monday bedroom makeover: john robshaw to the rescue

Alright ladies (and perhaps some gentlemen?)--grab your Gingerbread Lattes--this is a long one!

Between visiting Boston and then hosting visitors in our my father's home--aaand maybe becoming a bit distracted by daydreaming about a home of our own--this bedroom makeover is taking a lot longer than I had hoped! But I got motivated the other day and made some progress:

First up for today is a little makeover for my nightstand lamp:

As you may recall, the lighting in my bedroom is in need of a big makeover, but unfortunately--until I find a job here in South Carolina--little changes will have to make big differences for now! The lamp on my nightstand is nothing special, but I spruced it up a bit with some brown paint that I bought from a craft store:

Now I need to makeover the nightstand itself--bleh :-/ But in the meantime...

Next up is the headboard...finally!:

If you have been following my my bedroom makeover posts, you have probably sensed what a headache this silly headboard project became, but alas, the project is done! Read on:

It all started with my desire to disguise the original iron headboard with an updated, upholstered one, which I crafted out of plywood and poly foam. I hung the new headboard on the existing one and planned to upholster it with pretty fabric...:

...but first I practiced with some ugly fabric, which I refused to reveal at the time for fear of inflicting trauma (or just nausea) on my beloved blog readers. However, I have decided to expose you all to it, but only because I have the new, pretty upholstery to show you, too! 

Practice upholstery=hideous headboard:

My apologies, but at least you didn't have to sleep under this eyesore for a month! And for those of you who are still you reading: 

As you may remember (how could you forget?), I found "a few" fabrics that I was considering for the cover, but I struggled to make a final decision. After over a month of soliciting advice from you all (thank you!!!) and mulling it over, I finally decided to commit to the beautiful blue fabric below:

I was confident that the fabric would compliment the bird prints I bought, and help the room reflect the natural island habitat surrounding our my father's home. 

So off I went to buy the blue fabric, only to be talked out of the sale...by the saleswoman! Much to my dismay, she insisted I needed to purchase at least 4.5 yards of this $20+ per yard fabric in order to successfully upholster the headboard! I hesitated and explained how I had successfully sewn the practice cover with 3 yards (of a solid fabric), but she continued to claim that I needed more because of the pattern repeat. I couldn't rationalize spending that much money on upholstering a headboard (I might as well buy a new one!) or really even giving her my business after she used some serious seamstress jargon to confuse me out of my method, which I took to be her failed attempt to make more moolah! So I left the store empty handed, and practically in tears...

I think we can all agree she was likely right, and that I shouldn't cry over a fabric fail, but clearly I harbored some resentment regardless.

But when one fabric store door closes, another one opens! 

The other day I happened to drive by another fabric store that I hadn't heard of until I caught their big, yellow "UPHOLSTRY" sign out of the corner of my eye (OK--it was hard to miss). I safely swerved across a few lanes of traffic and screeched into the unassuming strip mall (like a glove) with barely any hope left for finding my fabric...until I walked through the door into Charleston Fabrics. 

In the best possible way, I was overwhelmed by the options, but I beelined for the following so quickly that I didn't even realize it was John Robshaw until--spoiler alert--I got all the way home with it (and anytime there is a car, ferry, and golf cart involved, it is a long way home...):

I was in love. The blue fabric was but a mere memory. I held my breath and asked the (very sweet) salesman how many yards I would need for my project, and he reassured me that--despite the pattern repeat--3 would be plenty, and thank God because it wasn't cheap (although for John Robshaw fabric, is was affordable!), but it was worth every penny... Once the salesman sensed my pattern repeat PTSD, he even offered to sew it for me for free if I had any trouble on my own. That gesture sealed the deal--I had finally found my fabric! And beyond that, my fabric store!

So off I went with my 3 yards of pure fabric perfection to spend my Saturday night sewing...:

(...and drinking wine...)

And finally--the moment you all have been waiting on the edge of your seat for--behold my headboard masterpiece, thanks to a certain Mr. Robshaw...and  Charleston Fabrics!:

The headboard evolution that has finally come to a happy ending:

I complimented the blue and brown print with a bedskirt I snagged from Target (following the John Robshaw splurge...):

And we went from green...:

...to gorgeous!:

The End. 

For now...stay tuned for stenciling!

Enjoy!

Emilie