Mastering the Big Picture

I’ve been telling you all over the last several months about projects we’ve undertaken here at home.  One of those has been our new master bedroom.  Renovating is a very s….l….o….w…. process when you are doing it yourself.  If a client was involved the choices would be made, acquired and installed within a projected timeframe.  When it’s your own room, the money isn’t always available to get what you need or want right away.  And when you work this way, it’s sometimes difficult to end up with a room that looks pulled together.  Here’s how I’ve done so far…

Just to remind you, here are some inspiration photos for my renovated master bedroom:

Sensing a trend here????  I love the soft, calm together look of the bedrooms Sarah designs.  I love the greys, blues, creams and whites.  I love the contrast of those colours with the dark pieces.  And I love the small touches of shimmer with the metal and glass elements. 

So, with these inspirations in mind, I’ve been at work in the master.  It’s not ready for a full reveal, but I’ll give you a sneak peak of the elements I have so far…

• I have picked my colours - a beautiful shade of grey/taupe for the walls and a slightly creamy white for the trim.

                                 

• My oh so handy hubby gave us the closet of our dreams – really I’ve reduced the number of closets I use in the house by 66% – down from 3 to 1!

• And he’s also done a phenomenal job on replacing the old trim with some of his own designs which adds some nice architectural detail in the room

• I’ve totally re-invented an old dresser into a lovely new piece (you can read about that here)

 

• I found a steal of a quasi-antique dresser for hubby on kijiji. 

• I have two beautiful Kelly Wearstler patterned pillows that I won from a giveaway over on the Kerrisdale Design blog.  These fit quite nicely in the room.

• I purchased two (yes two) sets of lamps for our room.  The first set was bought for the form.  The form doesn’t give off a lot of light, so is used for “mood” lighting.

And the second for the function which also happens to have some wicked form and throws the perfect amount of light for reading in bed.

• I have a gorgeous area rug for the room that I found at HomeSense.

I’m loving all of the elements I have so far, but I’ve struggled with picking an accent colour that I could use to put pop into the room.  With the walls being so neutral, I could literally pick from a multitude of accent colours.  In fact, that is why I love the colour of the room so much.  Without a whole lot of work or money I can change up the feel of the room just by changing the accent colour.

Then I was at Home Outfitters the other day and bumped into Brian Gluckstein.  Well, not literally.  (Although, I did see him at IDS 2010 in Toronto this past January.  Oh and did I mention that I was talking to Jane Lockhart at the time.)

                                            

Ok, enough with the name dropping, back to my encounter at Home Outfitters.  I’ve been searching for the “perfect” winter bedding for the room.  Something that would tie all of the colours in the room together and add that accent colour.  And I found it in one of Brian Gluckstein’s Home bedding products.  The pattern is called “Suede” and is a great combination of all of the colours in the room in addition to a nice light blue that actually provides a really nice accent colour.  The bedding is reversible too so I can have two different looks.  Here’s both sides of the sham:

      

And here’s a peak at what the room looks like now:

I still have quite a few items on my list to complete the master bedroom. 

• I need a mirror for above my dresser – in fact there is NOTHING on my walls at all.  I tell myself I’m still admiring my excellent taste in paint colours (snort) but we all know I’m afraid to put a nail in the perfectly finished walls
• I need to refinish the chair that will be placed in the room
• Window treatments are on the list
• I also haven’t decided on what to do with my bedside tables

Hopefully I’ll be finalizing the last few pieces over the next month or so and have a finished room by Christmas :)!

Have a great week folks!