Welcome back the the Spring Spruce Up! Today, we are going to brainstorm! However, this isn’t a sit down and brainstorm kind of session. This is going to require you to visit other areas of your home and possibly other areas of your world!
Ready?
Here we go!
1.) Go in your bedroom and stand at the door. Answer these questions:
-What is the first thing your eye is attracted to in this room?
-What is your favorite thing about this room?
-What is your least favorite thing about this room?
-What do you think of when you walk in the room?
-Does this room reflect you and/or your husband in any way?
2.) Go to your favorite room in the house. Answer these questions:
-What is the first thing your eye is attracted to in this room?
-What is your favorite thing about this room?
-How does this room make you feel and what is it about this room that makes you feel that way?
-Is there anything in this room that reflects you and/or your husband?
3.) Take a break, grab a paper and pen and do a quick bit of brainstorming based on these questions (and any others that come to mind):
-Your favorite color?
-Your husband’s favorite color?
-Things that make you and/or your husband feel relaxed? Seashore? Trees? Waterfalls? Butterflies? Sunflowers? etc…
-If money was unlimited, what would your bedroom look like? (and please don’t tell me you wouldn’t dare spend a dime on your bedroom because you’d rather spend the money on homeschool curriculum! If you have to, think of this as decorating the parent/teacher conference room. 😉 )
4.) “Shop” your house.
Take your list and your head full of ideas, and walk around your home looking for things that fit your vision of a beautiful bedroom space.
The fact that we moved recently helped out tremendously in this area because nothing had a set place and I had a chance to pull out decor I had stashed away because it didn’t quite fit our last home. Therefore, I had a wide array of things to choose from.
5.) Shop your world.
Look online at decorating blogs and websites. Thumb through catalogs, looking at the decor the designers have matched up. Head out to thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, etc. But, STAY FOCUSED. You are creating a space that is cohesive and calming, not a junk shop with a bed in it.
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Here’s how my brainstorming went and a few notes to go along with it…
We rent, so the room color was already chosen for us, but paint is relatively cheap for those of you who think a different color would make your bedroom a more beautiful space. However, I know how hard it is to paint with little ones in tow, so how about choosing a color scheme? Once I built our entire decor (in our entire house!) around our wedding colors–burgundy and forest green (can you say 90’s?). I’ve branched out a bit since then, but my bouquet is still a part of our bedroom decor.
Maybe you should go with a theme. Perhaps you like sunflowers and your husband’s favorite color is green. Take those two and mesh them together. Try not to be obnoxious about it, though. Overdoing a theme will not create a relaxing space. I’ve tried to keep a Teddy Roosevelt-ish theme to our new home. Roosevelt was an avid hunter as is my husband. He was passionate about conservation, as is our family. He had a passel of kids, as do we. When I think of Roosevelt, I think of earth tones and natural decor. I think of an incurable curiosity and a life filled to the brim with living. This translates to our bedroom in the bedding and the buffalo robe, the open windows and the foliage I have chosen to decorate with.
Consider textiles and building materials that appeal to your senses. Do you like wood or wrought iron? Smooth or textured? We are wood people. Natural, unpainted, unadulterated wood. In fact, my ideal bedroom would be in a tree house–think Swiss Family Robinson!
What season do you like most? Maybe it’s spring with it’s eyelet and pastels, or winter with it’s icy blues and glistening silvers. Ty and I are both fans of autumn with its rich earthiness…again, Roosevelt-ish.
You might take note of the fact that my husband is very much a part of the decor. In fact, the centerpiece of our bedroom is a buffalo robe on the bed.
Gals, your husband needs to like this room too! Do not, do not make this room all frills and lace and ignore the fact that your MAN has to sleep there too!
That brings me to the most important part of this brainstorming session:
Who are you?
Who is your husband?
Remember, I said our master bedroom is our world, refined and honed? If you stepped into our bedroom, you would see both Ty and Amy. You would not see a separation of us, as in, this is Amy’s side of the room and this Ty’s side of the room. You would see a mix, a melding, of two lives that are now one.
You would see a corner dedicated to the greatest heartache we have ever had to endure as a married couple.
You would see a lamp in the fashion of a water pump, reminding Ty of his grandfather who dug water wells for a living.
You would see books that speak to my heart and baskets that make me smile.
It is all there…our past, our present, and our future. Together.
So, tell me, who you and your husband are. How have those two lives been melded together? How can you translate this into your bedroom? I’d love to get to know you better, so leave a comment…tell me how you can take this post and make it yours. And if you have a blog, consider writing about your ideas. Remember, there will be a link up on Thursday for you to share what you’ve been doing to spruce up your spaces (and it doesn’t have to be your bedroom!) In fact, here are the links to the other blogs participating in the Spring Spruce Up, so head on over and see what they are up to!
Sprucing Up the Laundry Room | Mama’s Laundry Talk
Sprucing Up the School Room | Homegrown Mom
Sprucing Up the Craft Room | Many Little Blessings
Sprucing Up the Bathroom | Feels Like Home
Sprucing Up the Playroom | …Life’s About a Dream
Sprucing Up the Garage/Storage Space | A Slob Comes Clean
Sprucing Up the Master Bedroom | Raising Arrows (that’s me!)
Sprucing Up Your Homeschool | Jimmie’s Collage
Sprucing Up the Kitchen | So Happy Together
Sprucing Up the Garden | An Oregon Cottage
Sprucing Up the Backyard | Successful Homeschooling
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…and if you need a break from all this sprucing up, check out my post at The Homeschool Classroom on homeschooling gifted children! I promise you CAN do it and do it well!
Heather says
love it…thank you for the ideas ! Our first “home” was a studio apartment…but like you, i built the entire decor around our wedding colors/decorations…hey I already had the stuff, might as well, right ? It’s just now that I can imagine having anymore lavender in the house :oD
Angela @ Homegrown Mom says
On Valentine’s Day, I put a little extra time into making our bedroom look like a fancy hotel room. I was thinking, “I should do this all the time!” Of course we won’t have champagnes and chocolates every night, but many other touches can be done. I think Retreat would be the word we’d both use to describe what we want our room to be. Looking forward to the rest of your posts!
Heather Qualls says
I just love this post. We are currently “homeless” as we await housing at our first duty station, but I can’t wait to set up our home again. I have never decorated. I didn’t see the point until we changed our path and I realized the potential of a comfortable and inviting home. We have very little and no money to spare. We don’t even have a bed frame. 🙂 I will figure it all out though. Now . . . to start up a conversation about what my husband would like in our room. Thank you for the post.
Carletta says
LOL about the parent/teacher conference room. You’re right, we can’t spend every dime on curriculum. Enough already!
We were fortunate to be able to redecorate our bedroom before our last child was born, but I chose a poor paint color for that room and, although I’ve grown use to it, it’s still not my favorite. You’ve really inspired me to repaint that room. Paint is not that expensive, and it will turn the room from one that I like into one I love.
Jennifer says
We’re moving. We’re packing. We live on the East Coast but my husband has applied for a job in TX. We’re packing because the landlords want their daughter to live here but we don’t know if we are going to TX or just another place here. My 4th is 6 months old and the grandparents are too far away to be able to help. I pray to someday have a bedroom where we have more than just a bed and clothes and boxes of books.
Amy says
Ugh! I’ve lived like that too. I really dislike “up in the air,” but I know God has a purpose in it. Treat yourself to a candle and burn it (up where the children can’t reach it 😉 )…that always makes me feel better about the visual surroundings. {hugs}
Rachel says
Amy, this is a beautiful post. And an excellent reminder to look at rooms with a fresh eye. Thank you….off to make my bed. 🙂
Dawn says
I live in an apartment and am not allowed to paint, but I did recently discover that the vinyl sayings that you put on the wall do actually stick to our very textured walls. That has added a nice touch to our living room, and it is finally the way I like it! The apartment is a 2 bedroom, and I am expecting our 3rd, so we’ve had to be creative with space in the kid’s room, but it’s coming along. Our bedroom is my least favorite room in the house. The wall behind our bed is made of cinder block, so nothing can hang on it… it’s very bare and ugly. I’ve thought about buying curtains to hang across the back wall to create a feaux wall, but that can get pricey and our budget is tighter than tight. Any tips or ideas?
Amy says
I just bought some of these: http://www.thisnext.com/item/0E3BA2D7/3M-Command-Wall-Hook They are great! So, you might try something like that to be able to hang things on the wall behind your bed.
Becky says
I don’t mind trying incorporate my husband’s favorite color…orange. But he’s a sports guy, and I cannot picture any of the rooms in our house (except the playroom/office) with his interests combined without it looking like some tacky sports bar or bachelor den. I’ve seen beautiful cabinetry and shelving housing tons of sports memorabilia, but it always looks like GUY space. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe taking a pic of us together at the ball field next time we go to a KC Royals game and putting it in a frame on his side of the bed?
Amy says
I address this very thing tomorrow!
Nicole from Lake View, NY says
The first thing you see when you walk into our bedroom is a sign that says “always kiss me goodnight” it has been above our bed since we bought our first home.
Right now we have the baby in our room so we also have a rocking chair, crib, changing table, cloth diaper pile etc….so for this season our bedroom is not as uncluttered as I prefer it!
Amy says
I have a bit of baby in my room too. 😉
Jami @ An Oregon Cottage says
I’m right with you on the forest green and burgundy- our whole house was that as well, AND we moved to that from the mauve and gray of the 80’s! Yes, yes, yes to thinking of our husbands- no pink and frills in our room- he doesn’t care, but I want him to feel it’s his space, too. Love the way you’ve thoughtfully put this post together!
Kimberly says
The pencil sketch of Emily is lovely…