Bedrooms, Design and Decor, Inspiration, Thrifting

Starting the Master Bedroom Mastery Makeover

Posted on by Kristy


You have heard, I’m sure, the old adage “The cobbler’s children go barefoot,” right? Well, unless you are talking about cherry cobbler (and why would we be talking about cherry cobbler?), the same can sometimes be said of rehabbers and decorators!

While I love making things pretty for others, my own bedroom has been a room I avoid like the plague. I hate to be in there. At night, I can’t turn out the lights quickly enough. Believe me, it’s not inspiring any magic that one might hope to have in a bedroom. It’s just BLAH! I hate blah. I make it presentable when I have people over and they need to be able to put their purses on my bed.

So, basically, I clean the room for other people’s purses and so I don’t die from a coordinated dust bunny attack while I’m asleep.

Finally, though, just this week, I’m ready to start the Master Bedroom Mastery Makeover! How did I get to this point, you ask? This time, NOT through organized thought and careful planning! No, I got here through hatred and obsessive thrifting.
Your next question might be, “Why do you hate your bedroom?” Well, let’s take a look at where we are starting from! I mean, this IS a warts-and-all blog, right? So, let’s take a look at the warts! I’m not shy!

First off, I do love my little house, but I’m honest – my master bedroom is small. Heck, my whole house is small, for that matter. I don’t live in an idyllic farmhouse with acres of land. I live in a regular subdivision of equally moderate-sized homes. My bedroom, one of four, is 14’x9′. There is only one unbroken wall – the lefthand 14-footer – and the other walls are all broken up by doors to the hallway, doors to the master bath, closets, and the lone window.

Do you see that wall color in the picture up there? It was supposed to be a “calming dove gray.” At one point, I thought it would be sort of vintage-y and charming. It actually is just boring and drab and it “calmed” me into a coma. And then there is this mess:

Yes, I have way too many shoes!

The closet has *some* attempt at organization, but the reality is, I have too many shoes and not enough room for everything. I have literally opened my bedroom door, thrown a pair of flip flops into the room without looking, and slammed the door again. My husband (or The Hubster, as I like to call him) uses the chifferobe he refinished for me years ago, having long given up the attempt to store any of his stuff in that bomb site. We also share a dresser. But I, like many women, have let my closet get away from me. My attempt at hanging my purses, an idea I saw on Pinterest, is more of a “Shove & Hope For The Best” project. And, I like shoes almost better than clothes. At least shoes ALWAYS fit! So, that 9-compartment shoe organizer you can barely see there is laughable. What was I thinking??



Ever since I finally decided that The Hubster and I DESERVE a room that is worthy of the word “sanctuary,” I have been deciding on what I wanted that sanctuary to actually be. I knew the basic palette I wanted for the room, but had no idea of a design. Since my kitchen palette was dictated for me on a random Saturday by my love for my favorite M*A*S*H* T-shirt (don’t laugh – my kitchen is awesome!), I decided to just kind of let my imagination run wild at the thrift stores and see what popped into my head! I decided I’d buy whatever I loved and make it all work! And, I have to say, with some patience and a few scant dollars, I got lucky! But more on that in a sec.

My first concern, actually, was paint. My last choice was so boring I almost smacked myself the second I put it on the wall – TEN YEARS AGO. Determined that, this time, my wall color would NOT be boring and drab, I finally found a color that really ruffled my jimmies (that’s my daughter’s vernacular, sneaking into my speech patterns like an ear worm). After collecting about a million color cards, my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore ended up having the perfect color. I think it’s going to give the room a warm, inviting feel that the hubster and I can both enjoy. I love all things vintage, like sepia toned pictures and all that cool stuff that remind me of times gone by. And “Vintage Buff” does not sound girly, so the hubster should like it, too.

ReNew Paints are made from recycled materials
and are environmentally friendly!


So, anyway, back to wandering around thrift stores & yard sales, buying whatever I fell in love with: As my hunt continued over the summer, I found a definite theme developing! Check out some of my finds:

 Are you starting to see a theme developing? Yep! I know, right?! Apparently, I want to be going on a trip! And the Gods of Thrifting are smiling down on me! (I wish the Gods of Real Life Travel were smiling down, too, but alas, no sudden voyage has appeared on my horizon.)

That gorgeous dresser up there only cost me $50 bucks on Craigslist and it’s been my biggest expense so far! Everything else you see was found at either a thrift store or a yard sale, with the lone exception of that cool lamp shade. That I found at Walmart and it may have been my luckiest find! I got that awesome Eiffel Tower lamp at Goodwill without a shade. On one unrelated Walmart excursion, I found that single shade left on the shelf. It fit AND it had french writing on it! I mean, it’s not like winning the lottery, but heck! It made MY day!

TIP ALERT! When you are planning on a room remodel, you always want it done “right now.” I totally get that. Now, you can do that with a quick coat of paint and a trip to a furniture store. But, to create a room that is uniquely you, that takes some patience and some creativity. I am a firm believer in taking your time, gathering what you love, and creating a one-of-a-kind space for very little money, comparatively. Patience is the currency of unique and special. 🙂

So, I now have a great little collection of items for my new Vintage Travel Bedroom project. And I’m dreaming of a hotel suite, maybe from the Jazz Era, complete with Cafe au Lait, chocolates on the pillow, the smell of fresh bread baking from the nearby Boulangerie…

Then, of course, I open my eyes…and see that avalanche that doubles as a closet. My oh-so-very-NOT Haute Couture closet. My “this is what happens when you repeatedly fling shoes through a crack in the door because you hate your bedroom” closet.

OK, I can’t move ahead with anything until I tackle that disaster. I’m a good painter, but even I will get paint all over that shoe pile. And I should probably paint the closet, too. And maybe close it. Why did I ever think taking down those doors was a good idea?

So, the fun of the thrifting hunt is pretty much over. Time for the work to begin! So, stay tuned! This room is going to have a relatively major build, but that closet is going to be project #1!

Until then, gentle readers, so I don’t feel like the Lone Ranger, would you leave me a comment with the answer to one or both of these questions:

1) What is the room you dislike MOST in your house?

and 

2) What qualifies as your worst disaster zone?

I can’t wait to read some of your answers, unless you all live in perfectly organized homes! Then, I’ll probably cry. LOL 

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(Shona Skye Creative by Kristy M Creighton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this on a site other than Shona Skye Creative or my SSC-related social media accounts, and it is not a guest post, then the content has been stolen. Please report it at http://www.shonaskye.com/ Thank you!)
Kristy

14 thoughts on “Starting the Master Bedroom Mastery Makeover”

  2. Terri Burfield says:

    I love the items you found Kristy, and the paint color is going to be perfect. My "parsonage" is done in 4 shades from gold, yellow to buff and it goes with any color I want to use. My closet is 10x worse than yours…probably because it's bigger, but I know exactly what you mean about throwing the shoes in there. In fact, the other day I wore 2 different shoes out shopping, they are similar in shape and color and I didn't even know it until the next day when I went to put them on again. lol I look forward to seeing the finished "traveling" master!

  5. Kristy Creighton says:

    ~Laurie Ann,

    Thanks so much for coming by! I was SO excited when I spotted that dresser! I have an awesome idea for it, but it also so pretty on it's own, I'm not sure I even want to mess with it!! LOL Love Debbiedoo's parties and I'm now following your blog on Google Reader!

  9. Roisin says:

    The room I dislike most is the kitchen: it's dark and dated. I needs new floors, new cabinet doors, paint, and new countertops. It's truly hideous, has very few outlets, and is badly deigned–ugh!

  10. Kristy Creighton says:

    Oh, don't you hate that!! And the kitchen is the lifeblood of the house! It's amazing how little functionality used to be built into them! The outlets thing alone! I just redid a kitchen this summer and I can wait for awhile to do another! Thanks for stopping by!

  11. Monica says:

    Oh boy, my closet is the worst… it makes yours look great. I guess that's the danger of having a door on it. At least you have shoes in your organizer. My (sadly inadequate) shoe organizer is empty and ALL of my shoes are on the ground >.<

    That lamp is amazing. Can't wait to see how the room turns out – you have a great start.

  13. Four Marrs and One Venus says:

    Kristy you crack me up! Thank you for sharing your Master room/closet with us- and can I just tell you– I think your on the right path {not like I am a pro or anything} But you have some great items- You will get it all muscled out in no time! And if not? Open your door- keep throwing your flip flops in and Shut it! 🙂 Hey if it works? Why fix it?! 😉 Thanks for linking up at the Stinky Linky Party!!

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