Room Reveal

Master Bedroom Reveal

I struggled a lot with bedrooms when I was house hunting. Most ranch style homes in the area have 3 bedrooms crammed on the main floor. This creates a very tight floor plan with pretty small rooms. This house gave me exactly what I wanted with a room in the basement that could be a guest room and two bedrooms on the main floor. I have a smaller bedroom that I have dedicated as my office and a very large master bedroom.

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I have neglected my master bedroom since moving in to my house. I wasn’t quite sure of what to do with it and I had so much to do in other rooms that it simply took a back burner. I didn’t hate what I had for bedding and bedroom furniture but it didn’t really work either. Having had much smaller bedrooms in the past, my small DIY night stands and my tiny 3 drawer dresser from college didn’t even begin to fill the space. My old curtains barely even covered the new windows but I figured it would be fine for now. The only new addition I made was a new huge rug that I purchased before moving in knowing that my previous dog, Rocko would have a hard time getting in and out of bed with the laminate floors. The rug is so big that it was almost wall to wall in the huge room.

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That rug is ironically what prompted my unplanned bedroom update. A few weeks ago, I decided to switch it with the smaller black and white rug in the living room that I had gotten years earlier. I swapped them because the bedroom rug was too big for the space and I really just wanted the prettier rug in the living room. Much to my surprise, I loved the black and white rug in the bedroom. It was kind of crazy how a smaller rug made the room feel so much bigger! A week later, I painted the wall behind the bed charcoal black. I have always wanted a charcoal accent wall in my bedroom but have been a little scared of painting a wall basically black. I’m so happy I finally caved because it is my favorite thing in the room by far.

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Over the last year, I had bought some new bedding, night stands and a dresser that worked amazing with the new wall color. Keep an eye out for a post about the IKEA hack I did on my dresser and night stands. I love the way they turned out.

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I recently did a new art pieces that tied in my love for donuts and picked up a simple wall shelf for make up to put next to my mirror. I found a steal of a deal on sleek, modern curtains at home goods and I was pretty much done except for updating the lighting.

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I really wanted to do the bracket pendent lighting that is so hot right now. I picked up brackets from Wal-Mart and used a few Januari lights from IKEA that was left over from a college art show. I wanted them to match the brass hardware I have on the night stands so I spray painted them a gold/brass color. I’m not really loving the final look because of the harsh, thick white cord but I love the light concept. Plus, these lights don’t have an on/off switch so I’m currently just unscrewing the light bulb to shut the light off. Haha! I’m working on a fix for it that will not only give me the look I want but will also be functional. I also have a new ceiling fan that needs to be hung in there so I’ll have to give a update once the lighting is changed out.

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I had no real plans on decorating my master bedroom anytime soon but I’m so happy I did. For the first time in my life, I have a bedroom that is beautiful and peaceful. It fits my personality perfectly and brings such a sense of calming over me. It’s a perfect place to let go of the stresses of the day and relax surrounded by pretty things. Everyone deserves a happy place like that!

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PS. It’s pretty much Piper’s happy place too. 😉

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Room Reveal

Jennifer Lane

My dream home has always been a two-story, 1920s craftsman bungalow with a big porch on the front. Full of character, clean lines, gorgeous woodwork and most of all, the grand staircase that greets you as you walk in the front door. Instead, I bought a 1984 ranch style home. Trust me, I’m aware of what a huge departure this is.

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It still feels weird saying that I bought a ranch because I hated ranch homes. They’re long, bland rectangles with no character & so far from what I wanted. The thing is I realized when I began house hunting, that this house I had put on a pedestal for so long was perfect but not perfect for me. All of the older homes I toured were way too big for just me and the layout was such a huge change from the cozy one bedroom apartments I had grown accustom to. This ranch home offered me everything I need except charm & character. The location is serene, it’s a large corner lot & the room layout couldn’t be more perfect. It is still totally a bland rectangle but that just means I had a blank slate to start with. I can change bland into beautiful. That I’m sure of!

The first area I really focused on was the kitchen & dinning room. I love this area of the house because it has a big sliding door to the back yard & deck that brightens the space. Unfortunately, there were upper cabinets over the peninsula blocking light and making the kitchen dark and closed off. Those cabinets lasted about 5 days before they came down & look at the difference! It not only brightened the kitchen up but it makes both spaces feel so much larger. I kept the cabinets that I took down and I’m using them in the basement. It’s a project I’m kind of geeking out over and I can’t wait to show you when it’s done!

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Next thing in the kitchen was to get rid of the 80s oak and breath some life in to these cabinets with some color. I decided to go with a two-tone look with white on the top to brighten it up and a rich gray on the bottom for a bold look. I’ll be sharing a tutorial on how I painted my cabinets in the near future but lets just say it was a doozy of a project! Everyone makes it sound like it’s so easy but I have easily spent 50+ hours on these cabinets. I added sleek, modern pulls on all of the cabinets & drawers to finish off the update. They were the perfect finishing touch! As tedious as this project was, I would do it again in a heart beat. I got a whole new kitchen for under $500 and I’m so in love with it. It’s my favorite space in the house so far.

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Something that didn’t fall within the $500 budget were the brand new Kitchen Aid appliances. Sadly, almost every major appliance in the house died in the first year. That’s one of those thing you think will never happen to you and then it does. It was an expense that I was hoping to avoid for a while but on the bright side, they were a much needed upgrade and they look amazing! Only appliance that was left to replace was the dishwasher and that just died two weeks ago. Oh the joys of home ownership!