Your master bedroom should be your oasis; a place that is both cozy and calming. But for the past seven months our master bedroom has been more of a disaster zone. You may remember the pictures from the first time we set foot in the farmhouse. It felt small, dark, and dirty. One of the only things this room had going for it was the fact that it had the biggest closet in the whole house. However, with its dark beige walls, stained blue carpet, and plastic stapled over all the windows, it was hard to envision this space as a relaxing master bedroom. We needed to breathe life back into this unloved space and to create a peaceful atmosphere to bring our new baby Avonlee Rose home to.

Before

After

We started by ripping out the old carpet to reveal the original pine floors beneath, which just needed a good cleaning and a coat of Old English to make them shine like new again. Next, we gave the whole space a light and airy color palette of (you guessed it) blue and white. These colors are not only my favorite, but they are calming colors, too. I used a hand-made template to render a painting technique on the worn out 122 year old plaster walls. This Moroccan-inspired design helped to disguise all the crazy bumps and bulges. I hung my original oil painting of our engagement above our dresser. It was my wedding present to Michael and something that gives the space a romantic nod. In Avonlee’s corner we added a sweet little 1930’s bassinet along with a few pretty vintage baby accents. I covered an old mirror from a thrift store with a scrap of cloth and painted a scrolling “A” on it to set this lil’ corner apart from the rest of the room.

Before

After

After we replaced the dusty and dated 1980’s ceiling fan with a chandelier I scored for only $120 at an antique shop, the room really started to feel like home. One of the reasons Michael and I were originally drawn to this farmhouse were all the 1893 details that had been left untouched, such as the gorgeously ornate moldings, baseboards, and rosettes. But as we started the renovations, we realized that decades of neglect and abuse had left most of them brutally damaged and disfigured. The cheapest solution was to patch and paint them semi-gloss white. This had the added benefit of lightening the space as well. The original hardware, doors, and windows received a cleaning and polishing to bring back their farmhouse charm.

Before

After

Our queen sized iron bed was a $150 find I purchased from a consignment shop before we were married. It has served as a guest bed and spent some time in the storage shed over the years, but it is a perfect fit for the low ceilings and style of our little farmhouse. The bed is truly the focal point, topped with the Pottery Barn duvet cover I got for my birthday from Michael’s family and a handful of home-made or Goodwill purchased pillows. Staying within the inviting blue and brown family of colors, yet using a large variety of texture gave the room depth without being overwhelming to the eye.

Now I love coming home to my cozy master bedroom. It is just one more step towards being ready for our new baby and helps take my mind off the billion other things we have left to do. We are still working on the master bathroom next door, and hope to have it finished very soon.

Let us know what you think of our newly refreshed master bedroom and subscribe to get all our future updates.