Out came the paint can, the hammer, the pleading puppy dog eyes....

So I, um, convinced Hubby to help me tackle some the master bedroom today, which has needed attention since the day we moved in. Let's see what the previous owner's decor did for it:

Hmmmmm......

Okaaaaay.....

Well, my decor didn't help much....won't even bother to post pics, just let it suffice to know we hadn't done a thing to it, except take down the ridiculous lace panel and put in our mismatched, lackluster bedroom furniture. Walls stayed a non-descript taupey blah and trim is still dark wood.

Last week I went thru my fabric stash and decided to sew up a duvet cover out of some brushed cotton twill I had....'tis a warm shade of brown. Today I cut 18in sections out of white twill to make the bed skirt. BTW, I hate making bedskirts...the last one I resorted to attaching to the box springs with duct tape. A year later that thing is still attached and no one's the wiser. My 92 year old gramma who was quite the seamstress in her day about fell out of her rocking chair when I mentioned my 'method'. Anyway, I plan to gather the new white skirt and actually attach it to a fitted sheet over the box spring. But I might be tempted to just use the tape again if it gives me any grief :o) Want proof?

Ahem. Anyway, one whole wall is two closets, with those annoying doors that go either one way or the other so you can only see half of the contents inside at a time (see previous 'before' pics). Down they came, up went some white cotton twill panels on a couple shower curtain rods hidden behind a wood molding. Used my handy-dandy steamer to get the wrinkles out after a wash in hot water to shrink them. They look ok. I'm not wild about them. Think I need another pair of panels to fill them out a bit. And I need to sew them all together to make one long panel that can be pushed to the side. Mr. Steamer is my friend.

I also scored a 1 in vinyl miniblind in the clearance dept. of Lowe's almost the exact right length and had a friendly customer service rep shave off the few extra inches so I have a perfect fit. (Don't you love pushing those red buttons that call the entire store's attention to you? "Customer needs assistance in.....") Originally $40, I got mine for $16. Yes, I'm happy. I'm actually going to use the tutorial I found on My Friend Cheryl's blog to make it into a roman shade for over the bed. She's not my friend yet...that's the name of her awesome blog, though, and I hope to 'meet' her in the blogsphere soon....and here's my new Levlor mini blind:

Then, I made hubby hang all manner of things on the wall....and I attached new pulls on my freshly painted dresser I got off Craig's list. I'm using my gramma's old sewing cabinet for my jewelry box and hung some hooks above for necklaces. You gotta see this thing. It's authentically 'shabby' as she antiqued it herself back in the day. I ain't touching it. I also painted the trim on the $20 mirror I got at a local secondhand shop, and was tickled to find out an old shelf I had just fits over the top. Some pictures here and there, and another rack of hooks I got in last year's Hob Lob garden dept clearance for pj's, robes, clothes not ready for the hamper....which reminds me, I need to get some pretty pj's to hang up there!

Lastly, I'm painting the old entertainment center we use for storage and houses a little bitty tv. It's really cottagey and my quilts and storage baskets look neato in it. Plus it's tallish and wide, but doesn't stick out too far. All my furniture is smallish because my rooms are smallish. Which means I get great deals on used, 'out of date' pieces that usually just need a coat of paint. Pic is blurry because I forgot to take a 'before' pic and I snapped a picture in the middle of my first coat...it had been a pale green, pretty, but not the right shade. This is, by the way, the 3rd time I've painted this beast. :o) I'll hang some pretty white linen in the window area on the left, and some baskets and stuff in the 'tv' section.

The only thing I haven't attacked yet is the actual wall and trim color. I have the paint (Forest 3 from Laura Ashley at Lowe's for the walls, Woodlawn Lace from Valspar at Lowe's for the trim). I'm hoping to get that tackled this coming week. I'll post 'after' pics as soon as it's done...hopefully by the end of this week!