Exposed Bricks

I don’t know what about you guys, but I love the idea of exposing bricks on the walls! If husband and I get to buy the apartment we want (praying and crossing fingers!) we would definitely use this technique in our place! Perhaps only in the living room, personally I think that it would be a bit too dramatic or rough in the bedroom.. In my opinion, the bedroom should be a very calm and relaxing spot.

I love also the idea of having “naked” concrete walls. But I think you must have a big room to do it, if not it gives a cold feeling (that’s what I think).

Hope you are all having a nice week! I cant believe its almost the end of April! Time is flying and I've just realized I have 2 months to finish my thesis. That’s why I haven't been posting so often.. I really want to focus on finishing my master’s degree!

Do you like this technique?

 

Decorating Your Bedroom on a Budget

Would you like to give your room a make-over but don’t have enough money? That was my case when I re-designed my bedroom. I wasn’t happy with how it looked like and didn’t feel like it was my “sanctuary”. You all know that your bedroom is the most important place at home… its where you start and end your day, and a place to recharge energy. So being comfortable in it is important! Remember to have in mind the BEDROOM BASICS!

All you’ll need is a bit of creativity, dedication, time and of course money… hopefully a small amount ;)

BED

You don’t really need to buy a new one to re-vamp your room. You may just use your imagination and have a DIY headboard and change your bedcovers. I like to focus a lot on the wall behind the bed, make it work as a frame (your bed will be the picture). In my case, I filled that wall with different picture frames.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WALLS

If you have a small room, the walls will be the place with more area to decorate. Here, you can use wallpapers, picture frames, mirrors and wall stickers, this will give a nice look to it. Try using contrasting colors. It will give life and dimension to the room. And, as I said, wall stickers can make a change without having to change the wall color.

 

FURNITURE

Rearrange it. You’ll see the huge difference it will make. It’s a great way to give a fresh and new look. The best thing: It’s FREE! ;)

 

PILLOWS & RUGS

Have many. It will give a cozier look and, as I mentioned in an older post, it’s a great and less-expensive way to splurge on designer items. Placing rugs on the floor will also help revamping the new look.

What do you think about it? I’d love to read your comments :)

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My bedroom

As promised… here’s my bedroom. When I first came to Poland, like on 2007, I didn’t really care about how this room looked like. But 2 years ago, when I moved in.. I cared. And I had to change the awful color he had, re-arrange all the stuff he had (and he had A LOT.. plants, multicolor lamps he never used, an elliptical, boxes and way too much stuff just laying around in the room in a corner behind the tv or couch.. now I don’t remember exactly. So here we go… a tour through the process :)

Hope you enjoy! The color scheme I chose was dark grey, dark brown (in the furniture) and an off-white.

 

Unfortunately, this is the only pic I could find of the before. He sent me this when he bought his new bed. I was still in Peru. I have a few more pics, but there where taking during the process. I kind of regret it. because it would’ve been nice to see the exact before.. in every angle :P

BEFORE

See the stuff he had befind the tv? He had much more.

That was the original color of the cupboard. Light brown… like the desk and door.

Hubby and I have a big room, so working with dark colors was possible for us. The palette of colors I chose was dark grey, brown (in the furniture), silver and an off-white.

As you’ve noticed, we have a sloped ceiling, so the dark color went on the tallest wall to emphasize the height, and off-white on the slope to give the illusion of a higher ceiling. On the dark wall I added small frames instead of a big one.. it was kind of impossible with it’s shape. We had that mirror before… so we just kept it. Making that round white frame was hard!

AFTER

Our budget was a bit low, so we didn’t really buy new furniture. We don’t own the place where we live at, so we don’t really want to invest in new furniture.. we will do it once we buy a place. So, our desk stayed the same. But our shelves and cupboard where painted. It turned out black. But was supposed to be a dark brown tone like the bedframe and nightstands.

Unfortunately we have that blue rug and couch. But as I said before, we won’t take this with us once we move out. We’ll probably buy a new set for our future living room. The only new thing we bought where the nightstands and the dresser next to the tv.

 

That’s the dresser and the cupboard we painted. We changed the old handles by new steel-like ones. Also added wax-paper to the 2 small windows to give the impression of sanded-glass. I think it was a great idea, it not only hides the mess behind them, but also looked good when we bought our dresser.

See the alien head on at the top? That’s one of the things I didn’t get my hubby to get rid of!

 

And here’s the BEFORE & AFTER:

 

Finally, a tip I used in our room. One of our cats likes to come back home through our windows. So, we painted the bottom part dark gray as our bedhead wall. You don’t see the footprints that much.

Bedroom Organizing BASICS

The bedroom is where you start and end your day. Therefore, it should be a place free of stress and kind of a sanctuary :)

KEEP & GIVE:

Go through every drawer, shelf and box under your bed and choose what do you really want to keep and what you don’t really use anymore. You will be impressed with all the stuff you don’t really need. And, if you are like my husband and want to keep EVERYTHING (even a small stone he found as a kid), put the stuff away into boxes).

BED:

Use the areas below and behind to store things too. Maximize the space by placing plastic containers on wheels. If you don’t have a headboard yet, buy or build one with out-of-sight storage incorporated. Another idea for linen storage (if you don’t have one) is folding a set of clean sheets and putting them between your mattress and spring box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NIGHT TABLES:

Buy a table with at least ONE drawer and a bottom shelve. Personally, I think three-drawer tables are the best, you can have all of your things out-of-sight. You can even use one of them as a linen storage or room for extra clothes.

Keep the top clean and cutter-free. Have wall mounted lights.

DRESSER:

Great option for clothes storage besides the closet. It will also work as a decorative furniture in your room. But, remember to keep the top clutter-free.

Keep in shallow drawers your socks, tights and lingerie. As for ties, try to have them on a tie rack. Unless you don’t have space.

For deep drawers, use dividers to separate clothing and, in my case, accessories. I keep my jewelery/accessories IN the drawer on small black dividers I bought at IKEA. I have them organized and stored away :) But also, if you have space on top of your dresser, a large jewelery box will work fine as decoration.

My husband tends to put his watch and bunch of coins on top of the dresser. To reduce clutter, but a gentelmen’s valet tray. I MUST BUY ONE! It will also avoind scratches on the surface ;)