29 Cottage8 Master Bedroom: Behind the Scenes

Now that you’ve seen the big Master Bedroom reveal, it’s time to take you behind the scenes with some pretty gnarly before photos, and I’ll also answer all those burning questions that have been filling my inbox the last couple days. I’m going to share with you how I did my mantel-turned-headboard, the clever plan behind our curtain closet covers, and my rustic planter/pillow basket makeover. And let me just warn you ahead of time it might get a little ugly.

Okay, so let’s start with the mantel-turned-headboard. As you probably already saw in my reveal post, this is how it looks today…

And now here’s the back story: About 5 years ago, I’d spotted this mantel {originally painted black} on the side of someone’s house and offered them a hundred bucks for it on the spot. It was so huge, I couldn’t possibly fit it in my SUV, so their son delivered it to our house in his pickup truck. Together we dragged it into my house and leaned it against the armoire. {I should mention the photo below is of our previous home. We were renters back then and happily lived there for 4 years. It was a beautiful house, and I promise it was usually much more tidy. I think I was reorganizing that day}.

I came across another old photo from that same rental home, taken shortly after I completed the mantel-headboard makeover, in our previous Master Bedroom. I was really into Shabby Chic back then. If you are curious to see our old house, please click here!

Okay, back to Cottage8 and the mantel-headboard makeover. I didn’t take pictures of projects back then like I do now, but then I don’t think there were decorating blogs back then! So I’ll try to be as descriptive as possible, bear with me..

I started out by painting the mantel, and used Killz Primer first. I can’t remember what shade of white I used back then, but if you’re looking for a solid recommendation, Behr’s “Seaside Sand” has never let me down. And I should mention the appliqués were added after I made the tufted insert, but we’ll get to that later.

I started out by measuring the backside of the mantel opening and took the measurements to Home Depot to have a piece of plywood cut to fit the backside opening of the mantel. I made it 2” larger on each of the three sides, so that the plywood would overlap from the backside, and could then be screwed and attached to the back of the mantel. Follow me so far? Okay good.

Next came the foam and batting. I wanted the tufted insert to be super full, so I used 4” foam, wrapped in two layers of batting. This executive decision proved to be both a gem and a curse. The finished product is beautiful, but when you’re dealing with such super thick padding, it made the tufting part of the project down right brutal. Because I didn’t take any photos of the tufting process, I did a little Google search and found a pretty good online tutorial here. The fabric I used was from a huge bolt I found at a flea market, and I made the fabric covered buttons myself {my favorite part of this entire project}. I bought my button cover maker at JoAnn Fabrics, but I’m sure you can find them at any hobby/craft store.

I bumped my mattress forward so you could see where the tufted insert is situated with my mattress. It hits 6” below the top of my mattress…

     The appliqués were the finishing touch. I bought all of mine from Michelle at The Bella Cottage. They were super easy to apply, and instructions are included when you purchase them…

The four swag appliqués along the top can be found here….

I looked on Michelle’s site, but couldn’t find the cherub appliqués on there any longer. Oh, and the rose appliqués on the sides of the mantel can be found here.

Next, I wanted to share with you the double closet cover project and how we did it…

Remember earlier, when I warned it might get ugly in here. Let’s just say I’m keeping it VERY real. Two years ago, this was our sad little closet situation. The previous homeowners had removed most of the closet doors from the house, why I have no idea.

Okay, quick guessing game everyone: between my husband and I, who owns the closet on the left side, and who owns the closet on the right?

See the black hooks above the closets? That was plan A which obviously flopped, so my plan B was to pull out the black hooks and use curtains inside our closets instead, using spring action curtain rods from Target. Our duvet cover and quilted throw are from Macy’s Hotel Collection, so I decided I wanted to match our closet covers with our bedding. The only thing I could find that matched from the Hotel Collection line was their shower curtains. Yes, I just said shower curtains. They’re not lined, and they’re a super soft cotton material, so I figured why the heck not. There was only one problem..

They were over a foot too short for our closets! And that dark open space at the tops of our closets looked incredibly creepy at nighttime so we needed a plan of action, fast…

So what does a girl that refuses to sew do? She goes to Target and buys four 15” tall window valances (two for each closet) and a roll of Heat n’ Bond from the local craft store.

   I then proceeded to iron my valance and shower curtain together with the Heat n’ Bond…

For the finishing touch, a couple weeks ago I bought some moulding at Home Depot, mitered the corners and “framed” the closets for a more finished look. I just recently taught myself how to miter corners, and I’m really pleased with the results…

And here’s the completed result of our double closet cover project…

Okay, one more last behind the scenes project! See that darling pillow basket below…

Well this is what it looked like the day I bought it at a local antique shop… 

I simply bought a can of black spray paint and covered it top to bottom. The pillows are from my friend Aimee.

I hope I’ve covered all bases! Oh, just one more thing to mention..a few of you expressed concern over the mirrors above our heads while we sleep. I must confess that I only prop those up there during special occasions and certain photo shoots, and I’m always sure to take them down before bedtime! 

A couple quick links of interest, click here to see our Master Bedroom reveal in full, click here to get the full home tour of our Cottage8, and click here to see our previous home, a little rental done in full Shabby Chic style.