Sleepin' Pretty, Part II

It feels great to say that we're done (for the time being) with our master bedroom and we are smitten!  We have switched out every single ugly beige light switch and electrical outlet for white switches and outlets, painted every square inch of the room (except the carpet), and arranged the furniture in a way that works for us.  In the beginning, the bed was on the big, blank wall on the far side of the bed and Matt's dresser and television were directly across from it (where the console table now resides).  Those were the only furniture items in the room until my papasan chair moved in.  See this post for the before pictures as well as pictures from the other half of the room.

Here is the view from the doorway.  The walls are a soft grey-taupe-brownish color, which is a nice contrast to our green accent wall.  This picture was taken before we swapped some of the accessories.

This is the view from the bathroom.  I think this corner could use more color, especially in the form of a new chair.  I am smitten by a tall, dark, and curvy chair at Home Goods (it's even on clearance!) and I'm currently trying to convince hubby that it would make an excellent birthday gift (if it's still there).  The curtains are burlap and I made six of them from 15 yards of fabric, which was on sale (regularly $3.99/yd, $1.60/yd with my 60% off coupon) at JoAnns.  The total cost for the curtains (not including hanging hardware) was $25!

This picture has the most accurate paint color portrayal (except the pinkish spot in the middle).  The blank wall in this picture will eventually become a wall of floating bookshelves.  My inspiration for this wall is a combination of my grandparents' house (no pictures available), Young House Love's zippered patio seam, and my pinspiration. 

I would like to find some livelier accent decorations and sew a small accent pillow for our bed or for the chair in the corner from a napkin I found on clearance at Cost Plus World Market for under $2.  Eventually, we plan to swap out the floor for something dark and sleek, swap the baseboards for something more decorative, and build cabinets and a really tall armoire in the random nooks in our bedroom.  We'll eventually get around to those projects!  Next up on our list: the master bathroom, the master closet, and the office.

What home improvement projects are you dreaming about right now?  Are you planning to tackle them soon or do expect that you'll have to wait a while?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Sleepin' Pretty, Part I

My in-laws are awesome.  They gifted us a beautiful bed frame for our wedding.  You might recognize it from Crate & Barrel: it's the Pavilion Canopy Bed.

My husband, Matt, begrudgingly agreed to put it on our registry, thinking that no one would purchase it for us.  He never saw himself with a canopy bed.  That's not to say that he doesn't like it, but it's a departure from his comfort zone.  We were I was happily surprised when he came home with the news that his parents had purchased it for us!  It is sturdy, pretty, has the canopy part (for me), the low foot board (for Matt), and works well in our bedroom because of our vaulted ceiling!  Excuse the poor-quality photos, but here is a "partial-before" photo of the bedroom; it was taken after we started to rearrange the bedroom, but prior to painting the walls.

Before

After several coats of Behr's 'Rolling Hills' for our accent wall and Behr's 'Wheat Bread' for the other three walls, we were ready to have our new bed frame delivered and set up!  I wasn't home to take pictures of the delivery and installation (because it wasn't my home yet), but here is what it looked like after a hasty decorating spree, using only items we had around the house.  The result: an extraordinarily comfy bed, but not much depth to the decoration.  My parents watered our plants while we were on our honeymoon and added the sheer drapes (leftover from our wedding) to the decor.  What you can't see from this picture is that there is absolutely no furniture or decoration on the right side of the room.

Progress

Thanks to the generosity of family and friends, we were able to purchase the-only-duvet-we-could-agree-upon from our registry: the Marimekko Lumimarja Celery duvet cover from Crate & Barrel.  We didn't worry about getting the whole matching set, though.  Instead, we chose to accessorize with a variety of colors and textures.

Enter Ikea.  For $1 apiece we were able to snag two 26" square pillowcases from the As-Is Department, which fit two pillows that we already owned.

We also went on a bit of a Target shopping spree, where we found this beauty:

And after some assembly time... we have a winner! So, with the addition of several more decorative items, including several wedding gifts, we are done for the moment (until I get flowers to fill the vase!). 

After

 And the side-by-side comparison:

Partial-Before

After

I really wish I had the true 'before' photos.  The dresser and television were originally centered on the wall where the console table and Midsummer Eve artwork now reside and the bed was directly opposite. Eventually, we want to refinish the nightstands and/or buy new ones, install hard flooring, build an armoire into the area that currently has my vanity table, build cabinets on the random ledge, and bring in a small fireplace.

What's your favorite part of your master bedroom?  Leave a comment and let us know!  For kicks, my favorite part of my bedroom is feeling like a princess when I wake up, due to the comfy bed and the tree-filled view out our window!

P.S. The lamp base is also a Target find.  They were on clearance several months ago and I sent Matt to several different Targets to find them. This picture also shows the necessity of refinishing these nightstands, pronto.  Hubby stripped them, but never got around to refinishing them.  He enjoys refinishing furniture, so they are his project :)

P.P.S. A second post is coming with the other half of the room and the bathroom, pending touch-up paint and curtains.  Our closet (when the makeover is completed) deserves its own post.