Overdue Update on Master Bedroom

I have been promising a reveal of my master bedroom for some time now. The delay is several things of which I am sure you don't want to hear all my excuses, however the main one is I have simply run out of money to complete the room. The main part such as the shutters behind the bed, side tables and bed linen, are now in place so I thought I had better post an update.

A Colourful Bedroom Makeover

Even though I live in neutral surroundings with the odd splash of colour, I adore colour and if I had a daughter most definitely her bedroom would be colourful. Jennifer of the The Pink Pagoda created exactly that for her 15 year old daughter when she took part in the recent 'One Room Challenge', set by fellow blogger Linda of Calling It Home. The objective was to complete a room makeover in 6 weeks and Jennifer chose her daughters bedroom for this challenge. While visiting Jennifer's blog I discovered she is also a fellow artist and her colourful images of ginger jars and modern chinoisere are available as prints at her Etsy store. To tempt you over to Jennifer's blog I have included only a couple of the lovely images of her completed room. Please visit The Pink Pagoda to see more beautiful images and find out more about the items Jennifer incorporated such as her bed linen, throw and the gorgeous painting above the bed which Jennifer had privately commissioned.

Images above by Albertina of Mimosa Lane

Jennifer's love of chinoiserie can be seen in her colourful artwork below... 

Visit Jennifer's store to see her full range of colourful prints

Recently I re-invented my previous studio into a guest bedroom which was not part of this challenge but you may enjoy the post if you love 'before and after' images. If you only love colour you may want to visit my Pinterest board on Colourful interiors for more inspiration.

To see all 60 rooms in this clever challenge, you can visit...here.

Lee oxo

Looking For Some Bedroom Inspiration

Looking for some fresh ideas to update my own bedroom I came across some great images. I featured my own bedroom last year when I re-created a French Country look, if you didn't see last years makeover you can see it "here".  My quilt was floral in the makeover but now I'm looking for a more neutral look and inspired by some of the rooms below...

And for those of you that like colour and pattern....

To colour or not to colour, what's your choice?

All images above from House to Home

Sharing this week with:

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Show and tell Friday at My Romantic Home

At The Picket Fence

Have a great weekend

Bedroom Makeover - French Cottage Look

Well, the sun finally showed its face Friday, I wanted to get the photos completed of my bedroom makeover so I dived in while the going was good. The light wasn't  perfect but without professional equipment or waiting till mid Summer,  I had to make the most of the natural light.  I easily took well over 150 shots (am I a pedantic perfectionist?), thank goodness for digital cameras! Although I have to repeat I am disappointed with the light.

Colours above are not quite true, the fabric for the Roman blind is more beige than grey.

The pair of weathered French shutters are from Yvonne Saunders Antiques.  Because they were only 500m wide I chose to have a space between to create better balance to the Queen size bed. Originally I was going to use an old door behind the bed but the bedroom is not large and I fell in love with the colour of the shutters. The great thing is if decide to change the look of the room, I can simply get the shutters stripped back to the natural wood.

All bed linen is Wallace Cotton the floral quilt and Euro pillows are Paridiso at Wallace Cotton.

The Paradiso quilt creates a cottage look to the room and compliments the shutters perfectly. If I'd wanted to give the illusion of more space, then I'd choose all white bedlinen with a little blue brought in with Euro pillows and scatter pillows. However, I have gone for a cosy, cottage look and Paradiso was perfect. 

I took advantage of the space between the shutters and hung a wall sconce for added interest.  However, I could have left it bare or added a pair of small vertically hung prints. Now looking at this photo it is a little out of kilter so I will have to move it a fraction.

The white seersucker duvet cover and pillowslips in cotton percale are  also Wallace Cotton.

The Roman blinds are beige and white linen.

White seersucker adds texture.

The Lamps are white washed with a natural beige linen shade that tone with the Roman blinds. 

I love the crackled candlestick holder, it reminds me of pretty birds eggs. The pretty cup and saucer are Royal Albert and part of a miss-matched collection of cups and saucers my mother gave me.  I saw a set recently very similar to this and it was $170 for a cup, saucer and plate!! Maybe I should be displaying it behind glass rather than drinking out of it.

These Gardenia heart shaped soaps came in their own little draw string bag. The antique silver sweet dish is a family heirloom and belonged to my grandmother.

These stainless steel tripod tables were originally purchased for my living room, however, they work well as bedside tables. Keeping it simple can sometimes prove best alongside a focal point such as the shutters.

The cross is a recent find in a lovely little shop called Distinctive Linens in St Heliers, Auckland. 

I love the black/grey weathered appearance of the cross, it compliments the shutters beautifully. I feel solid black would have been a little too harsh.

I bought this lovely little box to put beside my bed to drop my earrings in at night. I loved the french writing.  It was only NZ$12 from Romantique a NZ shop full of beautiful accessories and furniture from France.

The Before shot is prior to buying the house, a black and white theme with grey roller blinds. However the white walls and woodwork had a pink undertone which I wanted to do away with so I had the walls repainted 1/4 parchment and  the woodwork Alabaster both Resene colours.  I repositioned my own bed to face the smaller window.  The bedroom is actually wider than it appears in the first photo.




Addendum: March 2012
Since I originally posted my makeover, I have been thrilled to receive a "Rooms award" from Better Homes & Gardens.

It is now 2016 and this room has had a total re-vamp to Hamptons/Caribbean style, see the images and read all about it here

Bedroom Makeover - Wonderful Headboard Idea

Well, the sun finally showed its face yesterday, so armed with my camera I took loads of shots of my bedroom makeover and currently selecting the best to post on Monday. Meanwhile I'm sharing another makeover also based around a unique headboard idea. Becky has a lovely blog called "Buckets of Burlap"and has kindly allowed me to share these makeover photos with you.


Becky's new headboard is made from lovely weathered tongue and groove barn wood which her husband cut randomly and screwed onto two battens. The gorgeous lamps and chandelier along with the white bedlinen soften the appearance of the boards, creating a romantic atmosphere.  Becky has lots of lovely photos I'm sharing with you today.  I also put together a "before & after" shot for you.

Thank you Becky of Buckets Of Burlap for sharing these lovely photos with us.

Hope your having a wonderful sunny day wherever 

you are in the World.

Lee x

Dreaming of a Beautiful French Inspired Bedroom makeover.

Maybe Rugby is not so popular after all, looking at my "stats" on Friday's post. My post on the opening of the Rugby World Cup did not make the "most popular posts" list and had only a few views. I guess not surprising as my viewers are scattered around the world and probably have little interest in rugby or little understanding of the fuss we make of it over here.  I even heard today that possibly Auckland rate payers may be having to pay for the train debacle when trains came to a grinding halt and passengers were not able to get to see the opening ceremony.  So getting back on "track" so to speak, (excuse the pun), I have decided not to let the rugby post linger, draw some inspiration from the following rooms and quickly replace the rugby book with bedroom ideas instead.

Credit - Country Living 

 
photo credit House to Home 

This beautiful bedroom is by Dreamy Whites a lovely blog with an on-line shop.  Dreamy whites have some beautiful antique grain sack pillows/cushions as seen above.

I think the idea of old doors behind the bed is fabulous. I had started to look around myself for some similar doors after seeing the idea above but not yet found any in NZ that would work as well. However, I did have an idea of using a really nice screen in the same way behind the bed such as the ones below. Both of these would work well depending on the style you want to achieve.

This would look great as a headboard in a bedroom with a "white" theme. This particular screen is from Furnish.co.uk

This gorgeous antique screen with decorative toile design would be amazing as a headboard

Once my room is complete I will post a before and after photo for you.

Have a wonderful day.

Lee x