What a good feeling when a room is done. I mean… for now. In my house, I feel like nothing is ever completed. At this stage, I am happy with how everything ended up looking. Even though my master bedroom still needs little things here and there; a bench by the end of the bed, full length mirror, maybe a sign or a painting over the headboard, some sentimental items that I wanted to use as a decoration pieces, etc… It will take time to curate those perfect pieces, so I stopped working on this room for now and focused on the laundry room.
A quick recap of the bedroom’s process — the idea is to create a serene, relaxing and cozy master bedroom that is somewhat neutral for my husband and I. The room already have a good structure; high ceiling that makes the entire room feel light and airy, large windows with abundance of natural light when the sun rises, and a newly installed carpet.
Before – The original color of the room was beige
Refreshed with a new color 
The original color of the room was beige. We decided to repaint the entire room with Olympus White from Sherwin-Williams – a light cool gray color with blue undertones. This shade of gray compliment the white baseboard, ceiling, trims, and doors really well.
A few pieces to begin with
At the time, I was focused on our dining room, home office, and the wedding. I did not have a clear picture of what style and design is going to be for the room. So I quickly got necessary items for the bedroom – a bed of course and nightstands. If I have unlimited time and budget, I would probably change the bed frame but I’d just rather work with what I already have. Luckily this bed is neutral enough to mix with other furnitures. Fast forward a few months to when I was ready to tackle this room, I came up with a list of problems and solutions to help me get started on which items we need for the room (See my previous post here).
Filling in that emptiness
“Problem No. 1: The master bedroom has a high ceiling, which I really love. But the openness can feel empty and cold at times.”
Solution: Add a wallpaper as it helps eliminate that emptiness on the wall and also create a focal point with interesting patterns and textures. I wanted to feel serene and calm when I step into this room and this botanic pattern just fits.
From Freezing to Cozy
“Problem No. 2: The master bedroom is located above the garage. In winter, this is the only room in the house that is a lot colder than the rest. Additionally, there are four big windows that the cold air can come through.”
Solution: I would love to have a real fireplace in the bedroom but I don’t want to deal with the installation (cost + time). So adding an electric fireplace is the easiest and cost effective way to fix the problem. Not only was an electric fireplace warm, it also creates a really nice ambiance to the space, especially at night during winters. Next, I added a large area rug to help define the space. I am hoping it would block some of the cold air from the garage ceiling. The majority color of this room is on the lighter tone; white, light blue and light gray. Having some darker shades of gray from an area rug helps balance the overall color tone in our room. To maintain the simplicity of the space, I chose simple white curtains. A clean line of curtain creates depth and texture to the windows and the wall.
As a couple, we need more storage
“Problem No. 3: We don’t have a lot of stuff but extra storage is always a must. The only storage space we have in the bedroom is a walk-in closet, which is a good size. But for two adults, we definitely needed more.”
Solution: To fix this problem we just have to add a drawer. Sounds easy right? Nope, the difficult part was finding a dresser that have the look I like and fits within my budget. As I was searching for a dresser, I came across so many beautiful dresser that I like but the price tag is way to high. For me I don’t want to spend a lot of money on a dresser that I will just store rarely used clothes, bags or socks it in. And that lead to my DIY idea. The cost is low and I get to build a dresser exactly the way I want it to look. See full post about this Tarva dresser from Ikea here.
2 in 1
“Problem No. 4: No light in the room. Adding a desk lamp or floor lamp will not be enough light. I love that soft glow light from lamps that makes an entire room feel relaxing and soothing. It’s nice to have that as an option but we still need a light that will fill up the room entirely bright when needed.”
“Problem No. 5: We need more airflow.”
Solution: Multi-functional pieces are the best. I mean a furniture or appliances that can perform more than one task would take up one spot of the room – I am all for it. This room needs a ceiling light that can brighten the entire room and a fan for extra airflow when we needed to. Luckily we found this LED ceiling light fan at HomeDepot for under $100. The simple and modern design of this ceiling fan works really well with the look and feel of the room. For example, the chrome feature of fan matches with curtain hanging rods. I also like how the black fan breaks up monochromatic color palette that we have in this room.
His side
“Problem No. 6: I’m not sure if I wanted to categorize number six as a problem. It feels more like an optional thought. If you are living alone, the interior style can be personalized to your taste. But as a couple, I would want my husband to feel comfortable and love the design as well. Even though he agrees with every design I show him… lol. Our master bedroom, for example; I asked him for his opinion on how he would utilize things around the room so that I can design accordingly. He likes to read before bedtime, so he would have stacks of book on his side of the bed floor, even though we have bookcases in our office. It’s messy for him to put the book away down on the floor all the time. He also draws occasionally and works on his laptop in the bedroom so it would be nice to have a desk up here.”
Solution: The only way to keep all his books in one place is to have a bookcase. For the convenience, it’s located on his side of the bed. Next to the window, we added a multi-purpose desk. Depending on when and who uses it. It is a make up table for me in the morning, a work desk for my husband at night. All we have to do is keep the surface of the desk clean.
So far, we love how this room turned out. It feels so comfy and cozy to be in. There are still some items that I wanted to add into this room, which I will in the future 🙂