A Little Sprucing

I've been chipping away at our master bedroom for a while now. I started with the "house plan" that I was going to focus on one room at a time. Well....that sort of went out the window. When I started this blog, one of my very first projects was my master bedroom re-do. While my last post of that was QUITE a while ago, I have been slowly adding to it. Additions and projects went un-posted mainly because of this and this, so I thought I'd do a catch-up post on some of the changes.

Window treatments were not only desperately needed but definitely added the biggest change to this room. Keeping our super-budget in mind, I had to hunt for things that wouldn't break the bank but that would also be of quality.

I went with my favorite look: bamboo, woven blinds layered with simple curtain panels. I did hours and hours of research on the best options for bamboo blinds on a budget. We had two challenges that we faced when it came to bamboo blinds. The first is that our windows are old and therefore are not standard window sizes. The second is that when we gave our house a "face lift" a few years ago we trimmed out all the windows in thick casing that we didn't want to cover up. That meant that we had to go with inside mount blinds. It also means that it ruled out standard, pre-cut blinds that are found in Lowes, HomeDepot, and other stores like that. Going with a custom size meant going with a "custom" price tag. Enter JCPenny. JCPenny was having a sale with 60% off all made-to-measure blinds plus free shipping (I'm sorry I didn't post about that at the time!) A victory lap was made around my entire house - twice. When I put my deposit in for the color sample of the blinds we were going with, the sales woman let me know that an additional 5% would be taken off my order with my receipt present. Another victory lap was made.

While they are certainly no tortoise shell, bamboo blinds they are perfect for us and where we are in our lives and our budget.

Another challenge came with the curtain rods. Our master bedroom has an uneven ceiling. This is no complaint as it's actually my favorite feature in the room. The tongue and groove is the original ceiling in the house. I wish it still existed throughout the entire thing, but it's sadly only left in portions of the house.

Normally I like to hang curtains dropped about 3"-4" from the ceiling, giving height to a room. I had the option to do this with only one window, but it would be off from the rest of the windows. I decided to keep them all at the same height to create almost one continuous line.

The other addition to our room is a hanging pendent light. I searched high and low for the right sized, hanging drum shade. In case any of the rest of you are searching, the answer is Pottery Barn. There are plenty of other large, hanging drum shades but they come with a hefty price tag. I also didn't need anything fancy since the plan was to cover it up anyways. I found a neutral (I change my mind and our bedding A LOT) lattice print fabric.

It sits in the corner of our room above one of our hand-me-downs from my grandparents. If you've been reading for a little while you know that my grandparents have a passion for mid-century modern furniture as well as Danish teak. Eventually I'd like to replace this chair with an overstuffed, comfy, cozy chair but in the mean time, this works.

The latest project for the Master Bedroom sprucing I actually finished just last week, so I'm not too far behind on my posting for that one. For those of you that follow Grace, you'll know that she made an amazing find with some blue, ikat fabric. I first posted about it here. But, instead of recovering our desk chairs like I had originally planned(I'll post on that later this week) I decided to go with pillows for our bed instead.

Great minds must think alike. Check out Grace's latest post.

{via Grace Happens}

Here's a look at what our naked windows looked like pre-sprucing.

I'm off to finish re-upholstering our office chairs! Pics coming soon!

Gallery

I want to start off first, by saying that I had a fun project planned to post last Monday - but I was duped by Craig (you know - of Craigslist.) I had been coveting these completely amazing, set of 4 bentwood, armchairs that I was going to paint a soft, pale blue. They already came with white canvas cushions, and I was going to make pillows in a fun print. And this whole thing was going to go in my breakfast nook. But Craig tricked me!!!!! The chairs are teeny, tiny!! I'm talkin' chin on the table tiny. I drove all the way out to El Cajon (that's a long ways away) to pick them up. And you want to know what the worst part is???? I chickened out on telling the guy "no thanks!" That's right - I am the proud owner of too-short chairs that I can't use! Lesson learned.

Ok - moving on. As you know, I have been chugging away at re-doing my master bedroom. Side Note: I've decided that calling it a "re-do" is a little mis-leading since it really wasn't done in the first place. So do I call it my master bedroom DO? Anyways, I have been completely struggling with what to put over the bed. Does anyone else struggle with this? It's such an awkward place! You definitely need something that makes a statement. At first I was thinking framed sea fans - but after Aaron Brother's told me that they would do it for $225........PER FRAME, I said "no thank you!"

On to plan B.

Our very good friend/roommate is an amazing photographer. He's actually an engineer by day, but is an extremely talented musician/photographer by night. His Dad happens to be a landscape architect with an awesome yard full of every kind of plant you can think of. Combine the two - and I ended up with over-the-bed art!

Getting these bad boys lined up perfectly proved to be quite a feat! I used the brown paper trick. You trace and cut out the size of your frames on brown paper (or any color really) and then tape them on the wall as you'd like them. Using blue painters tape, you can move them around and arrange them easily.

{check out those straight lines!}

{Final Product}

I've always love the look of the random gallery walls. I don't think the random look was right for our bedroom, but I would like one to do one later in our living room.

{The mother of all gallery walls}

{Organized gallery}

I'm Here!

I really am! I have projects coming out my ears right now! As I mentioned before, I have every Monday off. Since David and most of my friends have typical Monday through Friday, 9-5 jobs – my Mondays have become my project days. Today's project is all about window treatments for our master bedroom re-do. I have a pretty good idea of what I’ll be doing, but you never really know what you’re going to find at the fabric store once you get there! Here are a few inspirational curtain ideas I’ve been collecting. **Please forgive me for not having many of the sources for these. I’ve had a lot of these since the pre-blog days!)

{My absolute favorite look - bamboo romans layered with curtain panels}

{I'm toying with the idea of purchasing white panels and edging them myself in a fun fabric}

{I couldn't resist including Imperial Trellis curtains}

{Simple black trim adds the perfect pop}

{Bold pink curtains}

When we first moved in to our house, I attempted to create "quick-fix" roman shades. They were unsuccessful to say the least! Love these against the seagrass wall-covering!

{I realize these aren't window curtains - but I love the idea of adding a bold trim to the bottom!}

I'm hoping to have a mid-week post this week! I have a couple of fun wedding projects to throw in the mix!

Skirted Bed

It may not seem like it - but I'm still chugging along on my Master Bedroom Re-Do. I've been going back and forth between, "do I post about all of the little projects?" OR "do one big reveal on everything??" Well, when it comes down to it, I have ZERO patience! And I'm getting too excited so I'm going to post about a project I finished this weekend.

We bought our bed a couple of years ago. I was feeling guilty that I was always making the decisions on "house things," so David picked out our bed. I don't have a picture of our headboard right now (that's another pending project) but I do have a picture of the bed frame.

I love the espresso wood - but I don't love all of the chords that are such an eyesore under our bed (phone chords, lamp chords, cell phone chords.) As you can see, it wouldn't be easy to use a traditional bedskirt to hide all of this - and it wouldn't be me, if I didn't make something myself! : )

I was racking my brain for a solution to mounting a bedskirt underneath the frame. So, I decided to use a tension rod.

These are SO inexpensive! I got mine for $4.99 at Bed, Bath & Beyond - and of course used a %20 coupon!

I found some gorgeous white linen (my favorite!) in the remnant section at our local fabric store for $5 per yard. Since I didn't need a very wide piece of fabric, it was the perfect way to go!

{New Bedskirt}

I went with a simple pleat in the middle to help with puckering, and to break up the long run. My original plan was to add a simple border with a soft, gray, grosgrain ribbon - but I'm actually kind of liking it on its' own.

The best part - no more chords!!!

Prime Time

I'm trying not to let as much time pass as last time, while I'm chugging away at my projects. Here's the update on the vanity. Sanding is done - woo hoo!! By the way, not my favorite thing to do! *Cue the violins here. My arms are SO sore!!!! But, it is complete none-the-less. Today was priming day.

{Primed drawers catching some sun}

I'm starting to think about how I'm going to accessorize my new vanity. How perfect is this mirror??? I think that white, green, and old pine are quite possibly my idea of the perfect color palette.

We have this faux bamboo mirror in the store right now, that I would probably paint a soft creamy, yellow if I brought it home. But, I think it might be just a little bit too small and wouldn't quite have the same effect as the mirror above.

I'm off to paint - pictures to follow!

Love and Apologies

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!!! And I promise I haven't been neglecting my blog - I've had LOT'S of projects in the works! But, first of all, I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!

I read that quite a few people were experiencing beautiful, snow-kissed V-Days. Which is the exact opposite of the weather we experienced here - 72 degrees and sunny!

{cherry blossoms from local flower mart}

On to what I've been up to!

Remember this vanity?

At first I thought the chippy (and let's be honest - a little dingy and dirty) paint was charming. I woke up the other morning and felt like it was yelling "PAINT ME PLEASE! ....and while you're at it, would you mind picking up some new hardware too?" So that has been project #1

I'm going to give her a new coat of white paint, with a little bit of distressing to keep her original vintage look.

{and as requested, I picked up some new hardware - simple, brushed nickle, cup pulls - my favorite!}

I'll post on project #2 next! The final product is almost done!

Inspiration

Can you tell I'm procrastinating on posting my flea market finds?? I think photos look so much better with morning light or daylight for that matter. A typical morning for me consists of me reluctantly rolling out of bed (I'm a night owl - not a morning bird!) scrambling to get in the shower, scrambling to get ready, (I unfortunately do not usually eat breakfast, so there's no actual scrambling happening) and scrambling out of the door. By the time I get home from work it is more often than not, dark. I've begun to notice that when I take pictures at night, all of my pictures come out with a yellow hue that nighttime light gives. Long story short - I'm hoping to wake up early enough to take photos of my finds in the morning, and promise to post soon - I promise!

In the meantime I'm in serious need of some inspiration for my master bedroom re-do

{I know this is more in the guest room department - but I'm loving the idea of an old pine dresser for a nightstand}