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Monday, December 12, 2011

48

Basement Progress: Bedroom Switcharoo

In the spirit of both "keeping it real" and "real time blogging", I thought I would give you a glimpse into the progress {or lack there of} in our recent Master Bedroom/Guest Bedroom switcharoo.

Try to stay with me as I confuse myself and all of you...

If you have been following me for awhile, you may remember that once upon a time we finished our basement, and had a Master Bedroom:


and a Guest Bedroom:


I look back at these pictures and realize how much my style has evolved and changed over the last year and a half.  In fact, it makes me chuckle a little...

Then our lower level flooded, causing us to relocate to the upper level for over a year while we renovated.  Naturally, the hubs and I took over the previous guest room.


We tried to use most of what we had, gave the walls a new coat of paint and made some tweaks to the space to make it a haven in the middle of renovation chaos.


And as I mentioned recently, our renovation of the lower level {new floors, trim and doors}, was complete enough for us to return back to our original surroundings!

Because the guest room now has a fabulous closet desk {which is staying for our guests and as our own personal retreat}, we are keeping our previous master bedroom bedding and belongings in that room since it all works together in harmony!


We never had nightstands in our guest room previously, so I just popped a stool in there for now, until I can do something better.


And the headboard got a quick face lift from the original guest bedroom headboard.  Just a quick coat of white paint, and some new clearance fabric and it feels like a whole new piece!


Which gives us a guest bedroom before and after that looks like this:


However, because we used our master bedroom bedding upstairs, we have a brand new blank slate downstairs!


I would love to add a chandelier.  The hubs said, "No stinkin' way!"  How do I convince him?  Although maybe practical, I just don't love ceiling fans...



Before and after?


So much potential!

Here is my current master bedroom inspiration:

{source}
Love the symmetry, wall detail and mirror!

{source}
But wall paneling and gallery style framed artwork is pretty fantastic as well!

{source}
This bedding is fab.  I really want to add a subtle grellow to the space, this would be the perfect way!
 
There you have it!  An up to date update.  Stay tuned as we continue to make both of the rooms feel more "finished", and of course, on a budget!

Anyone been working on making over a bedroom lately?  Where are you finding your inspiration?  Anyone doing some last minute guest room updates to get ready for holiday entertaining?



48 comments:

  1. I am also working on our master bedroom. We are in the middle and I've lost inspiration and time at the moment. Maybe after Christmas. I also have pinned that same first bedroom, it's simple yet beautiful! Good luck, love the bedding with the yellow stripes, so fun! PS: I was honored to have my cloffice shown along with yours on The Daily Muse blog on Friday. :)

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  2. Looking good! I like the "afters" in the guest bedroom. I can't wait to see what you do with your master bedroom - the inspiration photos are all so different but all so fabulous!

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  3. Hi Jen - I love your blog!! I have a question... is your bedroom in the basement (when you say lower level, I think basement)? How do you deal with being on a seperate level from the kids? We are debating making the attic into a master bedroom so they the kids would be on the main floor of our ranch alone. I would like your insight on how this is working for you. We have a 4 year old boy and a 1 year old girl.

    Thanks!

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  4. Love all the changes! Where are the two beds from? Did you make the guest bed yourselves?

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  5. Love the upgrade to the headboard & new linens. The guestroom looks so much brighter. Your guests may never leave.

    Does your hubby like the fan because he actually uses it or is it because chandeliers are girly? Maybe you can both compromise and create a chandelier fan :)

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  6. @Jen - Yes, lower level/basement are the same, I just like how lower level sounds better, lol. It was hard to move at first, in fact, our dressing room off to the right of our bedroom is where our youngest slept for a long time until he was big enough to wander the house on his own {he is now 5}. Being that the kids are 10, 7 and 5, I am OK that they are on their own level, we can hear everything from below {pitter patter of feet when they are walking, chitter chatter, etc...} My only fear is fire, but we go over our fire plan frequently and pray that never happens.

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  7. @Lizzy,

    We did make the guest bedroom headboard ourselves long ago. The middle panel is just plywood with batting and fabric, the outer edge is just framed out with wood and then painted. The other bed is a couple of years old now, we had purchased it at Ashley Furniture Homestore.

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  8. I love your guest room!! The headboard and mirror are make the room!

    I just pinned a grellow bedroom on pinterest. I love their color combination of gray, black, white and grellow. :)

    http://pinterest.com/pin/190840102929468288/

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  9. @Bella -

    He claims he uses it, but I don't like it so it really is never on {I am a freeze baby, and in the lower level, it's cold year round}. He also said we can use it to push the heat down from the ceiling, but yeah, that has never been done either, lol. I guess he is just wanting to keep it just in case...? :)

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  10. @Shabby Sheikh,

    That is fantastic inspiration! Thanks so much for sharing!

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  11. Jen, such pretty changes. I LOVE the updated headboard in the guest room. Is the frame of it actually connected to the plywood covered part? Does that make sense? We are tackling something similar for our bedroom. I love your PB lamps as well.

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  12. Thanks Courtney! Yep, we used an air nailer to fasten the plywood w/batting to the wooden frame.

    xoxo my friend!
    Jen

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  13. I love the progress you've made - your taste in decor is so fun and fresh! Work on the hubs - he'll come around eventually ; )

    Here is our Guest Room progress - we've just purchased a new home and it's my first project:

    http://house-four.blogspot.com/

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  14. I love the colors of your new guest room! Really freshens up the place - almost spa like :-)

    My hubby is also a big fan of ceiling fans (he installed them in the bedrooms when he 1st bought our house, before we were married).


    Since he dosn't care what colors I choose to decorate with (I'm even considering changing our master bedroom curtains to pink, hehe - gotta find a fabulous print fabric first), I figure it's fair enough for him to keep the ceiling fans. Plus, I admit I do enjoy the circulated air in the room....I just cuddle up under the down comforter if I get cold.

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  15. I love option 2 for the new look.

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  16. I've been working on my master bedroom as well. I just finished making an upholsterd headboard and tweeking some bedding. Of course Pinterest is a major inspiration! I absolutely LOVE the turquoise and white bedding you have! I'd love to know where you got it. I love how light and fresh you decorate, which is also an inspiration!

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  17. Looks great so far Jen! I can't wait to see what you do with it! No doubt it will be fabulous!

    BTW - I finally posted my organized pantry!! Woot woot!

    :)

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  18. Your guest room is FAB! (as will be your master when you are done, I am sure).
    The only room redecorating I've been doing is in my dreams (aka olioboard)- but a girl can dream right?
    http://cleansmartsimple.blogspot.com/2011/12/perfect-guest-room.html

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  19. It's interesting how our styles evolve so quickly. I love your rooms! My husband and I are working on our master bedroom (we've been in our house for 2 years and are just now making changes). I was thrilled when I found this bedding (see link below) at Target and realized the stripes are a perfect match to the blue paint we already bought for our master bathroom (the paint is Behr - Harmonious, a muted aqua/blue-green type color). Talk about luck. Another quick question - did I read in another post that you wash all your bedding in hot water? Do you have problems with shrinking, fading, etc? I have a huge fear of ruining expensive things and the tags always say wash cold. Thanks!

    http://www.target.com/p/Fieldcrest-Luxury-Stripe-Duvet-Blue/-/A-12989939

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  20. I love your blog~you are so inspiring and creative. We are moving into our new home the week of Christmas (crazy timing but it was a short sale and we had to wait 8 months for it!) Anyhow the whole house needs to be painted as the previous owner "faux-ed" the whole house. (You can't even imagine!) So I am left feeling totally overwhelmed about picking colors for a whole house?! Anyhow wondering what color you blue-y bedroom is~such a pretty color for a bedroom. Maybe that will help me from painting the whole house beige:) Thanks, Christine

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  21. @Lindsey, I don't think you read that here, I wash my items per the machine/clothing directions. :)

    Love the duvet! Such pretty colors!

    @Christine, Wowzers on the faux walls! I am cheering you on from here as you tackle those! Our lower level bedroom color is Behr's Frozen Pond. We really love it, it's a greenish teally blue gray color {lol, hard to pinpoint} and it's so soothing.

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  22. I recently found your blog and am loving it. It has so many great ideas. I love your new room. I had to chuckle at the ceiling fan deal too. Being in the basement, I don't think it would ever get used much. ;) My basement is cold/cooler year round as well. Funny you should ask about redoing a room. We are in the process of repainting and decorating my almost 5 yr old's room. His room started out as his much older sister's room. It was never repainted. She had chosen to have her room painted blue when we built our house 7 yrs ago. So, now it is becoming a true little boys room. Brown walls. One accent wall - red. The dino bedding/quilt set from Target. I am so excited to get this finished. I am cutting dinos from my cricut to make wall art, taking rocks bought at Michael's and gluing them on a $1 wood frame, figuring out how to make subway wall art. I can envision how I want it to look. I just hope I can pull it off.

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  23. Hi Jen, the guest bedroom looks great, actually amazing!!! I can't wait to see the finished master bedroom because I know it will be amazing!!!!! You have such a GREAT STYLE!!! Can you tell me the paint color in the master? Thank you!!

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  24. Hi Jen,

    I just want you to know that before sending this I checked your source page. I NEED to know where you got your nightstands from. I have my whole body crossed that they are still out there somewhere.

    Background: I have been looking for the perfect nightstands for well over a year now and these are it.

    Fingers-crossed!

    Shelley

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  25. I love the rooms, before and after..so much good stuff on your blog...helping my brain organise all the stuff ina new home!!! I'm with you on the celing fan.. my husband loves them too...well, I like the look of the silvery stainless steel one in above picture :O)

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  26. Next summer I will be doing some changes at my house and you can't not image how much your blog helps me. Thank you.
    Have a great day.

    http://www.atitelavoyacontar.blogspot.com

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  27. I understand the fan debate with your husband I have the same problem. But I did find a happy medium compromise at lowes. And after all marriage is all about compromise. Here is the link:

    http://www.lowes.com/pd_203336-18812-CF552B_4294935508+4294866894_4294937087_?productId=3255500&Ns=p_product_rating|0&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Ceiling%2BFans%2BAccessories_4294935508%2B4294866894_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_rating|0&facetInfo=allen%20+%20roth

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  28. Hey Jen.

    I had the same fight with my husband about my NEED for a chandelier and his WANT of the ceiling fan. Do what I did - make a fandelier.

    http://www.housetweaking.com/2010/10/05/diy-ceiling-fan-upgrade/

    I followed this tutorial and it worked perfectly for me. It looks like we all have the same builder fans as well.

    Jessica

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  29. Oh, wow, the rooms are beautiful, you have a lovely style. You say your style has evolved, but I love both the befores and afters! I can't wait to see what you do in the "new" master bedroom.

    I just don't have the patience for designing and decorating a room, but I do love to admire others' hard work! I have gone for neutral, long-lasting colours and pieces in our master bedroom which will last for many, many years. In fact, everything except the curtains and doona cover have been in the bedroom for 15 years now and still look good (I think!).

    Looking forward to seeing your updates. By the way, I like both ceiling fans and chandeliers, but combining both would definitely be "cringey"! You can make so much of a statement with a lovely chandelier.

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  30. Love the ideas! I also, was not aloud to put a chandelier in the master, so instead I got a fancy white bamboo leaf style ceiling fan. It looks fab!

    http://amominstilettos17.blogspot.com/

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  31. I am in the middle of a master bedroom redo. We are renters and military so we won't be here for long...and I already dread the day I have to leave this bedroom! It took me months to pick out paints colors and I fell in love with two colors so we used them both, on opposite walls. It's amazing the drastic change the paint made. I also spray painted the outlet and switch covers with a brushed silver type color so I didn't have that hideous shiny gold any more. I have been on the hunt for fabulous bed linens but with no luck.

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  32. love the new color on the headboard!!

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  33. Jen - it's looking good. It's fun to see your design taste evolve...I've followed you a long time and it's so fun to see ourselves change as we grow up {older, but I hate to think that}. We have a ceiling fan in our bedroom and it's got really low ceilings so we have one that is similar to the on you posted here but it's snug to the ceiling. Here is the link: http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.com/2011/04/our-master-bedroom-tricks-to-make-it.html

    It's not a big room but we've made it seem bigger, too. We're on the opposite end of the house from our kids and we LOVE the privacy! It's way better and for years I had a monitor in each room, but they are old enough now {12 and 8} and are fine. It's wonderful, isn't it?

    Becky B.
    www.organizingmadefun.com
    Organizing Made Fun

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  34. Gorgeous, your new room looks very pulled together! I am not really any help because no, we aren't doing any room redos right now. Focusing on organizing and taming the wild beast that is kids clothes.

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  35. I am getting ready to move into my new house & out of my parents house where I have lived for a year while my husband has been deployed. I am finding tons of inspiration on pinterest & am currently loving the gray color schemes in a lot of things. We are doing gray and dark teal in our master bath, gray and orange in our master bedroom, and gray, orange, and turquoise in our living room / dining room / kitchen open floor plan! I love your ideas though. I see you have an upholstered headboard. As we are upgrading to a king bed & have never had a headboard I will actually be making my own upholstered headboard for our master bedroom!

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  36. Oh & the lamps in your "new" master are totally the lamps I have to go in my living room except I have them in blue (they may not be exact, but they are very close to yours).

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  37. The fabric you used for the guest bedroom's headboard is the same exact fabric I used for my kitchen curtains! It's such a pretty color - love the transformation so far. :)

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  38. Hello there!
    I just wanted to tell you how much I love, LOVE, LOVE your blog! I was born an organizer by nature and it's one of my favorite things in life. I have already spent lots of time going through some of your older posts and I feel so inspired. I love your practicality combined with simple, beautiful tools to do the job.

    Feel free to pop over to my blog anytime!
    Love,
    Deanne

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  39. I am in the middle of my bedroom redo. It's taken me about two years to get to the point where I could move forward with it. I think Pinterest was the push I needed. So much inspiration. However, I am glad I'm already committed to the direction I'm going before I saw your inspirational pictures. I'd still be in limbo~lol.
    Here's my inspiration-
    http://www.kerrisdaledesign.com/before-and-after/pink-or-blue-a-master-bedroom-redesign/

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  40. Love the bedroom inspiration's!!!! I am a military wife so doing wall color is a no no since were renting out here in Germany. I wanted to ask where do you buy your bedding? I have no idea what or where to shoppe online since everything here is different and i miss my local USA stores. Many online stores don't ship to APO's boo. Thanks for the ideas love your blog...

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  41. Your room switcharoo looks great even though it isn't quite completed. I am excited to see what type of bedding you end up getting.

    I am sure you have already seen this, but on Mini Manor they were blogging about installing and the how-to's of barn door construction-this would be helpful for your downstairs:
    http://www.maillardvillemanor.com/2011/12/barn-door-done.html#comment-form

    Thanks for all of your great blogging, I look forward to reading every weekday!

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  42. Hey Jen. Love the room makeovers. I have the perfect mirror for you - just found it for my master bedroom as well.

    http://attheendofthedrive.blogspot.com/search/label/decorating

    I did a blog post on the before and after photos as well.

    Have a great day!
    Alison

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  43. We have the dreaded ceiling fan in our bedroom. It's just too warm in the summer to not have air circulation, especially on the 2nd floor.

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  44. The new guest room looks lovely.

    I am working (slowly) at putting together our master in grey & yellow with a wee bit of teal as an accent. Here's my colour inspiration board on pinterest. (sorry this isn't creating a link)

    http://pinterest.com/redgor/colour-inspiration-for-master/

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  45. Can you please tell us where you found your master bed? We've been searching, and that would be so perfect.

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  46. I have those West Elm sheets (the yellow) -- super comfy.

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  47. How about a compromise on the ceiling fan? I have seen some really nice looking fans at lowes and other lighting stores. I am not a huge fan of chandeliers and being from the south, ceiling fans are a must but the they can be dull and utilitarian (especially when you live in rental housing (hubby is a Marine so we move every couple of years)

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  48. Gorgeous, your new room looks very pulled together! Ceiling Fans look great. Well done!

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