Bedroom Exposed: inspiration

I will admit, I did get a little paint happy when we first moved into our home almost 3 years ago.. picking paint colors consisted of going to Home Depot, getting a paint chip fan, closing our eyes and with the drop of our finger deciding on each room color. Not the brightest tools in the shed.. that's for sure.

We're taking a different approach to it this time. In keeping with the tones of 'serenity and calmness', room by room our little Easter colored home is going to get a complete overhaul.. Eventually I'd love to bring neutral tones throughout the house, but for now the master suite is our starting point that will lead the way for future projects in our home.

The master suite consists of our bedroom, a fairly spacious walk in closet and ensuite bathroom (cheater ensuite, to be more specific) The colors in these 3 rooms do not match each other what so ever. I'd like to have the master bedroom be the base color to our color palette selection for all 3 rooms.





The hardest part for us at the moment is figuring out the base color. Once you figure that out, you're pretty much good to go with the same tone but a few shades lighter or darker. We decided on 2 shades of a mix between a light sage and grey. (don't mind the picture quality, it looks much better in natural light)

I'd love to bring some of these elements into our inspiration scheme..


via Brick Town Love inspiration images

This is what part of our room looks like now.. very 'inspiring'.. right?

In the coming months, we plan on priming the walls and painting the ceiling (popcorn ceiling.. lord knows this won't be easy!). Almost positive the dressers will be next on the paint list furniture wise. Haven't quite decided on colors we'd like to go with yet. I really like the boldness of the black colored frame, but I'm wondering if it's too bold for our overall idea (light and airy and not as heavy). I'm partially thinking of painting the bed frame too, but that's a while different story.

We're really going to be taking it a day at a time on this one. (just to avoid any 'oops' moments)

Reviving the old..

I used to hate this light fixture.. with a passion.

2 of the 3 lightbulbs are burnt out and the frame is filled with cobwebs and icky dust. You can tell it needs some TLC. I think I feel a little DIY project coming on... This could easily be a switcharoo for a more modern light fixture, but after 3 years, this one has started to grow on me..

The light fixture is currently located up in the second floor hallway. It looks a little tired.. maybe a little glass frosting and black frame would give it a new life..

Bedroom Exposed: The Nook Continued...

The better half and I do a lot of window shopping. Our weekends usually consist of walking around in shops, pointing at things we like/love/hate, maybe have an argument over bedding colors and sometimes get to play with some fun electronics.. (aherm… for my birthday *hint hint*…)

After our 'dinner date' night at the drive through Wednesday, we decided to take a moosy into Home Outfitters for a little decor indulgence. Lucky for us, I think we found THE perfect mirror for our bedroom nook.



For $100, it's a steal compared to the $200 ikea mirror we originally planned on purchasing. They have several choices of frame styles and colors to choose from (fist pump) AND they seemed to have a gazillion in stock (double fist pump). The only thing I worry about is the height of the frame since it might be an issue with over lapping on the vanity light (which we are planning on replacing). Now all we have to do is go back, measure, ponder some more and take the plunge. It will really open that little nook up, and I'm pretty excited to have a full mirror to twirl in front of before going off to work in the mornings. (common.. you do this too!)

Now if only we found the perfect nook light..

Bedroom Exposed: The Nook

We have a pretty huge master bedroom compared to most townhouses in our area. I believe the measurements are about 15x13 with a very large window and double doors to enter the room. Since we don't have a private bathroom ensuite, the floor plan made for a very generous walk in closet and a makeup/vanity area.. which my better half said 'added' value to the room...

Here's the thing... I HATED that vanity/mirror/makeup counter and lighting fixture combo with a passion. The counter height was so awkward and deep that it made the space pretty much unusable. This happens to be my least favorite spot in the room..

So here is a glimpse of what it looked like before we purchased the house.. I don't think the previous owners knew what to do with it either.. also note, the TV sitting on the vanity isn't plugged into the wall.. Kind of a space waster don't you think?

Don't mind the mess in this next picture.. we made a huge mess of the place when we first moved in, as you can see, but this is just shows you how deep the nook is..

After a couple years of junk piling up on the vanity I got a little 'makeover' happy and took my hammer to it. The counter and mirror are no longer there and holes in the wall have been shellacked over with plaster. The beige square on the wall gives you an idea where that mirror used to hang! Brilliant!

I also had to smear the plaster on pretty thick since the holes in the wall were pretty ginormous. I think part of the dry wall came apart when I knocked the counter down.. my bad!!



The next thing on the "To Go" list is the 'Hollywood' dressing room like vanity light fixture. We are planning on taking all three, yes three, similar lighting fixtures out of the house, but for now the others can stay. Quite simply put, this one has to go.


This is where things get a little tricky.. The plan for the nook was to make it a dressing area with a full floor to ceiling (or close to it) mirror, possibly like the Mongstad mirror from Ikea. But after taking a few measurements, we hit a snag. The mirror seems to be on the taller side and would overlap the existing lighting fixture by a couple inches.. If we wanted a sleek and balanced look, the lighting fixture would either have to be moved higher or completely removed from the wall. To be honest, I wasn't planning on having that as an additional expense. But if it's going to be done, may as well do it right the first time. Right kids?

Now the fun part will be to figure out if we want to purchase a similar lighting fixture to save a few $$$, or have the electrician move the junction box from the wall to the ceiling and have a gorgeous Capiz chandelier or Moravian hanging star to add a little sass..


Kind of like so..

Come to think about it, maybe having the electrician come in for a morning of work might be a blessing in disguise! We were eventually planning to install a ceiling fan in our bedroom and neither one of us is brave enough to do this ourselves. May as well hit 2 birds with one stone, right?

hmmm.. Lots to think about..

Bedroom inspired..

I was inspired by a couple finds on west elm this morning...

I think I've found our colors...

Putting the pieces together..

It feels like it's been a long time since we've had a completely clean house. Sure, it's clean when we're entertaining friends or when the pizza guy drops off an order.. don't get me wrong, it's clean.. just not organized clean. This is where we need some major mojo in the motivation department.

Every week, I read design blog after design blog and long for the perfect home makeovers. But the problem with dreaming is we don't have the attention span it takes to undergo a HUGE reno from start to finish. As sad as that is, it is the truth.

But what these design blogs have taught me, if anything, is that styling your home will always be a work in progress. I've finally decided that this year, I will put my nose to the ground and get at least 1 project finished before the end of the year.

The room with the most TLC needed right now is our Master Suite. Before Christmas, I started plastering walls and sanding down bits, but I got stuck at the colors stage. Couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the space or what we could afford. I have ideas.. it's time to put them to action. First thing is first.. inspiration board to come..