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January 08, 2015

Almost A Year In The Making

The "end of the year" review is coming but I knew that you couldn't wait for the master bedroom "reveal."  That's right, seven years to get to this point but it is DONE. Whoo Hoo!

Let's start at the beginning.  With the completion of the master bath (did you miss that saga?), it was time to move to the last room waiting to be done...the master bedroom.  No, hold up, wait a minute. The story actually starts with the unexpected redo of the guest bedroom, fondly called Bernard's suite, and progresses to my room.
 
I have always wanted a chaise lounge.  For-ev-er.  In planning out changes for my bedroom, a chaise was at the top of the list.  Started a Google search.  Have you checked the price on those lately? Are you kidding me?  So off I went to search through the local stores.  No such luck.  Oh, well, it would be nice to have but not a necessity.  Keep looking, girl.

What's this? A Federal, four-poster bedroom suite, with a high boy chest?  And, look, a chaise lounge within my price range. Oh, my.  But Sistah Girl, you don't need any more furniture. In fact, you could get rid of some. The room is fully furnished,  including a queen-sized sleeper sofa.  But...but...I want it.  Lay-away?  Get out!  Write it up.  Now, what to do with the other furniture?  Tried selling it but no go...so...I wound up giving it away. Gave it away?  Yep, the whole kit and kaboodle, everything but the mattress. And I'm so happy.  The new set compliments the house, perfectly.
 
Back to where I left off, redoing the master bedroom. Only one window in that huge room and it was badly in need of replacement; the floors were the absolute worse in the house--a professional sanding job was a necessity; the one closet in the room was a dark hole which I dared not reach into any further than I could see;  no baseboards; floor furnace needed to be gone with boards to cover the space; paint, yada yada.  Actually, it sounds worse than it was but....

First off: replace that closet.  Why? Other than it being a dark hole?  The way that it was built, originally, did not allow you to place anything on the shelf above the closet pole.  The door frame prevented it. Three or more feet of unusable space. Let the demolition begin.  What's this?  Cedar slats behind the stained wallpaper.  No salvaging those. Two and a half months later, I had a nice wide closet with overhead storage.   Floor furnace gone; new floorboards down in its place.  Baseboards installed. Just those improvements made a significant difference in the room's appearance. Waiting for the new window to arrive.  Happy.


The window arrived in July.  Where's the contractor?  "I'm coming." A very familiar refrain among the people with whom I've dealt with down here.  While waiting, I ran across a going-out-of-business sale for a company with wallpaper and flooring.  Hmmm, I've hung wallpaper. Maybe they'll have something that I like.  Nope, not enough rolls in the pattern that I liked. Well, let's get to painting.

Off to Sherman Williams.  With only one window, bright is the key.  Slapped an off-white on when I first moved in and I wasn't feeling more white.  Yellow?  Really?  Not thrilled, but so be it. Called up my good friend, Bill Wideman, and it's a done deal. Yellow with white trim. Almost matches the yellow in the bath.  Feeling much better.

Living on Google for ideas. This room must be pretty; not girly. Pretty is what I have in mind.  What's this? Stencils?  I can do this.  Sent off for the design that I wanted.  Window still not installed and it's August.

In the meantime, I found a comforter set with a yellow and gray pattern. Yellow and gray?  I never thought about gray as an accent color.  Perfect for the stencil. Back to Sherman Williams with one of the pillow shams to match the gray. After much discussion, the salesperson and I reached an agreement on the exact shade.

Hauled out the ladder in October and got ready to have a go at the stencil and the perfect shade of gray.  Did I mention that my ceilings are very high and that with my advanced age, I am leery of climbing too high on a ladder?  What's this? Blue-gray, not charcoal gray?  The air turned blue from my cussing.  Well, persevere, girlfriend, persevere.

Not enough drama for you?  Hang on, it's coming. Going up the ladder, something twisted in my left leg.  Noooo!  The knee swelled to the size of two knees. Couldn't bend the leg. Did I mention that it was also painful?  Trip to the doctor called for.  Since it still isn't right, I'd say that he misdiagnosed this injury. Another trip is called for. No painting in the month of November. And, I was still looking for someone to put in that damned window before the weather turned frigid.

Okay, found someone to install the window.  It is now December and I am bound and determined, bad knee and all, to get that stencil finished. Word of advice should you try stenciling a large area: buy more than one.  It saves going up and down the ladder and the job goes more quickly. The blue-gray is starting to grow on me.  Only two walls to complete.  Oh, and correct the area where I started going downhill with the stencil. Damned bifocals.

My idea of having the floor sanded and stained gave way to the better idea of having wall-to-wall carpeting installed.  Larry Braden, Braden Flooring, suggested putting roofing felt over the floorboards to block the cold air and then padding. Oh! My!  It picks up the blue-gray stencil perfectly. No more dancing across the floor in your bare feet. No more million and one blankets on the bed or sleeping in a hat.  Don't laugh.  With cold air coming through the floor and the window, the room was frigid.

Well, why not paint the bedroom furniture?  I am officially a painting fool.  The shiny black that I ordered turned out to be the shade gray ordered for the stencil. Well, my salesperson might have known what she was doing after all. Looking good with pewter hardware.


Oh, look!  Google served up the perfect drapes to finish off the room, silver and blue damask print, in just the length that I need.  Ordered them from Bellacor.  3 to 5 weeks delivery time?  Around the middle of January? Sheesh.

I called to check on the drapes on Monday and was told to expect them January 20th. Went to get the mail this afternoon and here's a huge box on my porch.  My drapes!  Yippee! Well, let's see, the color of the pattern is not the blue that I was expecting, it's gray, and the pattern is off from the stencil (don't trust photos on the computer) but, hot damn!  So the gray picks up the painted furniture and the pattern will work. I know, the pattern is showing as purple in picture; trust me, it's gray. I don't know what color palette they used.


It took ten months but the master bedroom is done! I am happy, happy, happy. I need to throw a party!  Umm, not before I get the front bathroom fixed...again.

Be Safe!  Be Blessed!








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