A Big Surprise...

My mom turned 85 this past April.

She had a trip planned to California

to visit her granddaughter, grandson

& some old friends.

She ended up ill and was hospitalized

for close to a week.

Which shut down our plans for a

BIG surprise!

Happy to say...

after several weeks she

is on the mend and was able to take her

trip to California after all!

We took the opportunity of her being

on vacation to do a surprise make over

in her quilting room!

She lives to quilt!

She makes small quilts & table

runners for the shop.

The goal was to spend very little money.

{before}

First...

we emptied the room, tore down the

old wallpaper boarder & painted the walls.

I had no jumping off point for a paint color

so I just headed to Lowes and browsed

paint chips. Pulled up one and it said...

"Cloth" ... Perfect!

Next...

We went on a hunt for an old dresser to rescue.

We found a monster of a piece that my

husband transformed. I so wish I would of

remembered to take a before picture!

He removed doors & drawer panels and

added wainscot. He painted it a funky

blue & gave it his famous worn finish.

It has 6 drawers & 3 pull out tray

for all her fabric.

{after}

Then...

He built a shelf unit for the wall above

the dresser. It has a row of little chicken nest

like boxes. Handy to nest fabric strips &

started project. He painted it Linen with the

same distressed finish.

Finally the fun begins...

... putting all the decorative touches

in the room. I found some shams I had

bought a couple of years ago and never used.

They were a quilt pattern with many

colors to pull from. I chose a khaki color

quilt for the bed and dressed it like a day bed.

I had bought a Wall Word decal of flowers

that I had stashed in a closet for a year or so.

I took three pine boards, painted them

with layers of green, blue & linen paint.

Distressed, stained & lacquered them

and applied the decal. It hangs over the bed for

an inexpensive piece of simple art.

We had enough done to make it a surprise by

the time she got home! Although, there

is still more to do... curtains, sorting of the

piles & boxes of fabric, a cutting table &

a few more decorations.

She is enjoying it and has made several little

quilts since she's been home!