Master Bedroom - Progress (Before and After) Photos

If you see me dancing on the rooftops, from now until the end of the year (at least)... it's due in large part to the progress we've made to our master bedroom.  To say I've been giddy this last week, is a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT of major proportions.  (I may or may not ALWAYS be rearranging our pillows trying to get them juuuuust right..or taking half a dozen cell phone pictures an hour to see it in a different light ;)  Yup.  I do that.  Don't you?  ;)  And really, are you surprised?  ;)  

I'm actually only SOMEWHAT happy with the pillow arrangement as they stand today..but I know there will be a few hundred more tweaks to this room in our future.  From the additions I'll use to decorate the night stands (and the hardware we haven't decided on)... to the final bedding covers we haven't yet purchased... to POSSIBLY an area rug to break up the large space in front of the bed.. (which may or may not be a design no-no considering it'll be carpet on carpet.) Visually I think it needs something.. functionally, it may be weird.  I'm gonna live with it for awhile before I decide to try and convince Chad one way or the other.  ;) 

So here's our room as it stands today.. talk about a TRANSFORMATION!  

Master Bedroom AFTER

It's amazing how much BETTER this room FEELS now.  As I explained on my last post, we had been so focused on updating the rest of the house for over a year.. that we completely forgot about ourselves and our little sanctuary of a room. 

Master Bedroom BEFORE 

As we saw it when we were looking to buy. Previous Owners Decor. 

We actually had our bed in this spot too for a long time.. then decided to change things up.  

We lived with this mustardy color for almost exactly a year.  It wasn't HOOORIBLE, it was just very similar to the color we had in our master bedroom at our old house.  We thought we were ready for a change.  Especially considering we had big plans for the layout and our new headboard.  Why go half way with a renovation, right??  

Yup.  So this is pretty much how we lived for more than I care to admit.  That was pretty much how we made the bed each day and that was our mismatched solution to bedding.  We spent a few weeks with the tape up showing where our new headboard would be and a few days with a plethora of colors up on the wall.  You would've thought we had just moved in.  Yikes!

One of the first things we did was move the bed and decide how we wanted to fill up this wall.  

Photos we took on our Europe trip fit the bill here. :)  

Then came selecting a color.  Thankfully we had a lot of samples left from the first round of painting this house last year.  Most of these were considerations to our dining room.  

 

Then one Sunday, we took the plunge.  Shortly after this picture was taken...and almost entirely during one nap time session, we painted our room.  

Sherwin Williams Key Stone Gray for the win!  ;) 

While all this was going on, I had been on the hunt for nightstands.  

After scouring the internet, various stores around town and pinterest for inspiration on DIY versions we could tackle...I stumbled upon various blogs that had some IKEA dresser-to-nightstand hacks that I kinda started to love.   

So we started with the dresser on the left.. Cheap, unfinished, stain-able and the perfect size that we needed.  

We gave them a bit of a face lift with some additional lattice molding and stained them the same color we had stained the headboard frame to match.  ;)  

As we hunted down a pair of lamps we liked, we found a bench for the foot of the bed that Everleigh seemed to approve of.  ;)  Cross that off the list too.  

TaDAAAAAAAAAA!! Done and done.  

Well sorta, but you know.  Done for now and probably for a while ;)  

  

It looks soooooo magical at night with just the lamps on, 

(which we ended up finding at Marshall's by the way). 

The Making of: Our Super Awesome, DIY, One of a kind, Tufted Headboard Masterpiece!

Almost exactly a year into living at our new house in Frisco and we've FINALLY turned our attention to our master bedroom.  Hallelujah!  I'm actually quite embarrassed to show how we lived in that room for the past year.  From the AWFUL curtains that the previous owners left...to the pile of randomness in the corner... to the non existent bedding... this room has been nothing short of S.A.D. for WAAAAAY too long. 

Spoiler alert:  It's not quite done yet, BUT it's sooooooo close and it's come SOOOOO FAR!  I can't wait to show before and after pictures, coming soon.  Stay tuned.  :) 

The turning point to the whole master bedroom renovation project was getting Chad on board with this super awesome, DIY, One of a Kind, Tufted Headboard MASTERPIECE!!  After scouring Pinterest for inspiration and seeing waaaay too many beautiful headboards for waaaay more than I was willing to spend, I knew I wanted to try our hand at our very own do-it-yourself version.  

AND... it came out BEAUTIFULLY!! I couldn't be happier with the results.

For all those interested in tackling your own version of this headboard, here is my non-tutorial, tutorial...(because ya'll know I stink at giving instructions ;)

Materials Needed (In Photos!): I've seen these headboards done a number of ways, but this is how we did ours.  

Canvas Drop Cloth (or fabric of choice) - So cheap and we loved the texture!  Purchased at Lowe's, I was a great alternative to expensive fabric.  :) 

Batting - enough to cover the size of your headboard with a bit of overhang.

(This "full size" batting was enough to fit our king sized headboard frame.)

Mattress Pad (or Foam) - we went with the queen sized mattress pad because it was significantly cheaper than the foam we saw and it actually worked just as well.  

Upholstery Needles - Ours came in a pack of multiple sizes.. I used the longest one in the pack.  

Craft Cover Button Kit - 

we ended up needing two packages of these and had to make an extra trip to JoAnn's.  Just make sure you've figured out how many buttons you're gonna want BEFORE heading to the store.  

I insisted that we have a frame to surround our tufted headboard... 

(because I'm complicated like that)  ;)

Chad and Everleigh were in charge of that step.  

We taped out the size we wanted the headboard on the wall then Chad used our table saw to cut the frame surround.  He mitered the corners and used crown molding to give it some depth.  (it's a bit more complicated that I'm making it sound but there are plenty of in-depth tutorials out there if you need them. ;)  

We also used pegboard (cut to the size of the frame) for the backing of the headboard.  This allowed us to use the holes for the tufting... easy peasy! :)

The crown molding, glued (and taped!) to the outer frame.

While the frame dried, Chad and Everleigh figured out where we wanted the buttons ;) 

And because one pegboard wasn't big enough, we put two together.. 

Daddy's cute little helper. 

Project Manager Bear 

Marking her territory ;) 

Once the glue was dry... and while our bear had a little frozen yogurt snack, Daddy took off all the tape to prepare our frame for staining. (which he did outside in the garage, not in the house ;) 

We attached the two pieces of pegboard together with some extra pieces of pegboard!

And while Chad applied the first coat of General Finishes Java Stain (the same color we used on our kitchen cabinets), I worked on making the buttons.  

(This was by far the most painful process.) 

Then we laid down the peg board, spray glued the mattress pad down then wrapped it all with the batting (using the staple gun to secure the batting down).  We didn't wrap the edges because we wanted to attach the frame to the edge of the pegboard once the canvas was down.  

Then we stapled the canvas to the edges as tight as we could get them..

Starting in the middle (on the top and bottom and both sides) and working our way around

Using the pegboard (and the marks Chad and Everleigh had made earlier, I used the needle (and upholstery thread) to start from the back.. thread my way to the front, loop the button and go from front to back with the needle.  

** (If you're serious about doing this project, ask me how we secured the thread in the back. While Chad was wrangling Everleigh, and I was working on the buttons, I forgot to take a picture of this step.  It was a game changer though.. Ask me about it ;) 

After the buttons were done, Chad attached the frame to the pegboard by screwing from the back to the front.  We then wrapped the canvas and secured it to the back which gave it a nice clean edge. 

BAM!  DONE!  Best DIY project to date :) 

I'm so proud of us!  ;)  

GIVEAWAY - Dr. Smith's Prize Pack & $200 Visa Gift Card

When I was contacted by the great people at Dr. Smith's and asked to give a simple step I take to make life simpler everyday, the answer seemed pretty clear and straightforward.  Use your time wisely and BE PREPARED.

When Everleigh was born, nearly 2 years ago, I learned quickly how to manage my time efficiently while trying to handle this tiny human I was responsible for.  From trying to tackle those dishes that didn't seem to wash themselves, the sleep that amazingly didn't come easily and the errands that still needed to be run, the one thing that I made sure of then and STILL always make sure of now.. is to have her diaper bag ready to go.  I didn't wait until it was time to go somewhere to pack her bag with all its necessities.  I didn't scramble as we were trying to leave.  I made sure to always carve out a few minutes of her nap time to replenish as needed and most of the time I even put her bag back in the car so I would have one less thing to deal with as we tried to head out the door.

Diapers? Check.  Wipies?  Check.  Extra change of clothes?  Check.  Diaper cream? Double Check.

Because rashes are such a common occurrence in my baby bears life, I jumped at the chance to help soothe my bear's rashy bum with one of Dr. Smith's newest products.. DIAPER RASH SPRAY!!  Amazing that no one had thought of this before.  As most mommies (and diaper changing daddies) know... changing a rashy baby's diaper can be a nightmare...for EVERYONE!  It's painful to watch and heartbreaking to hear those screams of discomfort.  This gentle and fast acting spray helps alleviate the added pain of needing to apply any cream.  :)  Genius!

With such great experiences with all of Dr. Smith's products, I'm so happy team up with them to be able to bring you this amazing giveaway where there will not only be one 1st place winner but ALSO THREE runners up! 

The 1st place winner will win:  

$200 Visa Gift Card & Dr. Smith's Prize Pack 

and the

3 runners up will win:  Dr. Smith's Prize Pack 

AMAZING RIGHT?!  

For one week only (September 1, 2014 - September 7th at midnight) click on the Rafflecopter below to WIN!!  

Winner will be chosen at random.  Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• Dr. Smith's is now available nationwide at Walgreens
• Find the retailer nearest you at  doctorsmiths.com

See what mom’s are saying about Dr. Smith’s:

www.doctorsmiths.com

twitter.com/doctorsmiths

facebook.com/doctorsmiths

instagram.com/doctorsmiths

pinterest.com/doctorsmiths

A little bit about Dr. Smith's 

Dr. Smith’s Diaper Rash Ointment was developed in 1963 by Dr. Forest M. Smith, Jr., a long­‐time San

Antonio pediatrician. Its incomparable effectiveness has earned it the recommendation of pediatricians and pharmacists everywhere, and can be found in retail stores nationwide. Dr. Smith’s is marketed by Mission Pharmacal, a privately held pharmaceutical company based in San Antonio, Texas. For more than 65 years, the company has been committed to meeting the unique healthcare needs of women throughout all stages of life, pediatric patients, and those persons dealing with urologic and dermatologic conditions.