master bedroom update

Our master bedroom is long and narrow, and the windows leave little room for creative furniture placement. The bed has to go between the windows, and therefore, the bed goes in the middle of the room. This divides the room into two areas. The area nearest the doorway has the dresser that we set the TV on. My sweater drawers have been taken over a bit by the Wii games. To the left of the dresser is the door to the walk-in closet. This closet used to be a pass-through to the kitchen, but I have placed a Hoosier cabinet in front of the doorway in the kitchen. (When we remodel, we will get rid of that doorway in the kitchen, but I do think about leaving the door on the closet side as a sort of door that goes to nowhere. Could be charming!) To the right of the dresser is the door to the master bathroom. That doorknob I took from a door we found in storage. Such a pretty lavender color! I think it fits in well here.














Above the doors are these cute little shelves. The Barbies and such will be moving into my closet. I began buying Ballerina Barbies a few years ago because I always wanted a real Barbie growing up. And I danced ballet for years. But, she doesn't really need to be displayed so prominantly in the room. I do like the vases and Bougeureau print.
















This side of the room is used mainly to get over to the bathroom, but we also play Wii and do Wii Fit in this area. We also have the cloth diapering supplies in pink woven baskets by my nightstand. The wall between the walk-in closet door and door to the living room, I have added 3 decorative hooks. I hung up a couple pretty dresses that I thought matched the look of the room, as well as my oldest son's baptism gown. (Every 11 year old boy likes to remember that he once wore a dress!)














The other side of the room has the antique dresser I found at Goodwill. A coat of cream-white paint and some pink glass knobs, and it is so pretty. I made the runner from Amy Butler fabric. I used the remainder of this fabric on a little chair I also found at Goodwill. I painted the chair a pale blue. The dresser is not decorated yet, so I threw a few things on the top just for now. The built-in closet used to have cheap sliding doors that made it difficult to get to my clothes. I replaced them with curtains I made from another Amy Butler fabric.
















So... decorating dilemma... The antique dresser used to have an attached mirror. I am actually fine with not having a mirror over the dresser. I know what I look like. And I have a full-length mirror in my closet. So, I thought of either attaching a large round mirror directly to the wall. Or, doing a grouping of framed pictures over the dresser, sort of like a parlor wall look. Which do you think? I am really leaning to the framed prints. I have so many great shots of my kids... but perhaps it would be odd since it is so expected to have a mirror there.



















The sand in the jar is from Malibu. I spent all summer flying back and forth from Kansas to California for work. My boys are glad that project is over! The starfish are from the Rachel Ashwell shop in Malibu. The frame will soon hold a poem that Steven wrote for me. (He is a musician as well. In fact, we met playing in the same band! Musicians write such wonderful love poems!)




















In front of the closet are a few of my favorite possessions: the oldest amp in my collection, my acoustic guitar, my favorite bass, and my favorite guitar. Maybe someday I will have a recording space to display all my instruments. The giant built-in drawers hold my husband's things. On top tends to collect books he has finished reading and what not... but I am trying to clear those out a bit.



















I have had the same artwork for a few years now and really, it doesn't do anything for me. It is pretty to look at but doesn't inspire any emotion in me. When I get a chance, I will replace them with some of my own work. I really like the “birdcage” hollow-spiral lamps. The blue glass lamps get so much use. Steven and I like to “set the mood” with tea candles. Steven's clock radio is pretty cool. It looks vintage, but allows him to plug his iPod into the top!



















The bed will be replaced as soon as it and the matching dresser (which is now taking up valuable storage space!) sell on Craigslist. I actually like my nightstands, so if they do not sell, I won't be heartbroken. I plan on replacing the bed with a beautiful wrought iron bed finished in flat black. I think that would really pop against the pale pink walls. The shams I got on clearance from Pottery Barn. The duvet on clearance from Restoration Hardware.



















Above the bed flutter these feather butterflies. Our baby boy likes to watch them float around when he gets his diaper changed on our bed. (Remember, his room is in chaos, so his crib is set up in the living room, right outside our door.)














Speaking of pale pink walls... the wall colors I choose tend to be hard to photograph. This pink is a pale creamy pink that sort of changes colors throughout the day. At night, it is more pink, and day more cream. It is a nice, girly color without being blatantly pink, or stark white. I have stenciled a few faint bumblebees on the walls to echo the embroidered bees on the bedding.
Yet to come are some nice area rugs to make the place cozy.















And, finally, a shot of my lovely ceiling fixture.