babies at a yard sale and haggled them down to $10 a pop. Let’s call them our twig & berries.
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:
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.
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.
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…
… along with the leaning mirror, and the leather chair in the corner:
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.
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..
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
While I was at it I carefully removed the mats and sprayed those white for a cleaner look.
Now brace yourself for the hottest picture you’ve ever seen on the internet:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
Catherine says
Why sell the West Elm one? I would keep it to use while your new one is in the wash or just when you feel like a change. I have 3 or 4 doona (aka duvet) covers that I rotate. I tend to go with lighter coloured ones in summer and darker, cosier ones in winter.
YoungHouseLove says
We just figure since we don’t plan to switch out our twig/berry art seasonally, we won’t ever want to go back to that competing duvet cover (so it’ll just sit unused in a closet or something). But I’m definitely going to make sure we don’t have a use for it before putting it up for sale!
xo,
s
Amanda says
A use for it? CURTAINS FOR THE PLAY ROOM! Ahem, sorry, I may of just freaked out a bit and had a light bulb over my head. I swear, it happened. If I was in a cartoon you would of seen it go off!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s always a possibility…
xo,
s
A.S. says
Oh thank goodness. I was immediately invested in that art and died a little at the part where it was in danger. Just switch out the mat, I screamed in my head.
Good decision on the duvet cover! I love a happy ending.
Anna says
Hey! I love your “makeshift nightstands”! Did you buy them somewhere or do you happen to have made them yourselves? I want a tray table next to my couch and thought fleamarket or yardsale would be my place to go but dang they are ridiculously expensive! I thought about DIY-ing one… so if you have an instruction on how to that would be great!
YoungHouseLove says
Those were from Target a long time ago (maybe $50 each or so on sale?). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Traci says
If you were wanting the prints to be “longer” and bigger like your inspiration picture, you could always add some moulding around them – you know, 3-4 inches away from your print, attached to the wall. Just a thought . . . glad you kept them. Now that you’ve updated them, they don’t look “grandmother-ish” at all!
katie says
You ought to get a canvas drop cloth from lowes, they are not that expensive and then you won’t have to waste garbage bags everytime. We got one and use it for more than just painting, it comes in handy when we want to put something dirty (like mulch) in the trunk and for a ton of other stuff…plus I can wash it when it is dirty and use it over and over–so its good for the environment too!
YoungHouseLove says
Great idea! We have an old sheet that we like to reuse (and sometimes use cardboard from the recycle bin). I just grabbed those bags because we were low on cardboard and the sheet was in the wash!
xo,
s
Kim says
I’m moving this weekend and am also planning a road trip to IKEA and Homegoods since I don’t have one nearby. I’ve never been to either! I just hope I can let myself get creative and buy a bunch of stuff!
Anon says
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.
that was really funny!
Keri Beth says
I really like those prints now! Amazing what a little spray paint to frames and mats can do.
Kim says
Tammy, we hide things behind our drapes (she was looking for a place to hide her upright vacuum). We have a couple of rolls of Christmas wrap behind the ones in our bedroom and you’d never know it was there.
Ally says
Ooooh. I love those prints. You did an awesome thing updating the frames and the mats, and you breathed new life into those lovely retro works of art. And I like the placement of them (behind your lamps). Super cool!
Jenny says
I love the look! Sounds like with a couple of larger pieces of furniture it will look more balanced. Which is good because your lamps are covering Alaska! :-)
JCPenney has solid color duvets with a pattern in the fabric that are nice!
kimberly says
I love the botanicals! And, I wish ALL of my annoying why-haven’t-you-bought-new-bedding friends could read this post! We moved last year and renovated our entire condo and there are a few lingering things that I haven’t been able to finish because I am holding out for something I love…it’s good to know I’m not the only one :)
Beckie says
You know, I totally wasn’t into the ram or the sconces on either side. Now without the duvet and with the addition of the new prints and frames, I’m surprisingly drawn to them. I think the white duvet really allows the other objects to stand on their own.
Hooked on Hickory says
the prints are great! & i love that you went on your honeymoon in alaska and the prints are alaskian berries etc. those one in a lifetime finds!
ashley
Jen says
I had a Pottery Barn duvet cover (bought on clearance) that we used for several years and was still able to get $35 for it on Craigslist. I bought an Overstock duvet for about $40, so, pretty good deal. It’s fun to be thrifty!
Gavin S. says
Oh my gosh. Please, please, please tell me the very second (or maybe even the second right before) you decide to put that duvet cover up on eBay or Craigslist. I’ve loved it since the day you got it and have just the place for it!
Also, thanks for making me do the awkward whole-body-shaking-but-can’t-make-any-noise-silent laugh at my desk. Totally made Tuesday afternoon worthwhile.
YoungHouseLove says
Sure thing! We hereby promise to post a link if we ebay or craigslist it!
xo,
s
Charlotte | Living Well on the Cheap says
Love it! I think every room needs a little something granny.
Suzanne says
Love the prints! Have you tried the printed duvet folded at the end of the bed? Might add some color and fun back but in a smaller dose!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, I played around with it but it still felt kind of busy and compete-ish with the art. Might find somewhere else to repurpose it if we don’t sell it though!
xo,
s
Blair says
Love the inspiration pic–its actually been in my files of faves too! So glad you kept the prints. They look terrific and I personally have always been a fan of white bedding. As usual, I’m impressed with your work!
Since we are focusing on the bedroom again, I’d love to know a status update on the sturdiness of Ed the Bed. We’ve been considering him for a while and I’m eager to hear how he holds up. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We couldn’t be happier with Ed. He’s amazingly sturdy, even though our organic mattress weighs five million pounds.
xo,
s
Catherine S says
This is such a great budget project, and it looks wonderful.
However, I just wanted to chime in that if you love those prints, you might want to be careful with putting them right up against a mat that has been spray-painted. Especially since that white paint is not low VOC, it might off-gas and discolor the prints at some point. I wouldn’t be too worried about it for $10 prints/mats/frames that I like pretty well, but just be careful if you ever add art that you spend a lot of money on/really care about.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Catherine! We let the mats off-gas in the sun outside for a while and only sprayed the front of them (so the back part that’s against the print isn’t spray painted). Here’s hoping they last!
xo,
s
Elisa says
Dude. Amazing what a little spray paint will do. ‘Course, the socks help too, hah.
claire says
Duvet rewind going on over here. Bought this “had to have it” duvet from restoration hardware 3.5 years ago and approximately 3.25 years ago half of it started looking stained :( Tried everything, but alas, we’ve given up. Too bad too, because we splurged on it and both LOVED it. Boo! So we are doing the TJ perusal as well hoping we find “the one”… we shall see…
jennifer says
re: new duvet
not sure if this would read too green and busy, but this fabric (from nicole’s son’s crib skirt) might be a nice simple pattern for a new duvet? http://www.freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/gallery.php?gal_id=277&sw_id=3705&add=exist
its a sewing project but really not much more complicated than a massive pillowcase
YoungHouseLove says
Pretty!
xo,
s
jennifer says
p.s. nicole of making it lovely. shoulda mentioned that. found here http://makingitlovely.com/2011/06/02/augusts-nursery/
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah I love that!
xo,
s
Kelly @cornerofmain.com says
I love the prints! They are cute. I need to start doing the hot sock thing…I left lovely white foot prints on our freshly painted red deck last week. My husband was proud ;)
Kelly @cornerofmain.wordpress.com says
I think I am still asleep – I put the wrong website on my comment.
SK Bryan says
I need to hit some garage sales this wkend. Too bad it is 105 in Tulsa;( Love Pinterest. Found so many ideas lately.
Found an old buffet at a local store & plan to give it some love using some of the pics I found.
Nicole says
Loving the changes. I couldn’t help but share this post because it reminded me of your post (white frames, bed-spread vetoing.
http://funderburks.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring.html
YoungHouseLove says
Fun! Love that duvet both ways!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
Sherry/John,
Lately your posts haven’t displayed pictures on either Google Reader, or in the blog when opened in a Firefox window. Did something change? I’m so sad to not be able to enjoy the blog!!
Jennifer
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry! We haven’t changed anything but we’ve learned from a few folks that they’re having the same problem. Someone solved it by realizing it was their anti-virus software that was blocking the images and went into their preferences and added the link to our images or something as “ok” and they all came back! Maybe that helps? You also might be able to empty the cache on your browser to get them back? Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Paige Jones says
love the prints–makeover and all.
I’m somewhat surprised at the duvet change, just because that seemed to be the inspiration piece for the room’s momentum…but I definitely have to agree with your change of heart. I’m excited to see what you guys end up with…and I’m wicked excited that you mentioned the possibility of subtle stripes!
Jenny says
I moved in to a new house and got a new duvet about the exact same time you did and I just changed mine out too! Darn rushed decisions!! But I’m much happier with the room now.
It was a wedding present so it was free to me! I sold it for $60 and then took it to the dry cleaner. . .which ended up being $45!! This was for the the duvet & 2 sham and I live in NE so prices aren’t inflated here. So before you decide on a price make sure you check out dry cleaning costs and add that in! I would have hoped to make more than $15 on a barely used duvet!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh thanks for the tip! Ours is just cottom/machine washable, so I’ll probably just do a hot wash and sell it and assume the buyer will do another hot wash just to be thorough. Haha.
xo,
s
Kelly Mann says
I TOTALLY did this… we registered for a duvet when we were getting married and about 8 months later I totally hated it. Like, for real, hated it.
I told myself that when we moved into our first house I would get a new one, you know, justifying it… Well we did and I did, and the plan was to use the hated duvet in the guest room. Guess what? It’s sitting in the closet! Ha!
Here’s a post I did when I talked about that stinkin’ duvet!
http://kmanndesigns.com/blog/2010/08/24/a-weekend-full-of-miscellany/
YoungHouseLove says
Haha – too funny!
xo,
s
Sara says
Fab, as usual! Thanks for the tip of springing for the all angle sprayer nozzle, did that even make sense? I have become obsessed with spray painting (thank you for all the inspiration) and this has made it so very easy & super fun to finish a project. Great time saver.
Shanna says
We JUST made over our bedroom from dark red and sage green (NO idea what we were thinking) to a white and aqua combo that we LOVE. We tend to think white is too easy and that we should use more color, and then realized how amazing it looks, especially in a bedroom. Now our formerly chocolate brown duvet is going to be the cotton pintuck from WestElm – SOO excited!
Thanks for all of the inspiration. We’re about to make a yarn chandelier for our dining room (
http://houseandhome.com/tv/segment/trendy-diy-pendant-light ) and we only mustered up the guts to do a DIY after reading a few of your most recent posts. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh those are so much fun! Tell me how it goes!!
xo,
s
Becky says
Oh wow, the white duvet and those green pillows looks so much better; it’s cohesive and really sets off the wall color. I’m sorry to say that they duvet cover you had was well, not the cat’s meow in my opinion!
The writing you did here is fantastic. So funny but in a sick way. LOL
Lindsay says
I am in the process of making a DIY duvet cover. I found some Dwell Studio fabric at a local store for around $15/yard and a king size flat sheet from Home Goods! I haven’t decided to try for button holes, since like Sherry, my sowing skills are extremely limited. I may do a zipper or Velcro instead.
Michell Adams says
This post made me laugh so.hard. I simply had to quote you: http://www.worldsoup.tumblr.com. Hope you don’t mind!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks!
xo,
s
Lauren says
Ok…you need to move to Texas and decorate my house. Seriously! hahaha
Love the new art and LOVE that you got them for 10 buckeroos! I have always dreamed of “wallpapering” my kitchen with prints like that, or maybe just doing a wall with crowded framed prints. I love the feel of those prints, like they came right out of an old encyclopedia.
Stephanie B says
Seems to me that burger loves it…. Looks great! :)
Mandi says
I love those prints! I mean, I’m an herbalist, so flowers and berries are kind of my thang, but I think they look great in your updated frames. Great find!
Lori says
I have, until now, been a silent observer of your blog for several years now (which I love, BTW). But I could now resist commenting on your lovely black socks. That photo actually made me snort. Too funny! Brilliant idea too. No longer will my flip flops be covered with a thin mist of paint now that I know the sock trick.
I really like your new prints too and the fact that they are partially covered by the lamps is a good choice. It’s called composition…sometimes things need to intersect. Your bedroom is really coming together. I’m very impressed.
–lori
Jennifer D. says
You guys are so lucky to find stuff like that. Every time I’m on the lookout for old prints, I usually can only find one when I really want a pair, or three, or four. Also, I love your duvet. But I understand wanting something new. I recently bought a new duvet from Pottery Barn when it was on sale this past month even though we only used our other *new* duvet for one season. Tastes change. :)
Kim says
Love this! I have a lot of random frames like this. I’ve thought about spray painting the actual frames, but not the mats. I’m so going to do that now — thanks!
Grace says
I really, really love the new art. I liked the prints even in the dated frames, but they’re great with the darker frames and crisp mats. I’m glad you decided to keep them!
Sarah says
save that duvet and use the fabric for curtains or pillow covers or, or, or ANYTHING YOU PLEASE now that Sherry has mad sewing skills :)
Amy says
LOVE the new prints! They look great. My family has spent our first Alaskan summer consumed with wild flower & berry identification (and munching). The kids get such a kick out of eating the flowers and the berries that are just starting to ripen. Such an amazing place! They are going to want these prints when I show them so I am off to see if I can find something similar. If you ever decide to let them go, let me know!
Maria says
I love the botanical prints. Those prints totally reminded me of this.
http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2011/06/28/diy-goodwill-print-to-paint-by-number-art/
They did a totally cool paint by number treatment with craft paint over their Granny Botanical.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah that was such a cool project!
xo
s
Katie says
OMG I almost peed when I saw the picture of the black socks! Too funny! I would totally do something like that but I live in an apartment and the only spray painting area I have is in the front lawn…where EVERYONE could see me. :) This blog always brightens my day! Thanks!
Vicki K says
I loved the art before you changed the frames, but the new white mats and black frames make them PERFECT.
I also had a duvet that was overpowering the room and took it off to leave the white down comforter. It made such a differnce – I never have replaced it with anything else. I love the new look.
Vicki K says
Another thought… had you thought about turning your side tables the other way and pulling them farther away from the bed? Would make tables look wider. Than adjust art out to match the tables.
YoungHouseLove says
The bedside tables are square, so they wouldn’t look any beffier when turned. And in order to turn off the lights from our bed we can’t scooch them any further away. But once we get new wider tables with some storage (we’re dying for top drawers for all the random clutter that pops up) we’ll be a lot more settled in I think!
xo,
s
Ellen says
Could you let me know who the artist of the prints is? I love them and would like to get a setn
YoungHouseLove says
It says RW Tyler but we’ve also heard his real name is Toby Tyler.
xo,
s