Just when you thought City Dwellin' had been abandoned...

...I'm back! And I realized (after looking through random photos of our pets on my Iphone) that I had taken pictures of the new throw pillows for the master bedroom makeover awhile ago. Ooops. My bad. Get with it Katie!

Anyhoo, remember this fabric?

The fabric that when I last spoke about it still had not arrived from Calico Corners? Well, low and behold, all it took was walking the dog on a different route, past our house to find the package of fabric just sitting on our front porch. I still have no clue how long it had been there, since we don't use the front porch regularly. Nor did UPS or Calico Corners bother to notify me when it was going to ship (or when it had arrived, for that matter!).

Anyway, I quickly shipped off the goods to my mom so she could get crackin' on some throw pillows. And days later, this is what we ended up with...

I must say, I'm quite pleased with how well the fabric ties in the gray of the walls. I'm still not in love with this duvet (there, I said it). I suppose had I gone with another wall color I'd feel differently. But since it's much easier to one day buy a new duvet vs. repainting an entire bedroom....we're living with the stupid duvet for now.

This project also bears mentioning that I'm a hoarder of down pillow inserts, yet didn't have any spares floating around when it came time to tackle this little project. The easiest way to nab yourself a good old fashioned down insert? Just find yourself an ugly cheap pillow, remove the insert, and sew (or buy) yourselves a new cover! I purchased these pillows for $18 each at Homegoods. In this case, the old covers were of the neutral, Ralph Lauren variety (which I actually wound up saving for possible future use). But any old nasty looking (but not actually nasty) pillow will do! They just happened to have decent cheap ones the day I went looking.

So there you have it! One more project down, a million more to go! I probably should make a list of what we really want done in this space....it would probably help keep me more accountable and organized (something that just isn't my strong suit lately). And then by the time 2014 gets here, there's the possibility of at least 3 more items being crossed off said list. Wishful thinking? Perhaps.

Happy almost TGIF!

Master bedroom updates!

Okay, here we go...I'm back to share some master bedroom updates! I'm all out of wit and candor today, so instead you'll just be getting some crappy pictures & a bit of commentary on what's currently going on in there (besides the usual mess of clothes, books, etc...hey, at least the bed is made!). Mmmmm, kay? Here we go!

So two weekends ago I got down to business & painted. Painting a room is so exhausting to me, especially the prep work. Seriously, prep works makes me want to just live in the old and forget the new. It's more of an effort than the painting itself! But recently I taught myself how to cut in with a good brush, which pretty much eliminated the need for tape (and because I'm neat, I really didn't bother with a drop cloth either). I'm telling you people, a good brush makes all the difference in the world! I use an angled brush by Purdy (I'm not sure the dimensions, but I don't think that really matters...it's whatever you're comfortable holding). The paint was a low VOC & paint/primer in one from Benjamin Moore, which required only one (count 'em....ONE!) coat to cover that burnt orange/brown that was previously in there. From me to you...I thank you Benjamin Moore. Lazy painters of the world rejoice!

Yep, how's that for a set of crap-tastic photos! But you get the point, right? Anyhoo, because these pictures were snapped in haste, the the color is not true to what we're seeing in real life. It's definitely cooler with more blue undertones, but at different times of the day it looks brown. To say this color took some getting used to is the understatement of the century! When I started painting, I actually stopped to check the label as I wasn't so sure the lovely gal at Benjamin Moore had even mixed the correct color. Then I began to wonder if I even asked for the right color in the first place (if you're still curious...Benjamin Moore wins, Katie loses). So, zero points for me for being lazy and not bothering with a sample. Oh well. You live and you learn. I'm certainly not painting this room again. 

To make a long story even longer, I'm bothered by the fact (but slowly gettting used to it) that the comforter and the wall color are all wrong together. But apart, I feel the love. So since I'm not planning to repaint, or get a new comforter, we'll have to make it work, right? I ordered this fabric from Calico Corners last week. It's the ikat pattern I had in mind, it draws in the deep grays of the wall, and was on sale for $14.99/yard. Score!

I never shop at Calico Corners but did you know (that despite having bolts & bolts of fabric on the walls) you have to order your fabric anyway? I guess it's a new policy or something...or so I was told. But for 2 yards of this stuff (for throw pillows) I was a little miffed they couldn't make an exception for little 'ol me. BTW--it's a week later and still no sign of the UPS man with my fabric...just sayin' Calico Corners...

So there you have it! A little update as to what's going on in our master bedroom. If the weather ever gets a bit warmer & predictible around here, I'll be priming & painting the new nightstands which I'm super anxious to add to the space! When and if that ever happens before June, remains to be seen. But I'll be updating you all along the way!

TGIF!

Take a tour before

Alright, here we go. I'm keeping good on my promise to show you some before pics of our master bedroom. Things really changed in there this weekend...it's a good thing I thought to take some photos!

So we're going to take it back to the old school & show you what things looked like before putting an offer on the house. With the state of the bedroom the way it was, it's amazing I bothered with that offer in the first place!

Ye-owza (um, and side note...check out the missing door knob on the closet!). It's funny, looking at old photos of our house just boggles my mind. It doesn't even look like the same place! Except, just wait. You're about to see something awfully familiar in the next set of bedroom pics.

So anyhoo! I'm pretty sure when we looked at the house that I declared right then and there this wall color was going, going, gone. And then a funny thing happened. I moved in, the furniture arrived and I didn't hate it so much. And then four years later....

I know, I can't believe it either. I kept the wall color! Once the furniture arrived, the space felt warmer and suddenly not so disgusting afterall. But like all good things, they must come to an end. Things have gotten stale, and it was time for a change. So let's talk about the things that are staying, going, changing, etc....

For starters, the furniture is staying--more specifically, the bed and dresser.

Prints that we bought on the streets of Paris--also staying.

Window treatments (or lack there of) will be added. The husband's chest (where all of his belongings go to die--see?) is also staying.

The nightstands (and lamps)--they're going too. See why we needed an upgrade? These fit the bill for four years, but we really need something more substantial this time around (stay tuned--I scored some new ones this past weekend--finally!--and I'll be posting about those soon).

This chest will likely be going too (but not for good, I'll just moving to another room). I'm not sure it will look so great once the new nightstands are here. This thing is the sister version of the husband's chest--a lot of my belongings die here too (especially after a long day & I'm just too lazy to put anything away...which, you'd be surprised just how often it happens!).

So there you have it! A nice little glimpse into the current state of our master bedroom. Up next--painting and new nightstands!

Bedroom sneaks

TGIF!

I'm back to share some sneaks of our master bedroom makeover process. I'm pretty much going to do things ass-backwards here, and show you what I've been working on so far. And then I'll turn around and show you the current state of our space (which wasn't so pleasant looking this morning when I thought to take pics...girlfriend's gotta clean up in there!).

Anyhoo, first things first! I had been debating about a duvet since oh, um....last fall. If you've been following me in my quest to find the perfect nightstands (more on that in a minute) then you're not surprised to know that finding the perfect duvet set was nothing short of a tall task. And then I saw this over at Centsational Girl....

via

Problem solved! Armed with a gift card, store credit & coupons, I headed over to Bed Bath & Beyond to purchase my goods (the set is Poetical by Barbara Barry). I haven't purchased anything duvet related in quite some time, so I was surprised to learn that pillow shams are a cool $50 each! I know Katie, welcome to the world where everyone already knows this. It's sort of like curtain panels that are sold in packages of one...don't they know we'll need two?! (and this is me stepping off my soapbox right now) Anyway, 1 thing accomplished, 116 more to go!

Benjamin Moore's Gettysburg Gray will be the wall color of choice...

via

I'm still on the hunt for fabric to add to the space, but so far I've come up with these...

I was originally thinking to incorporate blue into the space, but the yellow/gray fabric is really speaking to me now (although, it looks totally mismatched in this photo). I'm still very much on the hunt for other options, but these just happened to speak to me right now. Oh, and for anyone wondering, these are upholstery samples from Joann's...I don't recall the specific line right now, but when I do make final decisions, I'll be sure to add sources for everything I purchased. Okay, moving along!

We've already tackled the lighting situation on the walls....

I had the electrician switch out 3 of these when he was here working on the kitchen lighting. Two birds, one stone people! The lights are $29 a piece from Home Depot. Lowes has a similar fixture for almost double the price, so go me with my bargain hunting (yes Lowes, I just called you out. I love you, but sometimes you do me wrong!)! I never thought to take a before picture of what was happening in here, but to give you an idea of what we'd been looking at for the last four years, here's a shot of the awful, misplaced sconce in our hallway. See why we were in need of an update? Gross!

So, as you may or may not know, I've been on the hunt for theeeee perfect set of nightstands for quite some time now. There isn't a Goodwill, Amvets, Salvation Army, random cheap-o furniture outlet, or antique shop I don't visit. And I'm still batting zero. I suppose my requirements are a bit too specific--they must be less than $100 each, at least 28"-30" in height, and must be longer than the current 12" Pier One pedestal stands that currently serve as our bedside tables. I was originally thinking something more "dresser-like", and Christmas Tree Shops turned up this beauty...

...but they were too long for the space. So much for that idea! This 3-drawer chest fits the bill measurement-wise...

...but aside from the measurements being spot-on, I'm not entirely sure I'm in love with it. I asked the husband what he thought, and his reply was, "does it really matter what I think?". Ah, husband! That is what I love about him, he's always 100% on board when it comes to letting me make the design decisions around here. As long as I do him a favor and stay out of the kitchen. Seems like a decent compromise to me! If I decide to purchase these, they most definitely will be getting refinished. I'm still not sure what color they'll be though...which is maybe why I'm having such a difficult time pulling the trigger. I just can't envision what these would look like. The husband's response? "But the wood finish is so nice, you really shouldn't paint them". And then I kindly reminded him that these were $129 from Christmas Tree Shops....this wasn't wood we were talking about here! So for now, the hunt remains. I'll be out & about this weekend seeing if anything can top these.

So there you have it. Some plans for a master bedroom so far! I'll be back next week to share some progress. I think if I'm a little more forthcoming on the details, it will help keep me in check and ensure that this makeover is complete before 2017.

Happy weekend-ing!