While we’re still pulling together our living room, we are almost finished our master bedroom! Before I share our bedroom reveal, [you can see a sneak peek through this post], I wanted to share the inspiration we pulled from while creating this space.
My ultimate goal was to have it be a relaxing space. The bedroom is where you start and end your day, so making it a stress-free, soothing area for S was important for me. To achieve a relaxing space, I knew I’d need to nail a cohesive theme, pull in soft hues and seriously organize.
I started purchasing pieces last May when we first moved in, in order to space out the expenses over a chunk of months. We started fresh with little to no furniture for this apartment since everything we had previously was mix matched hand me downs and we wanted to start a space that felt like ‘us’. With that, today I wanted to share five things I do before decorating a new room that I’ve learned along the way!
1.CREATE A COLOR SCHEME
Before planning our room, I browsed Pinterest and pinned anything I enjoyed. From there, I looked to see if there was an overall theme that stuck out between all the photos. I quickly realized that I gravitated towards white furniture, soft blush and grey hues and velvet textures. From there, I ran it by S. I made sure to pull in examples of each, so he could better understand. If you tell a guy you’re going to get pink curtains and pillows he may be hesitant, but if you show him a room and say “I really enjoy those pillows!”, he will see that they don’t overtake the room and make it a princess bubble. Overall, I have to say I’m spoiled in this department because S’ doesn’t mind pink pieces or anything I pick out really. His only request is that it’s “comfortable” and his only home decor complaint so far is that our living room faux fur pillows “get too hot” on his head. Haha!
2.MAKE A BUDGET
Maybe it’s because I’m marrying a CPA. Maybe it’s because I majored in business. Maybe this is just how everyone functions, but budgets are always our first step when deciding to spend money. Whether it’s planning a wedding, hosting a party or decorating our bedroom – starting a project with a budget allows us to not overspend and stay on the same page. If you overspend, your bank account and future will suffer and your partner may get upset. This may sound like a no brainer, but finances are such a struggle point in many people’s marriages and relationships so with any major undertaking that involves spending money, like decorating your master bedroom, start with creating a budget together!
3.Decide on Splurge Worthy Pieces
I’ve never had a headboard. As weird as that sounds, my bed growing up stayed with me until college and the design just didn’t incorporate a headboard. Then of course college supplied beds were lack there of in many areas, but what can you expect? Once S and I moved in together post-college, we invested in a bed, but the frame was standard and nothing spectacular. The reason I mention this is because with our new home, we both agreed that investing in a high quality headboard was a priority because the right one will really tie the room together.
Before moving, I knew this was the one we’d purchase so we allocated this within our budget. I understood that investing this splurge-worthy headboard would mean I’d have to bargain hunt for most other items like lamps, night stands and artwork which we were both down for. It got to the point that S would ask me after dinner some nights if I wanted to go Home Goods. I looked at him the first time this happened and said that he was a REAL keeper. In reality he just really wanted lamps, but seriously he’s so cute.
With that said, make sure to monitor some online retailers as well. I monitor a few different sites so that when I’m looking for something in particular, I can browse through. Here are a few of my favorites: One Kings Lane, Target, Joss & Main and CB2.
4.GIVE YOURSELF TIME
Consider when you want the bedroom to be completed. Like I mentioned above, we moved in last May and undertook decorating two rooms. We would have had our master bedroom finished sooner, but we had other expenses come up, like a wedding!, so we trailed it over a longer period of time than we originally thought. Another reason we went the longer route is that we don’t like to settle on pieces. It took us ten months months to find nightstands we loved that were the right color, functional and at a good price. Also keep in mind if you’re planning on decorating with those budget-friendly sites noted above, flash sales and/or Home Goods, the inventory is often not what you’re looking for. If you check frequently and over a few months, you’re more likely to come across that dream tufted bench or faux fur stool than just over a four week span.
5.THINK AHEAD
Before purchasing an item, I always like to think on if it’ll be used in our future home. This will definitely be our last apartment until we buy a house within the next couple years. I like to think on whether the item is neutral enough and high quality enough to move into our next home, even if just for the guest bedroom! I hate nothing more than cluttering closet space with items that don’t get used or spending money to replace not so great items. I think this way even for a simple item like curtains. Will we get sick of the print? Are they versatile enough to stick in a guest bedroom? Are these thick enough to last the next five or ten years?
The area I let myself get a little ‘trendy’ is our bar cart since most items are under $20 and aren’t large investment pieces. It’s fun switching pieces in and out each season so it gets my decorating bug out too.
I hope this post is helpful while you’re on your decorating adventure! What are your favorite retailers to score budget-friendly or splurge=worthy home decor pieces? Xo Mindy
SHOP BEDROOM HOME DECOR
Minted Floral Artwork c/o I White Velvet Tuft Headboard I Tufted Duvet Cover I Blush Velvet Pillows I Joss&Main 9X10 Velvet Rug c/o I Grey Ceramic Lamp I Nightstand Chests I Blush Velvet Curtains I Wicker Basket I Jonathon Adler Zebra Tray I Grey Floral Rug c/o
SHOP LIVINGROOM HOME DECOR
Watercolor Minted Artwork c/o I Blush Minted Artwork c/o I Faux Fur Pillows I Pillow Inserts I Gold Bar Cart [here, here] I Large Ceramic Pineapple I Pink Matches I Anthropologie Bowl I Newlywed Cookbook I Gold Floor Lamp I Faux Fur Rug I Anna Cate Home Pineapple Print c/o I Gold Tray [Home Goods, similar] I Marble Serving Tray I Henri Bendel Candles c/o
I seem to always forget the budget aspect, whoops! Love this post!
xo Jessica
My Style Vita
The color palette is key! Loved this post!
Xo, Elizabeth
http://stripesandsolitaires.com
Loved reading this as I LOVE interior design!! These 5 points are so appropriate and I swear Pinterest and Houzz are my best friends when i am redoing a room!!
xoxo
Tiffani
http://www.tiffaniatbretonbay.com
These are great tips! The biggest ones for me are “make a budget” and “give yourself time.” Making a budget is a bigger deal than it seems…everything is more expensive than expected when redecorating and it’s so easy to overspend. And finding the perfect pieces takes more time than my patience is willing to allow sometimes!
I love the blush pops and that headboard is amazing!
You’re lucky S is so easy going with decor!! I love what you’ve done with the place!
-Morgan
How 2 Wear It [] http://how2wearit.com
Love this post! These tips are so helpful!
Bella x
https://bellasfashionjournal.com
I’m moving in 2 weeks and this is SO helpful! Your whole white furniture color scheme is really inspiring me!
xo, Alicia | AliciaTenise.com
Great tips girl and gorgeous ROOM! I agree with you one hundred percent! It took me a year to finally finish my office!
I know I need a budget and someone to help me stick to it!!
These are all such great tips! xx
These are such great tips! I think having a design you want ahead of time is super important – you know, so you aren’t buying anything and everything you love at Home Goods! Ha! That rug in your room is so stunning!
great tips babe! can’t wait to start redecorating our living room! i will have to keep budget in mind lol