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3pinktrees

Sad beige master bedroom…

13 days ago

Hello! We love the home we bought, but I have been getting stuck and dragging my heels when workong to beautify the master bedroom. I would love some fresh perspectives!


What I want: the feel of the whole house leans English country house. I’m looking for moody but classic in the master bed. Ideally I’d like to layer prints and textures and get away from neutrals.


The problem: the walls are beige, the tray ceiling is taupe.


Pluses: the views are spectacular and it gets lots of light all day.


What needs to stay: the bed was handmade and is staying, the antique French armoire and the campaign chest end tables are staying. Other than thay all can change.


What I’m hoping for: ideas for drapes, bedding, layout (not sure if there are any other options tbh), wall color, etc.


My husband occasionally goes on business trips and I would like to make a complete plan, purchase the necessary items, and makeover the room as a surprise while he’s gone (yes, I know he will like and appreciate this).


Below I have a rough sketch of the layout and pics of the sad room, including the tray ceiling. The little shelves above the bed were for the former owner’s speakers and will come down. It’s so spacious and has so much potential! Then I have some inspo pictures.


Thanks in advance!










Comments (21)

  • PRO
    12 days ago
    last modified: 12 days ago

    Love the bed hate the drapes they go with nothing . Put the duvet away . Painting the space is IMO going to be the biggest bang for your buck I can't see that being done as a surprise unless hubby is gone for 6 months . Go shopping choose the bedding you love and IMO thta drives all the rest since that starts to feel for the space I never like flowery stuff in a bedroom share by both sexes . I do however love paisley . The chairs are great the pillows on them no so much. This would be agreat color of piasley to start the change . Use the darkest color from it for the walls , some nice stiped drapery in colors from it for drapes maybe even a faux silk nice and full with great tasseled tie backs . Then the rest of the bedding plain but colors from the print or even plian white , a couple of extra pillows same color family and some pretty lumbar pillows for the chairs with the same colors but a print and IMO a bit liffhter too


    3pinktrees thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • 12 days ago

    Agree with Patricia. You do need another furniture /storage for extra bedding that may be seasonal. Either go all dark or brighten space up with white or light paint. Paint company’s have apps that you can try a new color on every wall in the room. Once you have your bedding definitely coordinate (not match-match)window coverings be it color, pattern or texture - binds, shades, drapes. If paisley is not your thing patterns are another consideration.

    3pinktrees thanked Valinta
  • 12 days ago
    last modified: 12 days ago

    I would not do English Country in the bedroom with that bed. The bed is not moody nor is the overhead lighting.

    The heavy antiques add moodiness, otherwise things need to be lightened up and more soothing and contemporary.

    Replace the curtain rod with something simple and with white sheers. Get cellular blinds to replace the heavy wood ones.

    Hang some larger artwork to add color.

    The bedding could be white with neutrals and sage green. You need white modern chairs and use the same wood as the bed frame.



    Lamps that go with the wooden bed









    Soothing artwork with green and terracotta.




    Artwork is perrsonal but love this artist, Raoul Dufy:







    3pinktrees thanked tracefloyd
  • 12 days ago
    last modified: 12 days ago

    @Patricia Colwell Consulting Thoughts about going with a sophisticated medium blue wall color and cream and blue striped silk drapes?

    Then work blues and creams into the bedding? I realize that’s not dark moody but would still give the room more direction and is a colorway I’m drawn to.





  • PRO
    11 days ago

    IMO sounds great sort of what I was trying to explain but choose bedding first since thta is the part that drives the other choices

    3pinktrees thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • 11 days ago

    Hi! Fellow homeowner and interior design enthusiast (but not professional) here. Have you thought of a medium grayed blue for the walls? Blue is a soothing color, nice for a bedroom; and I think blue is nice with warm toned woods, such as the ones you have. You already have it in the square pillow on the bed, as well as a darker version in the chair fabric. I'm thinking something like Benjamin Moore Tranquility, Metropolitan, or Atmospheric.
    That all said... I would not start with the walls. I am a big rug person, I usually start with the rug (which for me would be a large rug with some sort of pattern with multiple colors) laid perpendicular to the bed, under the middle and foot of the bed). I would then select the wall color and other textiles (bedding and drapes) in colors that tie into the rug's color scheme. I would do solid colors for the main bedding and drapes (but ideally with a bit of texture - e.g., linen). You could add interest via art and throw pillows - those are more easily (and economically!) switched out.

    My husband and I used this "formula" in our master bedroom and I love the results.

    3pinktrees thanked Lizzie J
  • 11 days ago

    Lizzie, my only concern with gray blue is that the carpet is (predictably haha) also beigey brown. It's nice carpet and was put in just before we bought the house, so I don't plan on replacing it. I need a blue that won't fight with that. Maybe there are gray blues that would still work? I was looking at French toile by Benjamin Moore, but not sure if that will be too gray.


    I think I need to get drapes and bedding on site and then use those to pick a blue that works. I was reluctant to put a rug over carpet-- thoughts?

  • 11 days ago
    last modified: 11 days ago

    Well, it is a conundrum, for sure. English Country and French Country are apples and oranges. Using your bed ( and beige carpeting) as inspiration for English Country:



    Here are some tips for paint colors:

    https://modernnesthomes.com/the-english-country-paint-colors/

    I like Simply White.

    The Campaign tables, British, so a good mix with the bed.

    Your wing chairs: do slip covers to the floor.

    The French style armoire can stay but it should be a bit ruffed up. I'm not sure you would be comfortable with doing it, but painting it a chalk paint definitely would take away the delicate look of French furniture.







    https://patinaandpaint.com/before-and-after-armoire/

  • 11 days ago

    I think the sentence I used about an English country house caused confusion— I apologize! I was not thinking about ”English country” style, but rather of an old house in the English countryside— eclectic decor, found items, variety of ages/styles furniture. I have English relatives and I was told that is what my house looks like.


    Although I find the neutrals beautiful

    and peaceful, it’s not really my personality and so when I’ve tried to decorate thay way it gets old fast for me.

  • PRO
    11 days ago
    last modified: 11 days ago

    The first thing you do is get a TAPE measure and put dimensions on your sketch. Feet and inches to each of the walls , windows, the patio sliding door , hallway width to bath...all of it!

    The second thing you do? Realize it is one thing to be collected, "Eclectic" , English country style, French any, or even Victorian but the bed is nearly farmhouse and makes little to NO sense with the armoire.! or anything you say you want......and it's sitting on sad beige carpet to boot! Not a rug and a hardwood floor!

    You posted inspo pictures? No.....they didn't post: )

    Go back , measure the room please? While you are doing that? Ask how many road blocks you would like to put in front of the bedroom you want, which is the NOT sad bedroom, and when done with that? Stand in each of the four corners of the room, and take pictures that let us see the WHOLE of your room.

    Start there, and come back!

  • PRO
    10 days ago
    last modified: 10 days ago

    mmmmmm

    Your room reminded me of....


    A man client of mine with the opposite issue. A room FULL of matched furniture and yawning pale panty hose pinky beige walls! Call it the room drowning in shades of brown. Every last piece........and a yawn. Also jarring ! He wasn't going to part with a single stick of the furniture and. It needed to be swallowed.........

    Paint.....!!!


    Flood · More Info



    Traditions refined · More Info


    There's a wing chair you can't see...In a toile

    and much of the room considered that furniture problem along with the painting he loved that is hung over the bed. He refused curtains....alas and oh well



    ................I'd could similarly saturate yours

    I'm noting the perfectly great wing chairs too

    And I'd use your BED in a different room.....: )!

    Let something GO.? Rather than jam that very square peg into the rounder hole: )?

    Drench it in color....





    It's a Thibault fabric, "Lincoln Toile"

    Stripe silk??: ) yummy.


    If the armoire stays, the bed would be gone......

    and given the given of your bedside also staying? The rug staying?

    I'd do an upholstered bed, and send yours to a potentially fabulous guest room. Where it could really shine, as could this, in YOUR room






  • 10 days ago

    @3pinktrees, I have never done an area rug on top of carpet, but my understanding from Mr. Google (actually Duck Duck Go) is that people do it. I would try to do a rug that isn't super thick.
    I would think a medium grayed blue would go fine with cream and beige; but of course you don't know for sure until you put the actual colors next to each other. Sometimes you don't realize a color has particular undertones until you put it next to something that draws it out. That is especially true of whites, I think.
    I like the Aegean Teal photos and mood boards that @JAN MOYER posted as well as some of the photos @tracefloyd posted of beds. The wall color in Jan's photos is probably a little more intense than I would do, especially if the room gets a lot of light, but is in the general direction of what I was thinking.
    The white lamps you have might look nice in front of blue walls. You might consider painting or swapping them if you stick with a white duvet cover, just so you don't have white next to white. You might rethink the little shelves over the lamps - is just a little busy to my eye.
    A lot of the posters have given suggestions on changing out furniture. My understanding is you wanted to keep the pieces you have. I am in my late 50's. In the past I aspired to having "decorated", pulled together rooms. In pursuit of that, I have gotten rid of furnishings that "didn't fit". In my wise old age (ha), I am giving more value to items that mean something to me. You said the bed was handmade. If that bed has meaning for you, I would not let the fact that it isn't the same style as other pieces cause you to sacrifice it on the altar of having an Instagram-worthy room. If you wanted to, you might use sheers on the canopy to soften the bed and blur its style a bit - maybe wrap a sheer along each top side rail and have the ends kind of hang down over the corners. Regardless, in the end the room should be a reflection of you and your husband, and be what makes the two of you happy.

    Please keep us posted on your progress!

  • PRO
    10 days ago

    "I’m looking for moody but classic in the master bed. Ideally I’d like to layer prints and textures and get away from neutrals.........."

    Wonderfully moody is any colors you want.

    Would I do this saturated? Sure would!

    You have to do you....and don't be startled if the room actually looks.....brighter than the sad of beige.



  • 10 days ago
    last modified: 10 days ago

    @3pinktrees, I just saw your comment on Benjamin Moore French Toile. That is a pretty color, too, although it is "cleaner" and leans a bit purple. I like more "dirt" (gray) and a bit of green in my blues. That said, color is pretty personal. As @Valinta mentioned, the paint companies have color visualizers / apps that let you see a color in a room, those can be helpful. also, Lori Sawaya's Land of Color website has been a huge help to me in choosing paint colors, you might check it out. It provides technical data such as hue, value, and chroma. (Explanation of these terms here.) It helped me understand that I am drawn to colors with low chroma. (High chroma colors are vivid and bright, while low chroma colors appear more muted or grayish.)

    Note, I have no affiliation with any of the above websites, I just found them helpful.

    All of this said, I would select your "inspiration" textile (which as I mentioned for me is usually the rug; but if you don't do a rug, it might be a patterned pillow or throw) first, then match the other colors to it.

  • 10 days ago
    last modified: 10 days ago

    Jan, thank you for chiming in. I always appreciate reading your direct approach and your sound advice.

    I too would prefer a wood floor and understand it hampers the overall look. However, my husband (who rarely has strong opinions on decor and let's me do what I like nearly everywhere in the house!) really loves having carpet in the bedroom. It's possible that someday he could be persuaded to continue the wood floor from the rest of the house into the room and having a rug, but for now I'd like to just let him enjoy carpet without a fuss. Fortunately it's very neutral and inoffensive.

    I love the saturated colors and prints you posted. One of the bedrooms my kids are in is painted a deep saturated blue like that and it's really nice-- I did their bath in that color and they loved it so much they asked to have their bedroom in that too!

    Lizzie, thank you for your input on the furniture issue. I agree-- I'm always torn between realizing the perfect vision and keeping things that are working in a practical sense or have sentimental value. The armoire is in perfect condition and straight from France and I really love it (and it's wonderful storage). However, I could possibly put it somewhere else in my house. I don't currently have a guest bedroom (many of our children are still young), but I'd be open to using the bed in a guest room as well at some point.

    I will do the actual measurements and get some better pictures. I truly appreciate the input!

  • PRO
    10 days ago

    Bet me one of your kids would LOOOOVE your bed!!!

    .

  • 10 days ago

    Haha, I'm sure they would. But they are squeezed in pretty tight in twin beds and there's no room for a queen size right now! We have six-- oldest (daughter) and second (son) are out of the house and in college. Next four down are all boys and they're two to a room right now. In a few years one of their rooms will become a guest room. This bed is special to us, but I would be fine with moving it to a guest room at that point. I definitely do not want to disassemble and store it (and my husband wouldn't love that either) so for now we're stuck with it.


    However, I'm fine with the vision being one that is meant to work long term with a different bed.


  • 10 days ago

    Following....

  • 10 days ago
    last modified: 10 days ago

    The wingbacks are a muted teal or periwinkle...hard to tell on my screen. Finding a blue wall paint that doesnt' make them look muddy if you're keeping them. Then the blue accents instead of green.

    I see one corner of the carpet...sometimes beige carpet has a mauve or pink undetone. The chalk paint furniture shown by Judy has a mauve undertone that would work.


  • 10 days ago

    Tracefloyd-- the wingbacks are deep forest green...