I love spending time with family and friends, enjoying the awesome Manitoba summer weather and various recreational activities, but truth be told, I always rank my holidays (and even weekends) on how productive I was during my days off. I honestly don’t know why, but for me the greatest of summer vacations consists of a long list of completed projects! My fix is found in the satisfaction of finishing things on my “to do” list, not so much how many times I made it to the beach (which this year would be zero!) For me back to school, means getting back in to routine and of course returning to full time work as a Kindergarten teacher. Although I still try to be productive on the weekends, I have learned the importance of taking the time to recharge as well. So, as we settle back into our fall routines, I know that my projects will need to slow down in order to maintain some sort of balance juggling work, family, blogging and the youtube channel. Although the main elements in our master bedroom makeover are complete, I am pretty certain that it will be months before I get any form of art/photos on the walls! So although I would consider this some sort of a reveal, in all honesty, it won’t be finished for a while yet.

Farmhouse Style Master Bedroom Makeover:

• One of the main elements of this makeover involved the installation of reclaimed shiplap from our basement, to create a feature wall that would double as our headboard.
• Tim built and installed farmhouse style wall sconces. He used old clothes line pulleys, scrap wood and reclaimed metal frames from lampshades to create this look….I absolutely love these!!
• The custom built-ins that bank both sides of the bed are ideal for housing our alarm clocks, books, etc. as our room can not accommodate bedside tables.
• We had this old bevelled glass window in our basement and it seemed like the perfect finishing touch for our feature wall.
• Of course, the new colour pallet which is primarily Benjamin Moore’s “Simply White” brightened our space and gave it such a clean look. I love the Sherwin Williams “Navel” colour, but we really wanted the room to maintain the bright white look, so we limited it to the space surrounding the shiplap wall. I love how this turned out.
• The curtains for the window and both closets were made from the same fabric. They provide the privacy we need while still allowing ample light into the space. The curtains that I made for the closets really elevated the look of the room by hiding the contents.
• The rusty springs I salvaged from an old sofa chair made the perfect curtain tie-backs for our farmhouse style design.
• The old ceiling fan dated the space for sure. We managed to give it a whole new look that fit with our new farmhouse style bedroom.
• Although we had planned to build a king sized platform bed and purchase a new mattress and bedding, we have yet to decide if we will even proceed with our plans. For now, our old white bedding has been given new life with all of the new covers I made for the existing pillows and throws. I used a variety of purchased, repurposed and even sentimental fabrics for the various pillows. I still plan to purchase EURO throws to run along the wall behind the existing pillow configuration, but haven’t yet found a navy fabric/texture I like.
• We already had the upcycled coffee table bench in our room and it was a simple fix to recover the bench to coordinate with our new colour scheme.

Antique Dressers:

You will notice that we have two dressers in the bedroom, both antiques. I purchased the white one several years ago, but it wasn’t in very good condition. I stripped and painted it and it has been in our bedroom for years now. The second, larger dresser, was recently passed onto me from my dad. My parents used that dresser their entire married life and it is still in great condition. We opted to leave the original wood grain and I love how it becomes a strong foundation piece in the room. The contrast between the white and oak is appealing to me.

We never had a TV in our room at all until just a few years ago and for the most part, we don’t really use it. When we were planning out our master bedroom makeover, we tossed around the idea of removing it completely, but in the end, we felt that we might actually use it more now that our room is so much nicer. Sure enough, we have probably used the television more in the last few weeks than in the previous year. I would love to have the dresser top available for accessories, but for now a television is practical. We have a TV in our living room, but don’t have another sitting area like a family room or finished basement. There are definitely times when Tim wants to watch a game and I would like to sit back and enjoy a movie, so this just makes sense for now.

Sitting Area:

Although our room isn’t huge, there is plenty of room for the chair and ottoman we picked up on Kijiji. The fabric is cream coloured, but I love the idea of mixing whites. It is super comfy and a nice addition to the room. I hated the old chair we had in our room, so this is a big improvement in my eyes.

Other Accessories:

As I mentioned, I haven’t really put much thought into accessorizing yet. There are no pictures on the walls, but I do plan to create some sort of a photo gallery down the road. For now, I have a few pieces that I have incorporated into the design just to give it a more finished look despite the bare walls.

• I found this oversized lantern style candle holder for $2 at a garage sale this summer. It wasn’t damaged, but very grungy for sure. It looks wicker, but is actually woven metal. I love how it is rusty and aged. It sits on the floor beside my parents old dresser and we opted to put a plant from my dad on the other side. I’m loving the addition of live plants in our new space. (I hope we can keep them alive!)
• On the white dresser, I have my DIY Answered Prayers project, a stack of vintage books, a little garage sale white trinket holder and a vintage Hurricane Oil Lantern that I claimed when my dad was downsizing.
• We also have a large floral basket that is home to our “sleeping pillows” during the day.

Overall, this room is decorated very sparsely. There aren’t many accessories in the room and the walls remain bare, yet it has a surprisingly warm and cozy feeling. I’m very pleased with how this room came together and the sentimental elements make me feel so happy in the space. My dad recently moved out of the city and having a few of his things close, somehow makes the distance seem smaller. So pleased with this almost finished space!!

You can see how much Hershey loves our new room too! I could not get him to leave, so that I could take pictures!

Be sure to check out my previous Master Bedroom Makeover posts to see how this look came together through the various DIY projects!