Making Our House A Home (even though it’s a rental)–Follow my journey in turning our house into a home.You can read other posts in this series here.
I shared in my last post that reading 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality by Edie Wadsworth changed the way that I think about my home.
One aspect of the book that made a big impact on me is the idea of the master bedroom as sacred space that should be a haven rather than just another room in the house. Having a peaceful bedroom is not a new concept to me, but it was honestly a lower priority to me because it is not a room that guests see very often.
So here it is in all it’s ugly glory:
You will recognize the floral print that I upcycled here, but very little decoration otherwise. The nightstands were curbside finds that we were using temporarily, so I didn’t even take the time to remove the stickers from mine (it must have been used as a mail sorter in its previous life). I’ll talk more about this in a later post, but the mattress is borrowed from a friend’s RV camper.
One thing that you need to know about me is that when I get an idea for a project, I throw myself whole-heartedly into it. I am also a recovering spend-a-holic.
My normal mode of operation would be to finally get fed up with the current state of our bedroom and splurge on a major overhaul using the emergency fund. Decorating constitutes an emergency, right?
I have learned that things go much better if I wait patiently and change things over time.
So in this instance I waited, and it paid off.
Bedroom Makeover Phase 1: Find a nice bedspread.
Since the bed takes up most of the room, changing the bedspread makes a big difference. I found this little beauty at a thrift store a couple of months ago and talked the manager down to $15 because it had a small stain in the center. I then paid $19.99 to have it professionally cleaned.
It is a king size, but we knew we wanted to get a king size mattress and if you turn a king size comforter sideways on a queen size bed, it fits without touching the floor.
Granted the room is still ugly, but my first investment of $34.99 really perks up the space.
Do you think of your master bedroom as sacred space? Share a comment. 🙂
Click here for Phase 2 of the Master Bedroom Makeover!
[Click here to read all the posts in this series.]
Does your bed frame have rollers? If so, do you have a problem with it moving every time you move in the bed on those vinyl floors? I do and I just wondered if you had any suggestions?
Actually they are tile floors. The bed is so heavy we don’t have a problem, but the delivery guy said that you can purchase “bed coasters” at a Lowe’s or Home Depot to put under the wheels.
I hve a suggestion, it may or may not be something you’re interested in. I don’t know if you care at all if your nightstands are different colors. (Mine are completelydifferent) If you do you could buy a can of spray paint that’s good on any surface for like 5/6$ and then it matches. That paint works well. We bought a shelf at goodwill that neede something. And it worked perfectly!
Thanks Abbigail. I could spray paint it, but I am waiting for a better nightstand. I don’t want to put the work into something that is temporary. 🙂
We try to keep our room for us only. Sometimes a child sleeps in there or if someone is sick they may watch TV from there.
We re-did it after an accident and I tried to make it more focused on us. I had a print of our hands from our wedding enlarged at Walmart and hung that with two candle sconces above our new headboard. I put the Corintheans verse in one of the 8 opening picture frames with some scrapbooking paper on another wall.
I too try to keep my clothes put away to make it look more open and clean but that does nto always happen.
I used to clean the entire house, and shove everything I was too tired to deal with in the master bedroom. It was the one room I never got to. We also had an elliptical and a treadmill in there, which took up most of the room. Recently we re-did our room…we took out both machines, repainted the walls, got a new comforter and one new big picture to put over the king bed. We didn’t break the bank and it’s AMAZING how much we LOVE being in there at night now. Since we hang out in there after the kids are in bed, we can now totally relax and feel so stress-free and peaceful. Until now, we had no idea just how big of an impact the messy, cluttered room was having on us. Wish we had done it sooner.
I am amazed at what a difference it makes just to get all the junk out of the room. Glad you are enjoying your room now. 🙂
I like your bedspread. You could get curtains to make a “headboard” I did that in my room.
I don’t know that the master bed room is sacred, but it always ends up a dumping ground at my house, and that is not good. 🙂 I just got a new spread and have been rearranging stuff to make it more special.
Yes, I am looking for curtains. I always put everything in my bedroom when I have to clean the house in a hurry, but I am trying not to do that anymore. 🙂
Our bedroom is the last on my decorating list, since we spend a lot more time in the living room. I even decorated the bathoom, but still no curtains (we do have shades), empty walls and plastic floors in the bedroom. The next bedroom step: puting the laminate floors as soon as the weather gets warmer. We will do it by ourselves, so it should come under 200 euros.
What I notice about every bedroom that I had in my life: there must be a messy chair! I just can’t get rid of the place to pile up my clothes the whole week and fold it only when it’s so crowded to have things falling on the floor 🙂
Confession: Until recently I had a messy chair too, but I have been diligent to hang my clothes up or fold them and it makes such a difference. I think there is always some place in the house that will have a mess though! 🙂
I’m thinking about introducing messy drawer or closet shelf instead, but then, I would probably never clean it up, and the chair gets cleaned once a week 🙂
I like it!
Thanks for sharing this Kimberlee!
This is something that my pastor’s wife told me to prioritize when my husband and I were going through pre-marital counseling. Then when we got married, over time, our bedroom turned into a catch-all for papers, bills and laundry. Recently, I remembered what she told me and have been working to keep it de-cluttered and dusted. Even just making the bed everyday makes a huge difference! 🙂
-brittany
I know what you mean about making the bed, and having this comforter makes me want to make it up now. 🙂
Do they gave a freecycle group in your area? I bet you could find some furniture that way.
I actually am on a cleaning spree and am majorly overhauling my bedroom…it all too often has become the “catch all” of things that I don’t want guests to see….overflowing laundry baskets, clutter, papers to be filed. Instead of putting that stuff away I just pile it in my room. It is definitely not a romantic or sacred space! LOL! So I first cleared off the dressers and kept only the nic nacs that I loved on them…they look so nice now that I can actually see them!! I still have to go thru the pile beside my bed of what WAS on top of the dressers, but I’m hoping to do that in 15 minute increments, because it is overwhelming! Good job with the comforter!! It brightens up the room I think!!! You also may consider lightly sanding your nighttables and spray painting them the same color….that’s a cheap redo that I do a lot when I need a change. 🙂
We’ve never considered the master bedroom a sacred space. We have a failry small house and 4 (soon to be 5) kids here all day. We have kids nap in there when needed, new babies always sleep in our room to allow older kids to sleep better, our keyboard is kept in there that the kids need to practice, we have a chair in there in case I need to feed a baby in quiet or a friend who is over needs to have a quiet place to feed, and the kids will sometimes play in there to have some alone time. It doesn’t bother us at all. Maybe if we had a lot of extra space, it would be nice but I can’t have a room in our house not used all day long.
We use our bedroom throughout the day too, but I wanted to make it special for those times when we are alone. 🙂
I should think of the master bedroom as a special space, however, I see it differenty. I think noone should be in my bedroom, therefore its the one room in my house that doesnt always have to be perfect. I love knowing that we have company life doesnt stop just because my room isnt as neat as the rest of the house.
Love the post though, and your blog:) Blessings!
Thanks Jennifer! I think the important thing is to make your space work for you and it sounds like that is exactly what you have done.
I don’t think the room is “still ugly”! =) Next you could put a little valance over that window. If you can’t paint the walls, a quick coat of paint on those picture frames and night stands would really dress the room up! =)
Thanks Alina–great ideas. The nightstands are next on the list. 🙂
Wow! That’s a big difference! Beautiful!!