Master Bedroom Redesign on a Budget - Before Photos

I almost forgot! We can't do a proper room re-do without those hideous "before" shots. So here they are, the before photos of our bedroom.

I've been so stuck for so long with this bedroom and I've finally realized why: it's that bedspread. I've tried to find art I like that goes with it and I just couldn't get excited about orange and brown foliage with a smattering of birds. Ugh. 

So, we're going with some pale grey/white/cream for the majority of the bedding with splashes of color in the throw pillows and on the walls.

Speaking of color on the walls, next up is my post about a DIY ombre art piece I did for the wall. Stay tuned...


*Martha

Master Bedroom Redesign on a Budget - Cheap Lamps

As I mentioned, while shopping around for lamps, I was finding a sad trend: all the ones I loved were around $100 and even the ones I kind of loved were in the $50 range. My dream lamps are going for $150! Shoot, do I want to eat this week or buy a lamp? Yeah. So, to Value Village (a thrift store like Goodwill) I went. I was looking for a bubble or gourd style lamp base. Bottom line, I wanted some beefy lamps! None of those skinny weeny lamps we were used to. I was hoping to find two matching white ones (or even better, yellow!), but instead found these: 

The blue is for my hubby and the white is for me. I think it works out better that way anyway. He's a dude, I'm a girl, and our lamps can be some kind of manifestation of that. They were both labeled as $4.99 but I got to the counter and found that mine was only $2. Seven dollars for two lamp bases! Woot! Since these lamps could not be returned after purchased, the lady at the checkout stand handed me a light bulb and told me to go test them at their testing station in the back to make sure they worked. She said they usually test the electrical items they sell, but sometimes can't get to all of them if there is too much inventory coming in and they run out of time.  Who knew there was a testing station? It's just a strip of electrical outlets. Great company at the testing station! People who buy used electronics are gems!


I initially bought a lamp harp because I thought I needed one to hold a lamp shade.

I installed it on my lamp, which involved taking it apart and rewiring it. Totally intimidating and terrifying, but it turned out fine in the end.

I had bought these two lamp shades at Ross for $7 each. Definitely not my dream shades, but I thought I'd try them out.

 Once the harp was on, I had some gluing to do to get my lamp to stand upright.

However, I found these $14 each drum style lamp shades at Target and decided to take the Ross ones back because I like these much better. No harps needed for these shades. Here's a preliminary look at our lamps! 

Mine turned out to be $16 and Adam's cost $ 18. Not bad for $100 lamp wannabes!

*Martha

Master Bedroom Redesign on a Budget - Design Board

Here's the gist of what I want our master bedroom to come out looking like. This isn't EXACTLY what I'm going to do, but it's all the objects I've got floating around in my head. Some I know I won't have the money for, but I have others in mind that I've seen at discount stores that I don't have pictures of. (Click on the design board to enlarge in another window.)

In a nutshell, I'm going for mostly grey and white, geo-patterned bedding with throw pillows in navy, yellow and/or black and white. The throw pillows on the design board won't ALL be used ... and perhaps even none of them will be used. They are just there to act as placeholders while my brain works out the details. We are keeping our nightstands which don't look exactly like the ones shown, but similar. They are black and blocky. The lamps shown here are each around $100 but I found some thrift store look-alikes for MUCH less .... can't wait to show you those tomorrow! Plus, I have a bright yellow art piece I finished yesterday that will either go above the bed (if I don't buy the sunburst mirror) or on the side wall (if I do buy the sunburst mirror). We shall see. Like I said, tune in tomorrow to learn about putting together a very cheap lamp. I learned a few things along the way on my lamp search that I can't wait to share with you.

*Martha

Master Bedroom Redesign on a Budget - Inspiration

Here are some images I've been studying for inspiration for my bedroom redesign. 

I love the Mark Rothko-like art above the bed and the crisp, put-together bed.

I like the headboard and overall luxurious feel of this bedroom, plus the color scheme is right up my alley.

Love this bedding from West Elm.

Color scheme is perfy, of course. I love everything Dwell Studio.

Sorry for the crease in this one, it's a scan from the Domino decorating book. I like the simplicity in this room; just bright yellow and bright white is somehow satisfying.

This room is just calming. I like the striped pillowcases.

Another simple yellow and white room; love the navy and grey in the second one. The headboard is to die for as well.

A crooked scan ... sorry. I love the headboard replacement in the first photo - it's framed wallpaper. The second room is cheery. Love the sunburst mirror and yellow lamps.

More solid yellow and crisp linens. Ahhhh. 

Coming up ... the design board I created for my bedroom.

*Martha

Master Bedroom Redesign on a Budget - Color Palette

...Or I could title this post: Getting Started on the "Someday." You see, our master bedroom is the number one room I keep saying I'll get to ... someday. Someday when we have money, more specifically. But guess what I realized? Someday when we have money coming in again, which is slated to be in approximately one year, that money is likely NOT going towards my dream home interior projects. It's going to savings, retirement and kids' college funds. Yes, as my hubby and I were discussing it recently, we will likely be living about the same no matter what our money situation is like in the next couple years. Which is totally smart! Repeat after me: smart, smart, smart. Wise, smart, level-headed, mature, adulty. (As in, "Look at us being all adulty." - Liz Lemon)

So, I decided to get going on my "master bedroom on a budget" and after a lot of thought and planning and looking, I think I'll be able to swing it! Is invention not the result of desperation? What? How does that saying go? 

Anyway, here's my color palette. Kind of funny how it's almost the exact color palette of our heading/logo. I can't deny that I have a thing for grey, white and black. And with navy and yellow thrown in, I think we'll have enough masculine/feminine, serious/happy colors to please both people who sleep in this room.

Stay tuned as I put the pieces together over the next little while.... 

Framing Love Notes

I picked up the book Crafting a Meaningful Home at the library recently and really liked a lot of the ideas inside.

One project that caught my eye was this wall of framed love notes. I was rifling through some of our old love notes and, sadly, there aren't many artsy looking ones. Just a lot of gushing words. But I guess it's never too late to try my hand at stick-figure-style love notes, hmm?

*Martha