Monday, May 11, 2009

The $260 decorating challenge

Happy day-after-Mother's Day to everyone. I had a very quiet day around here yesterday. I over-indulged in some Australian wine at our Australian dinner party the night before. Yep, I'm a lightweight and a cheap drunk, so I wasted one of my rare days off feeling lousy. Oh well, I suppose I needed to catch up on my rest.

I'm moving on to new projects. Tax refund checks are in, so I'm going to finally decorate my master bedroom. I didn't get the whole check for my project- only $260.00- so I'm going to have to budget to achieve a Beautiful Boudoir. 

Want to see some of my plans?

Exhibit A - Looks okay. Just very, very boring. We had the entire interior of our house painted just days after we moved in. I quickly picked a shade of blue that I thought would look okay. And it did. Much better than the nicotine stained orange shade the previous owners had. I've lived with it for four years now, so I'm due for a change. 


Exhibit B - I would love to redo the inside of the closet, but I think all I'll do here is paint out the trim. Wait! Before you all get up in arms for painting wooden trim, let me assure you that the wood trim is most definitely not it's natural shade. The previous owner stained the trim a chocolatye-wine-ish colour. Very ugly and not very nicely done at that. I'm thinking a nice coat of pure white is the ticket.

Exhibit C - This is the dresser of shame. It's become a collection site for stray coins, lone socks, receipts, and anything else that cannot find its way home. I'm not sure if I will paint the dresser or not, but the very items on top will be relocated to their proper homes. Plus, the humidifier is a bit ugly too, so I will need to find a better home for it!

This picture is my inspiration for my room redo. It's from the March 2009 issue of Whole Living. I was flipping through the magazine at the checkout line at the grocery store, and I was immediately smitten by this photo. I'm not sure what it is, but I think I'd be happy waking up to this colour every morning.

It's surprisingly difficult to match the shade, because it's in a magazine and I'm told the scanner doesn't pick up the colour very well. I've been collecting colour swatches from all the various paint companies. Luckily, the quilt I planned for my bed has several shades of green I can also choose from.

I think I might have a winner - CIL's New Green. Very restful, no? Or maybe that was Behr. Now I just have to decide if I want four green walls or just one.

I have stack of decorating magazines down in my craft room, so I turned to them for more ideas. How about bamboo blinds with simple white panels over top. 

I like this simple decorative elements over the bed...

Look, I found just the thing at Winners. For $24.99 no less!

I'm not sure if my existing headboard will stay. I'm worried about how it will work will all the white trim. I have some large canvases that I may cover with fabric and put in it's place.

Of course, I'll put in some pretty embroidered pillowcases and I have a small console that I may dress with a fabric skirt for some additional colour.

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Here are a few more elements in the room. I've ordered the lime trellis print to make pillow shams and the fabric on the pillow to cover a slipper chair I've had for years. And the mirror?

Another wonderful Winners find. I love that store. Unfortunately, I think at $119.99 this might put me over my budget, but isn't it pretty?  Maybe I'll save funds somewhere else.

I will keep you posted on my progress. I'm off to start clearing out the room. Wish me luck.

5 comments:

3rdEyeMuse said...

luck, luck, luck! ... and tons of fun in the process, too. :)

Tamara Jansen said...

Green is my absolute FAVORITE color lately.....my little angel's wedding was done with the same color theme. Your boudoir is going to be amazing :)

MJ said...

Looks like you are inspired and that's 1/2 the battle! Good luck with the decorating! Post photos when you are done, please?!

(PS: Very graceful pose when taking the photo of the mirror! All those hours watching Lizzie skating has rubbed off on you too?)

Saucy said...

Friend, a few ideas:

You won't be sorry if you paint all of the walls green but remember, always go one shade lighter than you think you want... especially in a bedroom which is usually a smaller space and has less natural light. Trust me on this. Even the palest of pinks can look like hideous pepto-bismol blobs when confined to bedroom walls. I like the tint of green, just check the shade of it, you might want to go one shade lighter, and you will get the effect that you would like.

Shade: the amount of white or black in a colour, giving it shade and value

Tint: the amount of hue, where the colour sits on the colour wheel

Also, paint away that trim. You will love it. If you would like some suggestions for whites, email me. I have fandecks for every brand. While you're at it, why not paint out that headboard? I would then paint that dresser a funky shade of yellow or aqua, something unexpected.

I saw some funky lattice wallpapers at Home Depot here a while ago so if you check yours and can't find it I can look for you. It was a while ago and I'm not sure if they will still have it. One wall of wallpaper behind a headboard makes a wonderful accent.

Your mirror is to die for. I like one-room re-do projects like this because they are "quick and dirty" and make you feel so good when they are done!

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