summer craze

So much has happened since last time I took a moment to myself to indulge in writing a blog post. We had a landscaper come and remove all of our UGO’s, we celebrated the one year anniversary of owning the home, had a Memorial Day BBQ with family and friends, and yesterday had a very successful yard sale.

When I stop to think that we have been in this house one year, it shocks and amazes me how quickly time has passed. When we moved into the house, I was desperate to start making my mark, which meant removing wall paper and painting over the previous owners disastrous ideas of decorating. I don’t care what decade they decorated in – there is no excuse to paint a bedroom violet and teal. One day I’ll share that project.

In the meantime, though, I want to share how I transformed our master bedroom. The wall paper was too country for my taste, and the ceiling fan was covered in so much dust that we had to put down drop cloths to take it off. I’m not kidding – CLUMPS of dust.

Within five minutes of entering the house the first time as the owners, I began removing the wall paper in the master bedroom. It wasn’t hard. Actually, it was ridiculously easy. Without any tools, it came off in sheets.

In early July, when my husband had to go away for a training, I took the opportunity to redo the room. I couldn’t have the entire house in chaos – boxes unpacked, furniture clumped into the wrong rooms – and every night good to bed in chaos, too. Of course, the cats were willing to help me.

And were not very thrilled when I kicked them out.

And thus began the process of washing the walls with TSP, painting the ceiling, sanding all the wood work, discovering old “Ma Bell” telephone wiring that had been snaked in and out of the quarter round, and picking paint colors. There was also the issue of repairing some of the woodwork that had been near destroyed.

The floors were disgusting.

And I learned how much I hated painting plaster ceilings.

The man was around when we were deciding on a paint color. But in the end, all the samples we tried, we hated.

So we picked a paint color, didn’t try it on the walls, and that’s what I ended up using. The final decision? Behr’s “Naturally Calm“.

We were lucky when we bought the house – I had all of my grandmother’s furniture, and our master bedroom set was no exception. We didn’t need to buy a lot, but one of the things we did need was an alarm clock (thanks to knob & tube wiring and a lack of outlets) and bedside lamps, but we struggled to find ones we liked. Until we found Buffet Lamps and an alarm clock at Ikea.

And of course, we needed some knick knacks for my dresser.

And then there was the issue of replacing the ceiling fan. Although my husband had doubts about a hanging lamp over our bed, I was delighted by the result.

And then I needed bedding. Our old bed was a full size, and when we inherited the furniture, we also inherited a queen size bed, so needing to get all new linens, I ventured again to Ikea. I didn’t want to overwhelm the room with more color, so I went with a simple but elegant duvet cover with a white background and charcoal grey print.  Pillows were scored from Home Goods.

When it came to finding something to hang over the bed, the man and I scoured every art store we could find on South Street, searched countless internet sites and poster stores, and could come up with nothing.  In the end, we settled on something we already owned, and couldn’t begin to imagine would fit in the room.

So overall, the project took two weeks and just about $500. The wall color seems to change throughout the season and the day. In the morning it is subdued and relaxing, and at night with our bedside lights on there is a rosy, warm glow. I’d say the result was just like our paint color: naturally calm.

This summer I’m taking it easy. I’m almost done completing our living room, and in a few weeks we begin the process of having more knob & tube wiring removed. But in the past year, I couldn’t be happier with the transformations that have been made. What about you? What do you think of using purple in a bedroom? Did you transform your own bedroom retreat? I’d love to know!