A little before and a lot after

I really started getting serious about making our bedroom a soothing, comfortable place to be when I realized that I had painted or redone every room in the house but ours. And really, I need to recharge at night, to feel happy in my bedroom, and I just didn't.

So here is the before of my bedroom. It's the only picture I could find of right in the beginning stages of the redo.
I'm in this picture because it was a photo for something else, sorry but it's the only before photo I have. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm horrible at taking before photos. I jump into the project too fast and then forget to document it. Sad really.

We bought the iron-like bedframe at Ikea when we moved to Washington 3 years ago.

And while I liked it, I didn't like sitting up against it to read and it just didn't feel cozy the way I wanted my bedroom to feel.

We had some lamps that also just felt too modern for what I wanted and so I moved those to a different part of the house and then I perused Goodwill until I found a matching pair that I liked. I then painted over the brass with an heirloom white spraypaint and bought some new shades.

I really wanted a fabric headboard, but I couldn't afford to just buy one. So after seeing my neighbor make one, and then finding a really great tutorial on Centsational Girl, I made my own, with a little help from my friends next door.


I'm still working on getting the wrinkles out, I ironed it beforehand and pulled it really tight and even sprayed it with some wrinkle remover, but to no avail. So now I just tell myself it gives it character.

The fabric is actually just a curtain panel from Walmart. It was 15 dollars. I bought 4 more for my bedroom window so that there would be some uniformity throughout, and because I couldn't make them for less then 15 dollars and I really liked the color.

So then came the search for the right paint. Living where it is gray a lot, you would think I would shy away from that color. But I was seriously drawn to it. I don't know why. It's soothing somehow, and with walls as high as mine, I really didn't think it would darken or depress the room at all.

And it didn't. I went with Chinchilla gray by Martha Stewart. I only had to use 1 and a quarter gallon for this entire room. Probably the best price for paint I have found considering how well it covered


I'm still figuring out what to do over the bed. I'm thinking a large tree sillouhette, but I don't know yet. And I think my friend is right and I need bigger side tables. The headboard dwarfs them now.

I love the bedding, though. It's from the shabby chic collection at target. And I got it for 50 bucks on clearance. It was the only one on clearance and I still don't know why, but I was pretty excited.

I really wanted to decorate my room differently then the rest of my house. Not so bright and retro. And I wanted to find something inexpensive for my huge amount of wall space. So taking from The Nester, I found plates I loved at Good will and hung them. The blue lamp is also from good will just with a new shade. I never did find it's partner. :(

What I love about this picture is that it represents generations in my family. The little yellow chicken feeder was my great-grandmothers. The pitcher and basin was my grandmothers, and the rocking chair was my great-great grandmothers which my mother had reupholstered.


So after moving the furniture around so that everything was on a different wall, we somehow ended up with an empty space. So we shopped the house and brought up our leather chair and ottoman to fill the corner. I spray painted a bookshelf that Jeff's sister gave us in that Slate Blue from the frames and I think it will come together nicely eventually.


I'm not loving the arrangement of the pictures and mirror, but I can live with it for a little while until I figure out what else I want there. I'm also thinking the bookshelf is too small. But again, I can live with it for now until I find another cheap piece to take it's place. I'm also thinking a gold pillow, paint the frames a lighter color. Stuff like that is really easy and adds the right drama to the room, it's just finding the right pieces at a low price.

All tolled, I spent about 200 dollars including the paint to makeover this room. But I spent it slowly over about 6 months. Cuz 200 at one time is just not in the budget. But I was patient and it's almost there. A few more tweaks, a few more good finds or even shopping my own house and I will have a bedroom that I can really relax in.

I'm really happy with it and the late, late nights and sore shoulders were all worth it. Truly.

Oh, and the heart with our initials in it? It is staying. I did it kind of as a love note to my husband when I missed him, thinking I could paint over it later. But he really likes it, and he asks for so little. So it's for keeps.

Just like him.