Rough Draft - My Master Bedroom

I'm back from the wilderness! It turned out to be pretty mild; lots of rain and it got to a warm and toasty 40 degrees! There was still about 18 inches of snow on the ground, though. And I met my quilting goals while I was there! All my squares are complete - now I need to join them, add a border, then comes the actual quilting!

It was so nice to have all the painting done in my bedroom, and have it all aired out when we got home. I got to come home and dive right into putting the room back together - the fun part! I decided not to make you wait for a big reveal this time; instead I am going to share the results after each major step.

To start, here are the before pics...

Let's not talk about that stenciling job, okay? I was a young (20), inexperienced decorator. We were remodeling and this was only the second room in the house I painted.

Anyway, you can see I had already tested the paint color I had chosen. I had also cleared the room of what I knew wouldn't be staying, and had some accessories left that would be included in my new plan. So, then I painted...

The paint is the boldest I have ever done! Husband calls it "black" because it is so dark. I think I am in love though; it is so rich and I love how it looks with the wood-tones in the room. And it will lighten up more once I get more artwork on the walls.

I would like you to know that the above tables are Pottery Barn; one of only two such items in my whole house! Despite the fact that they are my all-time fav store and "idea catalog." But I would also like you to know that I tried to find them on Craigslist for months, and also looked everywhere for just something similar, with no luck. I was in PB one day shopping for my MIL's Master Bath Redo, and was physically unable to leave the store without them -- they were on clearance, 50% off! Thank you, Jesus!

One of my problem areas in the room was these shelves... take a look at the before and after...

I cleaned them up by turning all the books around backwards, like PB does, showing the pages instead of the spines which look messy and don't match the scheme of the room. I think it looks a lot better, and will probably continue to tweak things as I go.

Speaking of the scheme, I brought these pictures into the scheme by adding scrap book paper onto their mats, using Mod Podge. Then after I did it, I saw the same method in Martha Stewart Living! Must have been a good idea! It helped carry over the colors from the room onto this cedar-orange wall.

And the bedding is not complete, of course, my quilt is not ready yet! The scrap pile shows you what colors are coming in...

Stay tuned for more!