2014 Summer Project: Master Bedroom Makeover

I'm baaaaack. Sorry for the looooong departure from blogging, true to my form I went through a spurt of holiday photo-editing, exhausted myself, got sick of it, and took a break. I'm back (at least temporarily) for now though. Life at the Wheeler residence has been a bit topsy-turvy as of late. Some major changes are taking place! We planned since we purchased our home 4 years ago to paint our master bedroom. As the years passed, each room in the house slowly got painted, but the master bedroom remained a blank canvas. I was daunted by the size, vaulted ceiling and lack of natural light in the room, and hubs was daunted by the chair-rail wood trim. So, after (years of) much debate, we finally decided it was time to pick a color scheme once and for all and go for it. We have conceded our entire house to the needs of babes, it was way past time for us to make the master bedroom a priority. I browsed Houzz.com for bedroom color scheme ideas for hours, when finally, I saw it...





Photo from Martha O'Hara Interiors © O'Hara Interiors 2014

Viola! Gray and aqua!!

 

That I would be drawn to this picture shouldn't surprise anyone--look at the colors of this blog, after all! Not only is this particular color scheme the perfect mix of classic French with modern flair (aka "Brooke's Taste"), but I specifically loved the Benjamin Moore "Winter Gates" gray paint color on the walls. Jason loved the bright aqua and yellow accents. After sampling Winter Gates on our bedroom walls, however, I lost my nerve. Our bedroom is large, but there is only one double window, and it faces the rear of the house where there's not a ton of natural light. My fear was that this dark paint would be more "Winter Cave" than "Winter Gate" in our particular bedroom. So, we ended up going not 1, but 2 shades lighter than Winter Gates, opting instead for "Smoke Embers." Jason got done with it last Sunday, and as it settles on the walls I am LOVING it! It is every bit the perfect, classic French gray I wanted without being too dark.

And I also want to add that after painting an entire house full of high ceilings and a near-excessive amount of wood trim and detail, Jason is finally becoming quite the awesome painter too. I would even trust him with the shadow-boxing in the dining room (if we choose to re-do it, hint) at some point!

Anyway, so we got the walls done. That was step two (step one was actually having my uncle come over and re-wire our cable so that we could mount our TV and shelf for the obscene always lovely accompanying cable box on the wall without the garish even lovelier wires running every which way).  After we settled on the the paint though, we both realized that the bedroom furniture Jason picked out for his townhouse back in 2007 (that his parents so generously purchased for him) was no longer really to either of our tastes. Not only was it huge and taking up way too much space in the room, but it was not holding up so well to light use after only 7 years (after some research we discovered it was made out of the dreaded particle-board and veneer, which was inexcusable considering the cost!). In addition, because of its espresso color, it was making the room even darker than it already was.

I didn't even realize how big and bright our room really was until those five gigantic dark clouds pieces of furniture made their final, muscle-tearing departures out of our bedroom and down the steps on their way to their new home. Jason's wife is amazingly strong, ask anyone who buys the Wheelers' old bedroom furniture on Craigslist!

Thus, after gaining inspiration from my new blog obsession, LiveLoveDIY, I came up with a plan. Since the purchase of new furniture was not really on the financial priority list, getting the perfect "new" bedroom furniture was only going to happen by 1. selling our old furniture, and 2. buying used (quality) furniture (for the same price for which we sold the old stuff or less) and painting it. So, up on Craigslist went our current furniture, which sold in record time! And lucky for us, I found a perfect, GORGEOUS, 1950's French Provincial set from a used furniture dealer on Craigslist just in time to replace the old stuff. The only problem? It all needs to be painted first! It was in near-perfect condition, I was like a kid on Christmas when we walked in and purchased it.

Currently, it is all sitting in our garage in various states of undress painting, so our bedroom is a bit of a war-zone at present. It's only temporary though, so I can handle a little mess for a lot of beauty later (plus, it gives us an excuse to unload some of the TONS of old clothes we don't wear anymore, which is never a bad thing!).

But anyway, yes, I have begun a new hobby--furniture painting (one for the resume)! Just what every new mom needs to add to her to-do list, right? Oh well, I am having a blast and that's what matters. I've learned a lot so far and made a few mistakes, but the one piece I've gotten done in the past two weeks looks AMAZING and I am so proud of it!

 

Behold, the Before and After of the First Finished Piece

(also known as Jason's Nightstand)...

The "Before." Such beautiful mahogany! Too bad it had to go. Although pretty, it isn't modern.
 

And...



The "After." Goodbye 1955, Hello 2014!

Confession to those reading this for the 1st time: this picture was added to this post posthumously. You're welcome!

True to the inspiring design I found on Houzz, we decided the nightstands should be painted aqua. I was worried it would be too much (I am so afraid of color it's ridiculous), but hubs insisted. Good thing too, because the Benjamin Moore "Antiguan Sky" looks amazing against the Smoke Embers gray! Thanks Husband, for making me stay on-plan (for once! As always, Jason is the Yin to my ADHD Yang). The hardware on the nightstand was spray painted with Rust-Oleaum Bright Coat Metallic Chrome (Amazon Affiliate Link HERE) spray paint. It gave the exact "sterling silver" effect I was going for!

I am so in love with this nightstand. You can't see from that crappy blackberry picture, but the insides of the drawers are painted the same color as the dressers will be. In fact, I just got done with the second coat of paint on the BREATHTAKING low dresser yesterday, so look for a blog post with the before and after for that to come soon!

What an awesome hobby, what took me so long to discover it?! It gives me a cheap way to furnish our home with quality, custom furniture, as well as a creative outlet and potential to add some extra income at some point. It's really the perfect "escape" for this busy working Mommy (if only there were more time in a day to do it). I am now a "Craigslistaholic", constantly perusing to see what good old cheapies might pop up next.

Old furniture beware, I am coming for you (at a snail's pace--I do have The Tods to raise after all--but coming nonetheless!).

Happy Summer Projects!