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Chantel’s Second Design Dilemma

Posted by
April 1, 2009

After helping Chantel transform her living room, of course we’re super excited to work our way over to the bedroom and spruce things up in there. Here’s her letter:

Hi again, design masters! We were so happy with your mood board for our living room that we’re back for help with our master bedroom. It’s close to a clean slate. The bed and two bookcases could just barely fit along the big wall adjacent to the window if that idea pops up in your plans. And we need lots of stuff: a headboard, side tables, lamps, something to stack extra pillows on at night (the Ikea Ektorp ottoman is in there now), a full-length mirror, artwork (would love to support Etsy artists), and other decorative elements (a rug and a chandelier would be so great). The style that we’re going for is beachy romantic/bohemian modern and I’d like it to tie in with the finished living room. I’ve been coveting this Amenity Home duvet cover and as for the wall color, we could paint it either of the living room colors (Benjamin Moore’s Bali & Catalina Blue) because we have extra paint- but something else would be fine too. Even wallpaper would be fun! We love greens, blues, whites & creams. Artwork-wise, I like photos that look dreamy and the room needs to be relatively child-friendly since our baby is starting to crawl and get into things. Can’t wait to see what turns up on the mood board this time!  -Chantel

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This blank slate of a room is just begging for a major makeover. Here’s the plan:

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And now for the mood board breakdown.

Note: Many of the links in this custom makeover are Canadian in origin since Chanel lives north of the border. Please keep that in mind when looking at prices or attempting to order of these items for yourself!

1. Our color palette will include the greens and blues that Chantel adores along with some light honey colored wood tones and an abundance of fresh, clean cream and white. As for the new furniture arrangement, we think sticking the bed between the two bookcases on the wall adjacent to the window will maximize the space in the room and allow for a small sitting area (where Chantel can stack her extra pillows at night in place of the existing ottoman at the foot of the bed). As for the wall color, going with the same soft blue tone that she used to paint the majority of her living room (Benjamin Moore’s Bali) will instantly add that beachy-chic vibe and tie it in with the living room just as Chantel requested.

2. Becuase she’s going for a beachy romantic/bohemian modern vibe, a big gilded chandelier just wouldn’t work with her sleek platform bed and her bohemian-modern aesthetic. So we dug up this fabulous lotus inspired chandelier (for just $40 Canadian!) to add interest, texture, and a bit of zen-modern flair to the space. It’ll really set the scene without breaking the budget. 

3. What better place for dreamy, ethereal art than the master bedroom? This great Etsy seller offers $35 off when you order three prints, and we’d love to see these three square 8×8 prints framed next to each other in nice simple white frames with white mats (Ikea has some great ones) to serve as a headboard behind the bed. Hanging them centered above the bed with the bottoms of each picture about 24 inches from the top of the bed should give Chantel room to prop up with a pillow without interfering with her new headboard art, but will still keep them tied to the bed visually since they won’t be floating too high above the sleek low platform bed. And if the tall bookcases on either side look a bit too towering with just three pictures hung above the bed, adding three more on top of them for a grid of six will really make for a stunning headboard full of dreamy images (for sweeter dreams).

4. For a bit of romantic bohemian flair, these gorgeous green glass lanterns would look lovely hanging in the corner of the room where the right bookcase currently lives (where we’ll soon see a sweet little sitting area).

5. We loved the idea of using wallpaper somewhere in the room, but with the patterned bedding and pillows we didn’t want to go overboard. That’s where this great grasscloth wallpaper comes in. The natural beachy bohemian texture will fit right in with everything from the rug to the color of the wood in the space. And we’d love to see it behind the glass in those bedside bookcases, which will hide everything inside for a serene and soothing vibe (note: Chantel might be able to dig up more affordable grasscloth wallpaper at a local home improvement store or vendor, but it was tough for us to source something cheap that also shipped to Canada, so this link is just a guide and hopefully will inspire something a bit more economical and local).

6. This great rocker will create a sweet little sitting area in the corner where the bookcase on the right currently lives (next to the wall of closets). Angled in towards the bed, it will feel cozy and welcoming (and won’t block access to the closet) and because it’s the first thing people will see when they walk into the room, it’ll feel like a spacious, luxurious room to have a little sitting area. And with those gorgeous glass lanterns dangling overhead, the whole room will start to feel multifunctional and cozy. It’s also a great place for Chantel to place her extra pillows at night, and if the finish is too light she can have tons of fun customizing it for the space. She could stain it the same honey tone as her bed, but she could also grab a soft blue wood stain instead, which will make it look weathered and beachy, like an old timeworn rocker with a sleek new shape and a crisp white cushion. It’s the perfect pairing of romantic, beachy and modern. We also love the silvery-blue pillow, which ties right in with the bedding (and is made out of eco-friendly hemp and organic cotton).

7. This is actually the same rug that we recommended for Chantel’s living room. Because it looked so great in there (and she wanted this room to relate to that room) we thought bringing it into the bedroom would add more of that beachy texture and tie it into the living room in a soft and subtle way. Again going with the largest size (200 x 300 cm) will allow for a good amount of it to show beyond the bounds of the bed to create a cozy and inviting ambiance (placing it centered under the bed in the middle of the room is the way to go).

We also hunted down some thick crisp white curtains, which we’d love to see hung high and wide on the gorgeous window (we liked her current curtains but thought the lacy texture might compete with the clean-lined and modern bedding, so we foun something simple and soft that’s sure to work seamlessly. It does bear mentioning that these curtains are white and the bedding is more of a cream tone, so if Chantel gets them into the space and they look too stark, switching them out for unbleached cream curtains (which Ikea also supplies) is the way to go.

8. Here’s that gorgeous bedding that Chantel has been coveting for a while now. The color scheme and botanical vibe ties right in with the rest of the space, while the organic fabrics and eco-friendly dying methods meet all of her standards. We also love the two accent pillows they’ve paired with the bedding, so picking those up should finish off the whole bed (and now they have that rocker to hang out on every night).

9. Chantel requested a floor length mirror and we love this crisp and modern one from Ikea (which is about $300 cheaper than the West Elm version here in the states). Although it’s made with dark wood, the light that the mirror will reflect in the space just might make up for the dark trim, and if Chantel brings it in and it feels too dark she can always paint it white, sand it down and stain it that honey color to match her bed, or even use extra grasscloth wallpaper to cover the simple block frame (which would be totally fantastic!). And although there isn’t much space for the floor length mirror, we know how much function it will add to the room, so we think either leaning it on the wall where the left head of the bed currently rests or even on that strip of wall near the closets and the door will allow for an easy glance in the morning to make sure everything looks good before bounding out the door.

10. And last but not least, we found these great little fabric ottomans (on sale!) to go on either side of the bed in front of each of the bookcases to serve as sweet and soft bedside tables. And they happen to come in so many colors that it was easy to find something that tied right into our scheme. Sure they’ll have to be pushed aside to access the bookcases, but they’ll add more concealed storage and a place to put an alarm clock, a glass of water (adding a tray will create a hard surface) and even a book or two. Plus the overlapping, layered effect and the nice shot of colored upholstery that they’ll introduce is so modern-meets-beachy-bohemian, and it’ll look casual and chic all at the same time.

So there you have it. A beachy-romantic/bohemian-modern master bedroom with serene yet stunning style. 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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