Tag Archives: grey master bedroom

Still at it in the Boudoir

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It has been a super busy two weeks, but it has been fun. We’ve spent time with family we rarely get to see and met a few new family members as well. Needless to say my master bedroom redo has been put on hold, however I managed to finish with one project just before all our festivities started.

I have two antique Chinese tables I thought about selling but then decided to give them a makeover instead. I know to some of my friends who love this Asian furniture, painting over such a lovely design would seem almost sacrilegious, but It’s only paint right? I love the tables, but in this  ”original” state they weren’t working at all with my color scheme.

The tables had a coat of lacquer on them so they needed a good roughing up in order for the paint to stick. Luckily I have a small electric sander which made this an easy process. (After my dresser redo I decided an electric sander would be a good investment.) I had to hand sand the drawers and the  molding around the doors though. Once the sanding was done the painting was a cinch. First, I spray painted the bronze hardware with a”hammered silver’ effect spray paint then I used a roller to cover the large surfaces. After the paint dried I taped off around the molding to apply the accent color with a small brush. If you have a steady hand – lucky you; when I paint straight lines I HAVE to mask off the surrounding areas which is the most tedious part of painting for me.

I used a set of rubber stamps to stamp the dandelion design on the doors and drawers. This set is called Seeds of Kindness and is from Stampin Up. Rubber stamps make this kind of project super quick and easy.

This is the new look:

I’m nowhere near finished with the room, but I am definitely moving along. It took me about two weeks to finish painting the walls. The walls are heavily textured which required some extra effort to work the roller into all the crevasses and I think it took about a week and a half working on and off to finish these tables. I’m sure this could be accomplished in a day though. It really wasn’t difficult at all. I used the same color paint on the tables I used on the walls.

Now, I know you are thinking they looked much better before, but I have no regrets about repainting them.

Well, until next time…

Still Busy in the Boudoir

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Last week I started work on our master bedroom. I began painting right away, but I’m still at it. It’s been a long process as I have to start and finish early in the day to make sure the room has plenty of time to air out before we go to bed every night.

The other project I started on right away was the very UGLY headboard. I have despised the headboard from day ONE. No matter what bedding or how many pillows I throw on it, its ugliness glares at me. It reminds me of a car seat or those old chunky recliners you’d find in a cabin. It’s a new bed, less than two years old. We bought it because the mattress is awesome, unfortunately we had to take the rest of the bed too.

I should mention we bought it in Singapore so it is not a standard U.S. size, which means it wont be easy to find a frame to fit it. The other option was to remove the head-board, but honestly, the bed is comfy as is, I like the padding on the head-board because it’s great support when reading in bed. The only option I can think of is upholstering it.

I first thought I’d remove all the faux leather and some of the padding, but after peeling off the dust catcher and seeing how the bed was constructed and how the padding was attached, I realized attempting to change the structure of the padding in any way was sure to be way beyond my skill level.

Instead, I decided to apply the fabric over the existing material using my trusty staple gun.

After a few hours,  I was done with the head-board, but I still needed to do the rest of the bed, which you can see below. The fabric is not as shiny as it looks, I think my flash created a glare.

I’m not a great photographer, so in the photos It doesn’t seem like much of an improvement,  but I am quite happy with the result. Now I need to find bedding. I’ve been on the hunt for weeks and wouldn’t you know, I am finding exactly the print I want, just not in the right color. I’m starting to think I should have chosen a different color. Oh well, something will come up.

On Another Note:

Have you seen the cost of bedding lately? Good GOD you really could support a small developing nation on what it would cost for a decent bedding set. The prices really are ridiculous, especially when you consider some of that very fancy, expensive bedding is made in places where the producers would never be able to afford even half a pillow case. In the beginning, I thought to myself, I’m gonna splurge on luxurious linens for the bed.’ I just can’t bring myself to do it, even if I had the budget for it, it seems almost obscene to spend that kind of money on a duvet or a pillow sham. How much money are we talking here? Well, for starters a flat sheet I came across was US$190.00 by itself. NO WAY. You can imagine what the rest of the set cost. Try $499.00 for a simple coverlet – again, NO WAY.

Anyway the before and after: Gee, I guess I could have at least made the bed a little nicer in that first pic. :)

Covering the base of the bed was super easy and took no time at all.There is still a lot to do in here, but I think I can get this half of the room done in a couple of weeks. I really hope to find a reasonably priced comforter soon, in the color I want, and without having to take out a loan to purchase.

Well, until next week….

Gettin’ Busy in the Boudoir (part 1)

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Doesn’t it seem the master bedroom is the very last room in the house to receive any special attention? This has always been the case in our house(s). With every move we make I usually jump right into the decorating of our new abode, focusing on the main public rooms, the kid’s rooms and then only giving minimal attention to the master bedroom just before it’s time to move again. Even the laundry room comes first! But no more; even though there are no plans to move anytime in the near (or far off) future,  I decided to give full attention NOW to our master bedroom.

I spent several days first trying to come up with a color scheme. I like all colors, but I want to keep the master bedroom palette very subtle. Monochromatic would be a better description (if there is such a thing as a “palette” of only one color). I feel a simple, monochromatic look is more conducive to rest and relaxation. And romance.

I was torn between creams or greys and ended up with this:

Though I do love a monochromatic bedroom, I think a contrasting accent color would make the space look more finished. I am trying to decide on 1) yellow
2) purple or
3) dark blue

I’m sure I’ll find the perfect color within the next few weeks as I progress through the makeover, until then I’ll start with painting the walls.

I am hesitant to post a before picture because the room is in such a sad state, but this is what I have to work with:

As you can see it is a very narrow room, but it’s big. This photo was taken right after we moved into it. This was our son’s room, then my daughter’s until  she decided to move back into the guest bedroom. When my husband and I moved into this room, she decided to move into our old room. I think the game of musical rooms is now over and I’m settled on making this an inviting, relaxing get away. Somehow.

There are so many things on my to do list I want to get to ASAP, but the first thing will be to paint. Oh and I really, really, really want to do something about that horrendous headboard! In fact, I think I will get to that right now. Hopefully this time next week I will have a spectacular update for you. :)