Real Housewife's Working Hard! Bedroom Makeover; Guest

Jessi from Real housewife in MN sent this over to me so I could show it off.  Check out what she did to their master bedroom.


After a weekend full of shopping trips, painting, measuring and sewing.....I have a much-improved Master Bedroom! Thank you all so much for the great suggestions last week. It was really helpful and made the process a little less overwhelming. We were working with a slim budget, so the changes may seem small to some; but I'm so happy with the results. My girlfriend Nikkee didn't disappoint (more to come on her in a future post!) Her creative attitude paired with her insane amount of energy is the only reason I was able to complete this in one day. I've got some pictures to share, but sorry about all the horrible light in them! Hopefully I can get better ones up soon.

Just for a quick reminder; here is a shot of the before.

Nice and boring. Lovely shades of brown, complemented with brown. Nothing on the walls, nothing on the windows, and not the most inspiring area in the house. 

Fast forward three months? Here is the new and improved Master Bedroom!

Here's a high-level overview of some of the changes that were made.

1. Paint!!! We decided that the existing color wasn't awful, it just wasn't creating a statement at all and blended in too much. Solution? We took the exact same shade (currently in an eggshell finish) and painted the back wall with 9" stripes in a high-gloss finish. It only took one quart, and the actual painting was a breeze. I'll warn you, prepare to spend lots of time on measuring and taping to ensure you feel good about the stripes being straight! It pays off to be extra detailed here. 1 quart of paint was approximately $15 at Home Depot. The shade was matched to Hirshfields "Noble Crown" (0185).

2. Bedding Update: We kept the white down comforter (these Minnesota winters are cold!) but instead of leaving the brown duvet cover, we topped it off with a quilt in an amazing shade of blue. It's different from the blue/green/teal that is really popular right now, and is more of an ice blue. This made shopping for accessories a little tough (since that blue/green shade is everywhere right now!) but it's my favorite color in the world. The king quilt was a great deal at Home Goods for only $50. We already had the chocolate brown sheets, and a small throw pillow was $14.99 (from Home Goods as well). I love the pillow because it brings a hint of silver to the room. A nice contrast to the chocolate/oil-rubbed bronze colors that dominated the palette before.

3. Let their be light!!! Our old lamps were a yucky metal finish, and didn't do anything for the room. I have been stalking these glass lamp-bases for awhile now, and was thrilled to see a pair at 60% off at Hancock Fabrics of all places. They are taller than others (which is great for this big room) and I love that instead of nicely stacking spheres, they are a variety of diamond shaped pieces. The light reflects so well and our existing white shades were able to be repurposed as well. Total cost for 2 lamps? Regularly $250; our cost = $101. I was so glad I'd price-checked them at other places previously (best deal I could find was $70 at Target, but they were smaller and not as impactful. Home Good also had a set from $179.) and I was able to snag them up when I found them at Hancock Fabrics.  

4. New Draperies! The sunlight in the above picture makes it really tough to see the beautiful new draperies. Here is a shot from Target's website, where we found the awesome new additions. They appear more brown in the picture but the paisley is highlighted with a great ice blue pattern. They are beautiful!!! To sew these on my own I budgeted around $75 for lining and other material. (Plus the time and headache!) These were $48 for two panels. Because the window is so massive (12 feet across!) we also hung two white sheers in between the patterned drapes. This really helps with light, but also brightens up the room quite a bit.

Another big win? These were perfect for new shams. I bought one extra curtain, and was able to make two king shams that look great on the bed. (Only one is pictured above because I'm still finishing up the second one; oops!) Here's another look at the shams (just so I can brag out my skillz a little more)

Looks good right? 

5. Jazz up dem wallz! I got a great print at Home goods, showing a nice lake scene with some trees. A good black and white that did a lot for the main room. We also added this gallery to the right-side of the bed. We have some great black and whites from our engagement pictures, and I thought they'd fit perfect on this wall. 

Best of all? These were free since they've been boxed up forever. Great in the new room!

Overall I'm really happy with the new room, but know I still may need to add a few things. I'm not a big "knick-knack" person so accessorizing always drives me crazy. 

What do you all think? 

 I love the stripes!