What's Old is New Again

My spring azaleas

I am a hoarder, I come by it naturally. My Grandma is a hoarder, my Aunt is a hoarder so it was only natural for me to be one too - it runs in the family. It is not just that we like THINGS. It is the fact that all of these little things have a story or a memory attached to them and it is hard to let those things go for fear them memory will be gone as well. Call me crazy, call me sentimental but that is just the way I am. I am sure there must be more of us hoarders out there.

Recently my grandparents decided to downsize. Their townhouse had become too much for them to look after. The hardest part about moving into a smaller place was that she would have to get rid of a lot of her her "memories" we'll say. Now, I felt for her during this process. I know how hard it is for me to give up things - even little scraps of paper. She had the first pair of curtains she had ever sewn for their farmhouse - holes in them and all. We were like - "what do you need these for?" - but it was the memory. Many, many more things were sorted though and all of her little "memories" were being put into boxes - MCC, garage sale, garbage & save.

She had this old bedroom suite. "It was the first real bedroom suite they had ever bought together when they were married", she said. For years now it had been the furniture in the spare room - it had made way for new bedroom furniture that my grandpa had made, so it was natural for the "old" furniture to be moved to the guest room. Grandma loved this bedroom suite but they were not going to be able to bring it with them because the new house didn't have a guest room anymore.

As my mom was telling me about her having a hard time letting it go - an idea struck me. I had always loved that furniture - its shape and design - and I had a spare room that was not really what I had wanted it to be. I measured up the furniture and it would all fit in the room nicely. Grandma was happy it was going to a good home where she knew she could still visit it. It worked out great for me because Scott's mom needed a queen size bed for her spare room - so she took ours and I began to make room for the new bedroom.

I had wanted to do a room with a retro-modern twist as that is of course hot right now. Since the set was from the late 50's early 60's I knew I wanted the main color story of the room to have that retro aqua blue color. I found the perfect bedding at Costco and the paint colors were chosen from there.My color pallet for the room consisted of 4 colors - a lot of people said "you used 4 colors in a room?" but as you can see from the photos they all combine together nicely with just subtle changes in color but all in the same tones. That is what is important to remember - you can add more colors just stay in the same tones.

Bedding from Costco

I used Benjamin Moore colors. The base of the 3 walls and the ceiling was CC-90 Natural Linen. The inside frame of the window seat was HC-142 Straton Blue. The stripe across the wall was HC-143 Whythe Blue and the accent wall behind the dresser was HC-140 Prescott Green.
Most of the colors I end up using in my house come from either the Historical colour Line or the Designer Collection.

The right hand side of the room when you walk in. I opted for a grouping on top of the tall dresser. I combined a retro looking lamp I found at Home Depot with a mirror (a Debbie Travis from Canadian tire) and a green colored bowl (retro find from Value Village)

I used a more modern bedding (Costco) with a hint of Chocolate brown in the Lotus flower pillow (Drinkwater - Vancouver). I had been looking for a vintage Eames Era metal wall hanging for above the bed but they are hard to come by and if you find one they are usually a couple hundred dollars so I opted for the one you see (Homesense) I liked it cause the leaves mimicked the pattern on the duvet cover. Scott even hooked up a bed massager to it - he said it would be like the old hotel beds but you don't have to put a quarter in this one. :)

A close up of the headboard accented with three small tea light holders (IKEA) on top of the headboard. In the shelf I rescued an old clock from the garage sale pile to give it a little extra old world charm.

This is the window seat where I added the darker shade. Floral pillow with a hint of brown (Homesense) Brown vase with silver dollar plant (IKEA & Homesense) As you can see Mowgli and Riddick are also enjoying the new room. Riddick is sleeping on another project of mine. An old chair I picked up at MCC for $5 that I am going to recover in the fabric you can see draped on the chair.(Fabric from Fabric land)

Here is the left hand wall of the room. I picked up a clearance table runner in the same blue(Homesense) and added a decorative old platter with a chocolate brown candle holder in the center (both from Homesense) Since the dresser and mirror were so short I felt that it needed something above it. I found this brown Iron piece with hints of the blue green throughout just to give it a little extra umph! (Homesense)

Last but not least I added a vintage ceiling light I found at MCC for $3.50

As you can see, I pulled some old style elements into the room along with a few modern elements to tie it all together. Homesense is an awesome place for pillows and accessories at awesome prices. You have to frequent the place to find the best deals but it saves you money in the long run. You get expensive looking accessories for at least half the price of regular stores and they get new stock a couple times a week. Just goes to show you can re-do a room and have it look pricey without it costing a fortune - you just have to hunt around till you find the right things.

There you have it - what is old is new again. What things are you going to breathe new life into? Hopefully you are insprired to take on a new project. If you have any other questions etc. about the room feel free to ask. Have a great day!!!