I am shout it from the rooftops excited, because not only is today the start of the One Room Challenge linking event, it's also the day that we finally start to give our master bedroom the love and attention that we've bestowed on the rest of our home!
Isn't it always that case that when it comes to decorating our homes, we put our room last? We moved in to our home six years ago, and we've poured a lot of sweat and tears into just about every space in our home - except our master bedroom. It looks nearly the same as it did just months after we moved in.
I keep meaning to hang drapes, and to find a better rug, and to create a cozy reading nook, and to make the television less of a focal point, and... you get the point. But six years have gone by and it just hasn't happened.
Our home is three stories, and the master bedroom and bathroom, as well a deck, make up the entire third floor. It's wonderful having such a private master suite, but the space is just not living up to its potential. The bedroom isn't terrible, but it's not great either. And I want it to be great!
Fortunately, that's where the One Room Challenge comes in! {If you don't know what the One Room Challenge is all about, then you're in luck because I explained it all yesterday.}
This will be my second time joining the ORC as a Linking Participant. Back in the spring I completed my toddler son's bedroom, which we affectionately call his Vintage Preppy Little Gentleman's Lounge {argyle wall, and all}. And ever since the Spring ORC ended, I've been counting the days to the fall event so that I'd finally have an excuse to give our master bedroom the attention it deserves.
Ok, ok...enough background info. Let's talk design!!
My husband and I both love cities. Everything about them! So it was really no surprise when I took a style quiz that identified my style as "Modern Metro." Even the sound of it makes me happy! After reading the definition of this style and seeing the representative room designs, I started looking around my house, and, sure enough, I saw touches of Modern Metro everywhere I turned. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here are some glimpses of my Modern Metro style.
Quite a few of these close up photos actually come from our master bedroom - so we were off to a good start designing a room that represents our style. But the room has just never fully come together. It just feels a bit flat and a bit blah... a bit unfinished!
Why don't I just show you what I mean...
First let me start my saying that I adore having a fireplace in our room, and I really love the stacked stone. The dark grey accent wall was painted by the builder, and I like it too, so it will stay. But I'm not sold on the dark tan walls in the rest of the room. Grey and tan actually perfectly fit the color palette and I want to stick with for the room, but I feel like the stacked stone just blends in too much against the beige wall. We are still debating on whether to paint the rest of the room...but there is a good chance it will end up a light grey.
Because of the floor plan of the room - the fireplace, large window, and two sliders - I think we've already found the furniture layout that works best for the space {we already owned the furniture when we moved in, and we aren't planning to replace}. Unfortunately, however, that means that the dresser and television are the first thing you see when you walk into the room. We like to watch tv in bed {The Daily Show at night; Sesame Street when the kids crawl in to bed in the mronings}, so it has to stay, but I have plans to make it much less of a focal point!
The blue duvet cover and the striped quilt were both made by my mom when I was living in a condo downtown. Blue is one of my favorite colors, and I love the sheen of the duvet and the pop of color it adds to the space - so it stays. The quilt, unfortunately, is falling apart. After being used for nine years, and washed countless times, the fabric is literally rotting and falling apart. So there will be a new quilt or coverlet as part of the redesign.
The room has one large window at the foot of our bed, and two sliders in the corner of the room that lead out to our large deck. Right after we moved in, we installed black solar roller shades on the bedroom windows. I love the fact they give us plenty of privacy, but still let a lot of light shine through in the mornings {I am not a morning person, so I need to wake up to some light in order to get myself out of bed}. In short, I am very happy with the solar shades, but I never intended for them to be the only window coverings! They desperately need drapes, so that is priority one on the to do list!
I've always envisioned the corner between the two sliders being the perfect spot for a reading nook. A year or two ago we found a chair that we liked for a great price and I thought I was finally going to get that reading nook I'd been dreaming of. The chair is quite comfortable, but I now realize that I want a chair with a higher back and more comfortable arms so that I can curl up in it a bit more. And the black, grey and beige shag rug below the chair was a Walmart purchase for about $30. It was always intended to be nothing more than a temporary answer.
The rug is on its way out the door, to be replaced with something a bit lighter, and with more pattern. I plan to relocate the existing chair to a different spot in the house where it will be a better fit and replace it with a chair that has a bit more comfort and style. I am thrilled to be partnering with Home Decorators Collection to find the perfect chair! Come back next week for more details about that!
A while back, when we did some electrical work to add ceiling fans to the boys' rooms, we went ahead and installed a light in the reading corner {for some reason there are no can lights in the ceiling in this half of the room}. I love the industrial pendant bulb fixture that we picked, but right now it's just getting lost in the sea of black. But once we get a different rug and some drapes in to this corner, we'll be able to banish the black hole once and for all, and the light will become more of a focal point!
You probably also noticed that big pack-and-play next to the chair. Our younger son just turned 16 months old and is mobile and curious. That pack-and-play is a life saver when I need to get ready without worrying about what he's getting into. It might maintain this spot in the room for a few more months, but it's days are numbered and we certainly won't be basing any design decisions around it.
In the other corner of the room sits the cradle where both of our boys slept for many months before moving down to their own rooms. Now that the infant days are behind us, we'll be taking the cradle apart and reclaiming this corner of the bedroom. Pre-kids, this corner was always just empty space - but we have a bench in our second floor hall that might find a new home here. I'd also love a floor length mirror...so this corner has a couple of possibilities.
There you have it. Like I said, the room isn't terrible, but it's also not great. The furniture and the layout will stay the same, the duvet and some of the art will stay the same ... but I think that the changes we have planned will make a world of difference come six five weeks from now.
Now that you've seen the befores, let me show you the plan one more time. As you can see, this design concept won't take the room in a totally different direction, but, rather, it will finally pull together what we started six years ago!
Before I sign off, here's a run down of what we plan to accomplish:
*Drapes!
*Paint the tan walls?
*New, lighter rug
*More comfy and stylish chair
*Add pattern and texture through fabrics
*New quilt or coverlet for the bed
*Make the televion less of a focal point
*New art above the bed
*Add some architectural interest
*Reclaim the corner where the cradle has been
I am so excited about the plan, now I just have to focus and decide where to begin. Come back each Thursday for an update on our progress, leading up to the final One Room Challenge room reveal on Thursday, November 6th! I'd love for you to enter your email address at the top of the sidebar so that you don't miss any of the progress posts!
In the meantime, please take a few minutes to check what all of the other
ORC participants and
linking participants have planned. The talent of these folks truly blows me away! Thanks, as always, to Linda, from
Calling it Home, for hosting this awesome event!
Labels: bedroom, decor, decorating, interior design, master bedroom, Modern Metro, One Room Challenge
