Master Bedroom Make-Over

A few months ago I was looking over my Eleven Goals for 2011.  One that really stuck out to me was painting two walls in the Master bedroom-- because I knew that if I didn't do it now there was no way I'd do it after the baby. 

First, I want you to know that when we moved, two of the walls were paneling.  So my sweet husband and our handy brother-in-law took down the paneling and dry-walled.  The paneling was both glued and nailed in.  What a 1980's hot mess.  Here are a few pics from 2007...

Between the closet and door, we took the paneling down and had to
replace the dry wall for obvious reasons.  Please also note the
wall-paper border-- which was in every room in some capacity including this one.

Prepping for new drywall.  Do you see the return air vent?

Two other smaller sections had 1/2 wall of paneling

My friend Suzanne and I painstakingly painted those walls when we moved with love.  We visited and painted and just had a ball.  At least that's how I remember it.  We did all four the same color and declared it "drab" so we added a faux finish to two of the walls.  It looked a little odd-- but short on time and ready to move, we decided to see if it would "grow" on us.  Two of the walls were tan with a pink undertone.  The other two were finished with a yellow faux undertone.  Turns out that never really grows on a person.  Live and learn.  Eventually, we got bedroom furniture for the mattress we bought with nearly all our wedding money.    Before that, we just had a mattress on a frame, which was frankly fine.  We needed end-tables, and found some bookshelves I thought would be perfect at NFM.  My friend Beth and I knew the orange would be a fun accent, and got some pillows, sheets and a comforter a few years later.  And so it was for several years-- I liked a lot of the "stuff" to be honest, including the bedding.  But I knew the bookshelves were too much and that the paint just didn't look right.  Here are some before pics of paint and bedding.

To be fair, this is what our room typically looks like.  Messy bed!
Mis-matched sheets, stuff strewn about.  Note the picture frame on the wall.
It hung there for a year with no pics because I never thought it looked right :)
You can also see the ceiling fan and different wall colors.

A more "fair" before pic.  Because my "after" pics will be cleaned up!
One thing I hated was not having a lamp to read with at night.  The book-
shelves were tricky to get much light-- which meant I had to get out of bed. 
Am I lazy or what?!?

Again, the window swag matched the bedding but not the tone of the
room/walls.  And I had it swung up so Dekker didn't pull on it.  Also note
the basket of shoes at the end of my bed.  I have no-where to put them
because our closet has a double rod and my clothes brush the ground.

The return air vent.  We originally made the hole too big, then
patched it several years later but never painted, etc.

The dresser and wall behind it.  This is pretty clean for us :)

So, upon deciding that I need a hobby now that I'm not feeling like death all the time, I called my friend Kim Hazlip (who helped me do the hearth room) and gave her a tiny budget for this room.  What I love about Kim is that she has a great eye for style, but is also great about helping with organizing, simplifying, etc.  The first thing she helped me was the shoes.  I cleaned the hall closet, right outside our bedroom, and added baskets for my non-work shoes...

Before Pic of the closet.  Note the Drain-O that
I am fairly certain could kill Dekker.  Ug, got that under
a locked cabinet!

After pic.  I condensed and threw away a bunch of expired stuff. 
Then added those two black baskets for my in season non-work shoes.
My out of season shoes (boots) went under my bed in a tote.

Then she did her magic and showed up a week later with new "stuff" for the room, some ideas for me to consider ordering, and a wall color she knew would look fab.  I really wanted to get this room done in June, so I got to painting right away...

Painting a bedroom (any room) is so much work.  We moved the furniture
little by little.  I cleaned behind it (baseboards, vacuum, etc), then got to work.
I did only one coat of this Sherwin-Williams No VOC paint, and then went
back and touched up.  I was a little obsessive but wanted it to be just right.

What a mess!  Do you see all that stuff on the bed!!

I had to find a home for all this stuff!  Thankfully, a lot of it has a
home in the new room, or got thrown out, or donated, or will go to my new office
at NCC (including the bookshelves).

By the end of this Dave was about to kill me :)  He is a trooper,
and helped reach a few areas even the ladder and I couldn't do well.

So are you ready to see the new room?  I love it.  Please notice the new end-tables/baskets, lamps (night time reading made easier again), new ceiling fan, closet door knobs, new outlet covers, hampers, window swag, and dresser decor.  I did buy new sheets, which put us over budget, but when I did we seriously had four different sets represented on the bed, including a different top sheet and bottom sheet.  One got a hole, so we just put an old one on, etc.  It's nice to have matching, non-hole sheets again, with matching pillow cases (gasp!). While we were over budget and on vacation we also bought a print for the wall that we love.

Drum Roll Please...

Confession: The other thing I told Kim I wanted?  Sexy.
Mission accomplished!

No more bulky bookshelves.  And obviously the print that we love.

New window swag that looks just gorgeous with the print.

The top of our dresser.  Very fun to have the mirrors and lamps
playing off one another.

New ceiling fan.  Dave really wanted this!

Lookie there!  No shoes all over the foot of the bed.  With this
space clean, it feels like the room got so much bigger!

Josie is modeling the new white outlet covers!

Another look of the "after."

New hamper, beautiful space!

 Well friends, there you have it.  I have about 30 min left of nap-time so I think I had better go!  If you made it this far, you are rewarded with a few "extra" pics (since I have the camera loaded up and all...)

A hot drink during a heat advisory.  I love my 2 cups of caffeine a day.  Don't knock it.

Heavens to Betsy.  23 weeks.

Such fun memories!

A gorgeous day for a Mississippi boat ride!

 On the journey,
Mae