A Bedroom Reveal!

Well... our bedroom is FINALLY complete. More accurately, it's as complete as it's going to be for while and it FEELS more complete than it's ever felt. There's always more to do, but for now we are LOVING the feel of our new, cozier, mostly complete space.

Here are a few detail shots. The dresser was a big area that needed work. It was BARE. There were a few silver frames and a lamp, but other than that it had nothing. No color, no character, nothing special about it. It NEEDED color. It was on a beige wall. So... we start with some natural elements...

Fresh flowers, smooth stones, flickering light.

Next, I chose to add color with hardbound books. I got all of these at a garage sale for about $4. I have three rules when choosing hardbound books to decorate with. It can be a classic, have a title I like, or be a great color (or obviously any combination of the three).
Here is a before view of the dresser and bed. Note that there are no colorful pillows, purple lampshades, and NOTHING on the dresser short of a bowl of gray rocks.
This is how it looks today. We threw in some green and red pillows, and the dresser has books, flowers, and lighting. The lamp shades on the nightstands are now a crisp white.

Here is a different view:
We put the red curtains back up if you notice in the picture above. We had toyed with these bamboo blinds, but (as you can see) they didn't cover the whole window and they went up way too high for us to use our red curtains (which we really wanted to). So, they went.
Here is the bookshelf and desk prior to us finishing it up.
Here is the desk today. I was going to put something above it, but there is a lot going on on the walls now and I think it looks best without anything above it. We'll see if I change my mind on that later ;)
Here was our masterpiece! Our BIG BIG project that would take up that BIG bare wall. I will write a post that explains how we created this wonderful (and CHEAP) project. Behold: MAPS. I had originally wanted maps!! And, I got them!
We actually had a set of 3 black and white Paris pictures for this wall. But every time I pictured it I just couldn't get excited about it. It would do, it would suffice, but I wanted to LOVE it. Then, we went to paper source and found these maps ($4 each!) and just KNEW that we would be returning the Paris pics and doing this project immediately. Because we were finally EXCITED enough to do it!
I added the candles to complete the space and keep it simple because the maps are busy, but so is the decor in the shelving. When the candles are lit it's magical. SO warm and cozy for such a big space.
A final view for you. We need new doors and the bathroom is a wreck. But, it's coming together so wonderfully. We're very, very happy to feel a sense of completion in this room finally. It's only taken 2 1/2 years, but it was worth the wait to have something that we're truly happy with.