Tag Archives: Ecuador

Isn’t It Revealing?

Posted in Before & After, Design Challenges, Redecorating, Renovation by

Yesterday after a great brunch with Jefe’s family, we FINALLY tackled some finishing touches to his parents’ place that were long overdue.

First we started in the office.  A few frames from Aaron Brothers and 3 college pennants later, and we’ve got a wall of artwork.  We choose a few long, skinny frames that were meant for 3 photos.  We ditched the precut mat, attached the pennants to the white backing with a little painters tape, and closed them up.  These 3 pre-made frames cost us a LOT less than the custom ones and they seemed to work just fine.  The pennants happen to represent the alma maters of Jefe, his father, and his brother so it makes it all the more meaningful.  What do you think?!  (Please excuse the bad lighting as I wasn’t planning to blog about this quite yet, but couldn’t hold in the incredible results….)

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Next we moved to the right, in the area above the desk.  Luckily, Jefe’s dad already had some great, classy artwork already framed that we popped up there.  It’s a print commemorating when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004.    Just around the corner to the right, Jefe found this stellar metal sign – an old ad with Ted Williams.  It’s got great coloring, has vintage style and is sports-themed (Have I mentioned this is a die-hard Red Sox family?!)

Last week we relocated a plant from their dining room to really it give it an old-school library feel.  And that sucker has THRIVED.  It’s grown at least 6 inches in the last week, thanks to the direct sunlight.

And without further ado, the big picture, literally:

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We haven’t tackled the artwork on the accent wall yet as we’re waiting to get a large poster custom framed.  Once that’s up, we’ll finish it off with Jefe’s dad’s diploma and a small gallery wall of Sox themed artwork above the globe.

Moving down the hall to the guest room, we finally tackled hanging the great Target mirror we ordered.  Much to our surprise, it was much lighter than anticipated.  It was also NOT painted red – it was the perfect shade of wood to match the bed frame.  Go figure.  So that was quite the happy accident.  And in the spirit of using what you’ve got, we hung a great picture of Golden Gate Bridge that Jefe’s parents already had up on the wall above the bookshelf.

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We still have a few more to things to go in this room including his mother’s rug and painting from Ecuador as well as a planned family photo gallery wall.

But here’s the **almost** finished product:

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More to come soon as we’ve got our momentum going to really get this project finished.  And yes, I’ve recently become obsessed with the iPhone’s panoramic option.  It really is a quick and dirty way to get wide-angle shots in VERY tight spaces – an overworked blogger’s dream.

Are any of you trying to wrap up any unfinished projects?  How did you find your motivation?

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Gloria & Harry’s Guest Bedroom

Posted in Redecorating by

In the ongoing project that is Jefe’s parents’ home renovation, we’ve hit our first serious deadline: his parents have company coming to spend the night in 2 weeks.  The last time we touched that room you may remember (which was over two weeks ago thanks to my 36-hour jaunt to NYC), it looked a little something like this:

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So it’s about high-time that I get my butt in gear and get to work.  As I mentioned previously, the whole concept for this room revolved around a rug that Gloria, Jefe’s mom, brought home from a visit to her native Ecuador.  The idea to hang the rug originated from a conversation about what to hang above the headboard on the accent wall.

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Being a true East Coaster at heart, I’ve been fighting tooth and nail throughout the 5+ years I’ve lived in LA to disregard the fact that you shouldn’t hang anything heavy above a bed.  But apparently earthquakes are a real thing…  And as much as it pains me to admit it, Gloria and my Jefe are right: I’d much rather pull a lightweight rug off my face when the big one hits than fight with a glass picture frame that just came crashing down.

So Ecuadorian rug it will have to be.  Between the rug and the carved-wood style of the bed frame, I decided to pull some inspiration from images of South American bedrooms as my starting point:

Inspiration - Habitación-Colonial-Doble

Courtesy of Washington Life

Inspiration - 2

Courtesy of Houzz

From there, I just ran with it.  So without further ado, I bring you my plan for the room:

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Once we established the rug as the focal point and decided to keep the bedframe and nightstand, I set out to find some accent furniture pieces that would provide some much needed storage, fit in to a somewhat more traditional style and wouldn’t break the bank.   I quickly found that trying to match the reddish-hued wood of the bedframe was near impossible so I chose to go with a few white pieces that would really pop against the accent wall.

The first on the list was the BIRKELAND 3 drawer dresser from Ikea.  And by positioning it on one side of the bed, it could serve double duty as a nightstand.

Ikea Birkeland Dresser

Unfortunately the BIRKELAND series does not have a lot of variety in the line, so I had to look elsewhere for a coordinating bookshelf.  Most things from Ikea were either too modern or didn’t fit the space we have available.  I coincidentally happened to stumble upon the Threshold Carson bookshelf when I was picking up baskets from Target while Jefe assembled the office furniture a few weeks ago.

Threshold Carson Bookshelf

Although on display in black, they didn’t offer the 3-shelf version in white in store so Jefe and I had to order it online.  As we have yet to assemble it, I can’t comment on my first Target furniture purchase so I’ll have to update you all on that later.

From there, I knew the bedspread had to be next.  In working with what you’ve got, I knew it had to be something more traditional that also helped to tie the existing color palette together.  Initially Gloria and I were skewing towards a flowery paisley from Bed, Bath and Beyond:

Inspiration - 3

But Jefe, the adamant flower loather, insisted we head in another direction.  So I turned to all things paisley: Pottery Barn.  I found the Charlie Organic Duvet Cover (shown in the mood board and in detail below) and am thrilled that it’s actually on sale right now as we  hope to pick it up this weekend.

PB Charlie Organic Duvet Cover

For artwork, I’ve been scouring Etsy for great photography of Ecuador that will be complimented by some simple white frames from Ikea.  As for artwork for the rest of the room, that’s still a work in progress.  Thankfully, overnight guests don’t necessitate a fully finished room (although that’s the goal).

Lastly, Gloria suggested hanging a mirror on the wall opposite the foot of the bed which I thought was a great idea.  I’m looking for something simple, possibly in a curved shape.  I don’t know if Jefe will let me get away with it, but I’d love to go with something along the lines of this one from Target:

Threshold Carved Wood Mirror

There you have it.  The latest and greatest from Sledge with Style.  In the coming week, I’ll be featuring some reader Q & A’s, a NEW recurring feature based on my love of all things film, as well as an update on Operation Homify.