By AMY FREESE
For Brentwood Home Page
Last week I shared the transition of how my daughter’s room grew from a room filled with ‘sugar and spice’ to a ‘tween pad of ‘mod and marvelous’ but did you know that much of the ‘growth’ took place by using pieces of the past?

 In today’s ‘DesignHer Challenge’ I will share how we used some of the hidden treasures of the past and transformed them into sweet prizes for the present.

To get a better eye view, visit my website and check out the photos so you can see the pieces I’m referring to.  First off, you’ll find a big inviting king-size bed.

Did I finally pull in to one of those mattress stores after witnessing a sign spinner do his thing?  No way; instead I did a little spinning of my own. I pushed those twin bed box springs together, spinned those mattresses in a horizontal fashion and voila, I had a king-sized bed big enough for any ‘tween wanna be. We also purchased a foam insert to fit between the mattresses to keep the ‘tween from falling in between.  Apparently, I learned, other people have been mattress spinning for years as this apparatus is made just for this purpose. 

To further ensure that the bed does not split apart even during slumber party serenades, my husband got into his handy dandy tool box and strapped on a cargo strap.  This bed won’t be traveling anywhere. 

Olivia also has a dresser in her room that dates back to the groovin’ ’70’s.  The dresser that was once home to my Gloria Vanderbilt’s and rainbow gauchos now adds a little vintage flair to tone down the potential mayhem of ‘mod and marvelous.’

I hosted a bridal shower last spring and made ‘kissing balls’ to hang over the buffet table. Well, these were just too fun to keep stashed away, so out they came and now they float from Olivia’s ceiling.  However, there will be no ‘kissing’ anything in Olivia’s room so they are now known as the ‘floating flower puffs.’ (Learn how to make your own ‘flower puff’ or ‘kissing ball’ in my blog. Click here)

Other pieces of the past include artwork by Olivia; and from her great grandma, hand-crocheted pillow cases add a lil’ nostalgia. A lamp from her nursery -- once trimmed with feminine beadwork -- now looks funky fresh with a furry boa.  A trio of daisies also adorns the top of her door … they may look a bit familiar if you had lunch with me on my back porch this past spring as these daisies used to adorn the middle of my table.

So the room that I tried putting the brakes on from the get go really didn’t take tons of effort or cash as most everything was at our fingertips.  All we needed was to take a step outside the box, refluff, and repurpose a few pieces in order to fit them into our present. 

 It’s kind of like our lives: Often we don’t need a complete overhaul just a little reshuffling and rearranging to get our things properly placed for our new present.  If we just take the time to look around either in a room that needs a little redo or in our lives that needs a little tweak, we can find pieces from the past that can look new and fresh for our future.

While my daughter and I were in the midst of growing her room, ‘DesignHer Living’ was doing a little growing of its own by embracing pieces of the past and repackaging them for the present.   Not only will DL be a coaching biz that takes place by phone or in person but DL will coach you as it pertains to your home and the clothing as all these pieces of life work together to create your custom fit.  I’ve gone in to the closet of my fashionable and decorative past and polished those gems to use for the present and meet women where they need me most. 

My challenge to you is to look around not only your home and inside your closet but inside your heart to see what can be used for your present.  Shuffle a few things around, strap a couple of old pieces together, and polish your gems as you never know what is waiting to glisten so your present can grow.

Home-Life-Style

 Amy Freese is a life and style expert. Contact her at mailto:amy@designerherliving.comor visit her website at www.amyfreese.com.