When we left off yesterday, my master bedroom was some (messier, more chaotic) approximation of this.
Pretty blah. To be fair, we'd added a few throw pillows (of which you can never have too many), and propped more art up against the walls, so it looked slightly less stark than this, if no more finished. But yesterday, while getting ready to host a New Year's Eve Party, we made a switcheroo between the rugs and decor in the family room and the bedroom. Meaning the little aqua rug of which I'm so fond came into our room, along with the blue pillows and lamps that had been chilling with it in the family room. To this effect:
This is a rough cut - it's just the beginning - but I am seriously in love with it. Bret and I both can't believe how much lighter the room feels, but not in the sort of hospitalesque way it felt before. We hung the curtains I made a few months ago, and I love how they look in here, a lot more than I liked them in the old apartment. We also put up our headboard - an antique ladder I attached to some 1" x 4"s, and which I'll post about at some point - brought in the bench at the foot of the bed that has also been seen here and not seen where it had been hanging out, the office/guest room, and changed the bedding to include a plain white duvet cover, that throw, and an assortment of blue throw pillows. Yes, we did all that while prepping for a party that was set to start in like an hour. I don't know.
I'd been thinking about making this switch. Partly, I wanted to protect that rug, to which I'm overly attached, and which had already borne the brunt of one overly enthusiastic hot chocolate transport. My other motivation was a thrifty one: We had a black and white rug in the master, and a gray, black and white rug from the old apartment's living room just hanging out unused, and it occurred to me that they would work nicely in the family and dining rooms, respectively - and save us the cost of a new rug for the dining room (yes, after all that deliberation). So, though I had a tiny bit of hesitation around brown furniture + gray rugs = blech, we figured we'd try it out, and - spoiler - we're pretty happy with the results in the family and dining rooms, too.
But back to the bedroom. As I say, this is just the beginning. There are, as always, some outstanding tasks to accomplish in here.
That attractive extension cord situation to the left has to go, and I need to shorten the curtains. I can't stand when curtains pool on the ground, not necessarily for aesthetic reasons, but because they tend to just gather piles of hair and dust. At least in my (gross) house. And these, because I painted the stripes, are a bit stiff, and so aren't "pooling" anyway - they're sort of stiffly sitting. So I'll shorten those, figure out a wire solution, and figure out a good charging area for our myriad devices, which are not pictured because they're hiding behind the curtains.
Then there's something for the walls - you can see our art collection leaning in the corner up there. We have leaning art deposits all over the house, and one day, I'll actually hang something. I am not averse to putting holes in the wall (exhibit A), but I am a bit hesitant about actually hanging something until I at least know what furniture will go where. I'm thinking we're getting close to that point, and I'm also just stoked to finish this room, so I think we might get there soon. I also plan to paint the bench. It's part of Louisa's bed, but I plan to paint the whole thing white at some point, so I'll just start now.
I was thinking of this as a short post, but my verbosity got the best of me, as per uzh. I'm trying to decide between spending quality time with the fam the rest of the day or diving into a decor project. Decisions, decisions. What are you doing with your holiday? Any house-y changes to greet the new year in style? I can't believe it's January 1st and I'm already switching everything around. Wait, yes I can.
Happy 2015, happy birthday to Amy C and thanks for reading!