Before and After: Part II Master Bedroom

It was a close call- but master bedroom won the contest with 6 votes, followed by kitchen with 5. I'm sorry to say this, but the before and after will be less than life-changing. Since we just moved in last Monday, there's still some decorating that needs to be done. But you can definitely see the main idea!

Here's the before of our master bedroom. Lovely plantation blinds and tray ceilings. But beige, beige, beige. The ceilings and the walls were painted the same color, which made it all feel like a closed in beige box. Yucko!

{Please excuse the chair and dresser in its' box}

We decided to paint this room a calming shade of grey-blue (Rhino by Behr), which really made the white trim pop. Also- our painter suggested that we do something with the Rhino on our ceiling. He ended up painting the vertical part of the tray Rhino as well, with white on the other parts. Our brown-black furniture pairs perfectly with the light gray walls, and my mom bought me the West Elm bedding as a birthday present.

The TV will be hung on the wall, and we'll display photos in black gallery frames with white mats. Don't worry- I'll post pictures when it's 100% done. But I know you all were excited to see even a little bit of the new place!

This is the bed we wanted to buy, but couldn't fit it in our car with all the other Ikea goodies we picked up! Click "goodies" to see a source list for all the new things in our bedroom.

We love our master bedroom, and I've been sleeping so well since we moved in. What do you think of this "after"?

*see my previous post for specific paint codes*

Before and After: Part I

I'm a sucker for before and afters. We'll DVR tons of shows on HGTV, just so I can fast forward to the end and see the big reveal!

Seeing as our new home was a foreclosure, we were lucky that there weren't too many things that needed fixing. The hardwoods are beautiful and just needed a wipe from my Swiffer Wet Jet. We went back and forth on replacing the carpets that were in the rest of the home, but decided against that $4,000 price tag (for 1300 sq feet!) and went with Stanley Steemer instead. I can't sing their praises enough. They're locally franchised, so every location will be different- but the folks in the Nashville office were fantastic! They went back and forth with me about dates and times since we had so many issues getting to closing. The service was impeccable and our carpet looks brand new, and the price of $185 was music to my ears.

We hired a painter to do every single wall and ceiling in the home. Bobby was honest in saying that our trim wasn't in bad shape, and that we could save money by not having it done. What? Someone wanted to actually charge us less?!? We chose 4 colors to use on the walls (all from Behr): Ryegrass, Harvest Brown, Rhino, and Pensive Sky. All ceilings and closets were painted white.

Sorry for all the word vomit- but I thought you might want some explanation for my disgusting length of absence.

So which before and after do you want to see first?

A. Kitchen

B. Living Room

C. Master Bedroom

D. Guest Bedroom

E. Bonus Room

I've created a poll up on the right. Vote for your choice, and I'll post the first pictures tonight!

Don't Tell Lowe's We Cheated...

We checked off lots of question marks from our new home to-do list. On Saturday we headed over to Home Depot. Disclaimer: Our professional painter prefers to use Behr, which is only sold at Home Depot. I only hope our friends across the street (Lowe's) couldn't see us. Back to the point- we picked paint!

We're having the entire interior painted: all ceilings, all walls. Here's a reminder of what our house looks like from the outside. And here's what you see when you walk in the front door. We're deciding between Behr's Gobi Dessert or Harvest Brown. The photo here is Harvest Brown.

This is our ginormous bonus room, and it'll will be painting in a soft, Army-ish green. The two colors we like are Ryegrass (pictured) and Harmonic Tan. We decided the angled wall will be painted like the short walls, and the ceiling white will only be on top. It'll be used as a media room, so we wanted a color that would absorb light and make a statement, but not be too dark or wild.

We'll be visiting our little heaven later this week (thanks to our awesome realtor) to tape the swatches on the walls. Seeing our choices in the natural light of our rooms will help make our decision. Next time I'll post about our master bedroom and bath.

Meanwhile- Check out Behr.com for their awesome Paint your Place tool. They let you upload pictures of your own rooms to see how the paint colors will look. I'm about to try ours and I'll let you know how it goes.

Did you have trouble choosing paint colors or was it a cinch? Let me know any tips you used or came across in choosing colors and designing your new home. Also- while painting tips are appreciated for other readers, I'll remind you that we've chosen to go the professional painters route. For Mr. SE and I, it's worth every penny!