My Master Bedroom & Sitting Room (aka the office!) Redo Reveal

This has been a long time coming–I’ve actually had the room painted since January, as this was high on my list of home improvement goals for 2012, but I just didn’t have time to decorate the room because I kept getting derailed by, well, life!

We’re fortunate to have a really large master suite that includes a bedroom with vaulted ceiling, a sitting area, two walk-in closets, and an en suite bathroom.  It’s almost 950 square feet, which is more than half the size of our first house, so I fully realize that we’re blessed with great space.  I wasn’t convinced that we were using our space wisely, though, especially in the sitting area, which became more of a “treadmill room” and a catch-all for stuff that I was selling on Ebay and Craigslist.

When we bought the house, the whole area was painted a vivid shade of green apple.  I loved this shade of green, but I loved it about ten years ago, and it was looking a little dated.  Here are a few before pictures:

I completely understood why the previous owners hadn’t repainted.  The room is huge and the cathedral ceiling is about 16′ high, requiring an extension ladder (which I somehow have managed to survive without for all these years).  What won out in the end is my feeling that I always neglect the master bedroom and it gets fixed up last when we move to a new house, and this time I wanted to make it nice and enjoy it for as long as we’re here.

I started with the bathroom, which I painted right before Christmas, because I didn’t have anything better to do (yeah, right).  You can read all about that {here}.  I love how it turned out, and I also love the color I chose for the walls, Benjamin Moore’s Pebble Beach.  It looks gray on the paint chip, but it’s a blue gray on the walls.  The cabinets in the bathroom are cherry, which I didn’t feel like painting after my kitchen redo {here}, and we also have a TON of cherry furniture in the bedroom that I also didn’t feel like painting, although it may happen one day if I can talk hubby into it.  I’ve mentioned all that because, although I don’t really like dark wood anymore, I’m stuck with it in this space, so a pale blue is one of the best colors to set off the beauty of dark wood.  You can see how it worked out in this picture of the bathroom:

Once I got all the Christmas stuff put away in January,  I borrowed an extension ladder from our neighbor, bought two gallons of paint, and went for it.  I covered everything but the closets (they are still on my to-do list and will be painted then).  I also pulled down the flush mount ceiling light in the sitting room and replaced it with this chandelier I scored on Craigslist for $20.  It was a rusty red when I bought it.  I spray painted it white and added a ceiling medallion, a cord cover, and black shades that I found at Goodwill for $.99 apiece–can’t beat that!

After moving a few pieces of furniture around, I would up with half of the sitting room for my home office area and the other half for my treadmill and my husband’s armoire.  The Barcelona chair in front of the window is the real deal–we have pictures of me when I was five years old sitting on this thing and there is also green shag carpet in the photos!  It’s not my usual style, but it works in this room as a nice balance to the other furniture.

The white table and chairs were my mom and dad’s.  I repainted them white about five years ago and recovered the chairs and enjoy them so much more now.

The little bookshelf below was a thrift store find.  The tutorial on the chalkboard picture frame is {here}.  The wire basket on the bottom shelf (from Target) holds my file folders, although I have fewer of them now that I have Pinterest!  I love the polka dotted frame with the picture of me and my sweet goddaughter (Amy’s baby girl).  When I see her picture, it reminds me to pray for her.

The infinity shelves were a freebie from a neighbor, but they sagged a bit when I hung them, so I bought corbels and hung them beneath.  It was still less than buying or making shelves.  The picture of me with my mom and son always takes the place of honor in every house.  It’s been almost ten years since I lost my precious mother, and I love to look at her face and remember what an amazing gift she had for making others feel good about themselves.

I spent about $200 total on this room redo–mostly paint, curtain rods, and this black and white beauty.  If you’re like my husband, you’re wondering WHY I needed a mannequin for my office?  I’m not sure either, but I had to have her!  She was $55 at Hobby Lobby.

Oh, of course, she can hold three necklaces to earn her keep!  The cute white one is from Terry; she brought them to me and Amy when we had our fun girls’ weekend {here}.

I blog at the table, and find it very inspiring!

I was going to add black curtains with a white fretwork pattern, but even the ones at Target were $30 a panel.  I had three pairs of gauzy white panels from Ikea (“Lill”) that I bought for $5 a pair and even though the color didn’t “pop” as much, I couldn’t justify the extra expense of the black panels.  They do let in tons of light, though, and I love the way they puddle on the floor.

Since getting rid of the treadmill wasn’t an option because I actually use it 🙂 I decided to do what I could to decorate the corner it takes up.  I hung all my race medals from a hook and framed two Bible verses that are all about running (1 Cor. 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1-2).  Hopefully they’ll give me inspiration as I knock out the miles!

**You can see the post and get your own free set of these printables HERE**

Moving into the bedroom, I have yet to add something above the bed; I am thinking about bringing down a tin-framed mirror from Pottery Barn that’s currently in the guest room, or something sparkly.  Oh, and despite the fact that I have changed out several light fixtures for chandeliers in this room, please note that I left the ceiling fan above the bed in deference to my husband’s request!

 

The two sconces are from Ikea and I was so happy to hang them up and put away the lamps we had on our nightstands.  They sell conduit at Lowe’s and Home Depot that can be painted to match your wall color, and then the cord just disappears.

Before conduit…

After conduit…

Here’s the view into the bathroom:

I’m so pleased with this room–it’s peaceful, calm, and soothing, just like a master “retreat” should be.  And I’m even more pleased with the price, because for little more than the cost of paint (and my mannequin!), I managed to redo the room, proving that you don’t have to spend a fortune to update your space.

Happy Palm Sunday, and thanks for stopping by!