Freshening Up: The Bedrooms

Josh expressed his over all dislike of the few things I've done about the house of late.  "I don't know why you have to re-do the whole house!"  I explained that we'd only moved out a broken chair and a very rough looking cabinet in the living room but we have made a few changes here and there.  Nothing major.  I guess 4 year old Josh has his opinions on home décor just like every other male in the family.  Oh well.  I'm going right ahead with my few changes.  It's time to freshen the house once more.  I can tell because things are broken, torn and worn.

The master bedroom was  the only project I worked on this spring.   I'd taken a day in May and gone shopping for a few items for Spring/Summer wear.  As I wandered about TJ Maxx I found a pair of coral pillows.  They were $25 for the two.  I knew I wanted to do something different in the room, add a pop of color of some sort and while I'd thought of coral I'd also pictured a blush pink.   Seeing the coral pillows at a decent price clenched the deal.

I'd noted that several of the pictures in my room not only shared the teals, greens, and grays I was already using  but also had coral in them.  The ones shown below are just a few of the pictures in the room.

Those coral lamps were not a 'lucky' find, they were my one project this summer.  I had a ginger jar lamp in the shed...but it was a butterscotch color.  Not very attractive and certainly not what I wanted for my room.  However, ginger jar lamps are pretty much a classic shape.  I knew from experience that paint can transform just about anything.  I found coral spray paint from Krylon that was meant for metals, glass and plastic.  My lamps are ceramic.  That the paint so exactly matched the pillows was a lucky thing.

The other side of the bed needed a matching lamp in my opinion because I like there to be some symmetry in a room,  so off I went to a thrift store one day and found a blue lamp of  similar  size for $1.99.  Yep.  I painted that lamp to match the other.  The two lamps only needed 1 can of paint for good coverage.

John and I went to search for lampshades one Sunday after church.  We started and finished at Walmart.  They were $8 each.  I'd been sure to measure the diameter of both lamps and the height before leaving home.  I'd taken time too to look up the proper shade dimensions for a lamp.  Do you know how to measure your lamp for new shades?

Start with the height of the lamp.  The shade should be no more than 1/3 of the height of the lamp.  You want the shade to cover a portion of the neck and the switch.  The only other item you need to be aware of is what type of fitting the lamp has.  I opted to go with an uno fit shade.  This means simply enough that the shade fitting goes down over the socket and the bulb holds the shade in place.  I didn't want to go to the trouble of finding the right size harp to fit each lamp.

Each bedside table also has a round metal tray.  I find a beside tray is helpful for two reasons.  It not only corrals the odds and ends we tend to keep bedside but because I keep a glass of water at bedside, it stops the glass from sweating and ruining the woods.  It also contains the inevitable spill to one area so it doesn't mess up books and phones.   The trays have bright pinks, aqua, green and coral floral with a metallic gold.  Granny and I each bought these trays at a grocery store we used to visit.  We shared similar tastes.  Now I have my tray and hers, so they are a pair.

I've lamented for years that my bed was not complete.   John has mentioned more than once that he wants a 'matched set' of bedroom furniture.  I have several family antiques in the room, all more or less the same wood tone, but not matched.  He kept saying we'd get something.  We haven't even gone to look in 20 odd years, lol.  So I work with what I've got.

I've felt for the longest time that one key component was missing: a headboard.   This week I got a headboard.  I'd meant to buy a set of box springs to go under the new mattress but the costs were prohibitive.  However, while going through the clearance section I did find a rather nice tufted headboard that matches the gray tones used in the room.  Still not John's dream set of furniture but it does look more complete.  Agreed?

So that was all the work done in the master bedroom this summer.  I feel the real change is in the accent color used.

Now to be fair the guest bedroom needed a good sprucing up.  It's seen a lot, LOT, of use in the past year and the blue spread I'd used there was originally used on our bed.  I remember where I got it from but I've no idea when I got it.  It's been quite a few years.  When Sam and Bess were here they wanted to use their own blankets and pillows which was fine with me.  It wasn't until  I put my old blue spread back on the bed and it looked so worn and weary.   I've had the quilt below since Mama moved the first time two years ago.  I had it folded and placed at the foot of my old blue spread.  It looked lovely that way but as I contemplated the need to buy a new coverlet and then looked over my stock of quilts, I realized that the red/white/aqua one I'd used as secondary color was perfect.  It fits my bed, it looks lovely and it picks up colors already in use in the room.  The eyelet sham and bedskirt are a recent acquirement from clearing up Mama's house for Katie to stay in for a bit this past spring.

This quilt doesn't photograph as red as it is.  It almost photographs as muted red, white and blue but in person it looks far more red.  It's a great match to the red curtains and red lamp shades.  I had a Battenberg set of shams and bed skirt and the eyelet set and after looking at them both with the quilt, I decided upon the eyelet.  I just think eyelet has a more country/farmhouse feel than the Battenberg set does.  The blue here has a slightly aqua hue which I like quite well.   It helps tie in the colors used throughout the rest of the house.

The room as a whole is not fit to view.  I have to move out an old mattress and the black dresser that no one at all wants and repaint the armoire.  The armoire will be painted a sort of grayed down  baby blue.  I think it will be perfect with the colors overall without being too closely matched.  My goal is to have a room that looks like what is is...one added to over time.

I'd taken down the artwork in this room then put most of it back up again after I'd tossed the pieces on the bed and realized they went very well with the feel and the colors I plan to use.  I need to work on the arrangement of the pictures but also need to paint the metal headboard I've had for two years before I hang them.  I bought the paint for the old headboard last fall, not realizing that autumn, winter, spring and summer would  pass before the room was empty long enough to even consider painting it.  The old metal headboard will be cherry red and I mean to make a copy of the current design on the brown metal to stencil onto the newly painted headboard.  Color of stencil to be decided...  Plans I have plenty of.  Time and money do not always coordinate with the plans.

My red and white toile accents will go back in the room too.  I have a pillow, and a chair for the sewing table (desk chair with a slipcover of toile).  I want to do many other things in this room but for now, I've shared the projects I actually have the items needed to complete.  That's good enough for now!