Inspiration: Chalkboards

Yet again I find myself at the mercy of my guestroom. I h.a.t.e. this room. I have redecorated this room 3 times in 5 years. It never looks the way I want it to. I make the mistake of hurrying the process and do quick fixes that I end up hating in the long run. It drives Erik crazy because he says it is a waste because the room doesn't get used- except to hold our backpacking gear.

**Side note: why do house guests that are male and under the age of 30 sleep on the couch and not a bed??

Anyway, upcoming house guests are the motivation behind my latest itch to get the room in shape. I am working on the tiniest of budgets so whatever I do has to be cheap and a DIY project. I have wanted to update my childhood dresser and give the bed a headboard. Both involve some paint and labor but I have a week so I think it is possible. After searching the web I found these awesome inspiration pictures for the headboard dilemma:

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One day when the room houses a little one, a chalkboard is a must in my eyes, so this could easily be adapted later on when the double bed is no longer. Plus I love the idea of guests leaving us a message. Heading to Ben Moore for some paint! Wish me luck that Erik doesn't flip... :)

Getting it Straight

Anyone who has a duvet has experienced this dilemma, guaranteed. You are so sleepy and ready to crash for the night, you hop in bed, get ready to pull the covers up and you grab... nothing. You reach for the comforter and you pull up a duvet cover. This is because your comforter inside has slipped down to the bottom of the duvet that hangs over the end of the bed. It is awful a lumpy bottom- that isn't good in any situation. Bed, Bath and Beyond to the rescue.

I found these life-saver clips at B,B & Y on the recommendation of my sister Becky. They clip the corners of the comforter and duvet cover together to ensure that they never do part, until the next wash.

So I took my comforter out of the cover, and put the cover in the washing machine for a good cleaning. When the dryer buzzed I popped it out, got my clips, and was ready to go... but, when I put my hand inside the duvet cover I discovered an amazing surprise: my West Elm duvet cover already came equipped with ties!!

Finally someone realized the heartache! I went through all the tugging and pulling daily to find out that I had the solution the whole time. I never wanted another duvet because of this problem, but duvets seem to be the only stylish solutions to bedding these days. They don't make cute comforters unless you are 12. And when I fell in love with my organic cotton pin-tuck duvet I had to have it, little did I know that it was a smart duvet!

So I turned the cover inside out, tied the comforter in, flipped it through and was good to go! Thank you West Elm for being REALISTIC, and making my life much EASIER. It's the only way to go.

*Note: the clips were not returned, they have found a lovely new home with Lesley, next door- sadly Dwell has not jumped on the tie bandwagon. No one's perfect, right?

Sweet Dreams

Guest Room Update

The Guest Room redo is still rolling but I wanted to give you another peak.

The To Do List still includes: refinishing the existing dressers, re-covering a lamp shade, and making some decorative pillows with punches of red for the bed. But it has come a long way from what it looked like when we first moved in:

The golden paint color was a leftover color from the previous house. I switched it for a warmer brown. The curtains were updated with higher hung Vivian curtains from Ikea. And the boring flush mount light was replaced with the more natural textured fixture, also from Ikea. I'll have more on the other details that were added including a How-To on the pillows I'm working on.

But what do you think of the changes so far?

Design Help: Paint

{ courtesy of HGTV.com }

Paint can be one of the best and quickest fixes when it comes to design in a room. It can completely change the feeling of the room for about $30. But how do you choose your paint colors? What color schemes work best for each room? Here are my tips for finding the best wall color for your space:

1. Pick the major pieces in the room FIRST. A couch, duvet, and even art should come first. They will be the building blocks for the rest of the design.
2. Then look to the color family you are working with. Do you have mostly warm colors (red, orange, yellow) or cool colors (green, blue, purple)? If you are leaning towards red, look for green as bold accents- they are complements. As are blue and orange, and purple and yellow.
3. Finish is next. Matte, and satin are good for living rooms, dining rooms, and bed rooms. While semi and high gloss are for kitchens and baths due to the splash factor.
4. Now you are ready to pick the color. Again referrence your major pieces in the room. If you are working with a dark leather couch, a lighter tone would create the best contrast. A bright orange painting would work with a lighter blue tone. Contrast is key.
5. Because paint can be ANY color, think of color matching too. Have a bed sheet that is the perfect sea green? Take it to your home improvement store and have them match it. You need an area about the size of a quarter for a color match.

Those are my tips, but HGTV also has some great ideas when picking your bedroom colors. Go check them out!

copyright Simply Dwell

Rate it!

Since moving in to our home about 2 1/2 years ago, I was ready for a fresh update to our master bedroom. It started out with milk chocolate brown walls- I love saturated colors in bedrooms = very cozy- with ivory and celery green accents. But it was moving to far into 'brown world' for me. So I wanted to punch it up a bit. 

I painted the walls a deep navy blue and added some fun accessories. I really liked the final result.

But you never know if you just like something, or if it really is nicely done, that's what HGTV is for! I posted our room on the Rate My Space page to get other's opinions. Go check it out here! Rate My Space is a great place to find ideas for decorating your own place too!

 © Simply Dwell