Crack Light

When we first moved into our house, it was awful. When I say "it", I mean everything. The house had brown wood paneling, brown wood trim, nasty carpet, laminate countertops, bathrooms that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in years, walls that hadn't been painted since 1982, and windows that felt like they'd crack if you just looked at them funny. To temporarily solve the carpet problem, luckily (randomly?) my brother happened to have a carpet cleaning van, so he and my  nephew cleaned the carpet, which lasted for almost a year before we ripped that out. Everything else, however, is taking its own sweet time.

So this is what we started off with in the bedroom. It was awful. It had disgusting walls that desperately needed a few coats of paint, the awful dark wood trim, and this strange clear fan with a blacklight lightbulb. Our neighbors have since told us they called it the crack house. Or maybe that's what Patrick dubbed it with the blacklight, I don't remember. Regardless, the neighbors thought it was strange when all they could see was this purple light shining through a bedroom window.

Since we were going to be living in that house for the next few years and remodeling everything, I wanted a peaceful sanctuary to go to at night, even in the midst of a construction zone throughout the rest of the house. So the first thing we did is paint the bedroom and give it a few upgrades. Actually, I think I painted the whole house using almost entirely using "oops" paint from Home Depot and/or Lowe's. It kind of looked like a box of fruit loops. My Dad would have gone crazy living there with all the color. He's a "white walls only" kinda guy. 

I knew I wanted a gray bedroom, so we went for it. The wall behind our bed we painted  one or two shades darker than the other three walls, which I ended up really liking. I found these coral colored curtains at Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $7 a panel (which is awesome), added an existing pillow or two, and walla. Our bedroom! As it stood about a year and a half ago. And I did end up adding pink curtains to the wall behind the bed, I just apparently never took a picture of it. 

Then about 3 months ago I saw this inspiration picture on Pinterest. I think it was Anthropologie, but I tried and tried to find the source picture, and couldn't find it. I don't know why I like it so much. It kind of reminds me of a loft you'd see in New York (I've secretly always wanted to live in a city in a loft apartment - preferably something more like San Diego - with a wooden plank ceiling, a little cute kitchen, and lots of eclectic contemporary and vintage/upcycled touches). I think mostly what appealed to me is the vintage picture, the interesting pattern on the sheets, the texture on the duvet, and the little yellow pops that make it interesting. I like the vintage suitcases, but not in bulk. Maybe just one.

I wasn't actually going to do this. I just thought that maybe if I were single and living in a city I could then allow myself to have it. But then I found this perfect print on canvas at Ross for $15.

Then I found these sheets at Target for like $17. King sized and comfy, might I add.

Then I splurged and used a 20% off coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought this white duvet cover. And yes, that's an over-played pillow from Target, but I can't help but love it. 

I happened to do a trip to my parents' house and traded my mom one of our bedroom sets for my old white bedroom set. During that same trip, I convinced most of my sisters and my mom, Patrick, and Eden's husband Ray to all take a family field trip to Ikea. Despite everyone getting grumpy and cranky at the end, it was successful, and I found some shear white curtains and bought a bunch of them to go in the house.

And my mom had her father's old trunk he used in WWII. Crazy, right? Well it's perfect, and holds stuff at the foot of our bed.

Then I talked my husband and Dad into building the platform bed one weekend when my dad visited us. (Sidenote: don't paint in your bedroom on your new floors. I did. And haven't cleaned up the paint I spilled yet. I am a chronic paint spiller.)

Then I found these white animal print-ish end tables exactly the right height at TJ Maxx for I think about $20 each. And a silver mirror that was probably about $30, if I remember correctly.

And the final result. Well, nothing is ever final with me, so whatever pictures I post are always in-between. Or "happy at the moment" pictures.

My little Avery Jade is quite the cutey. And my room looks really small in this picture. I guess it is small. Our next house will have a bigger master bedroom. And closet. And bathroom. See? Planning my future at 9:30 at night when all I want to do is sleep. Yes. sleep. at 9:30 pm. That's what happens when you turn 26.