Okay. So, we don't want to leave any one hanging... wondering, "should I do this? Will it be too hard?"
Well, if you are torn about whether you should participate in our 2009 Summer "Bare Wall" challenge...Well, YOU SHOULD! You will feel so much better having accomplished something like this AND have your house looking the way you really want it to look. Our homes are supposed to be our escape. A place we can go and get away from the stress and cares of the world, to be with the ones we love most, right?
Well, I decided that for my 10th wedding anniversary I wanted to surprise my super duper Honey, Honey of a husband with a "new" room, so-to-speak. No extreme room makeover because I couldn't afford THAT, but I new I could make it better than it was. I wanted our bedroom to be relaxed environment that was nice but comfy, with a romantic touch. But, I absolutely had to make it work for BOTH of us (i.e. no flowery girly stuff...well, at least, a bare minimum of that. I mean, its still half my room, right?)
So, here is a picture of part of my room- messy, unmade bed and all (I'm really going out on a limb here for you, so PLEASE don't judge me by this picture!!)
Yep, pretty blue walls, that I did love. But, had A LOT of trouble trying to decorate with.
Tip#1, when choosing a paint color, its easier to match paint to a couch or a bed comforter, than to try to find a couch or bedding that matches the paint you absolutely HAD to have!! Yeah, it was really pretty, but never worked well in my room (but, this shade of blue was very relaxing, I must say).
I decided to "makeover" my room about a week before my anniversary (NOT good timing!) Seeing how I work really well under pressure, I did get it done, with the help of some great friends and family members who helped me out.
I knew I wanted to make my room sort of tropical, because of a great trip my hubby and I had been on to Hawaii recently. We had a great time, and keep talking about going back. So, I thought I'd bring a little of the tropics to us.
Just a note: I did not paint the walls for my "makeover". My hubby and I painted about 3 weeks AFTER I did my work, because as you will see, the blue DID NOT go (that was part of my plan, but I couldn't swing it in a week AND surprise him). So, here's what I did:
-Changed out my comforter cover for a solid beige colored one
-Bought some fabric from Joann's and some pillow forms (all on sale) and sewed some new pillows
-totally cleaned out my room- and I mean TOTALLY
-added some new accessories like tropical smelling candles (held on our eL
Chunky Candle Holders) -framed some of our pictures from our recent trip to Hawaii
-bought a few small tropical plants
-made an
eLLeMeNOPea custom designed triptych for above my bed. This is the picture of my NEW wall above my bed. It wasn't exactly bare before, but needed some serious help. So, here's the finished product:
What do you think?? Not too hard. I fixed up my wall, simply by adding a triptych to it. No more bare (or almost bare) wall! Not too bad, AND my room is now my oasis. Its so nice. We feel like we step away to an island retreat when we go in there. You don't have to do the extra stuff I did. You might have bedding you love, you just don't know what to do on the wall above that. Hopefully this will get you thinking...
SO, what can you do for YOUR "Bare Wall"? More ideas to come!!
Labels: custom designed triptych, summer challenge ideas
