As Good As It Gets: Bedroom

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I never considered myself “done” decorating my bedroom (or my studio for that matter), but since we’re moving in less than a week & a half, I thought I’d at least document what it look(ed) like when it was clean. I’ve actually taken pictures of every apartment/home I’ve ever lived in since I moved off to college. I had the best decorated place in college, mostly because I have so many paintings. Too bad most of those pictures were deleted sometime about 3 years ago when we upgraded computers. *sigh* Here’s a little tour of our bedroom.

The focal point of the room is our bed, we have a nice bay window opposite of the door, so we decided to put the bed up to the window. I’m sure the bedroom wasn’t designed for the bed to be oriented this way, but I love waking up to all of the light flooding in right above my  head. We have east-facing windows, which also makes it easier to wake up in the mornings. I’m not a morning person.

  • side tables: Target, $30
  • wire basket: thrifted, $.75

The side tables were originally all black, but the tops were looking incredibly ratty. Chris sanded them & painted the tops yellow. I love the bold statement they make.

  • bed light: Ikea, $10
  • waste-basket: Ikea, $4

Chris has been playing the guitar for just about a year now. So now we have a dedicated music spot in the room. Every once in a blue moon we have family jam sessions with Chris on the guitar, Penelope on the drum & me on the synth.

  • artwork (from left to right): mine, mine, sister-in-law Brooke
  • stool: thrifted, $5
  • small bookcase: Ikea, $40

The painting on the bottom right is one that I did while Chris & I were dating – Chris was the first guy to actually take me up on the offer to come study with me at my studio space. I had fantastic studio space just underneath an amazing bell tower during college. It was well-lit & smelled of the hard work of the BFA painting students. I did this painting while Chris was studying. I love the mixtures of greys & golds.

  • book case: Ikea, $70
  • butterfly chair: hand-me-down + refashioned, $7
  • mirror: thrifted, $1.50
  • painting: mine – it’s a little gruesome, but I love this painting. It reminds me of the Dutch Vanitas paintings: life is short & sometimes bitter
  • spice of life jars: vintage, $15
  • glass art: wedding gift
  • sign painting book: heirloom
  • boxes: Ikea, $25

I have vivid memories of my mom using a large spice of life container for storing her delicious bran muffin mix for hot breakfasts during the school year. She gave me the container when they moved & Penelope promptly broke it. I was so heart broken over it, I scoured the internet for the same jar & found a set of 3 for $15! Score.

  • star: wedding gift
  • artwork: all mine – framed in college class
  • rocking chair: thrifted + refinished ages ago, $30

I love this picture of the two of us. We had to get passport photos in order to apply for visas when we were planning our Brazil trip back in 2007. We got an extra set of pictures that we didn’t know what to do with. Chris found this frame in a box somewhere & framed the photos as they were mailed to us. Love that.

The plaster death masks are something that we made together while we were dating. We originally tried to do this on our first date (and failed miserably), so I love how it serves as a reminder of our first date & how perfect we are for each other.

A home isn’t complete without wedding pictures, right? I think my hair is longer now than in the pictures. I store my earrings on a metal lunch tray on top of my dresser. It’s great to have them organized by color all out for me to look at. The dresser is high enough that Penelope doesn’t mess with them at all. To the right of the masks is a mini hand-bound book that I did several years ago. It’s got a few miniature art pieces in there & it’s bound in leather with a very faint black-on-black brocade pattern that I designed. It’s fun to flip through every once in a while.

Here’s the thrifty dresser I picked up several months ago. It’s all naked & sanded down, ready for a coat of awesome. I just can’t decide what color(s) I want to paint it. STILL! So for now, it’s nude. Penelope found my spray starch & attacked the front of it some time ago. You can see the faint watermarks from that. Crazy girl.

So there you have it. This is as good as our bedroom is gonna get, for now at least. I’ve already taken down all of the wall hangings & Chris has packed up all of the books. I’m definitely looking forward to decorating a new space. Perhaps a space with real white or grey walls? I always find it interesting & fun to see how the same furniture translates to a new space.

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    1. Everything looks great! I am especially obsessing over that chest of drawers. That is the exact style I’m looking for. I found one the other day but it was way too small. I want to paint one yellow for my daughter’s room. What do you have in mind for a paint job for yours?

    2. moxiemandie says:

      ok here goes:

      #1- love it all, really.
      #2- great mirror.
      #3- i am so mad that we don’t have an ikea. I just bought a set of 6 wood cubbies at target for $10 more than your 8 & I need even more.
      #4- i cannot wait to see what the next bedroom looks like. i need some inspiration. think brown/tan carpet. :/

    3. Brittany says:

      I love your room!! I’ve been eyeing that bedding at Urban for a long time. You brought everything together so well!!

    4. Angel Y. says:

      I am in love with all of the color in your room. Everything coordinates so well. I love the thrifted pieces you found! I can’t find anything worth while here.

    5. Emily says:

      Love the bed by the window. We also have an east facing window and I’ve been toying with moving the bed there but we need a headboard first. :) I want to hear more about your studio under the bell tower!!

    6. Brenna says:

      Love your little jars for your jewelry.. and all the yellow!

    7. Christina says:

      OMG, the jars you put your jewellery… my mum has the same, they are from pre-history!! I mean, she has them since I was a tiny kid, so about 25 years or more!! They are from Brazil… exactly the same, e-x-a-c-t-l-y, same patterns and all. Hers have broken lid tho.

    8. that dresser is amazing….i’d do a clear coat or stain it dark–that wood is so pretty. but i also love our little MCM dresser that i painted white. and sometimes i want it to be gray. so that’s my other vote. white or gray :)

    9. I really like the quilt on your bed, it is so wonderfully colourful.

    10. I saw that quilt in UO the other day and was very tempted to buy it! :) I also recognized the sign painting book! My husband has a copy too!

      And BTW–I love the pic of you w/ the short hair. Very flattering.

    11. pamela says:

      I love the tours you give of your house rooms. You have everything listed down to tiniest detail. Awesomeness indeed.

    12. […] there. I bought two (one for each side of the bed) for $10 each. We’ve since resurfaced the tops with a bright yellow. But they’re just not quite […]

    13. Emilie says:

      This looks so amazing.. I really like the musiscian style, hope you are! I play saxaphone myself..

      Love, Emilie

      Hola Bola Babes

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