Master Bedroom Transformation

Our master bedroom has gone through a handful of phases. Wall colors, carpeting, furniture placement, bedding, wall decor, etc have all constantly changed throughout the 2 and a half years we've had the place. I only have pictures of a few of the various steps, and I'll try to keep things short and simple to avoid confusion. 

Let's start with how the room looked before moving in. The before pictures don't show a great view, but you'll get the idea when you compare.

View from door

View from windows/master bath

View from closet

You can see in the first two pictures the dark cranberry colored carpeting in the room. That was one of the first things to go (along with painting that not-so-hot master bathroom. See this post for more about that). Once the old homeowners removed their furniture there was a very visible u-shaped path in the carpet around the bed that led from the door, to the bathroom and closet. Not pretty. The carpet was replaced with a light neutral berber carpet. A year and a half later, we aren't too happy with that carpet and have plans to replace it once again when we install hardwood downstairs. 

After moving in, we gave three of the walls a coat of Glidden's 'Natural Wicker,' and painted the wall behind the bed (which we put on the wall between the windows and closet) Behr's 'Windsor Haze.'

Hubby loved the dark blue accent wall behind the bed and I did too.. for about a year. It became too dark for me and the next summer I took the afternoon to paint the accent wall 'Natural Wicker' to match the rest of the room. 

Since we have no photos of what the room looked like with the wall, here's a photo of Jordan painting it.

For most of the time we've been in the house, the master bedroom has looked like this:

The cream and red bedding was a temporary fix after the actual bedding we had been using for quite some time was damaged. This was the gorgeous bedding we had from Bed, Bath and Beyond:

The duvet cover is really the only thing that was damaged. There was a decent sized tear in the actual fabric and the applique branches started peeling off. We still have the shams and accent pillows. I'm sure I will find use for all of them.

Although the bedding was warm, the red and beige combo paired with the dark furniture grew old quickly. And a few weeks ago we made the decision to rearrange the furniture and spruce up the fabrics. Here is the master bedroom now:

Keep in mind there is still a lot to be done. But Jordan and I agree that it already looks and feels so much better. Just changing the curtains out for sheers not only brings in tons of light, but it's getting me anxious for spring weather, no matter how long it may be until we actually get some. 

So there you have the quick story of our ever-changing master bedroom. Next up will be a breakdown of the room and find out which of our new IKEA goodies were used here. 

Hallway Redo - Done! (Well Almost..)

The hallway paint is complete! I must say I'm really happy with it. The color is exactly what I wanted and it finally warms up the space to break the white-on-white trend I had going on before. After a quick (and I swear quick) trip to IKEA this afternoon to pick up more frames and make an exchange I'll be ready to complete the look. 


You might notice a peek into the master bedroom that is different from the previous hallway post. We have moved the furniture and made some good changes. While it's still a work in progress and may be for some time, I'll be back later tonight to share the 'for now' photos. 


While I'm taking pictures this morning, I snapped a shot of the nursery prepping for it's own paint job. 

As I mentioned before, I made a last minute decision to carry the Sharkey Grey color from the hallway into the nursery. It might seem silly to some people to replace a neutral color with a neutral color, but they really are different shades. The current color is more of a tan-yellow neutral, while SG is more of a grey-taupe. 

For now I am off to have brunch with my family, but will be back tonight for more updates. :) Happy Sunday!

Nursery Brainstorming

Not much has changed in the nursery since I last updated. Here are a few refresher photos that I finally took in daylight!

 Notice I found a home for my cheapie Pottery Barn frame. I'm thinking of using it for baby's first picture or may hold our next ultrasound photo. 

For the time being we are waiting until we find out what we are having (a week from Tuesday!) before we actually make any more decor purchases. But that hasn't kept me from planning what purchases are next. 

Here are the current items on my shopping list:

Expedit shelving unit from IKEA - $69.99

I had lunch today with a good friend of mine who is also the mommy of a 7 month old little handsome boy. She said a storage piece like this is a must for all the little odds and ends (toys, breast pump supplies, first aid kit, etc). I had been toying with the idea of purchasing one anyway, but after hearing just how convenient it has been for her to have everything stored in one place I decided right away that we need one. As soon as I got home I measured the remaining space in the nursery and concluded that this model is the best fit. It also comes in a few more styles with more and less cubbies. I plan to slide the crib to the right a little and put it between the crib and wall with the window (where the wicker chair is). I will, of course, need to buy baskets. 

Bedtime Bus Roll poster by MySweetPrints - $25

I mentioned in my guest bathroom post how much I love the look of subway sign art. When I stumbled upon the beauty it quickly became a "must have" for the nursery. How adorable is this? Since it's just a print I will need to buy a frame, but that's an easy IKEA find.

Lindmon Venetian Blind - $24.99

I love the look of wooden blinds paired with light colored curtains and I think these would like great in the nursery. Layla from The Lettered Cottage does this look a lot throughout the rooms in her home. Check out her guest bedroom post to see what I'm talking about. 

I checked these blinds out in person last weekend, hoping to buy them and implement the same look into our master bedroom. The problem is that the smaller Lindmon sizes only come in 23" or 31". 23" is too small to cover the glass and 31" is too wide to fit into the deep windowsills that are in our master. But the 31" will fit perfectly with the nursery window. 

Ribba Picture Ledge by IKEA - $19.99

After purchasing one for our master bedroom last weekend and seeing how easy it was for the hubs to hang, this was an easy addition to the list. I'm picturing it hung on the wall above the dresser/changing table to hold brightly colored books. After all, with all these modern neutrals we are planning, we need to incorporate some splashes of color. Don't worry, I won't made the nursery a neutral dungeon.  

Dorel Rocking Chair by Walmart - $169.88

This is the new glider I'm digging. It's the closest I've found to the dream Pottery Barn glider that most bloggers mention they love but would never spend the money on. Once you add the ottoman, plus slipcovers for both it comes to close to $2000! This Walmart version may be too good to be true, of course, as there is no option for the beige slipcover (sold separately for $60) that is shown in the swatch pictures. The slipcover for the ottoman is available in beige, so I know it's an option for the glider, but doesn't seem to be in stock for Walmart. I'm hoping that in time it will be available. Or I need to find another store that sells Dorel. 

Zinc Letters by Anthropologie - $18

I'm still planning to purchase these metal letters either to spell 'Baby' or the little one's name. But for $18 per letter I'm still on the hunt to find a cheaper version, possibly on Etsy. Anyone know any ideas?

There's the shopping list so far. Those items are pretty much definite nursery purchases. Oh, and the hallway paint is finished! Plus, big moves have been made in the master bedroom. Today was a rainy, not camera-friendly day so I didn't get the chance to take any pictures. I'm hoping to snap a few shots tomorrow to update you on both rooms (and the master bath). The master is still a work in progress, but it already looks much better than it did last week. The hallway just needs the collage hung to be finished. Can't wait to show you the progress!

Inspiration: Chalkboard Paint

Jordan and I have both always thought chalkboard paint was such a neat idea. The problem is we don't really have any place to paint with it. The kitchen is of course the first thought when using chalkboard paint. The idea of being able to scribble down a quick grocery list or phone message or even a little love note for the hubby just seems both useful and fun. Added bonus, it's a great tool to occupy little ones. 


Lauren over at Pure Style Home used chalkboard paint to cover up a no-so-hot refrigerator. Such a great, unique idea!

Pure Style Home

Remodelista shows using chalkboard paint both as a backsplash for kitchen shelving as well as the bottom of an island or breakfast bar. The perfect height for little ones to enjoy.

Behind a kitchen set

apartmentherapy.com

A message station

apartmentherapy.com

Tara Whitney from Just Be Blogged painted all of her kitchen cabinets in chalkboard paint.

Jordan initially suggested we paint the slim wall on the right side of the breakfast bar where we have the current chalkboard. While the location and size of space is great, with the light-switch, thermostat and outlet (behind chalkboard), there isn't much room left to actually write anything. 

My suggestion was to do the wall where bulletin board and trash can are. Jordan wasn't crazy about that idea and the more that I think of it, the kitchen walls are so sparse that painting the only real wall may be too overwhelming. That paired with the fact that natural light is so limited in our kitchen and the backsplash tile is already a dark color, I could very well end up regretting it. 

If our basement door was flat, we could do something like this one:

Sparkly Like a Holiday

Or even this one. I love this pantry.

Paperwhite

Our only other solution is to try chalkboard paint somewhere else. Maybe in the little one's room when he/she is old enough to enjoy it. Here are a few more kid-friendly ideas.

Pure Style Home

The Decorologist

Simple Daisy

I'm accepting the fact that chalkboard paint just might not be in the cards for us in this house. Maybe we will use it in our next house. But a girl can still daydream, right?

Hallway Redo

I have a new project in the works! 

I mentioned in my previous IKEA post that I was planning to purchase new frames for the upstairs hallway collage. Since I haven't shown you all what the hallway looks like take a peek at the before pictures (as of Saturday morning). 

This is the view of the upstairs hallway from the master bedroom. The door to the left is the guest bathroom, and to the right are the steps leading downstairs. Straight ahead is the nursery and the far door on the left is the laundry room. Around the corner from the nursery is the guest room, linen closet, and another closet where Jordan keeps his work clothes. 

This view is from the nursery, giving you a teaser into the master bedroom. But don't worry you will see pictures of that room soon. We plan to rearrange the furniture this week and work in some of the new goodies I purchased at IKEA.

The collage is a mix of wedding photos from both our parents and grandparents. We had these pictures printed and framed for a memory table at our wedding. The photos mean so much to Jordan and me that we wanted to incorporate them into our home after the wedding. This collage was just a quick, temporary solution. I was never really happy with how the pictures seemed to blend into the white walls next to white trim, around the white doors. Paired with the fact that the dollar stores frames look as cheap as they cost, I decided I needed a fix. 

I made the decision to purchase a new set of 4x6 and 5x7 silver Ribba frames from IKEA. Unfortunately I must have put down the two 5x7 frames I picked and only purchased the four 4x6 frames, so I need to take a quick trip back. 

I also chose to paint the walls Martha Stewart's "Sharkey Grey." The same color I used in the dining room. 

I'm sort of in love with this color. It's the perfect taupe-grey that seems to go with anything. If I had the energy I'd paint my entire house this color. Although we originally weren't going to paint the nursery, we just recently decided to do Sharkey Grey in that room, too. 

I began with some of the paint I had leftover as a tester to see if I liked it, and before I knew it I was painting the whole room!

Here is the progress so far. The lighting doesn't give it justice. Check out the dining room post to see how the color looks in natural light. The fact that the sun is down when I get home from work and the crappy rain/snow weather lately I don't have any good lighting to take proper pictures. (Boo! Bring back summer, please.)

Left to right, the nursery, guest room and linen closet. I left all doors closed to better see the contrast of the paint with the trim and doors. Plus the guest room is still a bit in shambles from storing everything we moved from the nursery in there. 

As you can see I ran out of paint! Since I was using leftover from the dining room I didn't even think I'd make it this far.

Tomorrow we have a beer dinner for Jordan's work and won't have a chance to get to Home Depot, but I hope to get paint later this week to cross this little project off the every-growing list and start on the babe's room.