97 Cottage8: Our Master Bedroom Reveal

Edited Monday, 11:30am PST: Last night and early this morning I was experiencing some issues with the quality of my photos, (blurry, dark and fuzzy), which hopefully is now corrected. We now return to our regularly scheduled program…

When I offer friends a tour of our home and introduce them to our “Master Bedroom” in reference to the main bedroom in our home, I think the term is almost embarrassingly overstated. It’s nothing more than a super tiny room that snuggly fits a queen sized bed. But as most small home homeowners will tell you, size really doesn’t always matter, and it’s what you do with the space that makes it a home. I personally find tiny rooms extremely charming as they seem to share a special kind of intimacy within.

When we purchased our home back in July 2008, it was evident that each room’s renovation was going to require the following: endless weekends full of projects, hard work and physical labor, countless trips to Home Depot, a massive amount of creativity, and a fully grown money tree in our backyard.

Fast forward to two years later, and while the only thing growing in our backyard may be weeds, our hard earned pennies and dedication that we’ve poured into this house is starting to show with each room we accomplish.

Some of you may remember when I shared the before photos of the main living part of our home a while back. If you haven’t seen it, then by all means please click here and here. I think it’s fair to say the previous home owners had a rather unusual affinity for sponge painting. Below is a photo of the entrance into our Master Bedroom, complete with sponge painted walls and a Superman sticker to the left side of the window. Not more than 5 minutes after we closed on the house, I rushed in here with a step stool and tore that thing down, can you blame me?

BEFORE:

And here is our Master Bedroom AFTER:

 We’ve done so much in here, I’m not sure where to begin.
The walls are Ralph Lauren’s “Canvas Natural”, and the ceiling and trim is Behr’s “Seaside Sand”
(same paint colors as the rest of our house).
The tie top white linen curtains are called Belle and can be purchased here,
and the bamboo roman shade is called Providence, from Home Depot.
The quilt cover and duvet is from Macy’s Hotel Collection…

The bedside lamps are from Pier 1 Imports, the nightstands were flea market finds,
and the faux books are from a local shop…

 The headboard is actually a mantel, a really huge fireplace mantel! 
I found it on the side of someone’s house, paid them a hundred bucks for it, and painted and tufted it myself.
But I’ll save that story for another post, promise.

 From left to right (below):
The sailor knot ball is from Home Goods, the antique hanging clock faces are from my friend Laurie,
the candlesticks are from Villeroy & Boch, the dark framed mirror is from Home Goods,
and the small mirror is an antique. The curious framed clock way on the left was a flea market find,
and the curly willow is from my friend Rosemary’s willow tree. She cuts it once a year, in January,
and I wait all year for her fresh cuttings!

This huge french linen pillow is from my friend Laurie…

 Growing up in Southern California, my parents used to take us to Disneyland every year since we were very little,
and I remember posing for the silhouette artist that would cut your profile from small pieces of black paper
in a matter of minutes. Such an incredible art form, these paper silhouettes mesmerize me
and bring back the warmest of memories and good times. 

 Remember what I said earlier about the need for massive creativity,
well I made the closet privacy covers from shower curtains and curtain valences, no joke.
The previous owners were apparently quite attached to their doors,
because all of the closet doors were ripped out when we bought this house…

That branch reflection over the two layered mirrors is one of my favorite details…

 In these past two years, I’ve learned a life full of lessons. 
I think the most valuable thing I’ve taken away from this is it’s not going to be done in one day,
it might not be done in a month, and it may even take a year until you finally feel satisfied with the result. 
It isn’t just about the destination, but the journey you take to get there.

Another quick before and after shot…

BEFORE:

AFTER:

You guys are awesome. Thank you for being so patient with me.
I know so many of you have asked about our bedroom and have waited an incredibly long time
to see what I’ve had brewing in here. I’m really excited to finally get to share this with you!