A Bedroom Sanctuary - On a budget

Ed and I have had a beautiful bedroom in this house for the past seven years.  Shortly after we moved in, we painted the walls a warm olive green, and used golds, greens and russets, with a touch of black to decorate our space.  It was warm and cozy.  I took these shots moments before we started stripping the room, so they're not good and it was messy in there.  I had already painted swatches of the Sea Salt color on the walls.

Our bedroom is large and within it we have a bed area, a sitting area, and an office.  It also features a very nice fireplace that looks through into the master bath so you can have a fire in the bedroom and see it from the jaccuzi; i's a very nice feature we use fully in the winter months.

But I'd been having trouble sleeping.  I never slept particularly well because our bed was in a nook which got no air circulation and made me feel a bit like we were in a cave.  It got hot.  I am not a good hot sleeper to say the least.

So in the interest of lightening up and brightening things, and to put to use a little fung shui I'd read up on, we decided to redecorate.  Mind you, we've done the family room, foyer, hall, and dining room, and also created a library from the formal living room at this point (since January).  Funds are running low.  And I had my worries because, although I had a very nice neutral sofa in the space, I had two chairs that were russet color velvet, and lots of warmly colored rugs.  I didn't want to spend much money.

The first thing we bought was paint.  I've been drooling over Sherwin Williams Sea Salt paint color on Pinterest for a while now.  A designer blog stated that the color made beautiful dark toned woods pop.  Since our bed is dark wood, and we have a couple of antique dressers the same hue, I thought that would give it a light, clean feel.  I wanted all white bed linens.  There is something magical that happens when you sleep on crisp white sheets.  I'm not sure what it is, but I like it.  So I had a direction...and we proceeded to spend a full Sunday taping, filling holes, sanding, and then painting our bedroom walls.  We both fell in love with the color.  The room, even in shambles with furniture in the middle, felt calm and serene.

We bought a gorgeous, huge 4-poster bed probably 12 years ago that I have to literally climb up into every night, but we both love it and have agreed it will always be our bed and we'll never replace it.  We love it.

I didn't want to buy new chairs, so I developed an idea to try to learn to thread a sewing machine and make slipcovers.  I was really scared to do that.  I don't have much experience sewing.  I looked at several fabrics and I figured the white cotton duck I preferred, at $10.99 a yard, was too expensive to mess up.  So I did what all great designers do.  I bought a $20 large heavy canvas dropcloth from WalMart in the painting section.  The one I'm showing is a smaller size, but he same thing.

So weekend before last I watched a video on making a slipcover and set to work.  I wish I'd photographed the process.  Long story short, here's what I came up with (and these photos are only iPhone quality...sorry!):

Before

After

Pretty stinkin' cool, huh?  I think I'm more proud of this project than any I've done so far.  I was so afraid I couldn't do it.  And I want to thank Jo, my friend at work who, after she stopped 15 minutes of hysterical laughter when I confessed I had no idea how to thread my own sewing machine, brought me sewing books and said, "I just figure if anyone else can do it, so can I."  Love that woman.

So...ready for the reveal?  I can't show the office section yet, because I'm still organizing and styling over there.  But take a look:

Dreamy!  I am sleeping so much better!

Ed made me the beautiful blanket box for my birthday this year.  It's my favorite in all the gifts he's given me.

I hope you love it as much as we do.  I can't stay out of there now!  I love to sit in there and read- it's so soothing!

So the budget breakdown looks like this:

Paint, Behr Premium with primer....$60
Drop cloths for chairs/ottoman........$30
Chevron pillows, Target on clearance, $5.98 each (how I love a bargain!!!)
White pillow covers in cotton duck from Ikea, $7 each....$21
Natural fiber rug with leopard print trim (love this) TJ Maxx, on clearance....$39
Center Pillow on sofa, Home Goods, $16
White candlesticks, Ikea.........$45
White percale sheets (my FAVORITE!) Walmart, $36
Calvin Klein down comforter, TJ Maxx.........$50
Blue pillows, TJ Maxx............$20

That's just $304.96!!!  HUGE transformation.

The rest of the decor and furnishings were culled from other rooms and my basement "store" and much was spray-painted white.

We plan to replace the painting over the fireplace with a great, framed black and white print of us.  I'm working on that!