Extreme Makeover: Master Bedroom Edition

The Nester's linky party was just the deadline I needed to finish up my Room-of-Shame re-do.

If you haven't tuned in to the Nester's series "10 Minutes to a Room You'll Love," you absolutely must. In true Nester fashion, she tells you exactly what to do to spruce up 4 different rooms of your home, in 10 minutes.

Yes, I finally finished my bedroom. In 10 minutes...times about 100. 

I know. That means I totally cheated. But in all honesty, I started this bedroom overhaul before the series. Then I abandoned it and gnashed my teeth and pulled out my hair because it was not coming together. At all. 

Her post on sprucing up your master bedroom re-motivated me to finish the job. 

I'll admit...this has taken me a while. Mostly because I have children at home with me all the time so I didn't have long periods of uninterrupted time to knock out the job. Ty Pennington said he was tied up and couldn't help (what a jerk). Alas, I was left to finish the project myself. 

So here's the basic scoop:

1. Budget: I used what I had plus a few thrift store treasures and items from Old Time Pottery. I spent less than $50, not including a computer table from Wal-Mart ($39) so we could squeeze our computer into the room. And the money my hubby spent at Circuit City on a clearance monitor, just a wee bit less obtrusive than our former one circa 1993.

(Streamlined computer area. Not ideal to have computer in our bedroom but there is literally not another space in our little home to house it. And I love The Man for spending a little extra money to make this space way better than it was. I'll probably beautify this area a bit more...but not now. I'm tired.)

2. Design: As mentioned, my first color scheme just wasn't coming together. So, I took out all the color and went totally monochromatic. Creams and whites and taupe. Plus a bit of green. My style is kind of eclectic. I love the comfort and warmth and casualness of Cottage, the nostalgia of Vintage, and the clean lines of Modern. I think this room combines all three. 

3. Finished Product: I love it!!! Ya'll, I have been married over 13 years and have NEVER had a bedroom I loved. Never. Our bedroom was like the ugly stepchild of our home. I focused on the kids' rooms and our public rooms and neglected the most important room of all, the one I share with The Man. We now have a serene, tranquil, and romantic space just for us. I used to only go in there when I had to. Now I never want to leave. 

Ready for the pictures?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Always a fan of plates, I'd been accumulating these white and cream ones forever, unsure of where to put them. The Nester's plates-above-the-bed idea inspired this.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Yep, the dresser went into the closet. (A little bird recommended that. Nester, please give me the Best Student Award.) 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I'll break it down...

Windows

Already had the rod and it was already mounted. Thrift store fabric. Not enough of each fabric, so I ripped two different fabrics down and middle to get 4 panels. I folded the top, ring-clipped them, and poofed (all a-la-Nester.)

Valance is leftover from the nursery. I found the trim at the thrift store for a dollar.

We insist on a dark room for sleep and I could not figure out how to salvage my room-darkening panels and keep it hidden. Finally it hit me. I took down the flat thingy that sits at the top of the blinds, threaded the tab-tops over it, and popped it back in place. 

Light and breezy during the day.

Dark and cozy at night.

Sitting Area / Wall

I've never had a sitting area in my bedroom but the Nester said I should. No budget for a cushy, upholstered chair but I did find 2 cream slip covers a while back at Goodwill so I made one of those work. 

Love this boutiquey green girly pillow I got a thrift store for $1!

I had the decorator "table," plus the remnant toile, the thrift store trim, and the sheet. That's right, a sheet. Folded and poofed and placed underneath the toile.

Wait a minute, that's no table. That's a plastic cart with decorator table top on it. (The attic apparently ate the legs.)

As for the chair, the slipcover was way too big and it was just all sad and saggy. So I put some pillows underneath to make it plush.

Walls

I also followed the Nester's advice on keeping photos of the kids out of the room and focusing just on The Man and me. I printed some black and whites and framed some others I had sitting around. This wall inadvertently turned into a giant scrapbook...but I like it. I think. It may be a tad bit too cluttery. As budget allows I may add some larger collage frames and eliminate the tiny ones.

All the art is super cheap, comprised of photos and (almost) free art. I found an amazing art book at Salvation Army a while back. I bought it for $3, knowing I would cut out some of the artwork and frame it at some point. 

My "LOVE" letters were $1.99 each at Hobby Lobby. They were brown cardboard and I decoupaged them with scrapbook paper. 

The shelves were formerly white and sitting in my attic. Black spray paint and voila! Four free black shelves. I spray-painted assorted old frames as well.

Don't you wish you had these pretty botanical prints? You can! Go to The Vintage Moth, a FANTASTIC blog with FREE printable vintage prints of all kinds. I put the free fern prints in these old cream frames that were formerly displaying really dated and unattractive family pictures.

This room was relatively easy. (And it was done on the tiniest of budgets.) I didn't rearrange any major furniture or even paint. I just stuck with the builder beige.

But I won't lie. It was not quick. Did I mention my three young children? And that I teach them? At home? That means they are here with me. All the time. Did I mention that?

And that means a bedroom renovation does not happen overnight.

Cupcake especially loved it. His distracted mommy gave him plenty of time to sneak into the bathroom and dump the contents of the trash can into the toilet. 

Still, this room is totally worth it. And now I have motivation to start on "10 Minutes to a Bathroom You'll Love"...

Seeing as how mine is now trashed.

Once again, Nester, I thank you for the motivation and totally do-able ideas you give us to make our homes lovely and liveable.