After ten happy years of marriage, Jennifer is ready to treat herself to the master bedroom she and her husband deserve. Here’s her letter:
Dear Lisa, My husband and I just celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary, yet we are still living with relics from our single days in our master bedroom. My husband’s bedside table is leftover from his service in the military. My bedside table and our dresser are part of a set I bought right after college. We are ready to “reinvent” our master bedroom to create a more pulled together look, but with one caveat: the paint color must stay. We just hate to paint, and it’s the same color I’ve used in our master bathroom addition, so hopefully you can work with it. Also, I’ve already picked out a few things I’d like for you to incorporate. I love this Marimekko bedding and also the headboard, and perhaps, a dresser from this set. Otherwise, we’re open to new window treatments, furniture, accessories, lighting, and any other ideas you have. Thanks, Jennifer
Ten years is definitely cause for celebration, and what better way to toast the one you love than to recreate your master bedroom retreat. Like a good marriage, a master bedroom needs balance and compromise, so we’re going to infuse this space with complementary textures, colors and finishes to achieve symmetry and style. Here we go!
1. Jen has given clear direction on establishing a color palette. Her wall colors appeared purplish at first, but they’re actually Graytint (BM #1611) which is a lovely pale gray. Jen’s choice of bedding, a plum colored Marimekko pattern with white accents, works beautifully with the gray walls. We’ll accent with fresh, milky white and hints of flax and oatmeal to create a setting perfect for breakfast in bed (albeit a healthy one).
For room layout, we like the new bed positioned under the window as she currently has it. Her new dresser would go on the right wall where the current dresser resides, but the taller shape of the new one will bring much needed height to the room and take up less floor space. Bonus! We love Jen’s oversized floral prints in purple and green and suggest that she hang them one on top of the other on the left wall to the right of the window, again, working the illusion of height into the room.
2. Did you know that “tin” is the ten year anniversary gift? Neither did we! Who comes up with this stuff?! Nevertheless, we’ve got a way to add some tin-type sparkle into Jen’s bedroom. In addition, we want to give the room a more pulled together appearance by establishing a balance of symmetry without succumbing to that “matchy-matchy” look. This mercury lovely will work beautifully as a pair of bedside lamps. Their height will keep them from getting lost as is the case with Jen’s current bedside lamps, and we love their shimmer. Jen can find great white lampshades to top them off here.
3. This trio of mercury glass candlesticks is the perfect accent to grace Jen’s new dresser. They’ll draw the eye upward, giving the illusion of more height in the room.
4. Jen’s bedroom has a gorgeous view of their backyard garden. These textured linen window panels will provide light and airy privacy without shutting out the view. Their flax color and linen texture will bring some natural elements into the space to balance the mercury shimmer. Jen can use her existing curtain rod, but we also love this collection which is currently on sale.
5. With the new dresser freeing up some floor space, we have room to incorporate this fun accent chair. We love how its clean lines work with the new bedroom furniture, the flax linen texture complements the window panels, and the nailhead trim picks up the other metallic accents in the room. Plus, doesn’t every bedroom need a chair to catch those clothes you’re just too tired to put away?
6. This handmade purple accent pillow will provide a dose of color to the accent chair and subtly picks up on the leafy pattern in the bedding.
7. No bedroom is complete without a cozy throw for some added warmth on a cold night. We like the luxurious texture of this one. It could live happily at the foot of the bed or draped over the accent chair.
8. To perpetuate our theme of symmetry with shimmer and style, we are nothing short of obsessed with this sunburst mirror in an antiqued silver finish. We would like to see a pair of these hanging above each bedside lamp with about six inches between the top of the lamp and the longest bottom “ray” of the mirror.
9. This purple stoneware tray brings another earthy element into the room and will be a perfect spot to corral change, jewelry, and the other odds and ends that breed overnight on the top of the dresser.
10. The simple stripe on this rug will bring new pattern into the room without fighting the scrolling leaf pattern in the bedding; a perfect compromise, like in every good marriage. The khaki and white color combination coordinates nicely with our plum, white and neutral palette.
11. A pair of these euro shams in white will enhance the plum and white bedding.
12. We think a pair of these white bedside tables will be the final fabulous dose of symmetry chic in Jen’s new master bedroom. Their white color will pop against the gray walls and plum bedding. Their nickel hardware will shimmer along with the other metallic accents. And, they’ll be a perfect base for the pair of lamps and sunburst mirrors above.
One final design note. We would love to see Jen splurge on some plantation shutters to finish off the high window that sits over the headboard. Their clean lines in a crisp white finish would look beautiful above the bed.
Jen, we hope your new master bedroom will bring you many, many more years of wedded bliss. What kind of shape is your bedroom in? Need some design help? Don’t hesitate to ask.
If you want to truly love where you live, please contact me about design services.
