Room Posting 1: Master Bedroom

Okay, since I want to show off my house to the anonymous voids and I can't handle the uploading and tagging involved in a photodump post, I'm going to do this room-a-day style.  Those who were after an exclusive jewelry designer blog instead of a general design blog are ... probably not reading anyway.  Hmm.

Anyway.

The room: Our master bedroom
The style: Medieval Gothic meets American Arts and Crafts Movement
The colors: Black and orange/New England Halloween


We spent hours stitching and stencilling for this one.  It's still missing the big, traditional black-and-white quilt with orange sashing around which the entire room is designed, but here's what there is now.

From the door:

Bed from a local thrift store.  The bedskirt is crinkle panne from our stash.  Gothic mirror on the right from our collection, its avian shelf-sitter from Hobby Lobby and the dollhouse books it's perusing are fantastic, readable little volumes from Bo Press, a first-anniversary gift to M.

The picture frame on my bedside table is a triptych of our second anniversary photo and a black-and-white set from the thoroughly awesome DeSigns by Renee, which were my birthday gift to M last year.  Above the bed, a vintage upholstery fabric in two shades of orange, displayed in a pair of black frames from Goodwill.  The museum plate on the outer frame reads "Sunset on Snow."

Photos of the rest of the room after the jump ...



The wall opposite the window:

Another arrangement of textiles displayed in reclaimed frames.  There are two quilter's cottons -- one is black and white ravens, the other a vivid orange print that reflects that swirling pattern used in the binding and endpapers of many vintage books -- and a flocked black and white plaid, and the reverse of the tapestry from above the bed.  The bedside lamps are rehomed buffet lights.

The wall the bed faces:

More of the orange bookbinder print in elegant frames, plus a vintage wrought-iron candle sconce.  Originally we had a white spiral beeswax candle in the holder, but it made the whole vignette look like a disappointed face.  Orange works better.

The harp necklace holder was a yard-sale find if I recall correctly.  The dresser itself is a 1960s neo-medieval beauty; it was once light oak veneer, but we corrected the travesty with a judicious application of spray paint.

A detail of a nightstand:

We learned valuable lessons about the differing functions of acrylic and stencil paint.  I rather like the effect, though.  Its blurriness echoes the tapestry and makes the black photo boxes we used look less crisp.  Beating out heavy metal rhythms with your foam brush may not be the Martha Stewart-approved way of doing this, but it works for me.

The nightstands themselves were the work of my parents, who, years ago, took a vintage lady's desk, cut out the middle, and put heavy wood tops with moisture-resistant leatherette upholstery on the side/drawer sections to yield these.  That's the original hardware, sprayed pewter; M recovered the tops with a black, heavily embossed faux leather and we were good to go.

The vignette placed so as to be visible from the hall:

It has an elegantly funereal feel that gives a touch of Gothic class which balances nicely with the cozier, more feminine areas visible from the same point.   (Tee hee, I maked pretty words.)  Again, made of things we had.


We purchased the headboard, the sheets, the boxes, the bird, and the orange vase.  The rest was stash fabric, recycled cardboard, year-and-more-old gifts, hand-embellishment and elements from our existing furniture collections.
Total decorating cost, exclusive of time: about $40.  Still needs some touch-up paint, but we'll get to it!