A freecycle project underway – Bedroom Sanctuary

Hi, so I’ve been a little quiet for the past few days. my long holiday is almost at an end and I have been very very busy trying to get everything done. All the decluttering and organising is very time consuming as well as making crafty things but most enjoyable!

Today, I wanted to first share my favourite eco magazine and one of the projects that I really really had to try…….. by that – I mean my husband is charged with most of the work , I help where I can.

The below image is from the Sep/Oct 2011 issue of the ‘GOOD Magazine’. It is a New Zealand based magazine all about making good informed choices for a better life and can be located here.. http://good.net.nz/

This article is about transforming the bedroom and other areas of your home into a calming comforting designer pad by making eco choices and using what is available. I just fell in love with the main picture when I saw it (above) and thought I want that look!!!

We basically have all the bits and pieces already, including a few Antique mirrors like the above acquired for free over the years – usually by people wanting to upgrade or revamp their interiors and thrift shop treasures. The only thing we were missing was the Fireplace/headboard….

Luckily, my Husband works in the building industry and obtained an old circa 40’s/50’s solid Kauri Fireplace also for free from a Reno job throw out pile (it’s identical to the one in the picture – you can imagine my excitement!)….. It had some bora and several coats of nasty lead paint. He fixed the Bora by removing the infected wood and starting stripping the paint………… This is where we are at.

The idea would be to strip it back to bare wood and put a nice stain and either oil it or varnish it. We prefer the warm wood look rather than white paint, and we have a Rimu ‘Design Mobel’ – prototype bed that would look amazing with it. The bed is one of a kind that later went into production, but they ended up making it out of Beech only– Sometimes it helps to know the right people.

We don’t have the Iron fireplace interior so I am hoping to talk my husband into building some little shelves, or something in that gap to make it look less like a fire place and more like a designer furniture piece.

SO very chic and I have my fingers crossed that it will turn out well. Here are the pictures of the process so far.

I helped with the paint stripper part of the process – flicking it all around the place, on my skin and I found out it burned a little…………

After a few hours we are now here – great progress!! Quite a bit of work to go. I imagine it will take a month or so, of careful sanding and restoration to get the look right….. watch this space!!!!

Beautiful detail of the scroll carving….. No plaster moulding here!

 

If you like this post you may also like my previous post about decluttering and a freecycled chair – please click on the image below to be taken to the post.

Our beautiful chair!