Jane's House: The Master Bedroom

Jane's House as of April 20, 2011

Editor's Note: This post is the second in a series detailing the design of my sister's new house. If you missed last week's installment for Jane's study, go HERE.

Well, the construction of Jane and P.W.'s house continues at a quick pace -- indeed, the exterior is all but finished, the drywall is up and the flooring is going down. As they've set a closing date for the end of the month, I'm going to redouble my efforts to finish the decorating plans for a few key rooms. This week, we'll be focusing on their master bedroom.

                            

The master bedroom is generously sized at 14' x 16', with a nice bay window overlooking the backyard, which will make for a lovely seating area for reading and relaxing. Like many couples, Jane and P.W. are looking for a balance of masculine and feminine, warm and cool tones and all on a strict budget! Moreover, they already have a nice bedroom set and are hoping to get a new look without investing in new furniture. Fortunately, this means I'll be working with some great basics that can act as the foundation for our new design.

Jane and P.W.'s existing bedroom furniture are from Pottery Barn's Valencia bedroom furniture line, whose classic yet clean lined pieces are stained a dark mahogany, as well as an existing white armchair and ottoman. These pieces are the perfect transitional building blocks and will add weight and balance to the lighter, more eclectic accessories and small furniture items that we'll be layering in to create depth, interest and personality.

Jane has her heart set on this soft modern Ikat print duvet set from DwellStudio. It's palette of grey-blue, greige and sand will be the jumping off point for the room. We'll pull out the cool grey-blue with the sheets a throw pillow for the white chair and the warmer greige for the walls, painting the room in Farrow & Ball's Elephant Breath, a color with interest and depth that goes way above simple beige.

The next layer will come in with accessories. The first task will be to swap out the simple oil-rubbed bronze knobs on the dresser and side tables with some gorgeous mercury glass knobs from Anthropologie. Yes, they're a splurge when buying in bulk, but they'll completely transform the pieces, bringing in the more ornate, traditional elements that Jane is so drawn to. 

Next, because this is a bedroom, I didn't want to get too crazy with color and pattern, opting instead to create interest by varying textures and materials. As the main furniture pieces are dark wood (as the floors will be), I wanted to create some balance with lighter accessories. A pair of alabaster table lamps bring in a classic material, while the modern silhouette echoes the simple lines of the furniture. A bone mirror over the long dresser will add interest and a feminine touch. A bone side table repeats the material over in the seating area, where we'll also add a leggy chair with a feminine print (in a not-so-feminine grey) to balance out the larger, skirted armchair. A small garden stool next to it will bring in a touch of metallic.

So here's the look all put together:--

Source list:

Elephant's Breath Paint (Farrow & Ball)

Valencia Sleigh Bed (Pottery Barn)

Emile Lamp (Crate & Barrel)

Mercury Glass Melon Knob (Anthropologie)

Valencia Side Table (Pottery Barn)

Round Bone Mirror (Wisteria)

Valencia Dresser (Pottery Barn)

Carly Chair (Crate & Barrel)

PB Basic Armchair (Pottery Barn)

Dotted Trellis Azure Pillow (DwellStudio)

Chinese Garden Stool (Wisteria)

Chenille Jute Basketweave Rug (Pottery Barn)

Pintuck Azure Sheets (DwellStudio)

Batavia Dove Duvet Set (DwellStudio)

Bone Side Table (West Elm)