The bedroom is looking a bit different these days. The shell of the room is the same. Same charcoal gray walls, same layout, same bed. All the furniture is the same, actually. The only changes have been the bed linens and the botanical print from the living room.

I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to keep the lighting fixture in the room. Both kids want to swing from it.

Details, texture…

The book situation, as usual, is a little out of hand. The bookshelf is starting to see books stacked two deep, and Brandon and I each have stacks on top of, underneath, and to the sides of our bedside tables. The library bookshelves are already full though.

The black and white pillows and throw were from IKEA, and the coral bedding was from west elm. Little changes (only a mini-makeover, remember), but I love the look.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as The Bedroom’s Mini-Makeover | 68 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

I intended to just show you the new coral bedding, but I like these photos a whole lot more than a well-made bed.

I have new decorative pillows to add, and a cute throw blanket too. All black and white, all from IKEA. I picked them up when we got the new outdoor table. I’ve also hung the botanical print in the bedroom since snapping these. E supervised. I’m not sure about it, but it’s huge and maybe I need to get used to it.

I painted my IKEA closet doors white. Ages ago. Did I ever show them? They could still use another coat of paint before I really call them done.

This is a funny work-week, with the Fourth of July smack in the middle. It feels like everyone is off with their families, and so I hope you’ll indulge me in the sharing of mine. Feel free to concentrate on the new bedding if that’s more your thing. It’s under these fine people.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Lazy Morning | 44 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

Updating Eleanor’s room has made me think I should do a little something to our own bedroom too. The shell of the room is good — charcoal gray walls, dark bamboo flooring, a gray carpet, and white trim — but adding some new art and switching out the bedding would go a long way.

1. Washed Channel Stitch Quilt
   I picked up this quilt and two matching shams in coral. They were on clearance in the store, though the color seems to be gone online.
2. Black and White Pillow
   I think the room needs a little graphic punch, but I haven’t decided on a specific pillow yet. Probably one of these.
3. Dog Rose Botanical Poster
   I think the huge botanical print I ordered might look better in the bedroom than the living room. What do you think?

I have some other bedding to play around with already, so I’m not sure if I’ll be keeping the gray and white striped sheets on the bed, or switching them out. We had an old paisley sheet that I loved, but I had it on the bed recently and it finally wore out with a big riiiiiiiiip!

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Planning a Mini-Makeover for the Bedroom | 23 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

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 | 225 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

I knew I had twittered about picking up the shades (ENJE), so I looked for the tweet to see how long ago that was. February 16. Oof.

The shades didn’t come in the exact size that I needed, but Anna reassured me that they are easy to work with. So over the weekend I set about trimming off 2.5″ and installing them, and it was easy.

All you have to do is measure the amount to be trimmed, mark it and then cut. Using good, sharp scissors will help (you do reserve a pair of scissors just for fabric, right?). The metal top and bottom can be cut with a hacksaw or jigsaw with a metal blade, but the fabric needs to be cut away first or it will become ragged. I used an x-acto knife for that part.

After you’ve cut everything down to the proper size, you just pop the ends back on and hang the shade according to the simple directions.

Done!

Benita of Chez Larsson just took on the same project recently, and here Anna of Door Sixteen gives her take on the ENJE shades. I’m so pleased with the way they look, and they were so inexpensive… especially compared to custom roller shades.

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as Inexpensive Custom Sized Roller Shades | 42 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

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 | 41 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

Martha Stewart’s paint is Low VOC. I actually like the smell of paint (I know it’s bad for you), but this had hardly any odor. I did notice a slight (not unpleasant) scent when I first opened the paint can, but that was it. What I did notice right away though is that the paint is very thin. Behr is the thickest I’ve used, and I still prefer Benjamin Moore, but the Martha Stewart paint was by far the thinnest. I was a bit concerned but apart from being messy to pour, it wasn’t a problem.

The first coat of paint gave me beautiful coverage and I adore the color. I’m a perfectionist and I always put a second coat on, but I think many people would have been happy with just the first. I painted the ceiling as well as the walls, and I experienced absolutely no splattering (which is often a problem when painting celings). Maybe it’s because of the thin consistency? The only problems I had while painting were the occasional drips from loading too much paint on my brush or roller. I just had to adjust my technique and wipe off more paint before applying to the wall. One gallon was enough to paint my 12′x12′ room.

At first I thought that the paint was fine and that I would use it again without hesitation, but now here’s where the hesitation comes in. We leaned our mattress against the wall while we were bringing furniture back into the room, and when we grabbed the mattress to put it in the bed frame, it slid against the wall a bit. The paint was fully dry, having been finished 36 hours earlier, but the mattress left a few scuff marks. They’re only visible if the light hits the wall in just the right way (I didn’t even notice them until the next morning), but they are there.

I should also note that I have received very mixed reviews from readers. A few people have mentioned using Martha Stewart’s new line of paint and loving it, but a few have absolutely hated it. My final thoughts? There are some beautiful colors to choose from, and I liked the paint a lot, but I didn’t completely love it. Honestly? I would consider using it again, but I’d be just as likely to have it color-matched.

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as Martha Stewart Paint Review | 128 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

The last few days have gone a little something like this…

• Saturday: Clear the bedroom (thereby making the library a disaster), go to my uncle’s house to celebrate his birthday, come home and go to bed (mattress on the floor).
• Sunday: One coat of paint on the walls and ceiling, go to my dad’s house for a barbecue, come home and go to bed (mattress on the floor).
• Monday: Second coat of paint on the walls and ceiling, go to my sister-in-law’s house for a barbecue, come home and go to bed (mattress still on the floor).
• Tuesday night: Swap out the rug, put the mattress back in the bed frame (YAY!), bring in the nightstands, and start setting up the room again… all in an hour while my mother-in-law watched Eleanor.

The bedroom looks really good so far though! It’s coming together just as I hoped it would, which is such a relief. I picked up some cute accessories and a new rug with the remainder of my points from last week. I was a little nervous about the rug… I brought my paint chips with me to the store, but sometimes when you see an expanse of wall color with the rug it can look a little off. Thankfully it all worked out. Really well in fact.

I’ll be ready to share photos next week! But now, something fun for you…

One lucky person will win a Crate & Barrel gift card worth $100 (courtesy of the American Express Membership Rewards program). Simply leave a comment on this post to enter, and I’ll select a winner at random on Monday, June 7. The giveaway is open to all. Good luck!

Edit, June 7: We have a winner!
Congratulations to traci in virginia, who was commenter number 1342 (chosen via random.org).

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as The Bedroom is Coming Together Nicely | 1688 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

The books in our bedroom doth overflow. We filled our library bookshelves long ago, and now the books are starting to amass into random piles throughout our home. We are planning to donate some of our books to the library, but we could still use more storage for the volumes we intend to keep.

Our bedroom is somewhat small (12′x12′) and with a queen size bed, two nightstands, and my freestanding wardrobe, there isn’t a lot of room left for other furniture. There is a small space between the door and the closet though, and I found a bookshelf console table that fits perfectly. I’ve already redeemed some of this week’s points and I can’t wait to get the bookshelf in the room so I can put our books away.

I was considering placing a mirror over the bookshelf, but I’m going to use a metal wall sculpture instead. Also, Brandon and I have decided that we are going to go ahead and paint the room in Martha Stewart’s ‘Zinc’. So we’ll have art with an antiqued zinc piece on a wall painted in ‘zinc’; I don’t know why I like that so much, but I find it charming.

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as Book Storage in the Bedroom | 38 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

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 | 35 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts