Leslie’s Design Dilemma
When we heard that Leslie was in the market for a traditional yet casual master bedroom makeover, we couldn’t wait to spring into action. Here’s her letter:
I have been lurking on your website for quite some time now and I really like all the suggestions you’ve given out. My husband and I recently bought a home in an older neighborhood and the downstairs is starting to look great but we are stumped as to how to fix up the attic master bedroom. One side of the space houses the bed and the other side is a sitting area of sorts. We’re really more of the traditional casual type. I’d say we are the Pottery Barn type – I love ‘antiquing’ which I refer to more as “junkin” because I always seem to find something junky to fix up. We need to keep the bed and the two side tables (antique sewing tables my dad refinished for us). We also need to keep the two dressers (one with the fan & one on left between two chairs since we need them for clothes storage. Ignore the TV – we’re working on getting that wall mounted facing the bed. We also need to keep the computer, monitor and printer up here which are currently on the right (in the sitting area picture) where the network cable outlet is located. Right now, we have the computer sitting on an older dresser that is not being used for clothes so we could move the dresser to another location. We are very open to new bedding, furniture, paint, accessories, etc. We can’t wait to see what you come up with! – Leslie
This charming attic master bedroom is about to get a cheerful dose of traditional with a twist. Check out our handy dandy mood board:
Here’s the mood board breakdown.
1. Our color palette is chic and sophisticated with deep chocolate wood tones, some steely grays with a hint of silvery blue, and a dash of buttery yellow accents along with loads of soothing and soft white. As for the wall color, we think the palest, sweetest hint of yellow will keep things sunny, warm, and open in the attic space (try Benjamin Moore’s Weston Flax to keep things from looking frosty and pastel, it’s more of a yellow toned neutral).
2. We also love the idea of bringing a few pops of even brighter yellow to keep things interesting and layered. We love this super convincing silk orchid in a glazed ceramic vase (from Home Depot of all places) to place atop one of Leslie’s existing dressers (no green thumb required). And the price is definitely right.
3. For Leslie’s side tables that flank the bed, we thought two identical brushed nickel lamps (that you’d swear were from Restoration Hardware) will set the scene for a stunning & symmetrical sleeping zone.
4. The starting point for our entire color palette- this amazing Anthropologie duvet- is sweet, sophisticated… and on sale! It will absolutely make the entire sleeping area, and at over $100 off, it’s our deal of the day (and maybe the month).
5. Nothing polishes off a room like some fabulous lighting, and we just love this silver-gray pendant light for over the bed in place of that fan (the switcheroo will instantly lighten the entire space). And for an extra posh feeling, Leslie can snag two of them (at only $99 each) and hang another over in the seating area across the room for more of that sophisticated symmetry which is oh so soothing and serene.
6. To work with the deep wood pieces that are already in the space, this classic wooden desk with a subtle antique appearance will fit in without looking like part of a matched set, and we love when furniture looks casual and collected over time. And the price tag (132 beans) shocked us beyond belief considering a lot of the desks we rejected were over six times the price. Love when that happens.
7. We also thought the sweetly feminine patterned bedding would look fab with a dash of glam. And these crystal candle sconces can be hung above the dresser in the right side of the room in the second picture (try three spaced about a foot apart) to inject a bit of a glam gallery feel while the repetition keeps things swanky and super romantic.
8. These striped silk curtain panels work perfectly near the seating area on the other side of the room with the window. We’d love to see them hung high and wide to make the window appear even bigger. And on clearance for $29 (they’re silk, people! that’s insane!) they are definitely another steal. Score.
9. Of course Leslie can go with a chocolate rug, a steely gray rug, of even a pale yellow shag to define both the seating area and the sleeping area, but we thought this soft, striped rug (also a perfect fit with our color scheme) would add a bit of that sophisticated pattern on pattern style when paired with the duvet. We think one 5.3 x 7.8 inch rug (for just 99 smackaroos) will look great under the bed, while another can be used to ground the seating area on the opposite side of the room. Once again the symmetric sense of order and balance will ensure a stunning yet soothing sanctuary for Leslie to escape to every evening.
So there it is. A happy & serene mast bedroom retreat loaded with classic and sophisticated details and some chic pattern to boot. We can’t wait to hear what you guys think!
Update: We sadly can no longer find the time to take on client commissioned mood boards (we now whip up general inspiration boards instead) but if we ever reinstate them we’ll make a big announcement!
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This mood board is the same exact color palette I used in my re-do guestroom very recently!
http://daveandjoi.blogspot.com/2008/09/paint-swatch-art.html
I love it. The grey and yellow are so chic together!
I love love love that desk! And from Walmart even.
Oh Joi, we love love love your guestroom re-do. So fabulously serene and chic to boot. Gotta love gray & yellow.
xoxo,
Sherry
Hey Sherry (& John of course),
We really like all the suggestions on the moodboard and you guys have inspired us. I guess lots of others liked it too because we can’t seem to get some of the items or even look at them. Last night we tried to look at the panels and got a message that says “product not available in this store” and the Duvet website says “Our apologies, try again later”. We tried today as well with no luck, so they must both be sold out. So, we have hit the world wide web and a couple local stores looking for some similar items. We’ll get back on it this weekend. We are huge college football fans, so this time of year we only seem to get one good day of work in so this redo make take us a while. We’ll be sure to send pictures when we are finished.
Thanks again – we are excited to get started!
Thanks,
Leslie (& Kevin)
Hey Leslie (& Kevin),
So glad you guys are liking our ideas! We’re so sorry that things went so quickly (eeks! we had no idea!) so we did a little extra digging to come up with a few alternatives. Hope it helps!
Here’s an alternative to the curtains (although I’d try going to Bed Bath & Beyond in person to see if they might just have the original curtains from the moodboard). They’re more neutral than yellow and gray, but we still think they’ll look heavenly in the space.
Here’s another Anthro duvet that we found that’s pretty comparable to the original (it’s not on sale, but still stunning! and hopefully available for a while!)
Here’s a slightly more lemon version (again from Anthro) although we think the duvet above might work better with the current more subdued color scheme.
This patterned duvet would also look tres chic although it’s a slight departure from our gray and yellow theme thanks to some brown detailing instead of the gray.
This ochre and cream duvet with brown detailing would also look great, although again the brown accent is being introduced instead of the original gray accent color.
And if you’d rather go chic and gray instead of yellow with the bedding, we adore this ruched duvet that comes in a lovely subtle gray color. Although this duvet is the only one that we think might not work with the first set of curtains that we linked to, so if you go with this one, here’s a set of curtains (in pewter) that should really shine.
Happy shopping! Keep us posted:)
xo,
Sherry (& John)
Leslie~I ran into the same trouble with the lamp from my mood board. I should have known that on clearance they would go fast..but 4 days was really fast! I had luck on Ebay and currently have one on its way to me! Still working on the second one. Maybe you will have some luck with the original mood board items like I did if you search Ebay. Good Luck!
So I’ve been looking through your archives all morning/afternoon and came across this post. I JUST got that desk off of craigslist for 50 bucks for our spare bedroom/office!! I love it.
Nice score! Gotta love craigslist!
xo,
s