Tuesday, May 1, 2018

A Youthful Bedroom and an Aging Roof



The formatting of this blog post may seem so familiar that you'll think I published the same one twice - or three times - and that's very nearly true. This post covers the third and final bedroom in Villa del Vigneto, along with the roof that I've been working on since the first bedroom was started. But I  finished up both projects during the month of April, which brings me SO CLOSE to the end of this build. 



THE THIRD BEDROOM

This bedroom belongs to the fifteen-year old daughter of the villa's owners. She's a somewhat studious young girl, who, like the other family members, loves music and animals.



I began, as usual, with various pieces of furniture that I thought would fit in this smallest of the villa's three bedrooms; then I chose a color scheme and fabrics to use in the room. But I forgot to take a photo of the original furniture pieces arranged in the room!



Actually, this chandelier that hangs in the room decided the color scheme. I love the soft coral color of the light, and it seemed fitting to use variations of the color in this room.


MAKING (OVER) THE BED



This small bed was another Nebraska Junk Jaunt find several years ago. I bought it for the French Farmhouse but decided that the shape would fit better in the villa, so I saved it and bought Etienne, the farm boy, a rustic bed for his barn room. (You're probably wondering what could be more rustic than this rough bed!)  



There were no markings at all on the bed, so it's probably homemade. A lot of sanding was required, but the finish was still rough. 



I found one of these cherub appliques in a box of estate sale items, but I needed two; I bought another one online. This photo shows one of the appliques painted "Crushed Coral" for use on the bed frame. I painted both appliques with the coral paint, then dry-brushed "Oyster White" over the coral.



I painted the bed "Oyster White," then glued the appliques to the headboard and footboard.





I wrapped a foam mattress in a felt-like fabric to soften the edges, then glued the mattress to the bed so that it couldn't slip. The heavy hound is holding down the mattress while the glue dries.



While rummaging through my fabric bin, I came across some forgotten embroidered ends of old worn-out pillow cases. I had cut off the embroidered parts and saved them. The scale and color were just right to trim the bedspread. I cut the crocheted edging off an old, never-worn sage green scarf and used that as part of the trim as well. 



I also found an old coral-colored cotton napkin with a satin-stitched edge, so I cut off the stitched edge and used it as a third layer of trim. It's so exciting when different elements just come together seemingly of their own accord! I didn't even need to plan the bedspread. This photo shows the triple layered trim pieces that will be the bottom border of the bedspread. I glued all the pieces together instead of stitching; I felt that I had more control with glue, since all the edges needed to be precise. (I haven't mastered precision sewing in miniature!)



Here is the finished bedspread with its border trim. I bought the lace-trimmed pillow and pillow case, but I added a bit of the green crocheted edging.



THE WARDROBE THAT WASN'T



I ordered this unfinished wardrobe from an online source, assuming that there would be space inside to hang clothing. I was wrong, as you'll see in another photo. I decided to keep it anyway, rather than try to find another.



A couple of coats of sage green paint, a little sanding of edges to show wear, some colorful stenciling, and new door pulls changed the looks of this piece. 




The "wardrobe" has shelves, but no hanging space. I hope this young occupant doesn't mind folding  her nice dresses and bundling them onto the shelves. Perhaps I'll find her a new wardrobe soon so that she won't always appear in wrinkled clothing.



THE UNFINISHED DESK AND THE SERENDIPITOUS CHAIR



This walnut chair is by Bespaq, and the beautiful unfinished desk (or dressing table) is from Villaminiature.



I painted the desk the same sage green as the wardrobe, and made new drawer pulls by inserting a cut-off white pin into the center of a flower-shaped bead. 



I love these serendipitous moments! I had planned to use coral fabric paint on the chair's light upholstery, but I didn't much like the dark finish on the wood chair frame either. I thought I would paint it, but I wasn't sure what color I wanted. A quandary. I decided to sand the wood just a little and maybe apply a lighter wood stain. But when I started sanding, a wonderful thing happened! A beautiful coral color appeared in the ridges of the chair that highlighted all the detail - and the dark stain looked lighter. It looked perfect. BUT THEN I realized that the "sanding dust" that had come off the chair as I sanded had been scattered across the seat and back of the chair and turned the upholstery a pale coral color! It looked good, but it wasn't quite dark enough to really show up. I didn't have any more sanding dust, so I searched around for some other material that would be sort of dust-like. And I remembered some old cosmetic powder blush that I had put in my stash. I brushed blush on the chair's upholstered parts and got perfect results - much better than paint, which would probably have covered the striped detail on the fabric. That was SO MUCH FUN!



I love this chair and desk.



TURNING THE TABLE



I chose this table from my stash because it's small and doesn't take up much physical or visual space. But it wasn't exactly pretty, and there was certainly nothing very youthful about it.



So I searched through my "embellishment" bin and found these elements.



I glued the rose-shaped beads onto the top and bottom of the table's center support, then added a short length of bead chain.



I painted the entire assemblage with "Oyster White" paint, added satin varnish, and dry-brushed on a bit of "Crushed Coral" to highlight the rose beads.



Now the table looks more suitable for the room of a young girl!



A BENCH FOR THE BED END



This is the piano bench that I couldn't use because it obscured too much of the piano. It has a nice shape, and I needed a bench for the girl's room. But the black leather pad had to go.



I removed the black pad and sanded the wood top, adding a bit of Maple Gel Stain. I stitched a new pad and filled it with a thin piece of batting. The cording was meant to tie the pad onto the bench and wrap around the legs of the bench. But that looked really bad. 



Because I had used glue to attach the knots of the cording, I couldn't remove the cord ties without damaging the whole pad. So I cut the ties off as close to the knots as I could manage and dabbed a little coral paint into the center of the knots - creating a "rosette" effect. (If you don't look too closely.)



RANDOM VIEWS OF THE THIRD BEDROOM


















THE ROMAN TILE ROOF - FINISHED AT LAST!



This photo shows the front view of the villa's completed tile roof, along with the chimney caps, before the "aging" process. I had just barely enough tiles to finish up. I had to reluctantly use a few more of the white tiles, making an even number of 1350 tiles, including both flat and curved ones. I also filled in the end tiles with mortar to help prevent wind and water damage - and to prevent birds and rodents from nesting in the tiles.



I stippled on various shades of paint to age the tiles, including Heritage Brick, Terra Cotta, Pueblo, Terra Coral, Traditional Burnt Sienna, Dark Chocolate, Yellow Ochre, Cable Knit Grey, and White.



This is the back view of the COMPLETED tile roof. So that long and arduous task is over and done with, and I'm satisfied with the roof - and thankful that I won't need to bake any more clay tiles.
(Not for a long while, anyway.)


There remains only one more blog post for Villa del Vigneto. I will spend most of the month of May, quite appropriately, preparing many pots of flowers to brighten the balconies, walls, and other outdoor areas of the villa. There will be time as well to put the downstairs rooms back together. You may recall that those rooms were complete with furniture and accessories before I began to build the second level rooms but were dismantled to avoid dust and damage. Now it's time for them to be reassembled, with only a few very minor changes to be made. I hope you'll stop by next month to see the final touches to Villa del Vigneto.  


ENJOY THE FLOWERS OF MAY!









22 comments:

  1. ¡Que maravilla!, me encanta este dormitorio, poner los querubines me parece un detalle fantástico,tengo debilidad por ellos, así que la idea me gusta muchísimo. Toda la habitación tiene un toque muy cálido. Estaré esperando ver todas esas plantas en los balcones y paredes.Feliz mayo también para ti.Besos:-)

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    1. Hello, Rosa Maria - I'm so happy that you like the girl's bedroom. I have a weakness for cherubs as well, although I don't find many opportunities to use them - so I was especially excited to find the cherub appliques for the bed. May will be a busy month, since I need to create (or contrive) so many flowers; but it will be an interesting experience! Thanks for stopping by Villa del Vigneto.
      Marjorie

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  2. I'm so happy and yet so sad to see this blog post! Your ability to turn regular (boring) furniture into something fun, story/period-appropriate, and interesting is amazing! Yet I am so sad that there is only one more blog post left for Villa del Vigneto. I will miss your entertaining stories and seeing furniture being transformed in front of my eyes! I am very excited to see flowers though! Your last flower attempts were incredible!

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    1. Hi, Lori - I understand the sad/happy feeling; I'm feeling the same way myself. I've lived with Villa del Vigneto for two and a half years, so it's going to be hard to let go. Of course, it'll still be residing in my house, but there's a big difference between actively working on a project and just looking at it in passing! But meanwhile, I have a whole bunch of flowers to work on, so the end is not yet here. Thank you for your lovely comments and for being part of my villa adventure.
      Marjorie

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  3. Hello Marjorie,
    Another incredible room. You did such amazing transformations in this one. The bed is gorgeous. You did a beautiful job finishing it and the bedding is lovely. The desk looks so fresh now and the drawer pulls are perfect... and the chair came out fantastic. What a great coincidence the sanded area came out the right color, and using the powder to deepen the color...brilliant. The armoire is also very beautiful and I amazed by the table transformation. And with all that, you go one step further and accessorize to perfection. Bravo my friend.
    The tiles were a demented process, but clearly it was worth all your hard work. It looks not only beautiful, but real.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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    1. Hello, Giac - The girl's bedroom was such a pleasure to create - all the elements just seemed to come together without trial or trauma, which is always a relief. (Not that it happens that often in my own experience!) The roof, as well, presented few problems, but it was such tedious work that I often felt as though I'd never see the end of tile laying. (I didn't realize just how much larger the villa roof is than the French Farmhouse roof, which also seemed to take forever to complete.) As I seem to repeat often, I'm so appreciative of your ongoing encouragement and your lovely comments. Thank you for visiting Villa del Vigneto once again.
      Marjorie

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  4. Que habitación tan bella!!! Cualquier jovencita adolescente estaría encantada por tener un espacio tan bonito!! Preciosa decoración y colores,dan un ambiente muy acogedor a la estancia!!
    El tejado se ve fabuloso!!!
    No puedo esperar para ver la última habitación y las plantas!
    Besos.

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    1. Hello, Pilar - Thanks for visiting Villa del Vigneto again! I'm glad that you like the girl's bedroom; I had such a good time putting it all together, especially since the work just seemed to move along without too many problems. I have to say that I'm very relieved to have the roof finished - but it turned out fine, so I don't regret all those hours spent working on it. I appreciate your nice comments!
      Marjorie

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  5. The daughter's room, like each of the others, is perfectly appointed and beautiful! I love the way the coral plays with the floor tiles, and set against the white walls, looks fresh and airy and lovely!
    I really like the creative way you've made each piece special by adding such thoughtful details. And what luck that the chair surprised you with uncovered coral - the blush on the fabric is marvelous!
    And those roof tiles! Pure magic! I could stare at the photos and absorb the superb color variances all day! Lovely work all the way around, Marjory!
    Can't wait to see spring come alive at the villa!

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    1. Hello, Jodi - I appreciate all your complimentary comments on the girl's bedroom; it was one of my favorite rooms to put together because there were no serious setbacks. My plans do often go awry, so when they don't, it's all joy! Even the roof, in retrospect, was completed without much ado, although I didn't exactly realize that at the time; I remember only tedium and a sore back from bending and reaching. But I'm looking forward to some flower making in May - I've even begun creating some geraniums with help from a tutorial. That's a new experience for me, and my efforts so far are pretty crude, but it's a start. All my other flowers will be the "contrived" variety. Please stop by the villa next time and see whether spring managed to come alive!
      Marjorie

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  6. I love the Heavy Hound! And what a genius idea to use powder blush to shade the upholstery. I have a set of chalk pastels. Going to find some fabric right now and see what kind of effect I can achieve.

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    1. Hi, Megan - I love the Heavy Hound too; he's made of pewter, and I've had him for at least forty years. He's a faithful old thing and is always willing to help hold down the fort when I need him. I like your idea of using chalk pastels for coloring fabric - it seems that would have the same effect as powder blush. I'm curious enough to try it myself. I hope our experiments work!
      Marjorie

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  7. Hi Marjorie! I Love the way this room turned out! The colors are gentle but just girly enough and delicate enough without being overdone! The changes you made to the furniture are all amazingly transformative.... no-one would know you started with such "raw" materials! I think the way the bedspread trim came together almost like magic shows that this was meant to be! I absolutely love the way the light comes in the window... and the doll in the embrasure is gorgeous!!! I think any young teen-aged girl would love this room!
    As for the roof tiles... what an AWESOME project that has been! You deserve a standing ovation for keeping on with the repetitious process and getting it done! It looks fantastic and so authentic! Especially the filled ends of the tiles!!! WoW!
    I can only imagine the final assembly of all the rooms and the satisfaction that will bring.... (I can't claim that feeling since mine aren't done....!) and I really look forward to seeing more! :)

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    1. Hello, Betsy - Thanks for your pretty compliments! I admit that I really like those delicate, gentle colors. You'd never guess it by the decor in my real home, where I've used mostly dark, bold, or bright colors. Of course, I like those too, which is one of the reasons that I enjoy furnishing and decorating mini houses; it's a good way to "have my cake and eat it too!" I'm so glad that you noticed the light coming through the window of the girl's bedroom. That's something that I always appreciate in miniature houses - the light and also shadows that are created. I love shadows in miniature! The roof - oh, that roof! - wasn't a hard job, but it was tedious and seemed never-ending. But it did end, finally, on a happy note, and I'm satisfied with it. I'm looking forward to getting those first floor rooms back together and seeing the villa finished - after I make (or contrive) all those flowers, that is. Yikes!
      Marjorie

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  8. Marjorie! The Villa is beautiful! As I was looking at the photos I was thinking how I wished I could visit this beautiful place, to walk through the pretty rooms and look at the view I might see out the windows. You are so very talented my beautiful friend.

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    1. Dear Lisa - What a lovely surprise to have a blog comment from you! Thank you for visiting Villa del Vigneto. You will, of course, visit again when it's all finished, because I've already assigned you a room and reserved a chair for you on the loggia. The wine is aged and ready to pour, Magda the cook is planning our dinner, and the views of the beautiful Tuscan countryside await your arrival. Even the cats and Luca, the dog, are lined up to greet you - so you must come. It'll be wonderful to see you!
      Marjorie

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  9. Marjorie I love these formatted room posts with the furniture transformations in them.They are so much fun to read and I am indeed sad that they are over and there is only one more post about the villa left. I hope you have a new project simmering away in your head to thrill us with. :) I'm always amazed at what you do to seemingly ordinary furniture, making each piece into a fabulous OOAK creation. I this room as always all your items turned out wonderfully but I particularly love the bed and bedding and the little side table with the beads & things added. What a transformation! And how great is the chair!.. what a fantastic idea to use old blush to colour the fabric.. definitely stashing this idea away for future use. Your pictures of the finished room are beautiful and I particularly love the ones with the natural light coming through the window. It feels like a lazy afternoon in the Tuscan countryside. :D
    The villa's roof is spectacular! It was surely worth all the work although I'm sure at times you questioned that.. lol.. The tiles are so realistic and your masterful paint effects really have given a depth to the finish that is perfection! I admire your tenacity to start this huge job and finish it. Congratulations!

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    1. Hello, Sam - I really appreciate all your positive input on the villa's third bedroom. I think we're pretty much in agreement about the things we like best about this room! I'm always fascinated with the manner in which light plays in such varying ways in miniature houses. To see the villa lighted up at night in a dark room is almost unnerving in its realism! I can almost feel myself shrinking down to the right size and entering those lighted rooms. (Robert thinks I'm more than slightly berserk.) I'm going to feel very sad to bring this project to a close. But I'm also excited about the next one - and yes, it is simmering away. I've been doing much research already, which is another of my favorite things. And thankfully, the next project will require absolutely NO clay tiles for the roof! Thank you for stopping by - please come again next time!
      Marjorie

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  10. Wow, so many nice details in this room! Everything goes together so nicely with the coordinating finishes. I smiled as I read your discovery about the the coral color and the chair. The music stand is a nice finishing touch too! I am impressed by your clay tile too, it really adds so much character to the house. It truly is lovely ( great photos too!)

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    1. Hi, Troy - I appreciate your visit to Villa del Vigneto and your positive comments. I enjoyed putting this room together. I just wish there were more bedrooms in the villa - they're so much fun to work on! The roof, while not fun, was at least very satisfying; I'm so glad that you like the way it turned out. Thank you for stopping by. (Sorry this reply was so long in coming; we've been up at our Sandhills home without WiFi, so I couldn't communicate via computer.)
      Marjorie

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  11. So beautiful!
    I like the combination of sage green and pink, very pretty :-)
    xx

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    1. Hello, Radka - and welcome to my blog! I'm glad that you like the green/pink combination; that's one of my favorite color schemes. Thanks for stopping by - please come again!
      Marjorie

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I'd love to hear your comments!