The Master Suite

I like to think of myself as a decorator on a small scale at least. I love decorating our home and making it more "us" (or my husband would probably point out that with the exception of his mancave, it is more "me", but fortunately that's the way he likes it.)

That is until I read all my favorite decorating blogs written by you creative women and feeling inspired I take photographs of my work and I'm like, "Ugh! Why can't this look as airy and cheerful and bright and clean and amazing like those people's?" So I admit, my decorating skills lack to some degree and is far from professional. I will keep working at it though, and am currently accepting advice.

Anyway, maybe you recall that I was decorating on the cheap. Living in an apartment, your options for updating are severely limited. And if you were to have the permission to update, you also might have the cheapskate whims that it's not worth it because a.) it's not free to do, and b.) you will have to put it back the way it was which is also not free to do. 

But then one day I thought in my head, "Wait a minute! This is our home. It ought to feel comfortable and cozy and homey. So then I called the company that owns the building and jumped through all the necessary hoops and got myself some permission to update. 

And then I went to Walmart and purchased a quart of marked down, mis-tinted paint. 

And since it's difficult to paint a whole master bedroom with one quart of paint, I colorwashed it. And because I liked the way it looked, my sister and I used vertical strokes to brush it on.

And this is the result.

(oh yes, my gold door knobs are LOVELY, right? Not to mention the fake plastic-y doors and trim; you're totally digging it, aren't you? Or not.)

So this is what it looks like upon entering our bedroom. I like to think of it as our honeymoon suite, but there's only so much one can do in an apartment, so it's as honeymoon-suitish as my (perhaps lacking?) creativity can make it.

I fell in love with the color scheme of gray with red and white accents. Maybe it was because I already had the red and white accents and gray was the color that looked good with it.

Hubby's nightstand matches the bedroom furniture. My nightstand is this shabby chic one that I pulled out of a shed a number of years ago, cleaned the mice nests out of it, scrubbed it down, sanded it a bit (to enhance it's rickety-ness) and was pretty sure I liked it. The little framed "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" I made while my man was in Iraq and I was really missing his goodnight kisses.
And our apartment lacks in bookshelves, so I store books in as many creative ways as possible--i.e., the stack the lamp is sitting on.

See? More books. (I can hear you muttering under your breath, "Just go get yourself a flipping bookcase already!") Oh, and gorgeous carpet, right?

Us.

And as everything always ends up, a quick little photo shoot of my super cute baby who was happy to play under the bassinet he used to actually fit in, but is going to be updated and lent to his cousin who will be arriving in August in the apartment across the parking lot, while I took pictures. (Kudos if you were able to follow that sentence.)

So there you have it. Our master bedroom. I forgot to take a before picture. Like I always forget to.

When my sister and I completed the painting part of our project, my husband wasn't sure what he thought about it. Realizing that his exhausted wife was starting to feel a bit scared that it was a flop and was really trying not to be offended by his remarks he tried to make me feel better--"Babe, I think... I think it's... I really think it's beeeaaauuutifu....." and his sentence would end in hysterical laughter like it was the joke of the year. Ugh. And then it would make ME laugh, even though I really was not happy with his opinions right then. Haha. However, after the furniture was back in place and the walls were decorated, he admitted that he actually did like it and he was glad I painted.

The end.

Linked to: The Shabby Nest