Oars

If you follow my Pinterest board, you might have seen some pictures of oars used as decoration in bedrooms. Like this one. Super cute idea for the red and white bedroom, I thought, so when I found two lovely old oars on Craigslist for only $35, I bought them and took them home. The lady that sold them to me asked why I was buying them so late in the season. When I sheepishly admitted that I was not going to actually row with them, she laughed. 

We washed about 20 years of dirt off of them today with a mixture of PineSol and hot, hot water. Once they dry, I plan to use linseed oil to bring out the existing finish. 

Belmont Harbor

I have been trolling Craigslist for Lake House art. I found this little gem a few weeks ago for $60. It was painted by a Chicago artist and purchased at a street fair in the early 80s. It is entitled "Belmont Harbor." I really love the colors. The frame was sad and dusty, so I sent it to a local shop and had it re-framed in black. It looks much better now - cleaner and more modern. Now I just have to find a place to hang it! Hubby and I are headed down to the cabin next weekend to relax (and do some kitchen painting.....), so I can hopefully find a spot then. 

Color palette for bedroom #2

A number of years ago, I painted this piece for our old house. It is a really big canvas, with bright colors. It doesn't really fit in our current house, which has a more muted color scheme. But I think it might look nice in the Lake House' second bedroom. The color palette is therefore yellow and white with a splash of red (maybe also a touch of blue).   

Linens for the red bedroom

I have been slowly assembling the linens for the two bedrooms. Hubby and I are headed down to the lake cabin for a long weekend at the end of September, and I would really like to dress the beds at least when we are there. As a first step, I ordered two new matresses from Costco. I read somewhere that mattresses should be replaced every ten years, so these were certainly due. Also, my sister-in-law reported during her visit that the beds felt like motel beds, which was not quite the spa-like retreat "feel" I had in mind. The mattresses were supposed to be delivered this week, but apparently the driver got lost so the delivery is being rescheduled. I figure that they should make it there sometime this month at least, so I am not worried.  

Beds need a lot of stuff, really: a mattress cover, pillows (two to sleep on and two for shams, plus any throw pillows...), zippered pillow covers (four) to protect the pillows, a bed skirt, sheets, and some sort of covering. For the king bed in the red bedroom, I ordered a white duvet cover and shams on eBay and a fluffy hypo-allergenic comforter. In fact, all of the pillows I ordered were also "down alternative." While no one in our family seems to be allergic to feathers or down (well, no one yet anyway), some of our guests could certainly have allergies.

 So for this bedroom, the duvet, sheets (basically everything) will be very white, which is easy to bleach if anything happens and will hopefully also make the room calm and welcoming. The existing bedframe seems to be a dark metal, which should contrast with the fluffy white duvet nicely. I bought this red and white vintage quilt on eBay as well. It is VERY vintage, with lots of imperfections, but I kind of like it nonetheless. It came to me with decades of dirt and stains, but it washed up nicely in the bathtub with this handy tutorial. We will see if it actually works in the room. If not, I can always cut it up for use as Christmas Stockings.