Mastering the Master Bedroom

My husband and I have been married for 8 years and for over 7 of those years we had a hand-me-down bedroom. It worked and was fine with us. When we moved into our home 7 years ago we decided we wanted to worry about furnishing and decorating the parts of the house that guests saw whenever they came over. And since not too many guests recline on your bed in your bedroom over dinner and drinks, we continuously moved our bedroom to the bottom of the list. But last March we finally put ourselves first and bought our first ever bedroom set. From there we decided to start from scratch, which meant all new paint, bedding, drapes and decor. 

First we bought the furnishings. We shopped around at big chain furniture stores, but ended up buying from a smaller local furniture company. We were very happy working with a family owned business, and got a fantastic deal on great, well made furniture. We got the bed and two nightstands as well as a unique dresser.

After having a very dark bedroom (red and tan) for several years, we wanted to really brighten things up. We painted the walls a very light color of green.

(Note: You can click all pics to enlarge them.)

Can you tell which side of the bed is mine? (And yikes! We need to hide that power cord.)

I love to have fresh flowers around the house. Normally, I like to have white and green flowers in the bedroom, but I had to go with yellow this time. But I kind of like it! Extra pop of color. I also love using old glass carafes as vases. I try to remember a rule that my sister in law taught me (she has an interior decorating background) of arranging items in 3s (Tall, Medium and Short) and in a  triangle formation. A great trick to acheive height when you need it is to use hardback books. Just take the cover off and you have a very classic look. Personal photos (ours are from our wedding) are always great, especially in a personal space like the bedroom. But remember that you can frame other things as well. In the small frame next to the flowers is our table card from some close friends' wedding.

The wall where the dresser is looked sort of empty, so we added sconces to either side. And I put all of our perfume and cologne on a tray...easy access and a pretty display.

The Breakdown:
Furniture: Hooker from Moore's

Bedding: Pottery Barn Outlet

Lamps: Pottery Barn Outlet

Drapes: Bed Bath & and Beyond (With a 20% off coupon! Remember, they never expire)

Sconces: Kohls (During a buy one get one free on lighting, so we also got a great item for our new master bathroom.)

Prints: Ikea (These have been with us through 2 apartments and now our home.) 

Tray for perfume: Micahels (With a 40% off coupon. Available each week in the Sunday paper or you can always fine one online to print out. Never ever go into Micahels, AC Moore or JoAnn's without a coupon...and they all accept each other's coupons.)

Flowers:We get our flowers from the Acme Grocery or Produce Junction, a local produce place. Cheap! The flowers in the pics here cost a total of $8 for 2 bunches, which made a total of 2 large and 2 small bouquets.

We still have a few things to do to the room. (Did you notice the doors to the closet and bathroom? Yep, white trim and beige doors. We'll get to it eventually!) And I still feel like we need a few things here and there to make it a bit more cozy. But all in all, I love our bedroom now and love ending each day reading in my cozy get away!

So, tell me, what is your master bedroom like? Just a place to sleep or a relaxing escape?