"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." — E.B. White

Friday, November 5, 2010

Jack's Cow Boy room!


Yup, my little man is all about cows.
and ponies.
and tractors.
and trucks.
and all things farm.

I don't know why I've taken so long to get this posted. It's actually been one of the most finished rooms in our house. Guess it's poor light and tiny size (9x14?) made for difficult (terrible!) pictures...


The quirky wood cow cutout I found at Goodwill is now a blackboard that wishes Happy Trails (or Happy Bday!). It's hung over a window treatment made w/scrap fabric and an old singletree (wagon part) given to me by a friend ages ago.


Love the bed... Besides the (found in attic) headboard, new mattress and duvet cover I SEWED(!!!!) all was thrifted. 
I was so happy to have found the Ralph Lauren red gingham twin set and two new baby blue chenille shams and bed rail. Even the cow pillow was a thrift! A crude bedskirt was made outta burlap.  Over the bed are pages I cut from a super cute cow ABC book by Woody Jackson. Beside the bed is a framed greeting card of a vintage tractor.



Hoarder lucky me, already had quite the decor collection going and it was nice to have a fun place to put it all.  I put the room together first as Jack's nursery with crib and rocker (vintage pine Jenny Lind that I painted white/sanded out)... Besides the cute vintage toys I'd bought before he was even born, I also scrounged up this mess of furniture.


The old radio case now stands up and holds books. I found a free corkboard, .75 scrounged wall light parts, and three wooden applique starts from Lowes that went on the headboard... The red bedside table was the perfect size for a tight fit- just a bad paint job had left it an odd orange... For $5 and one can of spray paint, I could deal with that!


Finding the right tiny dresser (off Freecycle) for his tiny room and brown paint to coordinate with the old armoire and various wood tones was tougher than it shoulda been! The dresser was white with drawers and top covered in stickers and gloss navy paint w/beat up chrome knobs. I already had several small wooden knobs, then used extra cowboy fabric for pulls. As they wear I've considered switching them to baling twine...

I really love the barrel/laundry hamper I made outta an old nail keg. I used a contrasting red version of the cowboy fabric.


The mirror I made with vintage blocks, glued on a flat wide frame. Finally added the twine edging to make it look  more finished. Reflected is a vintage toy gun rack that says Saddleview Ranch. That holds his dress up clothes and old canteen.


I made one lampshade with my inspiration vintage inspired cowboy fabric plus red pom pom trim, and sprayed a couple of old brass wall lamps with just rusty metal primer and some black paint splatters. Worried about our late talker, I made and hung a collage over the rocker/chair with the prayer;
"Dear Father, Hear and bless thy beasts and singing birds
and guard with tenderness small things that have no words, Amen"

The chimney closet was fitted with beaded board and shelves to hold vintage books and toys.



I picked up the old armoire at a yard sale for $20. Our 200 y.o. house has no closets! Jack climbs up to find what I've tried to hide in those old pails. Note how he's scratched the veneer by spinning the handle/ knobs!

The metal wall piece was a salvage that I wrapped with thrifted gingham wallpaper and topped with tin cows. I used the rest of the wallpaper as drawer liners in the dresser and to make door sign with letters n frame I had in my stash.




The Farmer was very worried about using my "dirty junk" at first, but seemed proud of the finished room.
But the best payoff: Jack ADORES it!

I'll leave you with a tease of Sarah's room. Also all vintage/thrifted.
One of these years I''l get it posted. Hopefully before she's into "Goth" or the like...


Meanwhile, linking here at Cindy's fun kids party...



and also at sweet Marian's
Furniture Feature Fridays

and here to meet new friends!


New Friend Fridays

28 comments:

All That Glitters said...

You just stole my heart!!!! I'm in love with this room girlfriend! I love every inch of it! We have the same taste!!!!! I'm going to use you little man's room for inspiration!!

Have a great weekend!!!
Jennifer

HossBoss said...

Very cute! Can't wait to see the rest of Sarah's room too.

: )

Vintage Country Girl said...

I LOVE everything! Way to go with the thrifyness! Isn't it a rush when you find something. There's no feeling like it. I especially like the barrel you lined with fabric. For some reason as a kid, my sister and I had those same barrels as nightstands! I also did the very same wooden block mirror for my kid's nursery years ago. You did a great job. Love your little girl's room too, but I want more than just a peek!

malia said...

Wow this is creative and beautiful! Love your blog too! I'm your newest follower and am adding you to my "Friends" list (hope that's ok) off my nav bar... still trying to figure out how to get more than 30 on my main page but I'm working on it. xoxo Malia

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Just great...my four year old has a cowboy room. I love the books..the bead board, a favorite of mine, and the magnet board, that is great. The old book collection is just awesome...just precious. See you are sewing..that coverlet! Go girl!

I will get with you soon on picking out material for the pillow...this was a long week, one went to the hospital, I found out I was going to be a grandmother and then she lost the baby...in my post so you know, but it made for a long emotional week.

Talk to you soon....love, love the rooms and where you found all your treasures!!!

Tammy @BeatriceBanks said...

I just adore Jack's room! Every little detail is adorable. Vintage and farm. Love that combination!
Thanks for leaving me a nice comment. I'm your newest follower. Lovely blog! I'd be delighted if you came joined me at my new blog-
www.beatricebanks.blogspot.com
I'm having a giveaway!
Have a great weekend!

Katie Olthoff said...

I LOVE your vintage style - new follower!

Reyna Meinhardt said...

I love his room! Adorable and perfectly cowboy vintage! The vintage books are adorable as well! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my blog as well!

Sarah @ Modern Country Style said...

I love, lopve, LOVE this post. I would have loved it if it were a tenth as good as this. There were about twelve million fabulous ideass in there. I had to reread about five times to even begin to take it all in!

I'm so pleased you left yuour lovely message for me over at Modern Country Style.

I'm your new Follower!

Sarahx

Katie Olthoff said...

Yep - my rant is fairly recent, but read this post...We've only been farming JUST over a year!

http://onthebanksofsquawcreek.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-did-i-get-here.html

cindy said...

Well now, I love every ding dang thing about Jack's room!!!! So personal and unique and so non-pottery barn--I LOVE IT!

I supposed I need to hit some fleas and thrifts to find some cool stuff for my son's room. It's so hard because he's at the pre-teen age...inbetween themed rooms and urban gray and metal. Ugh.

Thanks for sharing! It is truly a feast for the eyes and a perfect space for your little farmer guy :)

Hanna said...

HI! I'm your newest follower fro the blog hop! You can find me at www.bouffeebambini.blogspot.com

This is such a lovely room. Well done!!

From the Old InkWell said...

What an adorable room. You have really put a lot of love into it. Love the vintage books and toys and the mirror with the blocks frame is so CUTE! Thanks for dropping by my blog! I will have to drop by again and check up on the other Jack I know. :=)

Vicki said...

Jack's room is adorable. I love all the furniture, toys, books, the mirror. What a great job. Thanks for dropping by my blog today. I have to tell you that I grew up in Maryland! I lived in Arnold,Annapolis and Galesville. I rode horses too for most of my life and...have a toe head son named Jack with a ton of curls! lol Nice to meet you. Following you too.

Vicki at Rusty Rooster Vintage

Stacy of KSW said...

Oh my goodness am I glad you left me a comment today, I may have never seen this amazing room. You did such a great job on it & I'm hooked already. I am itching to make a block mirror like that for my playroom now (thanks for the idea) Off to become your newest follower too :)

Jen said...

This room is super cute! Love the block mirror!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for stopping by and leaving such a really lovely comment! I love Jacks room, he is a lucky little guy! You have shown real inspired ideas and done a wonderful job with his room. I will be back to see what else you are up to!
kelly

Lori O'Brien Photography said...

I wanna bunk with Jack!

Kim said...

Oh, my boys had a cowboy room when they were little. I loved it. We had a lariat hanging on the wall and they would take it down and knock things off the shelf with it! Little did I know that we would actually be living a country life then.
I think you are right. We must be kindred farm families! We even have falconing in common. Did you see my son's blog? He has worked hard on it. We are all sorry to see his bird released at the end of the month though. So it is with falconry. He will fly free again.
I will be back to visit your blog often.
It must be amazing to have that much land!

Faded Plains said...

Your sons room turned out so cute...thanks for sharing the link with me ;o)

Anonymous said...

I liκe what you guys агe usually uρ too.
This type of сleѵer work аnԁ eхροsure!
Keep up the goоd wοrks guys Ι've added you guys to my own blogroll.

Feel free to visit my homepage http://www.bucket--truck.com/is-altec-the-best-bucket-truck/
Feel free to surf my website ... bucket trucks for sale

Anonymous said...

Нey there! Do you know if they make аny plugins to ѕafeguarԁ agаinst hackers?
I'm kinda paranoid about losing everything I've
ωoгkеԁ harԁ on.

Anу tіps?

Check οut my weblog; http://tensunitsforpain.com/

Anonymous said...

Pretty nice ρost. I simply ѕtumbled upon youг ωеblοg and wanted to
say that I have really loved brοwsing your weblog posts.

In anу case I will be ѕubscгibіng in your
гss feed and I аm hopіng you wrіte аgain very soon!


Take а loοk at my weblog: http://www.howtobuyandsellcarsguide.com/

Anonymous said...

Hi there, І log on tο your blog like еvery weеκ.
Your writіng style іs wіttу,
keеp doing what you're doing!

Feel free to visit my webpage - www.makemoneybuynsellcars.biz

Anonymous said...

Greatе pieces. Keep writing such kinԁ of infοrmatiοn on
your blog. Im rеally іmpressed by уour site.

Нello there, Yοu hаve
pеrformed an excellent job. Ι will definіtelу digg it anԁ individually recommend to my fгiends.
I am confident they wіll be benefіted from this site.



Hеre is my blog buy and sell cars for profit

Anonymous said...

Right here іѕ thе ρerfeсt web sitе for anуbodу
who hopes to fіnd out аbout this topic.
You understand а whole lot its almost tough tο argue ωith you
(nοt that I аctually would want to…HaHa).
You certainly put a new spin on a tοpіc thаt hаs beеn ωгіtten about for yeaгs.
Wοndеrful stuff, just wonderful!



Looκ at mу web-site :: best dallas seo company

Anonymous said...

As the aԁmіn of this web pagе
is wоrking, no doubt veгy quіckly it will
be famоus, due to itѕ feature contents.

Also visit mу websitе: surveillance systems

Anonymous said...

I think the admіn of this web sіte is genuinеlу working
harԁ іn support of hiѕ site, ѕinсe
hеre every material is quality based stuff.

my homepage - plano homes for rent