Guest Post from HALO: Parisan Room Makeover Reveal!

Hello Queen readers! My name is Lori Hollaran and I am the owner of Halo Design & Interiors. I have a booth space (HALO) at the Queen of Hearts in Marietta and am located at the end of King Street. I am so happy to be able to share with you my second blog post for the Queen! If you happened to miss my first post, it was titled "Decorating with Doors". I had such a great time sharing my knowledge, creativity and custom design work that I could not wait to post again and am happy they wanted me back!

Besides spending endless hours painting, repurposing and revamping furniture for my booth space, I also have a full service interior design company. Needless to say, I am busy! It is quite rare when I actually have the time or the opportunity to redesign a space in my OWN home. Today, I am very excited to share with you my daughter's new Parisian themed bedroom. It is filled with easy DIY projects, thrift store find makeovers and many design ideas for mixing and balancing vintage pieces with new ones. Plus, the best part of it all is that many of these pieces or ideas can be found with items purchased from all of the three Queen of Hearts locations. Keep reading to see how it all came together!

Here is the before picture of her room. Super cute but very playful and youthful. She was turning 9 soon and I wanted her to have a room that she could grow into. As you can tell, I had already started to take things off the wall (almost a year and a half ago) with the intention of getting it done within a week. Ha Ha, who was I kidding? Life got busy and so another home project was put on hold!

Finally, after much patience on my daughter's part, I finished her room and LOVE how it all came together. Here is her new space... Parisian chic with touches of vintage glam!

I knew I wanted to use black, white and gray as the basic color palette but being it was for my 9 year old daughter, I knew I had to add a splash of color. So, with only 2 seconds of deliberations, PINK it was!! The entire room design was based around a canvas I found at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. (HINT - remember I love mixing new with the old ) Score!! You can see it here...
  

I always like to start decorating a space by figuring out the biggest pieces of furniture first. One of largest pieces in this room is her 10 drawer black dresser. Check out the before pic... not much character to it, huh?

Yep, she was an old, beat up vintage piece that I found. Amazing what a few coats of gloss black paint and a revamp of the hardware can do to a piece. Love it now. Pieces like this large dresser are SO easy to find at the Queen of Hearts. There are so many dealers just like me that find great vintage pieces that just need some TLC.

Here is a nightstand I found for $5. Yep, you read that right...FIVE BUCKS.

A few coats of white paint on the body and some black paint to the hardware and she is like brand spanking new!

The last big piece I was looking for was a vanity. I first thought that my daughter would need a desk, but then thought again. A vanity seemed to go better with her Paris theme. I looked for a few months for the perfect one and finally bought this one from a friend. I did not take a before pic (I think my memory is clogged from all the paint fumes I inhale!) But trust me, it was old and not in that great of condition. I do know it was from 1920's and was a dark cherry wood. It had one of those old trifold mirrors that came with it. I decided to continue the theme and paint it a gloss black. I opted not to use the mirror and instead found this one from TJ Maxx. Again mixing old with new is always a great balance. Then I changed the fabric on the stool to coordinate with one of her lamp shades and now she has an adorable place to admire herself. So many dealers at the Queen have vanity sets in their booths. You can find them in their original finish or some that have been painted like this one.

Next, I needed a headboard. At first, I was going to have my hubby construct one for me and then I remembered how readily available and plentiful old shutters are at the Queen. Check out the ones I found and re-purposed into my daughter's headboard. Super cute and very simple to do...just hinge the shutters together, that's it. A great first DIY project for anyone out there.

So, now that the basics of her room were complete, all that was needed were the accessories. Enter this sad and worn out piece of luggage and outdated rack. Yep, you guessed it, another Queen purchase for me. Gotta support my fellow consignors! Once I saw this I knew immediately what I wanted to use it for...a place to house all my daughters books.

After a few coats of gloss black paint, some stenciling and a new inside lining this is the end result...

  

No, I did not stencil the word "livers" on the top like my 9 year old daughter was convinced I did. It is "livres" which is french for books! I also added a cute luggage tag to make it look like she was a well traveled little girl. Now, I can honestly say that she loves going to choose a book to read each night . Makes it all worth it!

Windows are another great way to bring a vintage feel to any space. I found these 2 windows at one of the Queen of Hearts locations awhile back. They were exceptionally perfect for this project because they were not your traditional multi-paned windows. They only had two panes and I thought they had a more of a Paris apartment feel to them. They were originally white, so of course I painted them gloss black. My intention was to just hang them as is on the wall to resemble windows, but then I had the idea to repurpose them into picture frames. Check them out with these black and white family photos...makes me so happy my daughter wanted them on her bedroom wall.

Here are a few other accessories you could find in your hunt through one of the Queens locations...

Vintage perfume bottles, old cast iron lanterns and rusty old metal signs. I got lucky and found this replica of an old iron lamp post at Hobby Lobby. I know, Hobby Lobby rocks! I was walking to the checkout and saw it standing there in the aisle. Without even stopping or caring what the price was, I just scooped it up and carried it to the register. It was perfect. Again, I love finding new pieces that have a vintage feel to them. Funny thing is, that a few days later, I saw one similar for sale in the Marietta location!! I swear you can find just about anything you want at the Queen.

Lastly, I want to share this great black trunk at the end of my daughters bed. It could not be more perfect... adds beauty to the room with it great silver nailhead design while it serves as a great place to store all those things you don't want everyone to see. Trunks come in so many shapes, sizes and finishes. They are great when used as storage units and even better when repurposed into things like coffee tables. The possibilities are endless with these babies.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my daughter's new Parisian room as much as we enjoyed creating it! It was a long time coming and a lot of work but so worth it in the end. I love to lay with her on the bed and look around at all the different pieces she has and remember the journey each one took to get to where it is now. It is truly amazing what a creative mind, a little paint and some elbow grease can accomplish. Remember, a balanced mix of new and old is always a good design move. It can really bring a room together. Thanks again for reading and happy shopping!

Lori Hollaran  is a dealer at the Marietta Queen of Hearts and her booth is Halo Design & Interiors, dealer code HALO, located on King St. Follow the link to like her on Facebook and see all her amazing finds! 

Lightning Bugs, a Bright Idea: Guest Post from Appalachian Vintiques

Here in Western North Carolina, we call this place “God’s Country.” Small, southern towns with charm, sweet tea, front porch sittin’ and best of all, lightning bugs. As a kid, my grandparents would sit on the porch sipping sweet tea while my brother and I ran carefree through the grass near the ‘crik’ using our old mason jars to catch thousands of lightning bugs. Inevitably, we would run as fast as we could to show the grown-ups our special finds, poking holes in the tops of the lids and providing just enough grass for these amazing creatures to survive.  

What is interesting about lightning bugs is that they are the most efficient light producers in the entire world. Additionally, they have the ability to create a soft glow in even the darkest of country nights, which for me was always a comfort. In a similar way, the way we choose to light our homes can provide that same type of comfort. There is nothing more welcoming then walking into a home where the homeowner has paid special attention to lighting. I often think sometimes that lighting comes as an afterthought, which is unfortunate because the right lighting can add such pizzazz to any space.

With the advent of Pinterest and social media, there is no shortage of ideas for ways to incorporate lighting into any space. You can repurpose everyday items into focal points that become great conversation starters, or you can reintroduce beautiful pieces from the past. At the Queen of Hearts in Buford, there is an abundance of great options to fit any taste. 

We found this unique, upcycled lamp and added it to our booth space at Appalachian Vintiques in Buford. This piece is a great mixture of old metal and old car parts and would make a great addition in any rustic space or man cave. This is sure to be a conversation starter for anyone that sees it!

We absolutely fell in love with this beautiful antique hanging light fixture found at the Queen in Buford by dealer GATE. 

Dealer SMM at the Queen in Buford has several stunning options to offer homeowners and decorators alike. This dealer provides customers with a mixture of upcycled, repurposed, vintage, and antique lights – a taste for all lighting pallets.

Looking for a certain style – Parisian maybe? Check out dealer PARIS at the Queen in Buford for this fantastic fixture for a home office or living space.

Wanting to take a unique piece and upcyle it into something more useful? Check out this old chicken feeder we had lying around the house. I love the texture and color, but we don’t plan on having any chickens anytime soon! We drilled some holes into the sides and now we have a conversation starter that emits fantastic lighting.

Lighting should never be an afterthought when we are designing spaces that we love. Not only should we take into consideration energy output, but also placing pieces in our spaces that emit the right light and provide texture, color, and unique qualities will create spaces that we love and cherish for many years to come!  

Jennifer Turner is a dealer at the Buford Queen of Hearts and her booth is Appalachian Vintiques, dealer code LIVJC or VINTQ, located on Court St. Follow the link to like her on Facebook and see all her amazing finds!