When we built our house, which was ten years ago now, I was dead set on buying a matching bedroom set. I can’t say I was deprived growing up and through my life, but a matching bedroom furniture set was something I hadn’t ever had. Even though finances were tight with all of the expenses (and extra unexpected expenses) of building a home I was dead set on having a new, matching bedroom set to go with our new home.
Styles and trends changed and my tastes followed and a little over a year ago I sold that bedroom set to replace it with mismatched flea market pieces. I would describe my current decor style as a combination of modern farmhouse and shabby chic (more modern farmhouse). I love vintage pieces that show wear and exhibit character. I have to admit that five years ago I would have turned my nose up to these pieces, but now I adore their charm. Last year my BFF was in town during a local flea market. I was SO excited to take her along on my hunt for new treasures, certain that she would enjoy it as much as I do. Her response, “What did you do with my best friend?!”
West Elm Euro Shams // Navy Velvet King Shams // Navy Throw // Blush Throw
When I revamped our bedroom last year with my conglomeration of flea market treasures it included a matching set of nightstands that had been pained white, an old buffet that we use as our tv console, two antique Craigslist dressers that I painted myself and a cool metal barrel that we use as a side table of sorts. I also built a headboard with an antique door (whose patina makes me swoon) and a platform bed frame to go with it. I was chasing the sea foam/pastel teal color trend at that time and used that color spectrum in accents around the room, like pillows, throw blankets and wall decor. I even pained one of the antique dressers this color.
A few weeks ago I started getting an itch to change things up. Time for a refresh! It took me no time at all (and only a small amount of money) to update our look from a beachy, coastal chic vibe to what I believe is a more sophisticated, classic feel (yet trendy at the same time – is that possible?).
I love the pictures in magazines and online of the perfect bedding with the gazillion layers and multiple duvet covers and coverlets, but I have a very practical-minded husband that can only tolerate so much impracticality! The time it takes to remake the bed each morning with all of those layers just isn’t worth it for me. It makes me crazy to try to readjust the down comforter inside a duvet cover every single day. For us, a standard comforter is the way to go.
I started searching for a new comforter set. I thought I would need to update our comforter to change the feel of our room, but after some extensive searching and not finding anything that jumped out at me I changed direction, realizing that the comforter set we have is a great neutral starting point to build from. I changed out the shams on the king-sized pillows and the blanket at the foot of the bed to navy options. *Styling tip: I used two pillows inside of each king sham for a fuller, more plush feel. I then updated the neutral cream colored euro shams with these pretty blush ones from West Elm and added an additional throw blanket at the foot of the bed in a blush hue to tie it all together and add a softer, ‘lived in’ vibe.
I built this mirrored case around a standard mirror that I purchased for about $20. Inside of it hangs all of my necklaces on the top half, while the bottom half holds several shelves of nail polish. I built this out of necessity as storage space became an issue for these two items.
For the seating area I updated the rug to one that incorporates blue hues. I love how soft this rug is under my feet, an added bonus since I ordered it online and had no idea it would be extra soft:) Having a rug in this little nook really helps to set that part of the room apart from the bed area and give it a feeling of purpose and belonging. Next I updated the flea market barrel by dry brush painting it with a navy-ish blue color (I had originally painted it a sea foam hue). I like how the underneath color still peaks through to make the piece feel visually lighter. I also grabbed a pink scarf from my closet and added it to the chair like a throw, as well as this fabulously textured pillow that has a very subtle pink hue.
Round Blue Area Rug // Textured Throw Pillow
You can still feel the beachy/shabby chic vibe on this wall. I am still trying to decide what shades to paint the wall art, so for now they will stay as is. The door leaning up against the wall on the far left, I believe came off an old carousel. Be still my heart, the patina on that piece is AMAZING! The Dish receiver for our TV is hidden underneath the buffet. I built a drop down shelf that attaches to the bottom side of the buffet for the receiver to sit on so that it is hidden and there are not any cords visible.
The most time consuming part of this refresh was the west wall of the room. Two big changes on this wall: repainting the dresser and building a new barn door. This was the dresser that had been painted in the teal spectrum. I will be doing another post in the near future to provide more details about this project. The same goes for the barn door. For now, I hope you enjoy how pretty they both turned out:) I styled this area by adding the chunky knit merino wool blanket that I got for Christmas thrown over a folding chair, as well as another blush pink scarf from my closet to help tie it all together.
Chunky Knit Merino Wool Blanket
Side note: After seeing these blankets all over Pinterest, Instagram and blogs I really thought I needed to have one. Although it is very pretty, I don’t know that it was worth the investment. They are expensive and at the same time, rather fragile. The wool easily gets nappy and the stitches/knitting (not sure what the technical term is for this) gets easily misshapen with any use. And it’s super heavy!! It’s pretty much eye candy and nothing more. If you are considering investing in one I hope this was helpful for you.
That’s it for today! What do you think of the navy and blush color combination? Feminine and masculine at the same time?
