Bedroom | Operation Home

…we’re gonna let ’em shine!

You might notice a few similarities between this pic, taken when we found our mid-century dresser…

…and this pic of our foyer…

…and this pic from way back in my very first post….

Yup, the lamps have migrated. They started in our bedroom, but recently became estranged when a pair of new luminous pals joined the fam. I’ve been wanting new bedside lamps for quite some time, but just continued to put it off as they were lower priority items.

Then, we visited The Mothership (Ikea).

We originally went in search of new window treatments for Lucas’s room. Aaaaand we ended up leaving sans window treatments, but with all this…

Darn you, Mothership and all your tempting treats. Love you, though. Really, I do.

Among this plethora of goods were two stainless steel barometer lamps. As soon as I saw them, I knew. They were industrial, but with an Old World-ish feel. Perfect. And at $29.99 a pop, the price was right. So, we adopted them.

And here they are, in action….

They add so much more style than the previous lamps. And functionality-wise they’re much better. They provide light, but they don’t illuminate the entire room as brightly as their predecessors did, which works well when one of us wants to sleep while the other is reading. So, Ikea once again, rushes in for the win.

As I took pics of our bedroom for this post, I noticed evidence of my recently acquired mixed-metal-bug running rampant throughout the room. I’ve seen this trend more on Pinterest lately and various design blogs and I really like it. The mix of brass, stainless, and oil-rubbed bronze totally float my boat. All three finishes are scattered throughout our master bedroom (and our living room as well, now that I think about it). And I feel that as long as they’re distributed throughout the room in a purposeful way to make it look intentional, it works out okay.

For example, we have the brass hardware on our dresser with the stainless lamp and oil-rubbed bronze curtain rod…

Our new stainless laps, clock, and brass hardware. Which is next to our black/oil rubbed bronzish metal bed frame…

Also, the stainless lamps with gold pillow…

Mixing is fun. For sure. Anyways, our master bedroom is definitely on its way, but not there yet. Drex (aka. our new dresser) has made the other side of the room pop just as we’d hoped, but he’s also succeeded in making our old veneered cd-racks-turned-nightstands pale in comparison. Proper nightstands are in order at some point, as well as a few other areas, accessories and wall hangings that need finding/tending to. Good times. And I mean that literally. 🙂

So, Lucas’s room has definitely experienced some growing pains along the way, but I think we’re finally on the right track. Hallelujah!!

When we last left off his room looked like this….

If you remember from this post, I’ve had some difficulty keeping my valiant decorating attempts in his room intact. First, half of the license plate wall went kaput, next the bicycle print over the bed went away, then his wall lamp was a goner. The final straw came when I was forced to remove the curtains. Every time Lucas climbed up the end of his bed to go to sleep (which happened an unfortunate number of times per bedtime) he’d tug on them. Or hide in them. Or curl up in them. Oh, no… they weren’t just curtains. They were a fort. Boys. Give them anything and I guarantee they can find a way to build a fort with it.

One morning I walked into Lucas’s room and the curtain rod was hanging on by a thread. I had horrifying visions of the metal rod plummeting down and konking my sweet baby boy on the head, so down it came. Dunzo.

And every time I walked in there, his room proceeded to mock me with it’s strip-tease. More and more naked it became despite my best efforts.

I searched for different window treatments that Lucas would be less likely to pull on, but came up empty-handed. His window was so close to the corner of the room that it eliminated many options, including the cool panel curtains at Ikea that I’ve desperately wanted to use somewhere. I didn’t think roman shades were right for his room. And roller shades didn’t feel right either.

Then, I realized the solution was so simple (and free). Duh. Move the bed, smartie-pants.

So, we moved it to this orientation…..

SO MUCH BETTER.

The curtains went back up (after being reinforced with heavy-duty anchors) and he hasn’t touched them since.

I have to say, it absolutely amazes me when I’ve been at a decorating stand-still with a room and can’t quite determine a plan…. Then, one simple change opens a world of possibilities. Kind of like our sofa switcheroo. Suddenly, I had a clear vision of the direction that the room needed to go. Finally!! I think I just need to play with furniture layout more in general. That seems to be the recurring theme here, huh?

Also, pay no attention to the license plates. They’re left over from my previously failed attempt at a license plate headboard/wall. I’ve actually acquired 20 more license plates since then (thanks to my glorious friend Sara) and have a plan for them, so the current arrangement that you see before you will be relocated and expanded upon at some point soon.

Anyhoo, next, I measured and realized that the chest of drawers in our room (we finally found a long, low dresser to replace it… Holla!!) would fit perfectly on his angled wall….

Here’s the before…

And Now…

Hello again, dear bicycle print!!! And note the cool car built by Pop! This change now opens up this entire wall…

Which looked like his before…

…for his toy chest, shelving for books and other playthings…

A localized play-zone, if you will. which could never have happened with the previous layout. I’m thinking shelves around his toy chest for sure. Maybe a little built in desk? Or an organizational unit of some sort? Lucas is asking Santa for a race track that gets mounted to the wall. If he remains on the Nice List and Santa brings the goods, maybe we can work that in somehow. Hmmm…. Possibilities. And excitement!! No, excitement(squared)!! This is the part of decorating that I love the most. When it clicks.

But, now I have a small dilemma. The dresser is a dark walnut-toned wood. Part of me really likes it that way up against the navy walls. But another part is considering painting it a lighter color. But it’s a really great dresser in perfect shape. The thought of painting good wood makes me feel green (with illness, not envy). So, paint the dresser? Leave it au naturel?? What’s your take on this subject? Tell me. I wanna know.