Painting the Master Bedroom, Part II: Sherwin Williams Colonnade Gray

Before we get to this reveal, let me just say that it's solely based on the paint transformation alone. So please don't judge based on my bedroom styling skills or the size of our humble master bedroom. :)  

Okay, moving on. So for all of you who like instant gratification, here's our newly painted bedroom featuring Sherwin Williams Colonnade Gray! I'm super thrilled with it and when you see the photos of what it looked like before, you'll understand why.

There are some additional before pictures and progress pictures in my previous post, but here's a quick refresher of the chocolate brown walls (actually Tree Branch, an SW color):

Bedroom Upgrade: Tuft & Needle Mint Mattress Review (Part I)

This past week, we finally bit the bullet on a long overdue upgrade in our master bedroom: a new mattress! For the past 8+ years, we've been sleeping on an old pillow-top mattress that's not been doing us any favors lately. The more I kept waking up feeling sore and unrested (is that a word?), the more I desperately wanted to replace this thing. Let's face it, I'm not getting any younger and I value my sleepy-time, mmkay?

(Before I continue, this is not a sponsored review for T&N. I just like to document things like this and wanted to share our experience in case anyone else is in a similar situation. Frankly I don't even know if we'll be keeping our new mattress yet!)

I'll spare you the details of the entire decision-making process, but essentially we decided to go with an online mattress company rather than dragging ourselves around to the multitude of mattress stores in town... blame it on the millennial in us.

You're So Vain: Bedroom Vanity Inspiration

Our master bedroom recently got a much-needed facelift thanks to a fresh coat of paint and new bedding. But there's one thing I can't change, no matter how much I wish I could: the size of the room. It's pretty small for a master, if you ask me. (Unfortunately, no one did ask me.)

With that said, a girl can still dream. If our bedroom was bigger, one thing that would be a nice luxury to have is a vanity. My very own space to sit and get ready in the mornings. (Maybe I would even be more motivated to spend more time on my hair and makeup...)  And even when I'm not actually using it, it would just look pretty!

I recently discovered One Kings Lane, which offers a lot of unique furniture, accent pieces, mirrors, lighting, and other home decor--from name brand to one-of-a-kind vintage finds. It's really an eclectic assortment. They also happen to have some cool items for vanities, so I thought I'd put together a mood board with some of my favorites. 

As far as my own personal style goes, I'm kind of noncommittal a mix-and-match type of gal. I generally lean toward a more modern look, but I also like some traditional influence too. With that said, here's how I would style my dream vanity!

To Duvet or not to Duvet: That is the Question

First of all, let me just say that I have now had FOUR posts within the last month. That's gotta be a record of some sort.  It's cray-cray, I tell you.

Anyway, on to the reason for today's post. Let's talk about bedding, my friends. Up until very recently, my only experience with bed coverings has been the good ol' bed-in-a-bag set. I'm all about the bed-in-a-bag. It just makes my life easier when everything I need is already packaged up nice and neat for me. 

Before I get much farther, here's a reminder of what our existing bedding looked like. It was perfectly sufficient with the newly painted walls, but I just really wanted an excuse to upgrade.

In the process of my master bedroom makeover, I've broadened my bedding horizons. While searching the Internet far and wide for different options, I came across many duvets and duvet covers. Now, I'd seen these terms before but quite honestly never really knew what they meant, so I've just kind of ignored those options.

Taupe-tastic Makeover Part I: Master Bedroom

Painting our master bedroom is one of those projects that’s been on my to-do list for awhile, but there’s been no urgent need to get it done. When we moved into our house 6 years ago, I actually liked the greenish/bluish/aqua color. But over time, I’ve grown tired of it and wanted to move toward something a little more sophisticated and neutral (but not blah-neutral).

Here are some “before” pictures (these were taken right after we got new furniture a few years ago, but we’ve since gotten different bedding).

Master Bedroom Makeover Part II: The Reveal

Awhile back, I showed off the new curtains I made for our bedroom. They're not perfect by any means, but if you had "temporary" paper shades on your windows for 4 years, you'd understand why it was such a big deal.

The other part of the bedroom makeover was a simple bedding change, but I think it made a big difference. I was tired of the comforter we had and wanted something that would lighten up the room. With all of our dark brown furniture and the dark brown comforter, it was just too much. Having resigned myself to the fact that we aren't going to get around to painting our bedroom any time soon, I wanted something that would still coordinate with the existing wall color. (And, as usual, I didn't want to spend much money on it.)

Before I go on, let's look at some before pictures of the bedroom...

Master Bedroom Makeover Part I: Curtain Call

Ok, so it's a little backwards to have the "curtain call" as Part I, but before I do the final reveal, I have to share this project first.

If you've been a regular reader around here over the past few years (just let me flatter myself by thinking that), you might recall that most of our temporary paper shades outlasted their "temporary" status by about, oh, 3 or 4 years. Window treatments have evolved very slowly in this house.

Our master bedroom hasn't been the first priority among all the other home improvements, but I finally moved it up to the top of the list last month. Even though other people don't see our bedroom on a daily basis, I was sick of these tragic paper shades that had long since overstayed their welcome.

I know...cringe. Part of the reason it took so long to finally get rid of them is that I wasn't sure how to cover the windows. Blinds? Roman shades? Curtains? Sure, I could have just gone out and bought something pre-made (which would have been easiest) but my cheap budget-conscious side won out. Also, these windows weren't really a standard size (of course).

Master Bedroom Semi-Makeover

This isn't a true "before and after," because that would imply our master bedroom is done, and it most certainly is not. So it's more like a "before and during."

For about six months after we moved in, this is what our bedroom looked like:

Hideous, I know.

This is the only "before" picture I have, but it's cringe-worthy enough on its own. The mish-mash of sad college furnishings didn't exactly scream "master bedroom." So when we were doing some harmless window-shopping at Oak Express and found out about a 5-year/no interest deal, we jumped on it. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision (apparently our favorite kind), but we ended up buying a whole new bedroom set -- dresser, chest of drawers, two nightstands, and a headboard. It was the first time either of us had ever had a real bedroom set, so as silly as it sounds, we finally felt like "grown-ups!"

We also upgraded to a new comforter set (from Target) that coordinates much better with the aqua paint color, which I don't plan on painting anytime soon. (But I'm already getting tired of the bed... now I think there's too much brown.) Oh, and in case you were wondering what we did with that awesome animal print quilt, it got moved to the guest bedroom (which desperately needs a makeover as well, but that's taking a back seat to some other priorities). So now I present to you our matured master bedroom!

The silver frames and mirror were a wedding gift that we didn't even get out of the box until well over two years later! I actually didn't think I'd like them, but they worked out pretty nicely in here. I put photos from our wedding and honeymoon in the frames.

The sexy new lamp definitely helped improve the ambience!

I also have two wall sconces I purchased 6 months ago that are still sitting on the floor. Someday, I'm going to put them up over the headboard or on the wall next to the bed. My only excuse for not doing it by now is that I can't decide if there's a better spot in the house for them.

Ok, so the room still leaves a lot to be desired -- mainly some real window treatments. I've been debating whether or not to try making my own, a la Sara's No-Sew Curtains or perhaps the Drop Cloth Curtains over at The Brick Cottage... But the way things are going right now, it would be awhile before I got around to that!

Also, there's a lot of potential with the ceiling. I'm not sure what type of ceiling this is... it's not coffered, but I did some Googling and the closest I can come up with is a tray ceiling? All I know is, it helps make our small room feel much bigger.

(Old picture, pre-move in)

Anyway, I'm thinking I could either paint the "inner" part a different shade, or even utilize the space to put up one of those wall decal quotes. Although the ceiling fan is actually pretty decent-looking, I wouldn't mind switching it out for a fabulous chandelier light fixture (like my sister did), but it would probably get way too hot in here then. Boo.

My biggest annoyance with the room now is that there's not a lot of flexibility as far as re-arranging, which I like to do. The placement of the windows and the big furniture is kind of limiting. But with a little creativity, I know I can still make some major improvements in here!