Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Guest Room Galore!

Now that I know we officially have a home waiting for us, all sorts of ideas are popping into my head. As you saw in a previous post, I talked about what I wanted to paint in the living room, how I wanted to make our stairs look like massive books, along with a variety of other things. 

We'll have a guest room available for people to stay in while visiting. Of course, I have ideas in terms of that room and the "theme" I want to go with... 

If you know me, it really shouldn't surprise you that I want to have an aviation themed space in the house. I grew up with my Dad taking me to airshows in addition to teaching me about WWI and WWII  planes, medals, events..basically anything and everything under the sun. I think that's why I have such an interest in antique / historical things. As I've been hunting online for ideas and inspirations, I came across this really cool planked picture on several design sites, but it was never really listed as to how much it cost or where to get it: 


Turns out, it's actually from Pottery Barn. And it's $300. Errrmmm...that's a little rich for my blood, especially since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to validate to Eric the price tag. Vintage furniture? Sure. But some planks of wood with an image on it? Nah unh. After looking over the item description, it pretty much dawned on me that I could totally do this myself. 


Here's some images I found and altered which I can use to make the impression print. I realize the one that Pottery Barn used looks like a vintage airliner...I prefer the super cool planes like a P-51 Mustang:



With this image, I'd have to resketch it out so I can get just the lines and make it flush with the horizon:



I can pick up the wood pieces from Home Depot for somewhere around $30, I already have white primer paint as well as sandpaper to make it look aged...then it shouldn't cost that much to get a print made of the plane so I can mod podge it to the boards. In total, I'm probably looking at $50 to make it, if that. 

Then for the rest of the room, I'm going to incorporate some airplane models my Dad has built over the years, repaint a dresser to look more vintage in addition to getting some brushed steel accents for around the room. I'm hoping I can pull it all together so it has that 1930's -1940's feel. Maybe I can sweet talk my Dad into giving up his badass wood propeller he has laying around...



I'm gonna try to find an old wood footlocker and make it look like it fell out of WWII with various markings in order for it to look like it's seen some action. It'll hang out at the foot of the bed:


...or even the wood trunk I picked up near Brussels: 


Of course, we'll need an old school globe:


Annnnd I think I wanna get an old aviator cap, flight goggles and a spiffy scarf so I can have it look like they were just hung up after a long day of flying. Of course, I'll use reproduction ones since I'm sure my Dad would twitch himself into a fit knowing that I'm using real, historical pieces as decor that'll just hang around a room:


Yes, Dad. I know this is a British issued flight cap...stop twitching....


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Phoning in this post..

Well well well, it's been a smidge since I've done a post. Lots of stuff has been going on which has taken most of my attention. Our house is pretty much the "walking wounded" right now because Eric messed up his back (some how) and I blew out my knee. Not only is my knee screwed, but I've been dealing with some serious abdominal pains (yes, I have a doctors appointment to get checked out). Between dealing with my stuff AND Eric's, I haven't been too froggy to go raise hell like I usually do. 

Random, but I was actually up and coherent for sunrise! The weather here as of late has been pretty shitty...lots over overcast, rain, wind..blah blah blah. Any, the sunrise looked so pretty that I couldn't pass up taking a pic of it! 


In other news..

Last week I went to the Turkish market with a friend of mine and we popped into the Kringwinkel (it's like Belgiums version of Goodwill). After snooping around for a lil bit, I ended up finding a really cool side table I really couldn't live without. Then again, I tend to think I can't live without a whole lot of things! 

Here's the goody:



After cleaning it up a lil bit and adding some decorations, here's how it looks in the house: 


Not too long before that, I haunted my FAVORITE antique warehouse with the thought of "I really want an old vintage phone"...ya know, the rotary kind. I'm hunting for vintage looking things like old old alarm clocks (the type with the two bells and a mini hammer on top), a Yashica TLR camera, smaller old film reels, and a phone. As I'm looking around...I'll be damned, cause look what I found:


It's from the 50's, a very hard plastic, and VERY heavy! Ever watched a movie and there's a fight scene where someone grabs an old phone and hits someone with it? The person who gets hit ends up being knocked out? Yeah, I totally believe that's possible because this thing weighs at least 5lbs! After a lil cleaning, it shined up and looked good as new! When I bought it home, Eric rolled his eyes , but, at least he understands there's a REASON why I'm collecting this stuff and not just a random purchase. 

Other than that, not a whole lot going on aside from taking care of myself and Eric! I've been focusing on eating better and have lost 8lbs since the beginning of the year, working out as much as I can despite the bum knee, currently in the process of planning another girls trip to Poland for some pottery, and doing some personal assessments regarding various friendships.  

Busy busy, but nothing new, right?