A Master Bedroom

Late one evening about 2 weeks ago, I sat in bed checking my emails when one popped up with an airline ticket to Denver for ME!!!  Todd was downstairs in his office talking to his brother, Adam, so I quickly ran to the vent and yelled down, "THANK YOU ADAM!!!"  The two of them had been coordinating schedules to find a time when I could take a brief escape from life for some therapy.

I was going, by myself, to Denver for 3 days to DECORATE!!!

Adam needed help with his office and they were finally going to do something to their master bedroom.

They had flown me out for 24 hours the year before to help do their baby's nursery:

As well as their kitchen, living room and a gallery wall:

(even though the empty frames look cool, there will someday be pictures in those frames)

Yeah, I actually got all of that done in 24 hours.  It's amazing what I can do when I have a 2 liter of Diet Dr. Pepper in my system.  I had even brought our newborn Dakota with me on that trip.

They liked that work enough, that they figured I was worth using again for their master suite.

Why is it that most people leave their master bedroom for the very last when decorating their home?  I know that not everyone sees it, but shouldn't your room be the oasis that you can escape to at the end of the day and feel relaxed in?  Something about bare walls, clothes scattered on the floor, mismatched bedding and broken lamp shades just doesn't say "welcome to bed after a long hard day."

I have personally found that when you spend the time to make a room in your home look put together and pretty it makes you want to keep the space a little bit cleaner, thus making it a room you want to spend more time in and feel relaxed in.

My basement is unfinished.  Toys EVERYWHERE most of the time.  And when the toys are cleaned up and put away, instead of scattered all over the floor, even the kids stay down there longer.  It isn't just adults that crave an orderly place (okay, maybe I am only speaking for myself and my family).

Please note, my house is not always spotless, but I do try to straighten it once a week.

Kids like to play in clean rooms, they just don't like to clean play rooms (Yeah, I totally just came up with that one on my own!).

Back to what I started, when I arrived I was still quite sick, but no decorating adventure can knock a sick Mel down (maybe for a nap in the afternoon)!  That night, I surveyed the space that we (Angie, Adam and myself...the little boys even helped paint a bit) would be transforming.  Take a look for yourself:

Early in the morning we got to work on refinishing the dresser, nightstand and headboard.

 After a good wipe down with TSP

 One coat of primer and two coats of Ivory Paint

After glazing

Pretty awesome, right? Adam wanted Black furniture.  Angie didn't want to dust black furniture.  She suggested Ivory.  Then she wanted to glaze the furniture.  I thought it was a nice compromise.  However, I wasn't quite sure.  I had never glazed anything before and was intimidated.  But after reading through a great post on painting furniture and another one on glazing furniture, I was ready to attack!  I am so glad I did.  It has inspired me to want to try it on my dresser here at home.

We also tried to stick to a more affordable budget.  No opening up a magazine, choosing a room and saying, "I want all of that" and a couple thousand dollars later having it.

This meant driving around to various stores like TJMaxx, Ross, Hobby Lobby and the like and gathering what we could in such a short amount of time and getting it all put in place.

We painted the master bedroom Benjamin Moore Shaker Beige, brought the furniture up, and then hung our awesome mirrors, placed the quirky lamps, and made the bed.

Mirrors from World Market

Sadly, I had to catch a flight back home, so I wasn't able to stay for the installation of the drapes and the shelf to go under the arched window or to paint the master bath and get that put back together.  I am hoping for pictures of that soon.

Angie and I had been posting things on Pinterest before I got out there, and I updated it a bit to reflect what we actually used as well as the tutorials for painting the furniture.

I have to boast about my host and hostess for a moment.  When I arrived in Denver, there on my bed was a 2 Liter of Diet Dr. Pepper, ear plugs, and a fancy face washing thing.  Despite arriving late in the evening, Angie made me a delicious meal.  The following day I was coughing and had a runny nose and no voice.  That night Angie insisted I take an Ambien and get rest.  It was exactly what I needed (although even 1/2 a pill had me quite loopy the next day).  She brought me breakfast in bed at 8:45am (I don't know the last time I slept solidly for that long).  I was treated so well and I came home feeling 95% better.  It was exactly what this sick mommy needed.  Rest, decorating therapy and lots and lots of talking with Angie.  I am so blessed to call Adam and Angie family.