ORC: Cozy Neutral Bedroom Week 3

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Hey all, and welcome to the halfway point of this little challenge I’ve gotten myself into. If you’re just jumping in, you can catch up on where I started with week 1 and week 2. I think it’s safe to say this might have been the most productive week of my 6 total in the ORC. And most definitely the most expensive (oops). Some serious progress is being made over here, so let’s get to it!

Paint!

I am SO relieved to say that I think we made the exact right decision on the perfect white paint for this cozy neutral bedroom in the works. Last week I had tested out three Behr whites (or to be more accurate, two whites and one greige) to give a fresh look to our bedroom walls. The “before” state of the room with its yellow-beige walls was getting old and felt super dark. I chose the Behr Swiss Coffee, but was pretty nervous that it was going to be too close to the existing white trim. I mean, I want white but not TOO white. Ya dig? It’s always so hard to tell how a color is going to turn out when you are mid-rolling it on the wall, staring at it from 12″ away. Even after we had one whole wall painted, I wasn’t sure.

 

I was reminded of that time we stained our DIY cedar fence, and after the first couple hours (of approximately 1 bajillion hours that it took us to stain that fence), we were like “ohhhhh shit. does this even look good? did we screw up?!”

But you can’t un-stain. So we kept at it. About half-way around the outside of the fence, someone drove by, leaned out the window, and yelled, “Looking good!!” So we were redeemed. Some random kind soul was so taken by our good taste in stain that they felt compelled to slow down and tell us about it.

We didn’t have any drive-bys in the bedroom, but after lots of second-guessing, about 2.5 coats on 3 walls, and a run to HD to buy another gallon of paint because I totally underestimated, I could tell. We did good. It was looking awesome.

Now that it’s done, I officially love it.

Not a great photo, but we’ll save those for the big reveal, yeah?

I also waffled back and forth about if we’ll need to give the trim and doors a fresh coat of the Valspar Ultra White that we found in the basement. While the color worked out great with the new walls, whoever painted before we bought the house didn’t do a super solid job. It’s a bit old looking (but that’s just rustic, right?), and there are areas where you can kind of see through to the darker substrate. I’m thinking we’ll stick with it for now, and if we really feel like pulling everything out from the walls again, we’ll freshen it up. Someday.

Bedding:

My gray linen duvet cover from H&M arrived last week (!) in just 4 days after I placed the order. I haven’t put it on the bed yet, but my initial review is: So much softer than expected! Beautiful dark gray, just as I was hoping for.

There are a few little “slubs” in the fabric, and I’m not sure if that’s something I should be concerned about or not. I think it’s probably inherent to linen, but I’m a newbie to this luxury. Wikipedia says that while these used to be considered defects in low-quality linen, they are actually now often “considered as part of the aesthetic appeal of an expensive natural product”. So. I’m guess I’m super fancy.

Curtains:

I had taken a picture of some faux linen curtains at TJ Maxx (my new favorite store), that were available in either tan or gray. Similar, here.

I was considering trying to find some simple cream-colored curtains, but didn’t find anything online that I had to have for a great price. My friend Julie and I enjoyed a lady day Saturday and got all Maxxinista on some shit. I pulled the trigger on the curtains, and found a new dog bed for Reagan.

New Rug!!

Ok. This is a big deal. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I was going to replace our colorful, too small rug that we had at the foot of the bed. I was also falling in love with the look of these sheepskin rugs that I have been seeing all over my pinspiration. So luxurious.

Source

I mentioned this to Jesse, and he said that Sierra Trading Post just so happens to have some sheepskin for sale right now. If you’re not familiar with STP, you should be. It’s a huge outdoor store that originated right here in ol’ Cheyenne, Wyoming. They sell tons of great clothing and outdoor gear at seriously discounted prices. They also sell high-end stuff like this tuxedo for the bargain price of $899.95 (that’s 46% off!). Weird, right? The brick and mortar store in town is hit-or-miss (sometimes you find nothing good, sometimes you get a Marmot ski coat for $20 – true story, that happened). But you can find almost anything online, including all kinds of home-ware.

Of course, sheepskin rugs are not cheap. So when I saw that Sierra had this 4 pelt rug for $330 on sale, I knew I couldn’t do it. I did some searching, and found some pretty affordable single pelt options. I found one real sheepskin rug at TJ Maxx for $50 (buried in a pile of about 10 faux furs):

Even Ikea offers a sheepskin, for $29.99! But I knew I wanted something larger if I was going to replace the rug we had. So I thought I might have to go with something simple, like this (also found at the Maxx).

However, Sierra Trading Post pulled through with their daily email “deal flyer” that I subscribe to. Usually, they’re offering something like an additional 35% off select items (above their regular sale prices). One day last week, I got this in my inbox:

For one day only, the four pelt rug was a total of 68% off, putting it at $192. Eeeeek! Still, a lot of money. So I did some research before I made any rash decisions. I read about 30 of the 143 reviews on the Sierra site, and all of them were insanely good. Everyone is like “I loved it so much, I bought three more!”,”Amazing quality!”, and even “Not only beautiful, but great protection from a house full of pets”. You people really know the way to my heart.

Not knowing much about quality/durability and wanting to be thorough, I googled a little more on sheepskin. This was the best article I found. Lots of detail on quality, eco-friendliness, and shopping options for sheepskin. AND, it says that “Genuine sheepskin rugs of consisting of 4 to 6 pelts start at around $300.00 and run up to $700.00”.

Clearly, I couldn’t afford NOT to splurge on this huge, longwool sheepskin rug for under $200. I ordered it, and picked it up at the STP warehouse last weekend. And holy crap. It is amazing. So warm. So luxurious. Beautiful. Makes getting out of bed so much more pleasurable. I’m tempted to join all of those reviewers that went back for several more.

Headboard:

Last week, added a DIY headboard to my to-do list. (To-do-maybe). This week, we went ahead and bought supplies while we were at Home Depot getting paint. When in Rome.

I came home from work on Monday to my sexy/handy/ambitious husband hard at work in the garage.

We’ve spent two nights so far working on it, and I think it’s going to be GREAT. Here’s a sneak peak.

Spending for the week:

• Paint – Home Depot Behr Swiss Coffee, 2 gallons, and misc. supplies – $76
• Headboard lumber and supplies from Home Depot – $40
• Headboard screws/tools from Lowes – $15
• Curtains from TJ Maxx – $40 (Similar)
• Dog Bed from TJ Maxx – $16
• Sheepskin Rug from Sierra Trading Post – $202 (Update: Sold out or they don’t offer this anymore, but similar on Amazon for $219!)
• Cable Knit Blanket from West Elm – $70

Total damage this week: $474

(eeeeep!)

Really though, this should be the majority of my spending. Plus, we’re basically going to live in the bedroom now. Forever.

Quick look at the to-do list:

• Paint
• New bedding – Still in need of a bedskirt and maybe some shams.
• New curtains
• Update artwork/wall hangings
• Organize tops of dressers – In the works.
• Possibly a new rug
• Possibly update lighting/lamps – found some awesome stuff, and I really will share next week. Maybe.
• Plants?
• DIY Headboard – In progress!

And if you are thirsty for more inspiration, check out all of the awesome progress being made by other ORC participants, over at Calling it Home!

Next up: Week 4