Teenage Bedrooms

I've been thinking about my son's room lately.

It's so BLAH in there.

He could care less but it bugs me.

It’s sort of a green right now and it’s sucking up all the light.

Well, not sort of. It is green.

A boring shade of green.

He has no headboard right now so I’ve been trying to come up with something.

Boys rooms are hard. My kids never wanted to do anything too bold.

But it's time to get him ready for the real world.

Ease him into change.

Try new things.

You never know when you'll like it until you try it.

Right Mikey?

Lowescreativeideas.com

The woven texture and wood tones gives it a masculine feel.

He's not a little boy anymore. No more dinosaurs and baseball.

He is a senior this year, college is just around he corner. 

I want it to be something he likes. So he’ll want to come home to visit!

But still be able to morph into a room for guests after he leaves.

houseandhome.com

I like this one for the mix of upholstery and a wood frame.

I’m thinking maybe some menswear inspired fabric like hounds tooth or argyle.

I have done an upholstered headboard for the master bedroom. And I really like it.

So, do I do another? Or something completely different?

I like the rough, sort of industrial feel of this one.

I could use coffee sacks or plain burlap with a graphic painted on it.

eq3.com

We need to get a new mattress as well and I’d really love to have a platform bed like this.

How hard could that be to make?

The graphic print on the quilt would be nice in there as well.

stylizmo.com

I love the look of this one.

Not sure how comfy would it be to prop yourself up against a wooden pallet.

It would need to be sanded well and lots of pillows could be used.

I love that lamp too.

womansday.com

This would be pretty easy to make.

It's made with a door but I'm thinking cork.

He’s into Photoshop and graphic design.

I could fill it with some photos or posters.

Nix the flowers.

This is one of my favorites.

I’m not seeing him going for it though.

A little too farm like I think.

Maybe for our room.

Hmmm….

These are all from my pinterest. You can get to the source page of some by clicking the photos.

I was not able to find the original source on the others. 

Easy Canvas Prints Review

I was asked a few weeks ago by EasyCanvasPrints.com if I was interested in doing a review for them. Yes please! I was so excited. I have always loved the look of photos on canvas but I had yet to try it myself.


Now to narrow down my choice of which picture to use. I get a bit of anxiety sometimes when it comes to choosing. I knew I wanted something to go in my bedroom. I am trying to introduce some softer elements and so I chose this shot that my son (JustinHadleyPhotography) took while he was in Washington DC last spring. He was there when the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom. I like that it has some soft pink color and yet it also has some strong sculptural lines from the branches. Let me just say that it is hard to get a good photo of a photo!



 EasyCanvasPrints.com has a super easy to use web site. The photos load easy and fast right to their site. I was having some issues with getting the pink to show up in the preview. Once I converted it from a .tif file to a .jpg file the colors did show up. They do accept .tif files but this one was having issues for some reason.



So you first choose your canvas size and wrap thickness. Your canvas size options go from 8x8 up to 30x40. That’s pretty darn big. The standard wrap is .75” thick and the gallery wrap is 1.5” thick. This is a 16x20 gallery wrap. You then upload the photo and it will tell you if the quality is poor, fair or good for the size of print you want. So you won’t end up with a huge grainy picture.



The border style is next and you can choose from  mirror image, border wrap or a solid color wrap. I liked the border wrap and how it continues around the edge of the canvas.



There are some color finishing and image retouching options you can choose if you’d like. But that is it. The hardest part will be choosing a photo that you want on canvas. Trust me on that.



I was happy with the way the photo came out overall. The one thing that bothered me somewhat was that the branches came out over saturated. The soft pinks, light greens and even bits of blue all came out pretty true to the photo. It is the dark brown of the branches that are a bit too dark.

One other thing, and this did not bother me so much, but the hanger they put on the back is actually on the bottom of the photo. See the photo below? That is how the shot was taken. Looking up into the cherry tree. But with this type of shot you really have no wrong way to hang it. And flipping it around is not a big deal. I like it both ways.



I would use EasyCanvasPrints.com again. The image was nicely printed. Clean and clear. It was stretched on the frame well and it feels solid. It was packed well too and arrived faster then expected.

It’s a great time to try them out for yourself because they are offering 25% off and free shipping right now. This would be such a great idea for wedding pictures, family shots or vacation memories. Or get creative and print out one of your close up shots.

I’d like to find a pretty frame that is larger than the canvas to hang around it. I don’t want the canvas itself framed. I think that it would look good just around it. Can you picture that? Something white and antiqued a bit. So have you printed anything out on canvas yet? There are so many of you with lots of beautiful photos that would look so great printed out!


see ya,

My bedroom - from hives to relaxation

I was wanting to show you my bedroom and maybe get some ideas. I am having a hard time getting a good shot and well, I give up. You just have to look at crappy shots. Yes, that's a reflection off the mirror. Oh, my son is going to have a field day with these pictures.

This is stuff I had at my old house and am trying to use here but I need to change some things up.  I have the bed on this wall because it give me the most room. I have a pretty big desk on the opposite wall. But the headboard wall feels unbalanced to me. That's where I need some ideas.  I think I will either paint or replace the lamps. And maybe the curtains. Replace, not paint. Something lighter for the summer. They keep coming out with a pinkish hue to them in the photos but they are not. They are really more like color of the duvet but in a tone on tone stripe. Which I'm using without the comforter at the moment.

 Look my bed is made!

This is the before shot of the same wall with previous owners stuff

This was pretty much the first thing we tackled when we moved in. My during shots got lost when my pc crashed. I only have shots with the previous owners stuff.  It was hunter green and burgundy wall paper AND border! Sort of a ragged on look. It gave me hives. I couldn't stand it. I started ripping off wallpaper only to find it was not coming off without a fight. What a major pain in the patoot that was. I was going to lose it. I think I had a bit of a break down. We rented a steamer and it took all weekend but we got that crap off! Along with some drywall but it was better than the paper! Could not have done it without hubby's help. I would have ended up in straight jacket somewhere banging my head against the wall. So then we sanded and patched and primed, with the smelly stuff. It needed some major sealer. And I used flat paint, I never had before, but it helped hide some flaws that weren't going away. I painted the stained trim but still need to get new doors. It's a lot more relaxing now.

They had their bed where the mantel is now. 

Here is a better shot of the fabric I used for the headboard. They are pretty easy to put together and this one is pretty big. I made the headboard with the help of a friend. You really need an extra set of hands to do the tufting. Just need to figure out how to balance it better.

The fireplace mantel I found at Lakewood antique market in Atlanta. Sadly it is not there anymore. That was the best place. I can't believe it's gone. Anyway, it was an unattractive shade of pink. I wish I had a before but I do not. The tile and mirror mosaic is done on a piece of plywood and then just attached to the back of the mantel.

This is the only other shot I have and it's where my desk is now. 

The desk is made out of cabinets and a door for the top. The door is stained dark and the cabinets are painted pretty much like the mantel. I have 2 floating shelves above it in a dark brown stain. I will have to clean off the desk before I can show you. So, it may be a while. 

I will be linking up with...Funky Junk Saturday Nite Special
                                     DIY Show Off Project Parade
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday