Practice Makes Progress

You guys, it has been some week. Well, several weeks, really. I work every other weekend, which sometimes means all my shifts get grouped together so I'll end up work four five days in a row and get the next three or four off. It's pretty sweet. And it has happened twice in the last few weeks so I ended up having about six days off that I used to get stuff done. That's when I decided to paint the old nightstand that I featured in my last post, and started a few other projects - like painting the master bedroom.

There were a few projects I knew I was going to tackle as soon as we moved into our house. Painting the living room and kitchen was at the top of the list. The master bedroom was not. However, after a few weeks, we began to grow tired of the icky yellow color on the walls that literally cast a urine-like glow on everything in the room (sorry, but that is the most apt description I can imagine). It was not pleasant, and it was not a relaxing atmosphere. Precisely the opposite of what I wanted. 

This is a real-life, honest, messy picture of our bedroom after we had moved the dressers to paint, and as you can see stuff is strewn everywhere. Some of that is our suitcase still sitting unpacked on the floor from our trip to Nebraska. And laundry piles. And unpacked boxes. No apologies here. Life is messy sometimes. But it was about time I tackle this space - big time.

Ewwww yellow. It begins to look a little better with some white on the walls... Still messy, but less yellow. (Not sure why it looks kind of purple-y here?)

Jamey has been adamant that we put some real color on the walls, so I conceded and let him have a bold blue accent wall. And then I freaked out because although it is a beautiful color, it doesn't match ANYTHING that I already have. Yikes. I just about painted over it, but I decided to work with it first. I figured I might be able to pull off a classic-yet-eclectic mix of furnishings where everything is different, but with a few uniting elements to bring the space together (like similar patterns or colors, but not matchy-matchy). I promptly went to Joann Fabrics and picked out some fabric for curtains, perused Pinterest for ideas, and then I felt immensely better about life. 

You see the vaulted part of the trey ceiling? That stayed yellow for awhile. I couldn't reach it on my stool. And didn't have room to move a ladder around in there. So while I was at work today, my wonderful husband painted it for me, so now it matches. He is the best ever. Tall and thoughtful husbands are awesome.

Anyway, my second plan of action was to go to Goodwill and get as many gold picture frames as I find to make a gallery arrangement for above the headboard. They came with some interesting artwork:

Yeah... no. So I then had to come up with some different artwork - some of it I made myself with some scrapbook paper, stickers, and random objects (like gears from an old lawnmower...), and two of them are Monet prints that I got from a book. Here's the rough layout.

When I put it up on the wall, I thought it needed something more, so I added the picture in the bottom right corner. I got it from my Grandma several years ago, and I remember seeing it hanging in her bedroom when I was a little girl.

The gold and the blue really make this room feel grand and cozy, and I LOVE it. I'm glad I decided not to re-paint it. I finished the curtains too, but don't yet have a finished picture of them. But it's all coming together really well. 

I found this picture at Marshall's and decided it would help bring the blue and the white together, so I hung it right between the bathroom and closet door. It fits perfectly there. A few more things and this room will be just about done.

Stay tuned for finished pictures! :-)

As always, Eeyore was a huge help...

And Huxtable only chewed up every last spool of thread in the house. Don't know how he can look so innocent.

And lastly: Finished pictures of my side table! Everything is put together and looks marvelous. We finally have a place to hang our keys and organize our mail.

I also got the new drawer pull and installed it. Looking good...

Perfect place for a few of my thrift store and garage sale finds. 

It's funny how the little things make the biggest difference in helping a space feel like home.