I love it when friends ask me for decorating advice, and I love it even more when they let me spend their money. I just finished doing a master bedroom re-design for a friend and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I have to say, one of the hardest parts for me is starting to put it all together. I do all of my shopping and designing ahead of time and then try to have one day where I take down their old stuff and redecorate. I get so nervous that this image I've had in my head isn't going to turn out looking good when we put it all together. Luckily, this was not the case here. For this room, the homeowner had a great area rug that she had inherited from her grandmother that we definitely wanted to keep. It had great colors in it, but for the most part was dark. Her furniture is also all dark and at the time, her bedding was too. We decided we wanted to find something to lighten things up a bit.
After lots of online shopping, this is the bedding we decided on.
Pretty, no? It's Marimekko Tamara Linen bedding from Crate and Barrel, and while it's very soft and pretty, it's also a little pricey. We were working with a small budget so the homeowner only purchased the duvet cover, two shams, and two matching hand towels for the bathroom.
Since the duvet cover was going to be a pretty neutral palette, we needed to find ways to bring in some pops of color. After laying the shams out with the rug, this is the color scheme we decided on.
Not sure how these show up on your computer, but it's a coral-ish color (more on the orange side than the pink side), a light blue (with a hint of mint green mixed in), and then a light brown and white that match the colors in the duvet.
So, with that decided, my mom and I headed to the fabric store! We got GREAT deals on fabric in all 4 colors. We bought enough to make curtains (2 windows in the room), a bed skirt, and some additional shams and throw pillows. My mom is an awesome seamstress and made all of these for me. (Thanks, Mom!)
How 'bout some before pictures of the room?
Oh, but first I should note that the room had already been painted at this point. We went with the light brown color for the walls and a fresh coat of white on all the doors and trim. The homeowner did not re-hang her pictures so that's why the walls are naked.
(View from the doorway.)
I had decided I wanted a shelf to hang above the bed and since I couldn't find one long enough in any stores, I just made one. I'm glad I did because it ended up being one of my favorite things I've made. I just love the color of it. I also painted some frames to go on the shelf and since we didn't have any pictures to put in them, my mom and I got creative and filled the frames with different designs from fabric scraps.
Here's Doc and my dad hanging the shelf.
Ok, are you ready to see how it all came together? Here is the completed shelf and the new bedding.
And a view from the door.
Didn't my mom do an awesome job with all the sewing? I think the pops of color in the curtains and pillows really add a lot, and I love that the clean lines of the bed skirt break up the patterns in the duvet and the rug.
Here's a view of the other corner of the room. Ignore the green chair - it has been removed and a new chair (that matches) will eventually go there. And we have since added a picture frame to that wall that is painted to match the shelf.
On the opposite wall are two canvases that I painted. That table has been re-accessorized now; we ran out of things that day.
And the wall art I made for the bathroom:
And that's it. The homeowner purchased all the bedding and had the room painted. My expenses ended up being about $225 and included wood, paint, 2 canvases, candles, picture frames, curtain rods and rings, vases, fabric, and a few miscellaneous items.
So, what do you think? Is it an improvement from the before pictures?
