Master Bedroom

After many months of debating a wall color for our master bedroom I kept coming across pictures of rooms with board and batten which I absolutely LOVE! 
So...I decided to try it out.  Our room is a pretty good size and also has a sitting room.   I thought about skipping the sitting room to save time & just doing the bedroom area but the two spaces open up to each other so we did both.  I don't have any pictures of the sitting area before.  And I'm not quite ready to show the after picture of that space since it has become my staging area (a.k.a dumping place) for decorating the room. 

Anyway...here is our bedroom before...

Not bad but not great either.  We've had the bedding forever!  The furniture is even older!!  And it's got an orange-y (is that a word?) colored finish...yuck! 
 

Let me tell you installing the board and batten wasn't an easy process...if  I knew that before I probably would have tried it in a smaller room for the first time.  But now that it's done I LOVE it and it was SOOOO worth the effort!  

And here is the almost finished room:

I painted the ceiling & top portion of the walls Coventry Gray by Benjamin Moore.  The board & batten is Valspar White in semi-gloss.  As you can see I painted the furniture  (LOVE IT!) but I'll show you that in more detail in another post.  Still need art work for above the bed...thinking 3 framed pictures or a wall quote?

We decided to put the board & batten about 3/4 of the way up the wall.  I'll go into more details of the "how to" in another post...I'm just so excited with the results I wanted to show you the before & after of our room...

 

I just hung new plain sheer curtains on black metal rods that I already had.  I may add some gray ribbon detailing to the sheers if I feel like getting creative in the future.  But for now these fit the light & airy look I was going for.  And at $5 a panel (I needed 6) they were "cents-able".

 

I've had the white quilt & shams for at least 5 years...they were a Home Goods bargin.  It's actually off white but I doesn't bother me too much...if I find a true white one for a good deal I may have to get it ;) 
I bought the flowered duvet cover & shams set at Ikea.  A steal at 40 bucks!

 

My hubby (still trying to figure out what to call him...my first post I used hubs) installed a new ceiling fan for me.  The old one didn't match the new room so we are going to reuse it in his office.  But the new one was a great find at Lowes...only $45 for the fan & the light kit was on sale for $29.   

I'd love new lamps but since I'm already over budget for this project I spray painted the ones I had.  They didn't come out too bad...at least if you don't get too close.   Ha ha!  I got new shades at Ikea for $10 each.  I'd like clear glass lamp bases but we shall see...for now these work.  

Before (actually forgot to take one of the table lamps so here is the matching floor lamp that I haven't painted yet)...

                                                                                                

After....

Hope you enjoyed the before & after pictures of this room!  Can't wait to share the details of the installation of the board & batten walls.  Don't you agree...it makes such a difference in a room?  I'm already thinking of more places I can use it.  And I'm also looking forward to sharing the refinishing of that ugly orange-y furniture.  Stay tuned! 

Our Laundry Room

Our laundry room is a busy place for our family of 5 plus 1 dog.  And it was a messy uninspiring room.  The builder had put up one wire shelf and I added the small one to hang clothes to dry.  Here is a before shot of the space...sorry, but I didn't take a picture until I after cleared the mess out of the room. 



The kids had made me canvas hand prints for Mother's day. They also got me a new growth chart, since our old one was painted on the wall in our last house and we couldn't take it with us.  I settled for taking pictures of it rather than tearing out the sheet rock, although I was tempted!  Anyway, since I hadn't found a home for them yet I decided to use them in the laundry room.  I painted the room to coordinate with the canvas' & growth chart. 

I would have loved to put in cabinets but that would have been expensive. Since we are able to close the door to this room and not see the mess, wire shelves make the most sense for us & the budget. My hubs helped me install 2 more shelves & a hanging rod.  I can't live without that hanging rod since I hang lots of our clothes to dry. 





I bought matching plastic baskets for cleaning supplies, towels for the dog and other stuff.  I had most our craft supplies in covered bins so I just needed a few more to store everything.  I used my handy dandy label maker to label all those bins & baskets.  I may get fancy some day and make more creative tags but for now it works just fine. 

We bought a free standing shelf for the corner of the room.  We store all the craft bins on one shelf.  Our beach towels on another.  The nearly empty shelf holds our kids backpacks when they come home from school.  We removed the bottom shelf to create a space for Chloe...our furry member of the family.  Even she loves her new space!

I absolutely love this room now. Although it's not as pretty as I'd like it to be it really works for our family.  Everything has a place...it's so clean & organized!  And I probably spent less than $100 for everything in this space.