Seeing Starbursts

I long for a more light, neutral, less cluttered look

for our home, yet still have a sense of style, comfort
and inviting feel.

If I were asked to describe my interior design
style I would have to say that I am drawn
to a Classic Refined Farmhouse style.
It's a timeless tailored look, with a bit of sophistication,
but not stuffy or frilly looking.
It's neat and comfortable and will stand the test of time.

Slowly but surely, I am working my way

around our home and replacing decor,

painting furniture and walls, replacing carpets,

drapery, and de-cluttering like crazy.

For me, most of the time designing a room is a slow process.

Sometimes I have to sit and ponder about how I want to switch

things up, other times I just know.

This area happened to be one of those slow processes.

It was finally time to replace this picture.

Not that it's a bad picture, it just no longer fits in with our style.

These stairs are in our living room and lead down

to our lower lower. So whatever I decided to do

it had to blend in with the rest of the room.

Hubby says I have champagne taste on a beer income.
Sometimes I think he just tells me that to see what
I can create on my own for less money.
But you know what?
I can have that champagne taste on a beer income!

I remember back in the 70's my parents had a starburst clock.
I loved that thing.
Nowadays, there are starburst mirrors.
I love the look of Starburst mirrors, but
have you seen the price that these mirrors are going for?

Here is one from Pottery Barn, $349.00.

One from Ethan Allen for $269.00

Unbelievable!
There is no way that I would pay that much for a piece of home decor,
especially since I like to switch things up so much.

So........

This is what I created for a whopping $10.00!
It measures 26".

Yep, $10.00!

You'll never believe what I created it from.

Ta-Da!
Plain old wood shims...

and these floral rings.

First, I laid the shims onto the
floral rings to create a design.
At this point I didn't adhere anything because
I wanted to stain my shims.

Once I had my design figured out
it was time to stain the shims.
I removed the shims from the floral rings
and laid them out in a row onto a drop cloth.
It's much easier to stain or paint the shims before
you put everything together.

I let the shims dry for 24 hours.
Once the shims were dry, I used a hot glue gun
and glued them onto the floral rings.
After I had the shims all glued on it was
time to add a mirror.
I wanted my starburst  mirror to have
a designer look. I just didn't know
what I wanted until I happened to find this
mirror at our local Goodwill store for $2.00.

 Not only does it give the starburst mirror
the designer look I was going for, it had
a brushed champagne gold color.

See, I can have that champagne taste on a beer income!

I know that's lame but I couldn't help myself.

I placed a piece of champagne gold cardstock onto
the back of the mirror and glued the mirror onto
the wood shims.
I couldn't wait to hang it on our wall.
A champagne look on a beer income.

Once I had it hung on the wall, the wall still didn't
have the designer look I was going for,
Soooo...
I added a few more starburst mirrors.

This is the finished look of the wall.

This next picture shows our true wall color.
I wasn't sure that Hubby would go for this
look but it really liked it.
Total costs to design this wall: $25.00!

Here are a couple different angles of the room.

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica