Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Master Bedroom: Decor

This room is a haven from the joyful chaos that fills our house right up to bedtime. Because peace is precious, I have a rule: the kids can't play in our room if we aren't there. This keeps toys from being strewn into it when I'm unaware. If they play while I'm there, I can ask them to take their toys out with them. Finding their messes in my room used to get me fuming, "Is nothing sacred?!" While I knew we wouldn't be parents that made our bedroom completely off-limits, this has been a blissful middle ground. It's small, but it helps it feel like our space is kept for us.

When I planned this room, I chose the zen-est version of my favorite color, blush pink and added some manly elements like suiting fabric on our homemade headboard, metals and grays. I'd like to say I did this for Brian, but I actually crush on manly rooms regularly. I like their unfussyness (more made up words) and how surprising it is juxtaposed with pink. My decorating handle could be PinkTomboy, but no one would hire me. Ever. 

lamp shades, toss pillows, pillowcases - Target | coverlet, quilt, lamps - thrifted | headboard, curtains, footstool - we made before this blog existed - so no DIY :(

The leaning door and framed book pages (above the bed) are sentimental. The house where we first kissed was later torn down, but this door was salvaged. It was Brian's idea to keep a reminder of our first kiss and I figured our room was the most appropriate place. The book pages are from the first book I lent Brian when we were getting acquainted. It's an old, epic love story, called The Rosary, and now it's one of our all-time favorites. 

rose/gold dish - TJMaxx | hemp book - Barnes & Noble | tissue box cover, vase, books - thrifted

Brian uses these giant built-in dresser drawers, so this is his corner. The his cologne sits on the radiator and the metal bowl and basket hold his keys, change, etc. I don't like my full-length mirror squeezed there between the drawers and his closet drawer, but it's the most functional spot. There's also a ceiling fan in this room and I'd love to replace it with a pretty chandelier like the beaded wonder below. It's no longer available at Pottery Barn Kids, but it sure is dreamy. 

Here's my favorite gray, white and pink accessory. He loves it when we make the bed, tromping in and sprawling in this kingly fashion the minute I'm finished. I love it too, for other reasons. Making my bed gives me an illusion of having my ducks in a row. Even when other things go haywire, if I walk into our room and see a made bed? Ahh...everything's not so bad after all. 

To make a radiator feel more like a piece of furniture, a scarf goes a long way. The gold frames were thrifted and I switched out some flowery art (in the circle mat) for our most recent portrait. The fan's cage was black, so I spray painted it gold. If you're starting to flirt with gold touches, don't worry about getting them exactly the same shade. My frames are slightly different and the fan isn't the same as either one. I think it's a softer look than matching perfectly. 

For the sake of being real and showing how parts of my house have to wait to look good until I find the right piece at the right price, I've made a little collage of my dresser. This is the natural progression that happens when you are on a tight budget and/or have little time to commit to the home decor effort. Things look a little lost, a little sad, but then they grow. 

So here we are today, with something I'm pretty happy with. The lovely knobs actually happened in phase 2 of the dresser. You can find just what the twelve knobs from Anthropologie's clearance basket cost me over here. They took the basic Ikea Hemnes dresser and elevated it to something interesting and a little fancy. From the photo below, you can also see how you enter our room from the tiny hallway. Behind the door that's standing open, is my closet door.

square floor basket, dresser - Ikea | knobs - Anthropologie | frames, lamp, jewelry box - thrifted 

This is my newest addition, which I will be showing you how to do. I love silhouettes - especially animal ones and thought it would be fun to have a personal one of our cat. It was a lot easier than I anticipated. I still want to try a layer of paint to see if it'll hide my marker lines. Below is the dish that helps a few small items not look lost on the top of such a big dresser. If you're struggling to fill a large table top, consider a pretty tray that holds a few smaller items, but has a large "footprint." 

So there's our room. To keep the little walkway at the beginning interesting, I printed out and hung maps of islands we've visited (Fiji and Hawaii.) I pick decorations that remind us of special parts of our story. While there's some peace in a harmonious room filled with beautiful things, items like this reassure the soul and Lord knows, that's what we need when we come home.


  1. I have absolutely loved this series! Your home is so beautiful! And these posts are a gift to those of us who need to visualize what a minimalist home might look like (aside from the "bare white walls" image, of course!).

    1. Yes! Decorations fall in the "loved" category of minimalism for me. While I don't "use" them, I enjoy them enough to warrant their presence. :)

  2. Your room looks very calm and relaxing.
    Your cat makes a great accessory. He has a very kingly posture.

  3. Isn't he handsome? Cats are such a demonstration of how to relax! He helps me feel grounded and peaceful.

  4. It is so hard to keep the bedroom organised and as a mother myself I know how hard it is to keep those toys and books from migrating into our own much needed retreat! The day starts differently when the bed is made- you're so right! No-matter how the day goes we know there is a tiny glint of order in the home somewhere!