Bedroom - Before & After Painting

I've been slowly working on a bedroom re-do and have some progress to share!  This is good readin'., like your favorite trash tv show.  Lots of embarrassment.  Confusion.  Bad choices.  Shame... then redemption.
 
Let's begin with my very first wall color selection ever.  Remember, friends... ever.  So I went crazy... CRAZY town, crazy.  Take-your-top-off and twirl-it-in-the-air kinda' crazy.

BEFORE

It all started innocently enough. A pretty photo from Domino of an office designed by Mary McDonald. It had everything I thought I wanted: personality, modern touches, enough glam for a newlywed gal. It's really a great example, though, of something that didn't translate well into real-life (not mine, that is).

Mary McDonald, featured in Domino Mag, via decorpad

Drumroll, please....

I realized the result was a total joke, but it took some time to come up with another plan. This was about a year ago.  I really never thought these "before" camera shots would end up on the blogosphere.

What, ya want more?  Lucky for you.  We have more blue.

I just threw up in my mouth.

I remember waking up from a vacation last year, really groggy and still half-dreaming ("Am I still on vacation?" kind of state).  I took a glimpse at the wall color and thought "I don't like this place! Where the heck am I?  Get me out of here!"  That's when I realized I had to make a decision on a new paint color. STAT.

I finally decided to paint two gray wall colors...  A deep, dark shade for the wall behind the bed, and a lighter shade for the other walls.  Here's an image of paint swatches, just before we started painting.

Thank heavens my MIL came over and helped us paint.  She's lightning fast and literally loves painting walls, so we were really speedy.  In one weekend we painted the bedroom and the bathroom.  Not impressed?  You've done better?  Pshhheh, what-evs.

Next I added some curtains behind the bed. You can still see the shadows of the mini-blinds coming through, but I'm planning to replace them with some roman shades soon.  Next I bought some new bedding (a coverlet and a light comforter) to lighten things up.

AFTER
Here's where we were a few weeks ago, before adding the art I mentioned couple of weeks ago.

The paint colors we chose were Valspar's "Rugged Suede" and Benjamin Moore's "Coventry Gray".

This is actually a better representation of primary wall color.  It leans to the blue side, for sure.  More than we expected.  But I'm happy with it!  The new frames add some interest, but keep the color palette simple and sleek.

I'm not nearly done, but we've come a long way so far.

I can't say I "regret" the original color.  It was part of the process.  But goodness gracious I'm glad to have it gone.

Here's what I have planned for the next:

• Hang curtains by the single window
• Choose a bed.  Buy it.
• Buy or make baskets for underneath the bedside tables
• Paint the tray on the bedside table
• Decide whether or not to paint the bedside tables
• Find new lamps
• Install roman shades
• Decide what to do/hang on the left wall (opposite of the single window)

Like the change?  Ever chosen a horrendous paint color like I originally did?  Any paint projects planned?

Flowers & Bedroom Paint Sneak Peek

Yellow tulips this week.  And a peek at the new bedroom paint color.

Yellow tulips

Hubs hasn't announced it, but I'm almost certain tulips are his favorite flower.  He buys them more than most.

What flower makes you the happiest to bring into your home? 

DIY Wall Art for the Bedroom - Letters

A couple of weeks ago I went to Pier One to return something.  Naturally, I couldn't help but to take a gander at everything else while I was in. 

These pretty frames caught my eye.  I thought they might contrast nicely against the bedroom wall behind our bed.

 

I immediately started brainstorming what to put in the 4"x4" picture frame area.  I don't have to tell you that photos or art that size isn't very easy to come by.  But I really liked the colors that were already there (yes, the Pier One label actually inspired me).

I purchased some kraft paper and played around with some fonts.  Here's what I came up with.  A letter for me, a letter for my hubby.  I put them in a light gray outline/box to remove the guess-work out of cutting.

Look what some scissors do, girls and boys:

 

Less than five minutes later (dog-petting time is included in the time count).

I'll photograph them in the bedroom soon.  A current bedroom photograph is always on the weekend to-do list.

Any other frame-filling ideas for a unique size area?  DIY art experiences of your own?  Oh--and leave a comment below if you'd like the name of the font I used or something.