Master Bedroom Redo

I am finally showing you my master bedroom.

This should be the.....3rd?...time that I've redone the master bedroom since buying our house in 2006.

Yeah, I know, that's a lot, but it always takes me a few tries to get things "perfect."

So with all my junk stuff successfully stuffed into my husband's closet, all I had to do was give the room a quick mopping and iron the curtains, and I was all set!

I never took a "before" photo.

I'm sorry.

If you want a quick run-down of the flooring being put in, and a little sneak at what the walls used to look like, you can check it out in this post here.

Without further adoo (ado? adu?), here is the master bedroom:

Bedskirt: http://www.younkers.com/shop/bed-bath/duvets-bed-skirts-canopies/livingquarters-crochet-bed-skirt_169213.html  in ivory



Table lamps: LivingQuarters from Younkers.  (Sorry, there's no web link)

Bedding: http://www.westelm.com/products/organic-cotton-pin-tuck-duvet-cover-and-shams-b340/?pkey=corganic-bedding  in natural

Wooden roman shades: Menards (sorry, no web link!)

Curtains: http://www.shopko.com/detail/envision-studio-bailey-cord-grommet-top-window-panel/10080/0710

I won this jewelry armoire last summer at an auction.

I have way too much jewelry, and I just donated half my collection.

Haha...

Mirror: Younkers (no web link, I found it on Yellow Dot, so it was super cheap!)

So what do you think?

My bedroom before had "noise" everywhere. I packed so much stuff into such a small space. I need to de-clutter my life.

This bedroom is so peaceful at night, and so cheery in the morning.

I love it.

=D

Of course, I will be adding a thing here or there.

My husband wants a chair in the room, so he can sit down and put his socks on.

Right now he does a funny little hop when he puts them on.

It amuses me, but he's not as amused.

Haha.

I'm thinking about putting this one from the Country Living line from Kmart in the corner by my new mirror:

It matches the new nightstands.

I'm in love with the upholstery nail trim.

(Ahem...I have a birthday coming up, Hubs!)

I also want to warm up the room a bit with some nice natural jute rugs.

I'm in love with this one from Pottery Barn:

...but it also has a $49 price tag.

I would need two, and $100 is way out of my price range.

Target has about the same prices.

If anyone knows of a place that sells jute rugs in 3'x5' for about $30 or less, could you let me know?

I would appreciate it greatly!

Living Room Built-Ins

Remember when I did my living room remodel?

I knew that I needed more storage space in this room, and I also hated the awkward shape of this room.

I knew that built-ins would give me amazing storage and help balance out that weird space.

When I showed you the living room remodel, I also showed you what I basically wanted in that space:

But where to start?

I've never built bookshelves before.

I'm really good at figuring out dimensions/measurements/spacing, but I'm not great at figuring how it's all supposed to be put together.

I perused my woodcraft books. Most of them were more ornate than I wanted. They called for all these special joints and needed tools that I don't have.

Bummer.

Of course, a light went on in my head, "I betcha Ana from Knock Off Wood can give me ideas!"

Her simple Willy bookcases were exactly what I needed!
(And my eldest's name is Willy!)

I reader requested that I do a bookcase tutorial, but I can't make it any more easily understood than Ana already has. Check out that link if you want to see how they are built!

Now, of course, I had to adjust dimensions and shelf spacing since built-ins should be unique to the location.

I'm not great at writing up detailed plans. Most of the time the measurements are floating around my head. I've never screwed up a project from lack of having something written down.

It's probably more of a laziness issue.

;)

Anyways, here's the scribbles from my blueprint. I tried labeling things so that you would know what goes where. It's not very detailed.

Sorry!

The reason that one shelf dimension is labeled "middle & bottom" is  because the top is bigger than the other shelves because the top is screwed in from the top, not on the sides. So it will be 1 1/2" longer (I used 3/4" wood)

There's the top support.

Sorry for the odd picture quality. I had to darken everything because I was the moron who decided to leave her plans out in the rain.

=P

Shelf two is the same for the side supports, but different in shelf length. One wall is slightly longer than the other.

And I unfortunately don't have dimensions for the top shelf. I had to wing that one, because the space is about 9' and plywood only comes in 8'. So I had to nail the backing directly to the wall, hold up my side supports, then place a middle bracer for the top (actually two boards, not one) to rest on.

This is when I got my first bookcase built:

Then I didn't take much pictures until I started putting on the face trim:

Ready for the final reveal?

Here's what I wanted my built-ins to look like:

And here's what I got:

I just want to thank Ana, at Knock Off Wood, for providing the world with free building plans. Not only are they free, but they are by far the easiest to follow plans I have ever built from!

Without Ana, I wouldn't have the awesome patio table that I built, either!

Beachy Cottage Bungalow (living room remodel)

I'm finally showing you the living room!

To date, this is my favorite remodel. Getting that stinky carpet out was a blessing!

I'm going to show you a series of "before" photos. These were taken before I even got my current entertainment center.

Don't mind the huge general mess. I didn't want to clean for some "before" pictures.

Yes, this is usually what it looks like.

I won't lie.

;)

So

Much

Stuff....

Ugh.

So we purged boxes and boxes of stuff.

Once the floor was done, I started on the board and batten.

Only the boards needed to be primed.

I used 1x4 boards for the baseboard and chair-rail, then 1x3 for the verticle boards.

I spaced them 18" on center.

The furniture was squished in the middle of the room for a while.

The screens had to be taken out of the windows because the windows were going to be painted.

(gasp)

I painted real wood!

;)

Sooooo....

Do you finally want to see how it turned out, my patient friends?

Much more airy!

Besides the formal furniture (which will be replaced next year!), it feels so much more open and clean!

I love that area rug!

We replaced our bookcase (that my father-in-law made!) with a toybench (that my father-in-law made!)

You'll see why it's gone in a second (don't worry, we didn't toss it, just moved it to a different room!)

And my vintage "Rubbers" box came in. It's even better than I had hoped! It perfectly fits "his" and "hers" magazines, and the other slot is perfect for a throw blanket!

And what a nice conversation starter.

;)

The patio door got a white makeover as well.

I rearranged some decor for the entertainment center.

Don't you like how it pops off the white wall?

Here's a closer look at my new vases.

They were given to me by a good friend, Alicia, before she moved two states over.

=(

This is what they started out from.

She tried making them candles by just melting a ton of candles.

And it didn't turn out.

So I had to fix it.

I put a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet, placed the vases upside-down, then turned the oven to it's lowest setting (170 degrees).

Don't worry, it won't bust the glass!

After a while, the wax melts to the bottom.

Just keep changing out the wax paper, and before you know it, they will be clean!

Then it got a few coats of white spray paint.

Much better!

A big bag of building blocks for my daughter

<3

And the topiaries got a makeover.

We needed to replace the ceiling fan, so I went with this tropical-looking one.

It's so fun!

(P.S. Beer-induced Wii Tennis near a ceiling fan is NOT a good idea!)

You can kind of see the old fan there.

Ugly.

Here's a better view of the new bamboo roll-up shades.

These are the best (and cheap!) option if you want a beachy cottage bungalow look!

And of course, there's always a catch!

I'm not actually done....

See this wall?

I didn't even bother painting it because we (as in I) will be making built-in bookcases surrounding the door.

This is what it will look like.

Don't laugh at my Photoshop skills....

lol.

This is my husband's face after learning that it could take me another 2 weeks just to make the bookcases.

Haha!

Anyways, the end of the month is coming here quickly. I'm just telling ya now, I've barely covered May's To Do List!

This room took more time than I thought, mostly because I decided to do a major overhaul of my living room, not just installing new flooring, lol!

I hope everyone likes it, and I will "see" you soon!