We started off with this hot mess --- I.E. the mattress on the floor, chair for a night stand, and not a throw pillow in sight. Thank goodness this didn't last long. Our house was built in the late 50's or 60's (I can't remember the exact year) and apparently back then people didn't own many items of clothing, so the room has two teeny tiny closets that could barely fit my clothes, let alone mine AND Sam's. So we needed a solution, and we needed it fast!
And that's where Sam's handy woodworking skills come in. I was drooling over a photo from a Pottery Barn catalog that unfortunately was about $1200 over our price range when Sam offered to build a replica for me! I wasn't about to say no, since my shoes had no home, and neither did my a lot of other clothes. So that's how we ended up here.
Pardon the messiness in the photo, but check out all the extra storage we gained! 9 cubicles! And we scored the crates from Home Depot for under $10 each - much better than the $60+ baskets that the Pottery Barn catalog showed. But we still had a lot of work to do. The comfy (but very manly) plaid duvet needed to go, and some personality needed to be brought into the room via curtains, frames, etc.
This weekend I finally got around to staining the crates - I used Minwax's Dark Walnut, and left it on for the minimum time that it suggested - five minutes, to give the crates a nice rustic finish. The addition of some new bedding from West Elm, curtains from Target (a secret about those in a bit) and some frames that were a steal at Marshall's really helped bring the room together.
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The throw is from One Kings Lane, and the pillow is one of my creations. Oh, and the cute little orange bowl was a $3 clearance find from Target - it works nicely for corralling all of my nighttime necessities - chap stick, tissues, and lotion.
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The room is fairly awkward - with windows on two walls, and closets on the other two, the only place to put the bed was under a window. Not wanting our heads to be directly under a streetlight, we opted to put the bed on the far wall. The problem here is that the window is not centered on the wall, leaving us with awkward spacing on either side of the bed - tons of room on one side, and not enough on the other. So we opted to create a faux larger window to help center the bed on the wall. In the top photo you can tell because the sunlight is hitting it just right, the dark space on the left side of the window is actually the wall - but when the sun isn't there (which it isn't most of the day) it appears that our bed is under a much larger window, and the black drapes help to create a sort of headboard. This way we have equal space on each side of the bed.
Now, about the curtains. I was able to save about $24 by purchasing only 3 panels - hanging two above the bed, and splitting one in half over the other window --- what!? Even though the curtains are hung wider than the window actually is to help the window appear larger, hanging two full size panels was so heavy looking on the window - especially since the curtains are dark. But cutting one in half, I was able to keep the look that I was going for, without weighing down the window. And saving some dollars is a good thing around here too!
So that's the update on the master bedroom. On the list of things to do next:
Some art or mirror to go on the blank wall next to the functioning window.
A statement dresser for the other side of the room (not shown).
A mirror to go above the dresser to help create a dressing area for me in the mornings (help keep the bathroom open for other uses).
Spiff up the ugly closet doors.
And maybe a rug to keep our feet warm in the winter.
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