Master Bedroom: Before and After
The lovely mini-blinds and window scarf combination came with the house too. The house is backed by woods, so there’s really no need to worry about privacy. I debated putting panels in between the windows, but they are really close together and there is sort of a bulk head on top, so I think it would have looked a little smooshed. I decided to do panels flanking the bay window instead.
I would have rather had more color in here, but there is burgundy tile in the adjoining master bath, so I had to either work in the burgundy (tried and
tried and couldn’t find a good deal burgundy bedding) or keep things fairly neutral. This is extremely neutral, like Switzerland neutral. I would have liked to have more color, but I guess this palette will force me to add in more texture.
I bought these lamps a meeellion years ago at Tarjay, but they’re looking a little tired. I think something more interesting and substantial would add a lot to the room.
I made the artwork above the bed for free!
It’s hard to see in this photo, but it says “Love Grows”. Those are the words my hubby had inscribed in my engagement ring. It’s kind of a promise between the two of us.
Here’s a closeup:
Before, with the seller’s furnishings. This pinkish beige did nothing for the room.
The French doors were left stained, which clashed with the other white doors and left the room feeling disjointed.
After, a fresh coat of paint on the walls, trim, doors, and ceiling instantly give the room a calmer feel.
New bedroom furniture, in a dark stain instantly updates the space.
The dresser holds a catchall for keys and wallets, a family photo, and decor that we plan to change with the seasons.
For early October, a unique gourd complements an all white bouquet and a piece from my owl collection.
Tonal bedding contributes to the serene feeling, and a framed print brings the outdoors in.
On my nightstand, I have a smaller version of the larger bouquet, along with the first photo taken of Brett and me. We were 16 and 18, and not even dating.
Brett’s nightstand holds a box for spare change, along with a family photo and a coaster made from recycled magazines.
On the media chest, candles bring color to the room, and another owl from my collection ties it to the dresser decor.
The French doors have been painted Antique White to match the rest of the doors and trim, and we made curtains to complement the lampshades.
A Moroccan tile pattern was stenciled onto the walls to add interest and highlight the unique molding.
The finished product is so different from where we started. I’m so happy to have a retreat to go to after the end of a long day!
First of all, technically this isn’t the master bedroom of the house. We let our boys have the bigger bedroom and we took the smaller second bedroom. But we still consider it the master because it would be weird to call it the second bedroom 🙂 I digress.
After we moved into the “master” I set about trying to make it the dream bedroom we wanted. Only we had an extremely tight budget. So here is what I came up with.
Well, I suppose I should show you a before first 🙂
When we first moved into the house, the walls were white. We remedied that by painting them a spring green color. When we moved ourselves from the master bedroom into the smaller second bedroom, the green felt cold and uninviting. I tried to fix it by warming up the bed with a chocolate color.
The windows were naked and the five drawer dresser blocked off the light. We put the dresser in the boys’ room for added clothing storage. That freed up a bit of space and then we purchased this for $40 off Craigslist..mirror included!
We also ditched the torchiere lamp that was broken..why hang onto something that we thought was ugly and non-functional?
I was so excited about the dresser because we have had separate dressers ever since we got married! Finally, our clothes share the same abode just as we do 🙂 Plus, it is solid wood and it has beautiful bones. I have plans for this baby!
So, our room went from cold green (sorry, can’t remember the name of the color) to Anonymous (Behr).
(Am I the only one who loves the name of this color?) Anonymous…sounds so mysterious.
So now we have a beautiful soothing grey on the wall. We love it. It feels like being wrapped in a soft cocoon. When I researched how color affects moods, it said that grey can be depressing to some people. Yikes, oops, I had already bought the paint by then! We went for it and here is what it looked like.
(Sorry the lighting wasn’t the best that day)
The chocolate went well with the grey to our surprise, but we were tired of the bed covering. After searching I decided I was going to make our own duvet cover. I found this fabric for 50% off at the JoAnn’s over here.
I loved the patterned fabric and it went perfectly with the wall color. Unfortunately, it was extremely noisy and it looked way too masculine sitting on our bed. So I had to repurpose it into this:
(Close up of the curtains)
It makes such luxurious curtains! I am so happy with the outcome. I still need to figure out what to do with the solid color mercury fabric though…
And then at Ross I found a comforter with pillows for $24. I threw that on the bed and loved it! Here is the room, not quite finished yet.
Surprisingly enough we left the comforter as is and we love our new room!
Here is the breakdown of the costs:
Primer for window frame: $0 (leftover from other project)
Paint: $23.47
Curtain rod: $3.27
Curtain rings: $14 (2
sets–$7 a set)
12 yards of fabric: $36.49 (currently only using 6 yards for the curtains)
9 drawer dresser with large mirror: $40
Comforter and pillows: $24
Black pillow: $5
Grand total: $146.23
The room still has some finishing touches so it will probably come close to $200 when all is said and done. It won’t ever come close to the rooms you see in a designer magazine, but it is a room we love and now enjoy being in. I am really proud of using what we had and sticking to a real life budget 🙂
What really surprised me the most about this makeover is how I really love the monochromatic look our room now sports. I am sure that I will throw in some bold color with accessories later on, but I love the soothing grey with the dramatic black and bright white.
Our room is finally a place that beckons you to relax and rest.
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Wow! I love seeing each of your makeovers from boring to beautiful. Thank you SO much for sharing!
Pam – your window is such a beautiful focal point…I could sit there all day long.
Sarah – your wall color is one of my favorites and so soothing.
Lisa – great job on painting the furniture. It’s so beautiful in black.
Jennifer – gorgeous fabric and color combination.
Great job ladies!
So lovely! I love the creativty of people!
WOW.. what great makeovers.. thanks for sharing them.
Boring to beautiful! Exactly. Thanks for sharing these. Good luck with your computer issues today. Nothing makes me more frustrated than for something to happen like that with no explanation! All the best… Deep breath. 🙂
pk @ room remix
We recently redid our bedroom as well and I haven't found the right thing for the wall behind the bed and now I think I have it thanks to BBB! Wonderful idea! Now to go look for the right frames!
Marsha
How lovely!! THe first room is right up my alley- fall colors work best for me- in fact most of my house is some sort of shade of brown or green. Haha, but it's easy for me and cozy feeling. But all the rooms turned out great!!
Those are some great makeovers! One thing I enjoy about the blogs is the "real" room makeovers. We all have hand-me-down furniture, small budgets, and ugly necessities (like alarm clocks, computers, etc.) to work with. It's nice to see some beautiful "real" spaces.
Sometimes I am just not that smart…I have a bay window in my bedroom and I could never figure how to do window treatments in there….what a great idea!
Super cute! I love the 'mistreatments' in post #1. Curtains at a bargain, love it!
Love 'em all!
Rachelle
This was fun! Thanks for sharing all the pretty makeovers with us. Cindy
Thanks for adding my room to this Beautiful Bedroom Makeover! I am honored!!! Love your blog and am inspired by it EVERY DAY.