Drum roll please: It’s Master Bedroom Reveal Numero Uno Today!

I had so much fun doing this. As promised, I raided items from all over my house, coupled them with the stuff I bought and just played around to my heart’s content. So in the first iteration, we went from this:

To this:

Let’s call this look Black & White and Red All Over, shall we? Black and white were my initial impulses when I first had to work with the red dressers, and, though it's not my default style, I really like how this turned out. It's sort of...dramatic. Here’s a breakdown:

1. Art is the homeowner’s, and it was in the kitchen when we moved in. I think it’s cute and whimsical, so I moved it into our room pretty much as soon as we got here.

2. These curtains, which are actually a dark gray, are from Ikea, but I found a package of two, new, at Goodwill, for $20. Ikea curtains come extra-long and unhemmed, which is good, because our place has (great) high ceilings. I had these in our family room and moved them in here.

3. The dresser that we initially shoved under our clothes in our closet got moved here. In the before pic, you can see that this bed has slide-out shelves that act as side tables. I closed them, using them as concealed storage, and put the dresser here instead. I was happy enough with the result that it’ll stay there.

4. Paper from Kate’s Paperie, a store in NYC that makes me forget I’m cheap and leave having spent hundreds of dollars on paper and thinking I got a great deal. These were on clearance for $9/sheet. For the styling session, I just taped them up, but I think they could look great framed.

5. The red and white pillows are from Goodwill’s Target overflow section for $6/each. The black pillows are on loan from the family room.

6. This red chair was in the living room when we moved in, and the homeowners’ used it as a side table by the couch. I copied that idea and put it by the bed.

7. This gray coverlet is actually the homeowner’s fabric shower curtain. I put white shower curtains up, so this (washed, of course) was ready to be repurposed. It’s a really nice linen-y fabric (I think it's Restoration Hardware?), so I think it looks good in here.

8. This rug is just one of my favorite things. It’s my mom’s, and I believe she got it at a swap. I borrowed it and brought it to NY to use in Lou’s room, (I have since nixed that) but I really like how it looks in here.

And then a bunch of accessories I culled from other rooms: plants, the heart block from a stack that spells LOVE, a black and white inlay-inspired box, and some books.

So total cost for this styling of this room?

The only purchased items are: Gray Curtains ($20) + Red pillows ($12) + “Art” paper ($18} = $50. That doesn't include the cost of framing those prints, though I'm not certain I will/would, but that would add another $40 - $60 to the grand total. So for about $100 and some shopping my house, I think this version is charming, not overly feminine, fairly "adult" without losing some sense of whimsy, and works with the red dressers in a nice way. What do you think? Too stark?

But wait, there’s more: Another really fun aspect of this project was getting to play with particular elements of the room to see how much impact they had. For example, in this photo, I kept everything the same but traded out the art for this large Italian beer poster (homeowner's; was in the family room).

A whole new look, right? Just for that simple switcheroo. It’s inspiring, if you find this sort of thing inspiring. It says to me that even if something about your space isn’t jiving for you, it could be something as simple as an art change that makes the difference.

Any small changes made a major impact for you lately? lease let us know in the comments and thanks for stopping by!