This is a repost of a series from February 2009 it’s good enough to read again, but oh how our room has changed– some of these photos are from years ago, the toile duvet is gone, lots of the pillows are gone and I’m in the middle of revamping it…I actually need to apply these principles again. The photo above shows our current room, desperately in need of some fabric on the windows.
This is the second post in a series where we are exploring all sorts of quick and easy ways to spruce up your home. The idea is to focus on a few things that you can change right now to make the room just a little more inviting. Read Part 1: Family Rooms here.
Do you want to be in your bedroom?
I know for me, one of my decorating regrets is ignoring our bedroom. I found myself wanting to spend all my time and energy making the public rooms of our house look good so others could see all of my hard work. Meanwhile, our room sat there all ugly and neglected. One day I decided that our room deserved a little attention. There are all sorts of huge renovations we can tackle to improve our rooms but today lets start with the basics and talk about some quick and easy things you can do right now to begin the process of making your room your haven.
Make the bed
The focus of the master bedroom should be the bed. If you can only afford to have one piece of furniture in your house, please make it the bed. If you cannot afford a bed frame, get a mattress and some great sheets. If you cannot afford a bed frame, or a mattress, or sheets go sell your computer and buy a mattress and the best sheets Target carries. It’s worth it. And it was nice knowing you. The bed should capture your attention and beg you to get in. Make the bed and make it pretty. Maybe you are a pillow lover if so, take the pillows off the sofa and load the bed up. Maybe you like a simple clean look–why not turn down the bed like they do in those fancy hotels? However you normally make your bed–switch it up and make it a little bit differently today. But by all means, make it.
Clear the clutter
It’s better to have clutter in your living room than in the bedroom. Every surface was not meant to be stacked upon. {I must repeat this to myself daily} Do yourself a favor and remove the clutter. Now! Clothes are either dirty in the laundry room or clean in their drawers. Too much stuff? I try to keep a box in the garage to fill with junk for the goodwill.
Keep it Personal
Make sure you have a favorite photo of you and your honey. Remove or limit the photos of the kids, this room is about you and him. It’s nice to have a wedding photo but make sure you have something up to date as well. Dig out that card that your husband gave you. The one where he wrote all the right things. Open it flat and place it in a frame. He’ll be thrilled that you saved it and framed it and you will constantly be reminded of how he feels.
Go wireless
Remove technology. Computers, phones, TVs, exercise equipment: the more you have the more you will associate this room with work and not relaxation and other fun things. Ok, so this one will take more than 10 minutes. But do it anyway. I’ll wait. {I’m not saying that I have no tv in my room, I do, hidden in an armiore, and I also bring up my phone every night in case I need to call 911 for killers, but the more technology you add, the less romantic a room seems}
Lighting
Turn off the dreaded overhead light and turn on the lamps that should be on each side of the bed. The bags under my eyes and cellulite on my thighs, I mean one’s eyes and thighs will be less evident and you and the room will look much more inviting.
A place to sit
Whether a wing back chair, a bench or folding wooden chair some type of seating is a great perk in a bedroom. I’ve been known to steal a chair from the dining room topping it off with a pillow to soften it a little.
Embellish your windows
Maybe you already have something on your windows. Can you take it a step further? Hot glue some fringe on the edges, add a piece of fabric as a topper. It’s amazing how pampered just a few yards of fringe can make you feel.
Create Space
One way we have made some space in our room is to put a dresser in the closet. We’ve been able to do this in the last four houses that we lived in and one closet was tiny. Of course, if you can afford one of those fancy shelving systems even better but, a quick fix is just to move the dresser. Mine fits neatly under my hanging clothes and frees up lots of space in our small bedroom.
Now, you have a clutter free, personalized, wireless, well lit, bedroom with the bed all prettied up. We’re gonna put those swank hotels out of business.
Well, I guess I need to go and follow some of my own advice and pick up the dirty laundry from my bedroom floor. While I do that, I’d love to know: What’s your favorite part of your bedroom?
When I was in the military I always put my dresser in the closet. The rooms were so small that moving even that one item made a huge difference. I also purchased a shoe rack to place on the top closet shelf to help make more usable space in my closet. In one room I also created a makeshift canopy bed for privacy because I had a roommate. It felt luxurious and I loved curling up to sleep with the curtains drawn.
I am not fond of our current bedroom- mostly because of the lack of space and windows. Happily we are about to move and I am looking forward to having two beautiful windows looking out into the forest.
THE BEST money we ever spent was to have our bedroom overhead lighting installed with dimmer switches. I feel 10 years younger, 10 pounds lighter, and 100 times sexier in that room!!
The link for the bathroom post at the bottom is broken. I get a 404 error.
I love these posts! Neither of my couches are on walls, so I “passed” on that post, but our room is BORING…. so it’s a fail for this post lol.
so sorry, I think I fixed it!
There is nothing like new bedding to give you a brighter outlook each morning! Thanks for all of your great tips!
I honestly just need to clean my room. It looks like a teenager lives there. When clean, I love it. Now… eh.
Yeah, I’m gonna clean my room today!
My bedroom is always the first and most important place I decorate, but maybe because I consider it a retreat. However, being a single woman and generally having half the bed empty, I do keep it “wired”. My laptop sleeps with me, and there’s often a book over there too. But there’s no television, and never will be, since it’s where I like peace and quiet.
I may be frugal in other rooms of the house, but never the bedroom. I bought a wonderful mattress, high quality 100% cotton sheets, and all silk and coordinated Waverly fabrics for duvet, pillows, curtains, etc. The artwork is all soft colors and one wall boasts a gorgeous antique applique quilt which is mostly whitework. There are soft lights everywhere, and even a noise machine to play the sound of waves or rain when the neighbors are too loud.
I’m not a morning person, though, and it takes me quite a while to wake up gently. So the laptop is there for me to flip open, get my eyes used to being open, and read my friends’ Facebook statuses, email, and favorite blogs. I wouldn’t know how to ease into my morning without it, and find my room plenty romantic and welcoming despite it, so I’m good with it despite the “rules”.
I, too, have ignored my bedroom. Hmmm, why do we do that? I’m trying to make a goal to revamp this summer. Make me stick to it!
Great tips! I’ve done all of what you’ve said in our master bedroom and I love being in it. We do have the television out right now, but I’m looking for something for that. I love your treatment {or mis-treatment}. I’m sure I read that post before, but I’m going to go read it again. I just love the toile and how the drape looks like a gown at the bottom!
I love this post.
My favorite part of our bedroom is probably the loveseat. For years we had two big wingback chairs in our bedroom. They were beautiful, and they really added a lot of pop to the decor. But a couple of years ago we went through a horrible time in our marriage, and an awful lot of difficult discussions took place in those chairs. This past fall, my hubby said that he’d really like to get something different for the room, and he suggested a loveseat–a place where we can sit together and snuggle, not sit apart and argue. I finally found one at a consignment shop, and I love it.
Be sure to let us know what you put at your bedroom windows!
Richella! Great story~thanks for sharing
Great advice as always. I need to remind myself about the clothes part daily … they’re either dirty or should be folded/hung and put away.
I love this series.. I recently came across the first one and it reminded me of what I need to do with my kitchen. My bedroom on the other hand, is a playroom/dumping ground for things that belong upstairs, but were downstairs.. yuck.. its a reck.
the bedroom is the hardest room in my house to keep clean, mostly because it’s private and I tend to not CARE if there are clothes everywhere. I’ve been trying to get better at throwing the dirty clothes in the basket as soon as I take them off.
my favorite part of our bedroom is definitely the bed.
Is your bed from Costco? We had the same bed…or it looks the same :)
It’s from big lots!
It was our son’s bed for years but somehow, we ended up with it after the last move
It is a beautiful bed! We ended up selling our set because it was just WAY too big for our little room.
What a nice post. Our master bedroom is a work in progress as well. So, to see this post is perfect timing!
Great bedroom tips, i totally agree with the lighting, lighting is everything in the bedroom.
LOVE, love that you have a paint sample/swatch clipped up next to the window! Remembering your advice, I’ve been working hard on our master bedroom. I think I’ve finally figured out what I’m going to & I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
oh you noticed! Paint on the left fabric on the right!
Great reminder. I have always put off our bedroom. I wish I would have done this along time ago. thanks for reposting this.
Wonderful tips! Now you’ve given me a great project for the weekend! Maybe even for tonight when I get home so that I wake up to a clutter-free, well-lit, personalized space and start the weekend off on a bright note!
Blessings,
Paula
Oh, Miss Nester, I love this post just as much as the first time around. ;) And I am going to admit that my master bedroom is still a disaster. I’m going to give myself a break though b/c it takes me all day to pick up downstairs after the little ones. :s
We have a very small LCD TV on the wall directly across from our bed. I hate the way it looks, and would prefer not to have it in the bedroom, but it came in SO handy when I ended up having to pump exclusively with both babies. TMI, I know, but I would have fallen asleep if I didn’t have something to look at on that wall. It also gave the hubs something to do while he was home the past two weeks recovering from minor surgery. I am considering asking the hubs to build some sort of cabinet around it with shutters on the front…that’s the only way I can think of to disguise it. Or should I just leave it?
I would love to see your room from other angles. We have a very large, heavy, dark wood bed frame and furniture, and I’d like to see how you accessorized everything. ;) I am that nosy.
Hope you are having a great week!
I luv my bed the most, it’s warm and inviting and everytime the kiddies get in they never want to leave. I hope they always feel that way, but for now I shoo them out.
I luv the idea of a dresser in the closet, we did this for my boys years ago but never thought about doing it for ourselves. Wait actually we did but it was impractical because of the door, lightbulb, remove the door, duh.
I have the corner windows, can’t wait to hear (scratch that) read your suggestions on those puppies.
Happy Friday!
I have a love/hate relationship with corner windows. right now, it’s mostly hate.
I love this post — and I need to do exactly what you say. Our master is a disaster. (rap not intended…)
However, the thing that will stick with me and made me laugh is the line about the phone for calling 911 for the killers. Classic.
I used to keep my husband’s deer gutting knife thingy under my mattress but had to remove it when the kids game. How’s that for serene & calming?!?!?
I love our black iron bed with its brass knobs. Big and cushy!
I completely agree with you about keeping the phone with you in case of maniacal serial killers. I also have a golf club in the closet for just such an emergency. :-)
You are so right on all sides of this. Our bedroom isn’t exactly one I want to hang out in – mostly because our bed is not the most comfortable thing ever. But once I started to clean up, declutter, and organize it feels so much better and I want to be in there all the time. Now if I could just get the bed to be a great thing it will be perfect. And I’m finally happy we’ve switched our phones to cell phone only. This means no phone in the bedroom, the only electronic things we have are the TV, side lamps and an alarm clock. It’s wonderful.
Thank you for all the tips – I always love all that you do with your decorating. It makes the home so inviting.
Thanks for the reminder and the good tips.
I have just a bit of tweaking to do.
But it does make married life more fun if your room is relaxing.
Oh, how I love it when you talk to us about making our bedrooms beautiful and inviting and romantic! And, I gotta tell ya, it makes me laugh when you talk about having a phone next to you so you can call 911 when “killers” come for you. :) I also keep a phone next to me for the very same reason!!!
Have a fabulous weekend!!
I love how much you inspire me, truly.
I think I may make my parents some new drapes for their room because of the mood this post put me in.
Bravo!
I love my bedroom and I always make it cozy filled with things that make me happy. Our bed is wonderful an expensive spurge at the tiem but worth every penny. After six children and 30 years of marriage we finally got a king size. My advice get a king size right away because it would have made child raising and nursing alot easier. Regarding window treatments. I bought cheap square, lace table toppers at Wal-Mart, maybe $5?, folded them diagonally and tacked them up with clear pushpins leaving a little part to fold down on the corner. Then I pinned up the top corner hanging down in the middle and again used a pushpin which doubles as a little hanger for seasonal accessories hanging in the top middle (red Christmas ornaments, acorn ornaments for fall and right now vintage pink flowers).
Thank you for your inspiring posts.
My favorite part of our master suite is the king sized headboard my hubby made for us (a gift for our 5 year wedding anniversary). He constructed it with wainscoting and designed his own finials for the posts. (i’m a little proud)
I also bring my cell phone up at night and leave it on just in case a killer comes in. Ya hear that, killers?
Nestie, You have hit a nerve, my friend.
Our issue is clothes. We have a small room with a small closet (even with the fancy closet storage system) and I bought furniture before I measured it.
They had me at “Bassett Clearance”.
But we literally have to turn sideways to wedge into our bathroom door between the beautiful matching end tables and the lovely dresser with mirror.
Then there are the clothes. Somehow my kids’ clothes are all hung up and put away, but we NEVER get to ours. Prioritize, much?
All this to say I’m not going to put myself down (anymore) in this public forum, but I am going to make an effort to change it.
There. I typed it, now I must go do it.
Thank you for the swift kick in the… closet.
Great post!! I struggle with my bedroom. It’s so plain and boring. Not at all romantic. I enjoyed your tips! You’ve inspired me to go upstairs and get to work on my room! :)
What perfect timing! I am right smack dab in the middle of a master bedroom makeover…on a shoestring budget! :-) I am really struggling with the headboard choice, as well as over-the-bed artwork… I love some of your ideas! Thanks.
Also, the part about having your phone in your bedroom at night…for killers…that made me giggle out loud.
Ok, Nester, we have the same bed. I have had the dilemma about a bed skirt. How did you pull it through so that it comes out underneath the bed. We have a wood frame and the skirts are too short. If I sound like an decorating idiot, I am. FYI
Love the idea of putting the dresser in the closet. That’s my next move. Our room has two huge dressers that robbed the forest of two trees, at least. They are gosh the ugliest things. And we have filled them with all those clothes we aren’t wearing. I’m gonna try to put the smaller one, a third, in my closet. Hubby’s closet is this half thing. I don’t even know what it’s called. The house was built in 1970. Need I say more? No dresser going in there.
What about art work on the walls?
Thanks,
oh and the “killers” killed me! I am literally ROARING laughing!!!
I would never have thought to frame a love letter from my Hubs. What a fabulous idea! (And what a sweetheart yours is to write you a Mother Appreciation Letter!)
We also put a dresser in the closet and it’s made a world of a difference. It’s so nice to have all of that extra space!
Nester, you are hilarious! Love the post, will definitely follow some of this advice. I’ve been known to have the phone right next to me when I’m alone…in case I hear killers coming in my house!
ok, so i love reading all of your posts and I am new to your blog…but i have a question…can you please give some fun and creative ideas for decorating your KITCHEN???? I never know how to make all of that practical junk on the counters look good…I would LOVE some help…
I’m glad I’m not the only one who keeps her cell phone in the bedroom in case of killers. That’s what happens when you fall asleep watching Law and Order!
Thanks for reposting this! I read it the first time and now make my bed a few days a week (as opposed to none), have a few pretty things on the dressers (instead of junk and papers) and two baskets for my hubby (for hats/belts and “pocket contents”). Oh, and a $1 dust ruffle for the bed that goes perfectly with the bedding and curtains from my fav thrift store!
Thanks for the repost for those of us who just joined you this year!
The best money we ever spent, hands down, was upgrading our full size bed (which we slept on for 9 years!) to a Cal King bed. Every single night, my husband and I say how glad we are we did that.
Even if our room is really too small for such giantness, who cares? It’s wonderful.
I have so many favorite parts of our bedroom! I’ll be sad to leave it when we move, but excited to make our next room just as cosy. My friend at Design Intervention (http://charishumin.blogspot.com) helped me put staple fabric behind this weird ceiling protrusion and then swoop it down by the window so it’s both a canopy and a window treatment. Brilliant!
I also love our European bedding – soft and cosy and SUPER easy to make the bed in the morning as there’s no top sheet!
Hi ya Nester! Hope you are having a great night. Saw some ice dancers at the Olympics tonight and there was a girl with tassels hanging from quiet a few spots on her outfit. I think she was an American. Totally thought of you. :)
Anyways! Loved the repost of this. I linked up to the 10 Minute party you had and redid my bedroom. Funny, how I have none of the same furniture or bedspread or really anything the same but the bed and nightstands. Hubby gave me $ for mistreatments tonight and I hope to work a little magic in our love shak tomorrow. We’ll see! This post couldn’t have come at a better time. Can’t wait to see what you do in your room!
I love my bedroom. Whatever the rest of the house gets like (not that I let it get really awful, I hasten to add), I ensure the bedroom is always clutter free, the bed made, dresser and scotch chest surfaces clear. I don’t have any technology in there. No tv, no phone, no computer.
Not even a clock radio with their awful glowing numbers which encourage time-checking. I replaced it with a simple little battery one that I can press the top and light the face if I want to see the time. I have found that, without the time glaring at me, I rarely clock-watch during the night any more and I sleep much better.
Now, if someone could come up with a cure for chihuahua snores, I would be very grateful :)
In 2008 before Christmas, I bought both one of those lounge chairs where you can stretch out your legs and also a lamp at TJ Maxx. It sits in a corner of our bedroom, covered in a throw that a friend made me for Christmas, and creates a wonderful little nook for reading.
The joke is that I’m incognito when I read there, because people walk in our room and go right past me, and never seem to notice. It’s my little nest.
Thanks for reposting this. My favorite part of the bedroom is the large walk-in closet. It’s like a store in there-all organized with jewelry displayed on the wall and shoes lined up and a soft ottoman to get dressed on and *sigh* I love my closet. My husband says I spend too much time in there dressing up.
I love your plates over your bed! I have been picking some up here and there at flea markets and garage sales . can’t wait to get them up on the wall! Thanks for the inspiration!
K
my bedroom has been half re-done for over a year. I love what it will become, if it ever gets there. My favorite part is my big, soft, fluffy, white bed.
I hope you are making tons of money off of your posts, because they are amazing!!! This post is SO important. I don’t follow any of your rules (baha!), yet, but I plan to. My bedroom, though, will host a variety of Bath & Body Works three wick candles. Talk about relaxing before drifting off! Keep up the good work, girl! :)
The cell phone next to the bed is me as well. My dh thought I was crazy when I told him how the remark resounded with me–maybe I’ll wake him before I call 911 and save the kids and myself. =-)
Ha! Loving the killer part! Nice to know we are all not alone in this thought! I always keep the cell just in case the landline is cut!:)
I always loved your toile bedding and mistreatments you had! You should have put them on Ebay! I spent I could not tell you how many hours looking for those fabs to recreate your look. Ended up giving up when I saw the blue was hard to find.
We placed one of our dressers in the closet when we moved and love it. Just not enough wall space since we now have a dreaded bay window that still after 6 months has our old curtains tacked up to the wall to cover um up. SOOO ghetto but I have no idea what to do with those four windows. They are extra long. We just purchased new bedding that has a french country feel and that makes the window treatments even harder since they do not sell coordinating drapes.
I hate our room right now. I guess I will put that on my to do list for this week.