Hello friends! I know it has been a terribly long time, over 6 months, since I last posted. I wish I had some sort of excuse, but alas, it was just laziness. I told Mike that we weren’t allowed to start any other house projects until we finished the master bedroom makeover because it was an eyesore. But finishing it meant painting and painting meant procrastination and thus, here we are.
Then an opportunity arose! A summer deluge postponed a planned weekend at the Bay, late in the week. With nothing to do and a torrential downpour outside, painting suddenly seemed like a relatively pleasant weekend activity.
Before
As you can see, our bedroom furniture followed no coherent style. It was mainly composed of Mike’s dark, brooding bachelor furniture and a piece or two from my old set. I should say that I helped pick out Mike’s bedspread years ago. But it was time for a change.
After the renovation, the wall was patched up from various places the construction crew had dinged it, on top of the light purple color that was originally in the house when we bought it. You can also see that the bathroom door was that sad yellow/cream color that is the default. It sat like this for a whole year.
Prep Work Part I
First off, we had to move the attic access panel which was above our new wardrobe, where we planned on installing some additional shelving. And by we, I of course mean Mike. I just took pictures, which some could argue is an equally hard job.
I mean, check out this action shot that I took! It was hard to get one that wasn’t blurry. See?
Mike also found these old timey bricks up in the attic. I thought they were cool.
During this time, where dirt and dust were falling from the ceiling, Thambi wasn’t allowed in the room. We put up a baby gate which gave him the appearance of a doggy criminal. He certainly looks guilty.
Prep Work Part II
The worst thing about painting is the prep work. It takes forever and there is no joy in it.
A Study in Paint Prep Aptitude
No matter what Mike does, he takes care in doing a good job. When he lays down plastic to protect the floor, it is like a Bach piece. All clean lines and orderly corners.
But who has time for that?! Here is what it looks like when I do it. No one is going to pay money to see it but it still gets the job done, amiright?
Prep work is over! The painting begins…
Picking out a color scheme for our master bedroom was difficult. I wanted to find a cheery color scheme that was gender neutral, not boring, preferably something with a pattern, and also presented different colors than the rest of the rooms in the house. Some people choose a rug or piece of art for inspiration. I decided to base all decisions on the perfect duvet cover. It took ages to find the right one and Mike may have wanted to kill me by the end but I found it! Seriously, this is an unfilled need in the duvet cover market. There needs to be more cheery, gender neutral, not boring, patterned duvet covers that aren’t green, blue, or gray. I found the only one in existence. From AllModern:
We have a big wall behind our headboard, a perfect wall for an accent color. We decided to go for a deep, dark blue. The wall in progress:
We thought doing this color everywhere might make the room too dark, so we did a lighter blue on the other walls. An in progress view:
FINALLY, after much prep and shopping, THE MASTER IS COMPLETE. A view from the hallway. See the cool blue beckoning you to come in, put your feet up and relax:
Also, note the friendly puppy and camouflaged Mike. Come inside and plop down on the bed for a snooze, with the fuzzy puppy.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention we bought new bedroom furniture from West Elm. I swear we try not to buy everything from West Elm but it is just so darn affordable and low profile. We did buy this hip planter from Room & Board with a neat plant from The Little Leaf, a boutique nursery in DC. So that should count for something. It is strategically placed to hide an ugly cable outlet.
And now…a puppy picture.
After a long couple days of banishment from the bedroom while we painted, Thambi snuggles in for a nap. It’s an added bonus that he now sharply contrasts from the paint, making for better portraits.
And that’s it folks! Now we just need to make a radiator cover, buy a rug, some lamps, some artwork, finish the top of the wardrobe and then we will be really done done. Just give me another 2 or 3 years, mkay?