Bringing the planks to a bedroom ceiling

Here we are, back on plank duty again. This time, we're starting on the ceiling in one of the bedrooms. I'd like to say that this is my favourite of the two spare bedrooms, with it's slanted walls and dormer window -- but I'm torn. The other bedroom has a larger window that looks straight across the ravine, where you see nothing but trees galore. I like to call it my treehouse room, because that's what it feels like, plus that one will be my future office.

But this room...it has a good feel to it. Warm, friendly, inviting. It used to house two cats that peed up a storm in the closet (and other places), but those days -- and smells -- are long gone. We reworked the walls of this room so where you walk in is actually where the old closet used to be. Confused? Stop by sometime and I'll give you the guided tour.

The View From a Bedroom Window

Here's what it looks like with the new window in place in the bedroom that faces the ravine. It makes me feel like I'm in a treehouse!

The bedroom

Our bedroom was one of the first rooms we tackled in the reno. It used to be beige, with a long black shelf over top of the bed, and no bed frame. Very bachelor-chic. (And then I came along and threw the bachelorhood out the window.) The best part about this room is that it's budget-friendly: the entire wall of drapes are from Ikea, as are the tables and bed frame (so many people have this bed frame!). The dressers are from Trevor's childhood bedroom, and we splurged on the glass lamps (Urban Barn).

I love the red gerberas against the wall colour.

Calm blue ocean artwork...they fool me into thinking I have a fancy view.

A little greenery goes a long way, and some photos from our trip to Europe last October. (Oh, and that white blobby thing is an oversized porcelain diamond shape.)

School's in: Staging a bedroom

Pillow harmony?  Neat and tidy without looking over-primped.

I need extra help in the bedroom with figuring out pillow arrangements and organizing bedside trinkets.  The room is mainly blue-ish* hues, with a wall of drapes in a slightly darker blue.  The linens are all white with throw pillows in more of those blue-ish hues, and a throw blanket, in yes...a blue-ish hue.  

(*'blue-ish' = mainly blue, but a bit of green so it's not too cool)  

Why look!  A blue-ish room!  A big 'X' goes on those lilies though, I'd wake up a big snotty allergic mess with those right next to me.  The retro telephone is tres hip though.

Okay, look past the busy tree/bird mural in this bedroom and count the pillows with me: I spot eight.

Accent colours galore!  And the black scotty dog...love it.  I think the corded phone would have to go though.  How annoying would it be getting that caught in the drawer every time you opened it?  Wait, we're not talking practical, we're talking staging.

And with today's staging 101 I thought about the colours that would best pop against those blue-ish colours, but without looking too bright (it is a bedroom after all, serene, peaceful and all that).  So I think some yellow and slightly yellow-greens with a nice dose of white and grey/silver/pewter could bring this room together.

Bedroom inspiration

When we go away, I like to check out the small boutique hotels -- they always have something more interesting to offer than the chain hotels (and sometimes at an equal or better price!).  One of our first stays was at Hotel Deluxe in Portland, where we found the inspiration for our bedroom*: 

Another hotel that we stayed in last month was Hotel Max in Seattle:

And, most recently, I won a free night at Hotel Murano in Tacoma (yay twitter contests!!):

*no photos of that, it's in the middle of a major ensuite reno and looks like a disaster