ALL

Round 4: Home Decor – Creating with the Stars 2014

Design + Build

Crafty Projects

Business + Life

Holidays

The Weekender Series

As Seen on TV

Room Makeovers

All DIY Projects

Search...

blog Categories

hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

CWTS logo A week4 cropped

You guys the Grand Prize Round of Creating with the Stars is HERE! It was a quick and crazy four weeks, wasn’t it? I bet these contestants are feeling that way, and they are probably looking forward to catching up on their sleep and sanity after all is said and done! We’re so proud of all of our contestants and so grateful for the support from our blog stars, our sponsors, and you guys…our readers! We couldn’t have made Creating with the Stars 2014 this amazing without all who are involved and have been working hard, getting the word out, and voting.

A FEW REMINDERS ON HOW THINGS WORK AROUND HERE…
1- PROJECTS ARE ANONYMOUS:

Our bloggers have done their best to keep things legit and not reveal which project is theirs.  This keeps the playing field level.

2- ONE VOTE PER ROUND:

You can only vote once, this isn’t a popularity thaang… we want to know which DIY project is the very best!

3- WINNER ANNOUNCED WEDNESDAY:

Wednesday we will announce the winner of Round 2 and also say goodbye to 3 talented bloggers.  Last week was impossibly hard to say goodbye to three, and we know this week is going to be just as hard!

4- FULL TUTORIALS

We’re hooking you up with even more amazing DIY tutorials! Last week’s tutorials can be found HERE.  Tomorrow, Sarah Dorsey (last year’s CWTS Champ) will be sharing her paint project, and then each day following the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will share their complete tutorials for their winning projects!

5- GRAND PRIZE ROUND

$1000 Visa Gift card from ForRent.com (Contestant)

$500 Visa Gift card from ForRent.com (Blog Star)

$500 Wayfair Giftcard

Round 4 Prizes

WE PROUDLY PRESENT TO YOU CREATING WITH THE STARS GRAND PRIZE ROUND: HOME DECOR

1. Masculine Meets Feminine Master Bedroom

image 1

Designing a master bedroom can be so tricky.  I’ve been dreaming of a quiet and romantic retreat that reflected both of our tastes for a while.  We installed the floor-to-ceiling board and batten a while ago and just never got around to designing the rest of the room.  The bedroom design was initially inspired by this gorgeous blue floral quilt made great-great-grandmother.  There is so much love and history behind this piece and I was so excited put it into the design.  But floral is very feminine and I knew I needed to balance it with some masculine pieces.  The biggest way I brought that in (which has quickly become my favorite part of this room) is the DIY Wood Round Headboard.  A storm blew a tree over in our yard a while ago and when we were starting to clean it up, I thought that it could make a great rustic project.  So after saving the limbs, cutting them into rounds, and letting them dry out for quite a while, it was ready.  We made it extra tall so that it really makes a statement.  I love the rustic quality that it adds and how it balances the floral and bright colors and pops off of the white walls.

image 2

I stuck with mainly blues and greens for this design because they’re colors that we both agree on!  I love the new, bright green nightstand. There wasn’t enough room on the other side of the bed for a similar nightstand, so I took a little plant stand and styled it with a little personality.  I like that they don’t match and provides more of an eclectic look.  Beyond the headboard, several other fun DIY’s went into this project.  I made the pillows from cheap rugs found at Garden Ridge.  And the light fixtures are another favorite.  I found this copper Target fruit bowl and was so in love with the color and the lines of it.  I knew it would make a great light!   The bowl felt feminine, so for a little masculine touch, we added some steel pipe for the structure.  The copper bowl became a unique shade for our sconces.

image 3

I was so happy when I finished this room because it completely met my goal.  It balances our two styles perfectly, both of us feel represented, and we now have a beautiful retreat that is perfectly “us.”

2. Vintage Industrial Bathroom Makeover

vintage industrial bathroom makeover

When you’re a home and DIY blogger, the CWTS Round 4 Home Decor theme is both wide open and really tricky. It’s totally open to interpretation and at the same time limited to what parts of your home you haven’t shown your readers yet!
This bathroom is one of a few rooms in my house that no one has really seen – and for good reason. The before photos show just how UGLY the room was – brown laminate tile, forest green vanity, spaceship-esque light fixture, rust colored walls and bad 70’s orange wood doors and trim. There were a few redeeming features that I kept such as the toilet, sink and faucet but nothing else was left untouched.
vintage industrial bathroom makeover collage 1
I spent the week painting just about everything in sight, with the walls getting three coats of white paint and the door and trim each getting four coats! The vanity was painted a light grey and given elegant handles and custom legs to make it look a little more like a piece of furniture. The spaceship light and bulky medicine cabinet were replaced with a rustic yet pretty mirror and new oil rubbed bronze vanity lights. I replaced the flooring, baseboards and also added new open shelving above the toilet for storage.
vintage industrial bathroom makeover collage 2
The finishing touches in my Vintage Industrial Bathroom Makeover were new black door knob and hinges, white and grey geometric extra long curtain used as a shower curtain, chunky gears clock, plush trellis rug and other accessories like the DIY towel hooks (using dock brackets), the wall mounted file storage as a hand towel rack and tool caddy that will hold toothbrushes and such. It is so much lighter and brighter in here – if you need me, I’ll be in the bath!
3Multipurpose Basement Studio
Multipurpose Basement Studio 1
The number of times I’ve heard “it’s just a basement” is crazy. Who said the basement should be finished to any lesser degree than the rest of your house? My basement was definitely in need of an overhaul, as half of it had emerald green carpet with dusty rose walls and the other half was completely unfinished. I decided to rip down the dividing wall, to create a giant multipurpose modern studio space. This can be used for just about anything, in particular photography, dance/exercise, a spare room for guests and (of course) DIY projects!
Multipurpose Basement Studio 2
A built in standing workstation (bar stool put there for the lazy people 😉 was constructed, with hard wired Ethernet jacks and volume control knob to control the 8” in-ceiling speakers. The desk level outlet at has built in USB jacks to charge mobile devices.Wood walls are all the craze lately; I wanted to put my own spin on it. I blow torched the rough pine that the standing workstation is made from to achieve the dark charcoal (literally) finish. It’s sealed with satin clear varnish. The torched wood was continued up one of the walls in the staircase to tie it all together.
Multipurpose Basement Studio 3
Custom built-in white painted birch cabinets provide TONS of storage and simultaneously conceal the entrance to the crawl space (the hole in the wall in the “before” picture).And one can’t forget the importance of lighting in design. All recessed lights are on dimmers for maximum control. Stair treads were custom built and house LED strips to improve visibility of the steps. Hidden alcove lighting washes a nice soft glow down the standing workstation wall and provides task lighting for the work area. I decided a hanging fixture with matching yellow cord would go great in this space, so I made a maple bracket yesterday last minute for it to hang off. The modelling lights on my studio flashes allows them double as floor lamps, which is great because I don’t have to put them away and they actually work as furniture!
Finally, the colour palette chosen was mostly neutral colours, since when shooting photos, you can’t have any colour contamination. And I really like white too, so it works out. Pops of yellow were injected to keep things interesting. And the photos of the old cameras on the wall were photographed in the actual studio yesterday! Proof of concept!

4. Wood Scalloped Wall Treatment and Colorful DIY Bedroom Makeover

Wood Scalloped Wall Treatment and Colorful DIY Bedroom Makeover

This tiny bedroom got a makeover in a big way! Every detail is jam packed with bright colors and layers of texture.  This room is filled with over 15 individual DIY projects including the DIY white tufted headboard, handmade pillows, Ikea hacked campaign nightstands, macramé hanging planters with hand-painted bowls, arm chair reupholster, cantaloupe and white dresser makeover, DIY curtains and curtain rod, an amazing light fixture made out of drinking straws, 140+ hand cut wood scallops to make an impressive focal wall and more!

Wood Scalloped Wall Treatment and Colorful DIY Bedroom Makeover2

This cute little seating area is made up of a thrift store chair, recovered with a sheepskin throw rug. The DIY macramé hanging planters add a touch of boho and texture to this bright and colorful space. The dresser was made with a homemade chalk paint and a little creative taping technique for a fresh and modern vibe.

Wood Scalloped Wall Treatment and Colorful DIY Bedroom Makeover3

The stunning details of this room complement each other perfectly and are all totally doable DIY projects! I hope this DIY bedroom inspires you to think outside the box and use creative materials and colors to make your own beautiful bedroom retreat!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

AMAZING RIGHT?? NOW IT’S TIME TO VOTE!

A big thanks to Survey Monkey for sponsoring the voting for CWTS! They’re a great company for bloggers to work with!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

ONLY ONE MORE DAY TO ENTER TO WIN A BEACH VACATION FROM APPLE VACATIONS to Punta Cana to stay at The Occidental Grand Nuevo Vallarta 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CWTS LOGO 2014 Sponsors Final

The comments +

  1. Kate says:

    WOW these are all super amazing projects!! It was soooo hard to vote! Congrats to everyone for making it to the last round and for completing these outstanding projects!

  2. All of the projects are awesome! So much inspiration!!!

  3. Unbelievable projects everyone! It’s been so much work and so much creativity. Good luck!
    xo,
    Shannon

  4. Maggie says:

    Wow. This was the best one yet! There is so much talent and creativity in all of you. 🙂

  5. Liz R. says:

    This was definitely the hardest decision so far! Holy cow that headboard is amazing!!

  6. Lucy says:

    There should be prizes for all four of these last contestants! So much amazing talent. Ditto on that amazing headboard!

  7. Shanna says:

    Okay, maybe this is a stupid question, but I thought there were only three contestants left…so how are there four projects up for a vote? What did I miss? Thanks!

  8. Great projects! I kinda giggled though. After the past few weeks observing all the contestants style, I think I can match every room with their blogger. Their decor screams “me”.

  9. Mindi says:

    I love all of them! Truly amazing great work! Totally inspiring, good luck to all of you!

  10. All I can say is it’s another WOW week!!!!

  11. Amazing, it was tough to vote! Love it all!
    Debbie

  12. Paula says:

    Did I miss something? Why are there 4 contestants in the last round? They all did a great job this time, but I was just wondering….

  13. Holy cow! These are all SO amazing!! That scalloped wall is incredible!

  14. Kate says:

    Love the scalloped wall… oh and that basement would be my woman-cave 🙂 CWTS is so much fun and everyone has done amazing work.

  15. […] one is theirs, but I can tell you that it is very Mandilish.   So please pop over and vote for your favorite, they have worked extremely hard (as have all of the contestants) and deserve to […]

  16. We are so beyond excited to have had this opportunity! Best of luck to the other 3 contestants! It’s anyone’s game and everyone deserves to win!!! XOXO

  17. Lolly Jane says:

    Love the wood wall, wow!!

  18. […] Round 4: Home Decor The final challenge was a room makeover, so we picked the basement/studio. We have lots of progress and DIY projects to share on this space which will be coming soon. You won’t want to miss it. We will tell you how to make that torched wood wall! We placed 1st out of 4 in this round! Original contest link with photos here. […]

  19. Congratulations to East Coast Creative and all the Participants in the CWTSC. You all have worked very hard. All of the Contestants and Stars have brought us the best to their creativity, and DI Y know how to make the most of what they do to make fabulous projects. There are no losers in this contest because, we all learned from each of contestant and stars involved with CWTSC. Thank you for sharing the fruits of your labors with us.
    Best of Luck to All,
    Karen Marie Kedzuch
    Dragonfly & Lily Pads

Leave a Reply to Mallory & Savannah @ Classy Clutter Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Make a Kid's Mud Kitchen and Produce Stand

DIY PROJECT

Work From Home Corner Office Makeover

VIDEO MAKEOVER

Yard Game Ideas ASO Live! with Kelly + Ryan

DIY IDEAS ON TV

Today Show Nursery Makeover

MAKEOVER

Outdoor Living Space Makeover : Home Becomes

VIDEO MAKEOVER

Must Reads

Get updated on what we're working on

Follow along!