Our Master Bedroom

Moving right along, it's time to reveal our master (I use that term lightly) bedroom! I put little to no effort into this room for the first year that we lived in this house. Honestly, if I weren't pregnant and SUPER DUPER NESTING, I don't know that I would've ever done too much with it.  But, a few great bargain finds later, I have a room that looks pretty put together.  When we moved in, the only bedroom furniture we had was a bed, and by bed, I mean frame, mattress, and box spring.  After the fire, I just never bought bedroom furniture and was able to eke by for a while.  Our last house had lots of closet space and I used the clear plastic drawers (yikes!).  

So, upon moving in, we bought a dresser. We went with the Malm from Ikea in black/ brown.  It was affordable, and I've always been drawn to dark toned furniture for the bedroom.  Also, I loved the straight lines and ample drawer space.  The dresser and closet in our bedroom was all mine, as Josh used the office.  It was plenty for me.  Of course, Josh now has to move in to my closet and room since we will be using the office closet for the new baby.

As far as style goes, there are a few other things to keep in mind.  This is the one room where I feel function beats style in almost every aspect.  For example, I just like the bedding, not love.  It's really not my style, but I do think it's pretty.  Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it.  We have a black dog. That sheds. And, snoozes in our bed often.  So, when I sought out new bedding (which came before the actual mini-makeover), I looked for something that could withstand that factor, hence the dark color.   Also, we didn't want to paint in here.  We just flat out didn't feel like it.  And the ceiling fan? Well, I would love a romantic chandelier to match my imaginary light and airy bedding set, but the name of the game here is function (and, quite frankly, affordability!).


I check out the furniture section of Craigslist several times a week, especially when I'm shopping for something particular.  LOTS of Ikea stuff is on our local board since we have one here in Cincinnati now.  So, when the Malm short/ long black/ brown dresser popped up, assembled and for $140, I pounced, AND talked her down to $100! So, that was the catapult to the makeover, as I had to rearrange the room to fit it in there.  We needed it for Josh's clothes, and I was on my way to almost actually having matching bedroom furniture!  Here is our before (once again, so sorry for the lack of embedded before picture).  

So without anymore boring you to death further ado...

We already owned both "nightstands," they were just in different rooms. We also already owned the curtains (they've been in several different rooms in our apartments and houses over the years), and those little sconces.  I did need to buy a new long rod.  I did this trick in our old house, too.  The window is only as wide as the white sheers, but I love the dramatic effect that the almost entire wall of curtains brings, especially since we don't have a headboard.

 

 

Already owned all accessories (mirror included) besides the greenery and that amazingly lovely little ceramic bird on the shelf next to the bed. And, I even bought Pablo a new bed (Old Time Pottery $28), as the old Walgreens/ Milkbone red plaid one just wasn't cutting it with the whole color coordination thing.  Plus, now he has a cozy spot in the (red) basement, too!  I've actually already added little iron decorative candle holders to each side of this window. 

That wall with the frames was the final touch and I've nicknamed it my "Wall to Grow".  The piece on the far left was bought for our last house and circulated a few rooms here.  The "G" was a clearance $5 find at Garden Ridge and it was black.  I spray painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze to match the other dark wood tones.  The canvas in the middle? I took that on vacation, got a Groupon for $15 11x14 canvas, and there you have it! It makes me too happy. But, yes, I see many, many more photos gracing this wall over the years.  The door to the far left is our attached 1/2 bath (couldn't be in a MORE CLUTCH location during pregnancy!).

The first things I want to do here are convert my baby picture to black and white and add a baby pic of Josh.  All together now... AWWWW.  I also heavily considered adding some of those adhesive wall quotes to this wall, but mostly just giggled when I read them, instead of thinking they were pretty or sentimental. Is that bad?

I should be embarrassed at the utter excitement I was overcome with when I found this bird at Old Time Pottery for $5.  I was like, "OMG, I would've paid more than $5 at a thrift store!" I can't even explain it, really. And that picture in the background is my parents, and me and my sister back in the early 80's.  EVERYTHING about it is absolutely perfect. Period.  Oh, and there's that darn function playing it's role again with the video monitor (seriously, how did parents ever function without these?). 

Like I said, this is not at all how I would describe my ideal master suite, but I do like the way it looks and it works for us.  And, honestly, it got more attention than I ever thought it would, so I'm happy about that.  I don't have an exact total cost for this room's makeover, but it HAS to be less than $250.  $100 for the dresser (already assembled should knock about $40 off of that- SO worth it!)  and probably less than $75 for accessories (frames and prints on the picture wall included, as well as the new rod).  And, if I include the bedding set, I'm pretty sure I paid $75 for it on clearance at the triple B. I hope you all are enjoying checking out these rooms as much as I am sharing them.  For me, I'm excited to look back on these in the future, and to see if my style evolves over time, or if I tend to stick to comfortable decisions.  Most of all, I'm proud of my budget and that translation into something pretty nice and functional for my family!