If you’ve been following along with Tyler’s Scandi Sanctuary Makeover you are well versed in the dilemmas that I faced with the design. The biggest one being the bed and the fact that it had to live in front of the window. This made headboarding (i just made that word up) a little bit harder because 1. It couldnt block the light. 2. It had to be strong enough that the bed could be pulled off of the wall and the headboard could still be leaned against. And 3. It couldnt cost a million dollars but it needed to look like a million bucks. Simple.

The first step in this journey was to find some seriously amazing wood to build with. Pine from Home D just wasnt going to do, so I ventured into the unknown world of the lumber yard and bought some gorgeous Maple. This type of wood has a few different names (possibly depending on where you are in the country?) I’ve heard it called Wormy Maple, Colorful Maple, Ambrosia Maple. Fun fact, the wood itself doesnt grow this way. Its a regular maple tree that becomes infested with Ambrosia Beetles that burrow into the wood and bring bacteria that stains it. Pretty sweet right?

First things first, when you’re building this headboard you first have to decide how tall you want it to be. Seems a little obvious but just go with me. Because it pitches in the middle, you get to decide just how steep of an angle you want by how much taller the center board is than the side boards. Because I kind of made it up as I went I can show you exactly how we did it, so if you want to customize yours a little more than you’ll know just how to do it!

Start by determining your size. Mine was for a king size bed and the original plan was to make it 48” at its highest point and 40” on the sides. (we’ll chat a little bit more about the change of plans in a minute, it doesnt effect the actual tutorial)

I’m sure that there are some great mathmatical formulas to get the exact measurements and angles, but that’s just now how my brain works so I laid out the boards on the floor of my garage used painters tape to mark where they needed to live.

Next I measured and marked the dead center of the middle board.

Then I just laid one of the slat boards from the end board to the center line of the middle board, so that the top point of the slat board hit the center of the line I had marked.

Then I marked the angle on both boards so I knew what needed to be cut off.

Repeat on the other side of your center mark so that it makes a point. Cut off the excess.

Once you’ve cut your slatted board on the miter saw along the mark, your going to replicate that same angle (mine was 80 degrees, which means that I set my saw to cut at 10 degrees) on both ends of the board for as many slats as you need. I ended up using 8 boards.

If you’ve marked everything correctly, your slats should fit together and follow the point that you cut into the center board.

As much as I wish that I had done this project in a perfectly lighted garage, the reality is that we were building this thing at 1 am. So here is a little real life progress shot for ya…you are welcome.

To attach everything together we laid the slats face down on the ground (make sure that the good side is down!) and put our boards on top of them. After we had secured the first set of slats to all 3 boards and made sure that everything was straight, we spaced the slats and attached them with finishing nails, that way if anything was spaced wrong or wonky we could easily fix it before we permanently screwed everything together. That being said, we knew that our center was lined up based on the slats lining up on the edges of the outside boards, and against the spacers, but its still a teeny bit scary when you are nailing something together that you cant see…not going to lie.

Once everything was attached with the finishing nails and good to go, we secured it with countersunk screws and I wiped it down with Danish Oil.

Ok now for the real real life part. When I planned the height of the headboard, I may have guestimated the height of Tyler’s mattress. The only time I had seen it was when it was up on the massive storage base and was really tall. So I used my bed as a guide for where I thought everything would lie once it was on a box spring and frame. When we got everything moved in my heart sunk when I saw that their mattress was literally 1.5 times thicker than mine. It must have been a little bit like what the Princess and the Pea felt like when she gazed up at the top of that daunting GINORMOUS mattress pile. The headboard looked so teeny and dinky and you could see like 2 of the slats.

But we never give up right? Luckily when it was propped up on the bedframe it was the perfect height. Which would have been fantastic and we could have done that and called it a day in a normal situation where the bed is against the wall. This was not that. The bed had to be off the wall, which meant that I needed to find a way to not only stabilize the headboard but secure it so that it was strong enough to lean against.

Tyler came to the rescue after he went scavaging for some wood and found 2×4’s in the garage. It might not be the prettiest thing from this angle, but guess what. Its sturdy and no one sees it from this angle. Except now the entire internet has…but its real life sometimes.

Want to see how much prettier it is from the front?

I’d say it looks pretty freaking fantastic for $70 and an hour of work wouldnt you?

The post $70 DIY Slatted Headboard appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Hello!! I’ve got a very exciting announcement.

I’m not a lumberyard virgin anymore!!!! You may be rolling your eyes like “yeah, so?” but this is a big deal for this girl!

I have always wanted to go to a lumberyard, I’ve always wanted to build stuff out of awesome wood, I’ve even googled local yards on multiple occasions. But I just couldn’t ever pull the trigger. There was something super intimidating about it, and though I’m not one that is easily scared off, I was terrified of this unknown world. A couple of months ago I was chatting with my friend who owns a cabinet shop and asked him where in the world he scored all of gorgeous wood that he uses for cabinets. He told me the lumberyard (of course) and so I asked him, how exactly does it work? He told me that he was pretty sure that they would sell it to me (that I didn’t have to be a tradesman) and that they would bring it out and I could pick the pieces that I want. Seemed easy enough. So when the time came to build Tyler’s headboard I was pumped and ready to go buy wood. at the lumberyard.

Deep breath.

The closer I got to the yard, the more nervous I became. I was actually sweating, which is a huge thing for me because I NEVER sweat. Even at the gym.

When I got there, I walked into the office. There were some seriously burly men behind the counter that looked up at me and kind of did the eyebrow raise head tilt like I was lost. (I’m sure looked like I was!) I told them that I wanted to buy some awesome wood and asked how one would go about doing so. They asked what kind I wanted (I had no idea! Is awesome a type?!) and pointed to a wall of different wood blocks. There are no prices, just types. So I picked my favorite and asked how much it was. When you buy wood from Home Depot its priced per liner foot meaning the width of the board doesn’t matter, it is just based on how much length you need. When you buy wood from the lumberyard it is priced per square foot, so they take into account the width and length of the board. I didn’t completely understand but nodded in agreement, acted like I knew what was going on, and they asked me to pull my truck into the dock.

A guy with a forklift and a massive pile of wood came out and I was sort of surprised at just how different each piece was. When you buy lumber from the yard its rough cut, meaning there is no standard size. You have to cut it to the size you need and smooth everything out yourself.

I picked a few pieces that had really pretty coloring, the guy took out his tape measure and measured the boards and wrote some stuff on a paper that I then took back into the office to pay for. I had NO IDEA how much this thing was going to cost me. I didn’t know if I was spending $40 or $400. It felt like I was walking the green mile because what if it was $400 and I had to tell them that I didn’t want to spend $400 and then I had to unload all of the wood out of my truck?! I would look like such a freak!!

Luckily it was only $70. Which I was very comfortably surprised about. After I had paid, they asked me if I wanted a donut and I felt a little bit like part of the gang. Granted I haven’t been back yet, but I feel like I could rock that lumberyard like a pro next time.

So, do you have any tips for lumberyard newbs? I would LOVE some more insight!

Tutorial for the headboard is coming tomorrow, but dare I say, it turned out pretty fantastic!

Can you hear the angels singing, pretty sure that the light streaming in helps with that sound effect a little….

The post My 1st Trip to the Lumber Yard appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Hey hey!! Lets get going with these tutorials for the Scandi Sanctuary yes?? When I tell you that ANYONE can do this project I mean it. I don’t care if you’ve never DIYed anything in your life, this project is a fantastic jumping off point! The inspo for this wall treatment was a handful of amazing houses in Iceland and Scandinavia that had this killer black exterior. I was obsessed with the fact that while they were black (normally a little cold feeling) they were still so inviting. The secret sauce was that you could still see the sheen of wood grain even though the color was solid. Brilliant!! You could possibly get the same look with a black wood stain, but I decided to use a black paint wash because I’m cheap, because it doesn’t smell, and I knew I could get a flat finish with paint. I used basic dog ear cedar fence posts. You could possibly use another type of wood if you really wanted, but Cedar checks all of the boxes for me. It has a heavy amount of texture, its lightweight, and its SO inexpensive. This entire wall treatment cost less than $100. I really wanted the heavy wood grain , but I didn’t want it to be really rough so I ran it through a planer and smoothed it out by about 80%. (If you don’t have a planer, you could use a sander and 80 grit sandpaper.) Once your boards are ready, lay them out on heavy duty paper.   Mix 2 parts water with 1 part matte black paint and roll it onto your boards. (We used about 3/4 of a gallon for this project.) When you’re painting your boards, you’ve got to continually stir the water because the paint will settle on the bottom of your bucket. If it settles and separates the sheen will be higher as you’re using the end of the water mixture and look a little wonky. You’ll need 2-3 coats to get a solid matte finish. Let them dry as long as possible. This was actually a mistake that I made. The cedar boards were pretty wet when I bought them (they were freshly cut) and adding more water to the equation didn’t help. I went back a week after install and they had shrunk in size. So just a heads up on that one! Prep your wall by painting it black before you start installing the boards, it will make your life 100000x easier. Pinky promise. We didn’t do that on the main wall and had to go back through with a teeny brush and spray bottle of paint solution to hide all of the white grooves. (Also, installing during daylight might help you notice these things before they become a problem…just sayin.) As you’re installing, make sure that you check every 3-4 rows to make sure things are still level. Trim your planks to size, and attach them to the wall with a finishing nail gun. If your boards are looking a little less than black after dealing with sawdust, wipe them down with a rag that has a little bit of black paint mixed with water and they will brighten– er, darken– right back up.   Before:   After:          

The post Come to the Dark Side JoJo: How to DIY Black Shiplap appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Hey there!! Huge (massive!) thank you to everyone who took the time to click over and vote yesterday for this fun bedroom makeover, it makes my heart so happy to know that so many of you took the time to do that! Remember that one lucky voter will win a $15k room makeover from the winner so chances are I could end up at your house!! You can vote here! And I know that my international folks cant see the contest so here are the links to the Jen’s and Carter’s rooms.

Alrighty then, lets get on with the details of this space shall we? If you know me AT ALL you know I love a good accent wall. This dramatic black shiplap was one of those projects that turned out even better than I imagined. Its just so moody, and lets be honest, cool. Way too cool for a dork like me but I’m just going to pretend that I can hang.

I said it in my last post, but I feel like this room could have be in anyone’s house. It was a little bit of a beige jungle and guess what? Friends don’t let friends have beige houses.

Tyler and Sarah have the same problem that a lot of people deal with. They have a king size bed and not a huge bedroom. In fact, the only wall that was large enough for the bed is the wall with the window on it, which isn’t ideal because it limits the headboard options (you obviously don’t want a massive upholstered headboard that blocks 3/4 of the light that comes through the window.) They also had a ginorm platform that the bed sat on. It took up about 15” on all sides of the already huge bed. When they built it they had grand storage plans but weren’t using it all that much so it was ok to get rid of.

Ok lets discuss the curtain situation. One of the reasons that a bed against the window is a problem is because the curtains aren’t allowed to be super functional. The width of the curtain rod mount was also a bit of a contributor to this situation.

If you happen to find yourself in a similar situation, here is a little trick. Mount the curtains higher on the wall and use a rod that is wide enough that the inside edge of the curtains can hang next to the edge of the window. Here, let me show you.

Doesn’t that window look wildly bigger?! Its like magic!

Ok sorry, I went off on a curtain tangent.

Lets talk about the walls. The first thing that we did was repaint the walls with my favorite white (which has been officially titled Mandi White at my local Sherwin-Williams store) It is their extra white base with 3 oz of white pigment added. Its kind of crazy how much painting your walls and ceiling white opens up the room and gives it so much life.

The headboard is a DIY that even the most beginner DIYer can knock out in less than an hour!! Though it did push me outside of my comfort zone and sent me to the actual lumber yard. (It was sort of terrifying!) Tutorial and story for that coming soon!!

Do you recognize the wall sconces? If you are a frequent Target shopper than I’m sure you’ve seen these killer table lamps yes?

Wellllll, all we did was take the weight out of the bottom (this will require you to disconnect and reconnect a pair of wire nuts) and hang it on the wall. FREAKING BRILLIANT RIGHT??! Man those things look like they should be hundreds of bucks. I love a good hack.

The throw at the end of the bed is actually this rug from World Market! The original plan was to put it on the floor (obvi because its a rug and all) but I set it on the end of the bed so I could vacuum and I was like “Hmmmm. It looks like it should live there.” Is it a little unconventional? Maybe but man it looks so great!!

The one request that Sarah had was a vanity, which happened to be the perfect reason to get rid of the TV.

The vanity is this desk from Target. I’m not going to lie, I was stressing about this situation. With such a fast turnaround I didn’t have time to order anything online so I was limited to what little (miniscule) offerings St. George stores had. I was striking out left and right and had saved Target for the end. When I saw this desk I was SO HAPPY, it was just the right size, the color was great because it was there, but not too bold, and it was available! Bada bing!

I used a hanging light kit with beige cord from the shop and rehung the vintage cast iron mirror that they had. All of the trinkets and books are either thrifted, from the clearance section at Homegoods, or from Target. With the exception of the FREAKING AMAZING GEODES + STANDS. YOU GUYS. I died when the showed up at my house. They are from Vintau and I cant even put into words how much I love them. In fact I’m feeling a little Speidi obsessive about it. I mean, who ever thought I’d relate to Spencer Pratt?

The amazing dresser is one that I’ve been hoarding in the back of storage unit #2 for a while. It just so so good.

The Jackelope Tyler had just hanging out in his office…I love how it adds a little bit of weirdness to the serious wall. The hanging Macramé planter is from IKEA! I’m not going to lie, I feel a little ashamed that I bought something that I can so easily make but its hard finding giant wooden beads (do you know of anywhere!?) It comes with a tray that I didn’t use. Clock is this legend from Target and is just like the one that I used in my Laundry Room. What can I say, its a good clock. The print is a picture that Tyler took when they were in Italy last year. He’s an incredible photographer (thats actually how we met, he shoots the landscapes for my Temple Prints)

OK phew. Did I miss anything important? I swear that this post has taken me 3 days to write with Mr. Brem all up in my grill. Don’t forget to click over and vote for a chance to win a $15K makeover from yours truly!

Sources for everything linked below!

Sconces | Pillows (Homegoods) | Bedding | Rug/Throw | Curtains | Basket (Homegoods) | Jackelope (vintage) | Macramé Planter | Silver Bowl (Homegoods) | Planter  | Clock | Dresser (vintage) | Desk | Hanging light | Gold Vase | Gold Mirror (vintage) | Geodes + Stands | Black Square Mirror | Black and White Print | Antlers (vintage)

The post Scandi Sanctuary Bedroom Dilemmas,Details, + Sources appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Hey hey!! I’m DYING to show you guys this master bedroom makeover! If you follow me on Snapchat (@vintagerevivals) then you got to witness the whole thing in action (including Joanna Gaines giving me her stamp of approval thanks to faceswap.) If you missed it, then get your cute buns over there right now and follow so that you don’t miss anything!

There are like 3 REALLY important things to talk about before we get to the pics. 1. I teamed up with Angie’s list to create a sleep sanctuary space based on Arianna Huffington’s new book The Sleep Revolution. 2. This room makeover is part of a competition between me, Carter Oosterhouse, and Jen Bertrand (which I was DYING about because HELLO. Carter?! Sigh.) And 3. The winner of the contest gets $5k to donate to their favorite charity AND one lucky voter will get a $15k room makeover from the winner. Now I know what you’re thinking. “Mandi I love you, but CARTER OOSTERHOUSE in my house?!” I know. Trust me when I tell you, I’m thinking the same thing. But, lets think about this logically for a minute. Would you rather have me and all of my fearless DIY skills, or stare at Carter Oosterhouse for a few hours? You know the right answer to this, as hard as that choice might be.

Ok so enough chatting, lets get on with the room reveal!

This is what Tyler’s Master Bedroom looked like before I got my mitts on it. I think its pretty safe to say that its not horrible. It probably what a large portion of master bedrooms look like.

There were a few design dilemmas that needed to be addressed, and the space needed some personality, all while making it a perfect sanctuary for sleeping.

Tyler and his wife Sarah dig a good rustic vibe. But instead of going pallet wood and mason jar rustic I went a little more Icelandic moody rustic.

This is where it ended up…

When I say that this was a whirlwind makeover, I mean complete and utter insanity. We did the entire room in 2 days (shout out to the worlds best husband). I am obsessed with how it turned out. Head over to Angie’s list to get all the nitty gritty details and see the other rooms and gosh darn it vote because I would LOVE to come and overhaul your house!!!

Until then, can you guess where the sconces are from? Check back tomorrow for all of the sources and to see if you guessed right!!

The post Bland Bedroom Turned Scandi Sanctuary Makeover REVEAL! appeared first on Vintage Revivals.