Master Bedroom Musings

I've been contemplating our master bedroom again. While nothing is likely to change in the near future, I do have plans for if/when we next move. In fact, I've just created a new Pinterest board dedicated solely to Pretty Bedrooms (which were previously bundled together with Pretty Spaces in general)...have a gander.

It's not that I don't like our master bedroom as it is. I do. I just don't absolutely love it. Mainly because of things that cannot, at present, be changed. For example: I love our bedroom furniture set, but if I had to choose it again, I definitely wouldn't have gone matchy-matchy. Need a reminder? Here you go (check out the big reveal here)...

We're thinking about selling our King size bed in favor of a Queen and possibly the night stands too. They're lovely, but very large, and again there's that whole matchy-matchy thing that I don't love going on.

There do remain a few elements of this space that I absolutely adore though. One is the striped wall behind the bed.

Another is the lamps, in all their golden shiny loveliness. Actually, I love the lamps so much, I made them the jumping off point for a new design board. I also looked over all the bedrooms I love on Pinterest and a lot of the ones I was really drawn to for a master had neutral colour palettes. So, in light of that, this is what I came up with...

I kind of love it. Actually, scratch the "kind of." I just want to snuggle up here with a good book and a cup of tea - I think it's calming and gorgeous. As you can see, there are my lovely lamps and the dresser we already have, and you might also recognise the bottom mirror from our living room.

I love the two side tables pictured. They're inspiration more than anything - I'm thinking I could thrift similar pieces for less moolah, if I ever get the chance to look. And that chair. Sigh.


As for if/when this will ever happen...we've probably only got another year left in our lovely loft (our landlord is looking to sell) so maybe in the next place, wherever that might be.


Here's the source list...
Fabrics - Laura Ashley (Nina Floral/Cottonwood/Erin Floral) and P Kaufman (Cross Section Charcoal)
Wooden Side Table - Oka
Metal Side Table - Crate & Barrel
Rose Pillow - West Elm
Gold Pillow - Urban Outfitters (no longer available)
Round Mirror - Z Gallerie
Lamps - Pier 1
Chair - similar at World Market
Dresser - Pottery Barn

Linking this post to:
Feathered Nest Friday Link Party @ French Country Cottage
Mood Board Link Party @ Design Your Dwelling

An English Granary

I came across this gorgeous property thanks to my Dad, who has been perusing properties in Norfolk, England, where he grew up and where a lot of our family still lives. It's on the market at £499,000 (about $775,000) and it is too pretty not to share!

The four bedroom house is a converted granary built in 1808. It sits above a boat dock, which is visible through a glass panel in the sitting room. Sadly none of the pictures show that feature, but you can check out the gorgeous deck (staged very nicely, I might add).

There are exposed beams throughout the house, and they've kept the decor very neutral. I'd like to see more colour personally, but it does work well to keep it light and airy.

Check out the painted brick and wood paneling, giving the white walls texture. And that location is just gorgeous!

You can see more details and photos for this listing on RightMove. Enjoy!

Thanks Gorgeous Shiny Things!

So today started out on a rather good note, when I found out I had won Danika's Rugs USA Giveaway over at Gorgeous Shiny Things (she has a fantastic blog and is one of the geniuses behind Overlays, both of which you have to check out if you haven't already). I won this beauty:

{Modern Damask Sand Rug by Rugs USA}

Isn't it pretty? I love it. But there's more - Danika contacted me again to say that the 4x6 size I won wasn't available but they could send me a 5x8 instead. Do you know how awesome that is? I'll tell you - it's super awesome, because it means I can replace the Ikea Havbro in our living room, which may or may not be covered in wee (thanks to the dog). And coffee (thanks to me...oops).

This is an old picture, but you can see the Ikea rug. It's nice enough and it was cheap, which is why I chose it, but imagine it replaced by damask loveliness instead...

Yes, that is El Fluffster in the background, the primary culprit behind the destruction of the Havbro. It looks okay in pictures, but there are areas where it's permanently wrinkled and still slightly stained from all the cleaning we had to do to it. In his defense, it happened after he had spent 3 weeks boarding in a doggy daycare where, apparently, it was the done thing to pee indoors. That took a bit of retraining, but he hasn't done it since, so hopefully the new rug should be safe.

Update: Apparently there was a mix up over which size rug was available, and it turns out they are sending the 4x6. So the Havbro will have to stay for now. I'm thinking the Damask could work very nicely for a little girl's nursery, though, or maybe even in our dining area. I'll see when it arrives - all still very exciting!

In other news, I should have a few projects to show you soon. I have been reorganizing our small kitchen to make the storage (or lack thereof) work much better for us, and we should be finding out whether our next baby is a boy or a girl this week (which I am beyond excited about), which means nursery decorating can finally go ahead. Well actually I still need to do the Big Boy Room, but that should give me a bit of a kick in the derriere. I'll keep you posted!

Nursery Design Board

Last week, I showed you all the pretty ideas I have for the nursery should this little one turn out to be a girl. Well, I've put them together as an idea board...

I found a substitute rug for the Pottery Barn Kids one in my original design - this one from Dash & Albert. I think I love it even more, and the best part is that it's quite a lot cheaper - $104 for a 4x6 (I think the PB one was $300).

Speaking of the original design (in case you're not sick of seeing this board!), here it is again...

As I've mentioned, I wanted to keep a similar feeling but without the wall color. I think it works, although there are a few things in the original design that I couldn't squeeze into #2 that I probably still want to keep - namely the decal, some of the artwork and that cute little owl lamp. The only reason I took the lamp out is because I couldn't find it online anymore, but I'm going to do a bit more searching before I give up on that one. And the crib might end up staying wood-toned, because I'm not sure how safe it would be to paint a crib yet. I do love the turquoise though!

Now I'll shut up about it for at least 3 weeks until we know for sure whether we're actually having a girl. Be prepared for a lot of similar idea shooting in more manly colors if it turns out to be a boy!

Linking this post to:

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage