Projects

I love having a project. I always have. If I don't have some kind of crafty endeavor going on, I get antsy and cranky. For many years, my living space was my project. In my early twenties I discovered http://www.digsmagazine.com/, a home and living website for people just starting out on their own. It inspired me in many ways as I turned my teeny little upper duplex apartment into a cozy home. I revamped two apartments with my husband before buying our condo, which was an all encompassing project for quite some time. But once we settled in, the projects kind of dried up. There were no more walls to paint, no more cabinets to refinish, no more artwork to create. There were many small projects after that - scrapbooks and parties - and one big one - having a baby! - but right now I'm in a project rut, and going a little stir crazy.

Which is why I started a mini-makeover of our bedroom, a revamp of our dining "hutch" and various reorganizations of different pockets of our home. Each one of these in-progress projects will be a post of its own soon, but here's what we're working on right now in the bedroom (because what do I love even more than projects? Lists!)

The goal of the bedroom mini-makeover was to lighten the space and phase out the Moroccan theme.

So far we have:

- changed the bedding from dark purple sheets and a red comforter to a cream, rust and brown duvet with a botanical print. The sheets are now a slate blue.

- purchased king sized pillows and shams that match the new bedding. The effect is so much more luxurious. The pillows are perky, the comforter fluffy and inviting, and it looks like a fancy hotel bed now.

- swapped out the larger end tables in dark wood for smaller, lighter wood tables for our bedside.

- changed some accessories. We had lots of heavy candleholders in dark jewel tones, and an oversized, dark wood and gold picture frame on the dresser. I replaced them with a clear glass candleholder, a small, cream colored vase from Ikea (for $1.99!) and a cream colored photo frame (also from Ikea).

- added a pretty mug from Pier One to the desk area for pens.

Still to do are:

- replacing the heavy, jewel toned drapes.

- recovering the window seat, which is currently upholstered in a thick, cordory-like fabric in olive green.

- finding or creating some kind of artwork for over the bed. I want something that incorporates the new color scheme, and is grander in scale to better anchor our large, king-sized bed.

We've changed the color palette pretty significantly with these small changes (and changes on the horizon), without having to repaint the rust orange walls. Here's an example of our new versus old color palette.