I’m melting, I’m melting…It was 92 degrees here today in the suburban Philadelphia area.  HOT HOT HOT.  3 HOT strikes for me today -

1.  The temperature     2. My camera is burning up, it is getting old and overheated when I took these photos which it has never done before.   3.  My car’s cooling fan would not shut off.  My hubby and his buddy tried to figure out why – they finally had to un-plug a fuse just so it would not run all night.   HOT HOT HOT.

If you are a follower of my blog you know that since my husband lost his job when the economy tanked went downhill, that we are trying not to spend too much and save where we can -  that includes not putting the AC on.  I don’t mind it hot, but I usually cave in to closing the house up and cooling it down when the thermometer hits 90.  So, when I got home from work today and went up to my bedroom to change into something cool, it was HOT.  I decided I needed to do a little” tweaking” to summerize the bed since I am sure it is going to be HOT sleeping tonight.

Here is my inspiration photo:  I think what I love most about this room is the view.

Image: Coastal Living

After

Before

This photo was taken a long time ago. It was the only one I could find that showed how the furniture looked.

After

This is what I did to make mine sort of resemble my inspiration photo.   Lightweight curtains to have an airy effect so I can  pretend I can see the ocean out my window.  A neutral color palate with a barely-there feeling.

I cut up a white sheet set and stapled it onto the wall behind the bed and under the wood crown molding valance.  I had two twin Matelasse coverlets from when my daughter’s room had twin beds and used them on either side to frame the bed.  I bought the Matalesse spread on the bed and the pillows at TJ Maxx. The sand colored lampshades are from Walmart.  The hotel style cover was a clearance purchase at the store where I work.

I used a staple gun and hand pleated as I stapled the white cotton sheet under the wood valance.  I made the valance a few years ago when I painted the furniture.  It is simply a box mounted to the ceiling with crown molding added.

I then covered the staples with white grosgrain ribbon. 

To hang the two twin spreads I made loops from the ribbon and sewed about 8 loops on one short end of each spread.  I figure this way if I ever want to re-use them for bedspreads I can just take the loops off- and the spreads are as good as new.

I work in display and our motto is – what you can’t see can easily be faked.  This isn’t pretty, but it is functional.  I screwed some nails to the underside of the valance to hang the loops on.  I also stapled the front fabric valance to the underside of the wood.  I ran out of sheet, so I am going to re-do the fabric along the front of the valance to make it fuller.

This is the furniture in the “before” photo  after I painted it.  The pieces were all hand me downs from my in-laws and were very, very, dark.  I painted all the pieces a light green/beige with a white-wash finish a few years ago.

Now, I just need an ocean.   Tonight, I am just hoping for a breeze.

To see how I made the window treatments for this room you can click, here.

Many readers have asked me how I painted the furniture in this room. Here is what I did:

I painted the furniture a long time ago using Sears Easy Living Paint in Latex Semi Gloss. I can no longer read the color on the can, but the closest match I can find is Benjamin Moore – Camouflage. The color is a khaki green.  I mixed it with clear glaze – I used craft paint glaze that you can get in little bottles at the craft store.

Here is how to get the look.
1. Sand your piece to rough it up a bit. You don’t have to sand it to the bare wood, but just scratch it up.
2.  Apply two light coats of Sherwin Williams Antique White and let dry.
3. Mix glaze and the paint in a container – I use the plastic Glad containers that packaged lunch meat comes in.  I used about 75% paint – 25% glaze. Mix it well.
4.. Apply the mixture over the piece with a paint brush.  Let dry for about 8 minutes and then lightly drag a dry bristle paint brush over all the painted surfaces to expose the antique white paint in spots. Let dry.
5. When piece is thoroughly dry,  take a piece of medium grit sandpaper and rough up the edges to expose the wood.  Use a tack cloth to wipe off all the sanding grit.

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Tagged as: Bedroom Decorating Ideas, Decorating with Sheets, How to create a bed hanging, How to decorate for summer, warm wather decorating