Hello, dark and lovely bedroom.

Everything came together just as I hoped it would. The colors and patterns of the new bedding look great together, and our bed feels so soft with its new pillows and comforter.

The Edison Chandelier is amazing.

We do have our fears about Eleanor jumping on the bed or swinging a pillow and breaking the bulbs. We may need to revisit our lighting options in a few years, but right now we are absolutely loving the chandellier.

I like the little pop of red from our phone, and the yellow of the lacquered tray holding magazines by my side of the bed.

I really love the play between light and dark in the room. Sheer white shades, white curtains, and painted white trim all provide a nice balance to the zinc walls, gray rug, dark furniture, and the Jacobean bamboo flooring.

Our overflow of books has been contained by the new bookshelf.

The bedroom is somewhat small and there is already a lot going on visually, so we wanted the new art to be subtle. I love the antiqued zinc finish against our ‘zinc’ wall color.

Soporific.

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as This is What Our Bedroom Looks Like | 191 comments

FYI, the Edison is HUGE. Especially the bulbs.

I wanted to take a picture of Eleanor having a bright idea, but she has not been in a particularly cooperative mood today. You can use your imagination though. It would have been cute.

This light was purchased with Membership Rewards points courtesy of American Express. I am working with them to redo my bedroom.

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as The Edison Chandelier is Here | 37 comments

All right. I’m going to go for it and order the Edison Chandelier.

I may be setting myself up for a repeat of the Maskros pendant scale mismatch, but I have to at least try the Edison. There is potential for much excellence. I’m also going to pick up some paint samples this weekend, so we’ll see how that goes.

You already know that I picked up the striped sheets that I had wanted with this week’s points, but I still had some leftover. Brandon and I decided to use this opportunity to get something that we wouldn’t normally splurge on for the bedroom: a new comforter and pillows.

Our bed feels niiiiice now.

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as Bedroom Status Report | 34 comments

Remember when our roof was leaking last month? Well the water killed our light fixture in the bedroom, so now I’m looking for something new. I’ve been thinking about the Edison Chandelier but as I tweeted about a month ago, “I can’t decide if I think this is industrial cool, or if it just looks like a giant spider on the ceiling.”

All of the images show it in a dining room, so maybe it would just be weird in a bedroom? Here are the other options I’m considering:

I already own a pair of Adjustable Arc Sconces (A), so whatever I choose for the ceiling fixture will have to work with those. The Eclipse Pendant Lamp (B) doesn’t look like anything special in the product photo, but in person it’s really pretty (and a little shimmery). I’m also thinking about getting a Jonathan Adler ceiling light (C) because I love the one that’s in my studio. I feel like the bedroom is an opportunity to do something a little different though.

Now, before you look at the photo below, let me preface it by saying that I think the Hailey Antique Flower Chandelier would look awesome if painted.

Glossy green, maybe? Mustard yellow? Could be good, right?

I’d like to choose something by the end of the week because I’m eager to redeem my American Express Membership Points and finally get a new fixture in the bedroom. I’m really having a hard time deciding though – I’ve been thinking about lights for weeks! Which one would you choose? Or have you seen something else that you think would look even better?

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as Choosing New Lighting for the Bedroom | 104 comments

When I first saw the rug, I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not. I mentioned it on twitter and facebook, and the responses were pretty divided (with references to both Missoni and the Golden Girls). After thinking about it for a bit though, I’ve decided that I quite like it! Finding the lamp to go with the rug really helps pull the two together with a little style, albeit it a granny chic style.

What do you think? Love it or hate it?

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as Granny Chic | 118 comments

Look at what the electrician left us with in the kitchen though. Are there better looking light switches that go one above the other? There is not enough room for the standard side by side switches that I was expecting, and I would like something, you know, less ugly. The electrician said that he could replace the switches with white ones, and I suppose a new switch plate and some touch up paint will help. Still, I miss the simple standard switch that we used to have.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Braxton Lighting | 32 comments

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as IKEA Maskros Pendant | 57 comments

It’s so much better than the light that was there before.

It’s understated, but it’s a perfect compliment to the room.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as The New Light in the Library | 57 comments

(photo by Janet Mesic-Mackie for Home Magazine, September 2008)

The little light in the room is horrible and it doesn’t even fully cover the hole in the ceiling for it, but I’ve had a hard time finding a replacement because our ceilings upstairs are only 7.5′ tall. I had ordered this Jonathan Adler light previously, but it was far too large for the space and we used it in my studio instead. I did see this light recently, and it may work since it’s a bit smaller.

The stairway woodwork has been painted mustard yellow (“Campground” by Behr), which does look nice with our current curtains, but I was never a huge fan of those. They’re okay, but not great. I’ve always loved Amy Butler’s Lime Primrose fabric, and seeing it recently as pillows made me revisit the idea of using it for new library curtains.

I’m just a little worried that the fabric won’t work with the yellow wall. Brandon’s mom gave us a curvy wooden side table recently (and the go-ahead to paint it or do whatever we want to it), so maybe it would be nice if it were painted the same yellow? I also have a neat little side table on the way that could be painted. Or we could keep a dark brown side table to match the legs on the chair and ottoman, and rely on the mustard yellow throw that’s in the room (which was just $1 at goodwill). The Orla Keily pitcher from Target that I’m eagerly awaiting (used as a vase with some pink flowers) would be nice too.

I love the fabric so much, I’m determined to make it work.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Plans for the Library | 35 comments

I’m the more handy one out of the two of us and I felt bad that I couldn’t help, but we didn’t think it was a safe job for a pregnant lady. Oh yeah, I’m also a wee bit of a perfectionist… It was really hard to not go in there and obsessively sand and smooth and do things myself. After priming and painting though, the ceiling looks really good.

The new light looks great, though we did have to run out and grab a ceiling medallion. I’m not really a fan of them, but Brandon had a hard time smoothing out the ceiling near the light, and the medallion was an easy solution to hide the remaining popcorn texture. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll leave it white or if I’ll paint it the same color as the rest of the ceiling.

Now, I know people get a bit nervous when dealing with electrical projects (we do too), but changing a light fixture is EASY. We’ve done it six times so far in this house (in the living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, studio, and nursery). You just make sure the power is off, take down the old fixture, connect like wires to like wires, attach the ground wire to the little green screw on the mounting bar, and then attach the new fixture.

We decided to keep the room the same color (Wheat Bread by Behr), but it needed a second coat of paint. Really, it’s always needed that second coat, but I think I was too tired when working on the guest room before and I just figured ‘good enough’ (which is so uncharacteristic of me). It has bugged me ever since. So now we’ve painted the ceiling and walls, and even did some touch up work on the trim, and the guest room is officially ready to be switched over to a nursery.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as No More Popcorn Ceiling | 49 comments