Master Bedroom: First Look

One of the last rooms to be worked on in our house has been the master bedroom. That doesn't mean that the rest of the house is done, not by any means! Just that every other room has had a first go, but I hadn't even scraped the stickers off the switch plate in our bedroom!
Without further ado, BEFORE:
These are from the extreme-before group as in "before we actually owned the house". (a.k.a. taken during the inspection.)

This was the son's room, and since Hubby and I are too tall to safely enter bed on that side of the room, we switched to the other end.

AFTER:

Our clean, calming sanctuary! The paint is actually a can I had leftover from the grey living room wall debacle, called Moondance by Olympic. After using about 7 cans of Olympic in different rooms I've finally figured out that it coats best if you brush it on. Pain in the arse, but hey, if it saves money!
The color itself is sort of like mother-of-pearl. It's a pale grey base with tones of pink and purple and silver underneath that come out in different light. I love it.

Having the bed positioned as it is means it looks right at the built-in bookcase, which has been a challenge to keep visually pleasing. I'm thinking about making a curtain for the bottom shelves to hide the clutter, but for now I just focus on the top shelf:

Which is easy enough to keep clear if I shove everything onto a lower shelf!
The lamp on the nightstand:

Is another inherited item from Mom's move. I've been eying it for years, and finally convinced her to give it to me about 6 hours into day one of three! It's hard to see in the picture, but there's mother-of-pearl inset into the aged brass shade, so it goes PERFECTLY with the new paint job!

The other lamp:

is actually a wind chime that I picked up on the roadside in India that just happened to have a wire sized hole in the top! I am hoping to upgrade to a nicer version of this same thing at some point (it's Capiz shells,) if I find one I'm willing to pay the price for!

And my window treatments:

I am absolutely in LOVE with my window treatments! SO much better than the paper blinds the previous owners left all over the house. They are the definition of simplicity, and really kismet. Let me explain...

I knew I wanted bamboo blinds and white sheer curtains. But have you tried to buy those things lately? Either of them? Bamboo shades have gone from simple inexpensive window coverings to trendy blinds stores everywhere charge $40 apiece for! No way I'm paying almost $200 for window shades!
And sheer curtains- do you know how much people are charging for sheer COTTON curtains, if you can even find cotton? The only true cotton sheers (and sheers really ought to be a natural material because when light filters through a synthetic it reveals those awful wiggly lines all over) I could find at all were at Target for $20-30 a panel. HECK NO.

Anyway, after I'd been searching for about a month, I had an epiphany: The Christmas Tree Shop! I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before, I'm there all the time for unscented candles and other sundries, but there you are.
The punchline: Bamboo and sea grass blinds $16.99 apiece. White cotton sheer curtains 84" long, $3.99 apiece.
YUP, you read right, $3frickin'99 per panel!!!
Ok, so I'm a little over-excited about those curtains.
Maybe a lot over-excited; I bought every single 84" long curtain they had in white. I now have four extra. Which I am SURE I will need soon. Maybe for that bookcase...

I still need to paint the trim a pure white (it's off white now), and redo those floors. Also think I'll white out and antique the dressers (which I didn't show you because they're on the unfinished end of the room!) A bed frame would be a nice thing, if I can find one I like... and I'm going to make a bed-spread inspired by this photo I found on The Beach Cottage's Inspiration Board.

Isn't that divine? Love the monogrammed pillows, too... ok, I love all of it!

But for now even just the paint job and new window covers have made the room feel completely new!
To see some more wonderful transformations, go check out Metamorphosis Monday with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!