Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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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. Miss Scarlett says

    I totally ditched my Pottery Barn embroidered duvet cover about a year ago. I bought a chevron patterned striped quilt on sale from The Company Store for the summer heat. When winter came, I decided that I loved the softness and the stripy coziness of the quilt so much that I just put the duvet underneath it and slept that way all winter.

    Now the expensive Pottery Barn duvet cover just sits in dry cleaning bags in the closet – granted I did use that cover for about 5 – 6 years. But no more embroidered flowers and vines, now it’s all quilted chevrons of pieced stripes.

    Glad to finally admit that!! Thanks for the therapy.

    Reply

  2. Annette says

    It’s funny. Here in Germany, we don’t use top sheets. You’ll usually use a fitted sheet to cover the mattress and, of course, the duvet cover.

    That means I switch the duvet cover when I change sheets on my bed and the room looks different every time. That’s why we got more than one duvet covers. A white one (my choice), a brown/greyish one (his choice) and a green-patterned one from Ikea (my choice and he knew not to argue, green’s my absolute favorite color in the whole wide world. Picture here: http://www.ikea.com/de/de/catalog/products/00180001#/00179979/)

    Makes it harder to choose a wall color that fits all three covers, though. I have to admit that.

    And as I’m ususally the one to change the bedding, his choice spends a lot of time in the closet. He’s yet to complain about it, though. I’m not quite sure if he even notices when I change it ;-)

    Reply

  3. beth says

    I’m excited to see where this goes. I have to admit, I never really liked the West Elm duvet all that much in your space, but obviously things like that are totally a personal preference thing. I really, really like the new artwork (totally my style) and I think the changes will be fantastic.

    It is soooo hard to not “settle” on something. We moved a few weeks after you guys did, and in our new house, I have yet to touch the MBR. I haven’t found bedding that I love yet (well, I have, if you count a $600 duvet…not happening!), so I’ve been trying really hard to be patient. I don’t want to paint until I know what we’re working with on bedding. So….MBR sits neglected for now.

    We’ve owned 3 houses now, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is take your time and do it right. Sometimes we screw up and buy things and end up replacing them later. Even w/ the best of intentions, sometimes things don’t work out. But like you said in one of your previous posts, rarely do we regret taking the time to do it right/think through it in the first place. Of course, then I run the risk of inertia and not getting stuff done, but I hate doing stuff and then having to redo it later, when I should have just thought through it the first time.

    Reply

  4. Kayla says

    wasn’t so sure what you were going to do with those prints when I first started reading the post but I really liked the finished product! its fun seeing that room evolve!

    Reply

  5. Christina says

    I actually have nothing but a white duvet on my bed right now too! Except mine’s been that way for over a year. A year ago I was quite silly and didn’t realize I should really have a cover for my duvet. (Mine especially is cheap and not meant to stand up to the stress of being used alone.) And when I began to understand my mistake I realized I had no monies to buy a duvet cover. Haha. At least not one I love. I’ve been told I have expensive tastes. Its terribly obnoxious.

    Recently I made an exhaustive list of home improvement tasks I’d like to complete and obtaining new bedding is on there, however it’s like half way down the list (of over 30 things). Sad. One day! P.S. I love the way your white bedding looks! It makes everything else in the room really speak! Just sayin.

    Reply

  6. alison says

    I recognize those prints! I sold approximately one gizzilion of them when I worked at a gift shop in Alaska (summer job in high school).

    BTW, he signs his stuff RW Taylor, but if you want to sound in the know, it’s a Toby Taylor.

    Reply

  7. Amanda says

    I noticed the prints before the frames, but I love those frames, could you perhaps measure them and let me know the size? I’d love you forever, in-a-totally-not-weird-obsessive-way ;)

    And I’m thinking stripes would be amazing, gray stripes to be exact. Or something light, with white. Which is what mine and my boyfriend’s bedding is, so that way I can let the wall colour and the art shine. (our bedding is white with random gray shapes)

    OOR you could do pintuck, I’ve always been a fan … http://www.westelm.com/products/organic-cotton-pin-tuck-duvet-cover-and-shams-b340/?pkey=cduvet-covers which puts interest in the bedding but with no colour (if you choose white)

    Reply

  8. rivka says

    Those long frames are perfect and so glad you kept the art. I have to agree with the commenter above– The frames seem too close to the bed and the lamps cover up half of them. But are you saying you are putting a cabinet in one of those spaces near the other wall? Maybe you do need the frames closer to the bed then because of that? Just a shame the lamps cover up most of the art and you can’t see the beautiful length. Could they be hung higher?

    Aside from my mean critique I giggled all the way through the post. Loved it! And yes, “composure is a beautiful thing to lose.” lol

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Once we get permanent side tables we’ll certainly choose a more permanent art placement, we just need those for-now tables close enough to the bed to turn off the light from bed (so the prints looked best right over them). As for height, the lamps only cover the plain writing on the bottom, and we chose that height so they’d look balanced with Sir Ram, but I’m sure things will evolve and stuff will scooch around as we get more permanent furnishings!

      xo,
      s

  9. Katie Truelove says

    I love the new look– changing those frames made all the difference because the prints are cool:) I am partial to beautiful fluffy white beds but I think a subtle pattern will look great too!

    Reply

  10. kellie s. says

    Loved the leafy duvet, but I also love the switch to highlight the art.

    I’m totally in the midst of trying to figure out how to dye my current guest bedroom duvet. It’s navy, and I want white. Though I’ve heard-tell that you may not dye anything white. You can only bleach, which can damage fabric. If you have any insight, I’d love to hear it. I know you are the Queen of Dye, Sherry!

    Reply

  11. Anne says

    i think you should hang on to the duvet cover! you love it so much, and it might be perfect for clara’s room someday!

    i do think you are making the right move by looking for a different duvet cover for your bedroom. the naked white duvet insert already looks so much more elegant than the business of the west elm duvet. :)

    Reply

  12. Jessica says

    Hi guys!

    I was in love with this duvet: http://www.westelm.com/products/organic-cotton-pin-tuck-duvet-cover-and-shams-b340/?pkey=cduvet-covers for a super long time before I finally bought it (in steel blue). I feel like something along these lines would be great for your new bedroom look–not really a bold pattern, just texture. Something like this: http://www.westelm.com/products/square-tuck-duvet-shams-b556/?pkey=cduvet-covers could be a possibility too!

    Reply

  14. Donna says

    You can’t go wrong with white but I agree that something with a texture like a printed basket weave or stripes would look great. And I wouldn’t worry about the “reboot”. I’m all the time changing my mind about stuff as the look of a room evolves. That’s the fun part. Just be careful the curtains still work with the new duvet (since they coordinated with the leafy one) or you’ll be curtain shopping soon. Of course that would be fun also…

    Reply

  15. Melissa S. says

    Gosh. I love your duvet cover in there. The white looks so naked and unfinished to me!

    Totally not my jam, but you know, it’s not mine. LOL

    Love the prints. They look great. Especially in one of the earlier pics, with the old duvet cover. (ROFL)

    Reply

  17. Sue Ryan says

    You should do some research on your Alaska wild berry and wild flower prints. I live here in Alaska and those prints may be worth something. A friend of mine purchased one back in the late 80s or early 90s.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’ve done some googling and learned they’re by a local there named Toby Tyler and were probably made in the 80s. Fun!

      John and I were made in the 80’s too. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  18. Clare says

    This is probably my favourite post you’ve ever written, I enjoyed it so much. I adore the botanical prints and can’t wait to see what duvet cover you end up with.

    Reply

  21. Caity says

    My mom’s cousin has both of those prints! Granted we all lived in Alaska at point, so it makes sense for her (although I love that it reminds you of your Alaskan honeymoon – so sweet). Anyway, every time I see them in her house I get nostalgic for AK. Love that you guys have them too!

    Reply

  22. Sherry (from Canada) says

    Love it….what a great find. I have been lucky in finding some great artwork at 2nd hand stores too. I never thought of spaying a mat. Why not? I have a lovely watercolour with a dreary blue mat that bugs me….so guess what I will be doing this weekend….yep. I will be be redoing that baby and freshening it up. It is amazing how much a white mat can update artwork. No wonder I am hooked on your blog. I get such great ideas that I can actually use in my house.

    Reply

  23. Pat says

    Love the new look sans duvet cover. Being a grandma myself, while a pretty, fashion savvy one, I agree with hubby that the grandma prints are a thumbs up, but the West Elm duvet cover not-so-much. I am old enough to be past the DIY stage of life, but enjoy reading about your projects. Your enthusiasm makes it all seem like such fun. Keep up the good work.

    Reply

  24. Anne W says

    Hey guys! Fun seeing this project since I first ran into yall at the yard sale where you found them :) I LOVE the painted frames/mats and think the original prints look awesome in your room! xoxo

    Reply

  27. Clare says

    Weird! Most everybody I know has several duvet covers and sheet sets that they change out and wash regularly. No opportunity to get bored or decide to sell one for another. Maybe it is a Canadian thing but I’ve never heard of someone with one duvet. It would be like owning a single towel or sheet.

    Reply

  30. Bea says

    First of all (little late but nonetheless true) :
    gorgeous pictures with your new hair!
    and you in the black dress/yellow cardigan holding Clara on the beach : superbes!
    Now back to this post, I personnally would like to see the bottom part of the print where the text is. At the risk of having something some might consider to serious for a bedroom. It adds a historical dimension to the room to me.
    But the subtle cabin/frontier feel conveyed first by the leather, the running horses, the green tones, the ram and now the Alaskan botanical reference is right up my alley.. Love it! And somewhat echoing what we have in our own bedroom (-okay if you saw the pix you might think otherwise :-) and give me a huge question mark face but that’s the same underneath idea)
    And while I’m at it : OMG here too for the challenge!!!!

    Reply

  31. kate says

    I really like the white duvet with the current prints in your bedroom. I have a question, however, Why is it that art is hung so low that lamps overlap the piece? I see this ALL THE TIME & I don’t get it. As an artist myself, I always hang work so that it can be totally seen. I am puzzled.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The lamps only overlap an appendix of flower names under the image, but it’s definitely one of those personal preference things. There may be less overlap once the furnishings are finalized (the height was just determined by the existing height of Sir Ram since I didn’t want the prints to look like they were riding high by comparison) but since we’re planning to get real much-taller nightstands someday, we figure we’ll rehang everything a bit higher and wider when the furniture is more permanent.

      xo,
      s

  32. Erin says

    I’m thinking of spray painting a few picture frames in my house to get rid of so much brown. I was going to go with black but noticed that you used ORB. But it’s not really obvious in your photos that it IS ORB. Can you tell in real life that you used ORB paint and not black??? Is there a big difference?

    And how did using gloss on the mattes turn out? Better than using a matte paint? I would have never thought to use a gloss on a framing matte. Thanks!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah, to me there’s a big difference in person. Orb is sort of a soft chocolate metallic-ish. Black is deeper and there’s no metallic stuff in it. It’s sort of like a black iron faucet or light vs. an oil-rubbed bronze one. In person it’s easy to tell the difference. As for using gloss white on the mats, it was what I had on hand and it worked well, although matte would work really well too I think!

      xo,
      s

  33. Kimberly R. says

    I grew up looking at those prints so I am very glad you kept them! Also, the bonus factor that you honeymooned up here in Alaska makes them even more special.

    Happy Thursday!

    Reply

  34. Ashley DeMazza says

    We live in an old house in Falls Village, CT. It was wonderful seeing all of these beautiful decorating ideas! Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photographs.

    Ashley DeMazza
    Falls Village, CT

    Reply

  35. susan says

    Love the prints…just to make life more interesting, LOL have you thought of putting the art INSIDE the frame area of the bed, and moving the brown thingies( candle thingys?) to the space where the art is? It would read differently in scale, and would love fabby IMHO :)

    I’d keep the ram in between the prints too BTW…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Since our big chandelier covers the top half of the wall above the bed we liked leaving it more sparse (withiut any big art) so nothing gets blocked by our chandelier.

      xo,
      s

  36. Nicki says

    Am I the ONLY person out there that really liked your West Elm duvet? I am feeling quite alone! I do know that whatever you two do always works so I guess i’d better just accept the change! :)

    Reply

  37. Ana Silva says

    I think it looks good with the old duvet cover. I looked more like the inspiration. Plus, isn’t your whole color scheme based on the duvet cover? So now what?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We think that duvet came into our lives to lead us to other stuff that we love (the wall color, the curtains, the horse art, Sir Ram), so it definitely served its purpose. Now that those things are in the room – along with our new twig & berries prints we can just go from there and see what other stuff we end up adding to the mix. We’re all about trial and error!

      xo,
      s

  38. Leigh says

    Not only do I get the veto, but I’ll buy a comforter for the bed and it’s “too hot” to sleep under. Which leads to him wrapping up in a fitted sheet…the bed is impossible.

    Reply

  39. Tawnyd. says

    Hi guys! I was so surprised you decided to change the duvet cover. I have to admit though, that it’s probably for the better! I would never have thought that until you started hanging up the artwork. Good call!
    I don’t know if you’ve ever checked out Urbanoutfitters.com ‘s duvets. They are super cool even though they are meant for college dorms- but no one has to know right? I would totally have bought their ruffle bedding, but we have a giant cal king sized bed and they only go up to queens :( Don’t know what size you have, but thought you might like the tip…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks for the tip! I love their stuff. We have a queen sized bed but use a king cover (we like it roomier and since our bed is high it doesn’t look crazy-big). Bummer they don’t make larger covers!

      xo,
      s

  41. Autumn says

    love the twig and berries print, but i just dont like the art in your living room. i get you were trying to do the napkin colors, but its too bold for that room. maybe try just one big piece of art, since you have the ‘a lot of frames on one wall’ thing going on in the hallway.

    Reply

  44. Christina W. says

    just saw this today and wanted to say that i breathed an audible sigh of relief when you ditched the duvet cover! west elm has many lovely textiles, but that thing is….hm. well let’s just say that i was quite perplexed when you bought it as you usually have much better taste. keep up the good work though, i love to see your home evolve!

    Reply

  45. Kelley says

    Are you kidding? Duvet switches is my middle name! I think I’m on #6 since we bought a king-sized bed just a few months back (maybe December). #6 is on its way from West Elm as I type! I love bedding!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ooh that’s cute! Probably too loud for our bedroom, but very fun for someone with less in the way of ram heads and twigs and berries and horse art! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  47. Maria says

    I love the prints and the ram head! However, I think it will look even better without those sconces (They were great before, but with the prints the ram head may be enough.) You never know till you try.

    Also, good choice on the duvet cover!

    Reply

  48. Allyson says

    Did my first spray-painting job today…. Decided on a lovely “berry” colored paint and got to work outside in the sun. Hours later (after running 2 errands and picking the kids up at school) I look in the mirror and can’t believe how sunburned I got. Cut to the shower, where my perfectly white wash cloth has suddenly turned red… I wasn’t sunburned, I was covered in paint! OMG. I will totally wear socks (and possibly long sleeves) next time around.

    BTW – we just moved to Oahu, so if you all make it to Hawaii next year I’d be happy to show you around and let you house crash (try redecorating a house every 4 years thanks to the military). But who can complain when you’re living in paradise. :-) Aloha!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha- that’s too funny! Have fun with the sock method- I’m telling you, it works! Haha. As for house crashing if we ever make it out to Hawaii, that would be beyond fun!

      xo,
      s

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