She Decorates

One of my favourite rooms in our itty bitty house, is our bedroom. Before we moved into our new home, we lived in a neat and tidy rental, with beige wool carpets, country floral curtains and country blue bathrooms....

...and although I don't possess any photos of how our bedroom looked in those days, you'll just have to imagine just how BEIGE our decor had to be. Pale mint green bed sheets, beige doona, makeshift bedside tables and very little inspiration in the decor department! I hadn't really found my style yet, and I certainly wasn't going to find it there! So when news of our new abode broke, I started a little 'Bedroom Box'. It started with 2 Ikea cushions...

Not the best quality snap unfortunately, but you get the idea

...and they would become the inspiration colours for what would be our newer, sexier boudoir..Reow! I snipped a little fabric from the inside of each cushion and taped them to a latte colour paint swatch (the third colour I wanted to introduce) and it all lived in my purse for a long time while the house was constructed. During the 8 or so months it took to complete the build I kept my eyes peeled and my colour swatch card at the ready! Slowly, I collected frames, photos, trinkets, furniture and storage that would work well together. I tell you, it was so hard to look in the box and see the pretties waiting so patiently for their new home!

When we finally moved in, I went nuts! Fitting in the newly acquired antique Queen Anne furniture was one of my favourite parts, and having such gorgeous matching side tables meant that I could adorn them with pretty trinkets galore! Although we had no choice in the dark blue industrial carpet underfoot (thankfully a dream to clean!), my excitement couldn't be squashed when there was so much beauty and colour to be found! So now, for you, a little pictorial on the evolution of our Boudoir!

Simple beginnings - Op-shopped frames, Ikea lamp, Ikea lace tealight holder (no longer available sorry!), Autumn leaf plate from some el-cheapo shop and a cloth placemat from Target. All atop my divine side table!

Some additions - 'Love' $14.95 from a random florist, 3 nesting boxes purchased wholesale for a forgotten amount (maybe 14.95?), and an Op-shopped Ikea box $2. We don't really need to not the half read book, hair dryer and snotty tissue, do we?

Hubs' side was a little less Loved up :o( Another Ikea box in grape colour, snotty tissues and a book. Wow. Scintillating.

Looking oh so cosy! With the addition of some handmade tissue blossoms, fabulous lighting and our latte coverlet set, I was happy as Larry!

I still am so in love with tissue blossoms 12 months later!!! They were fairly easy to make and super duper Thrifty! I'd rather count these than sheep!

Some jewellery hangs from the photo frames, along with a red butterfly saved from an old hair comb. I had also just discovered Ikea's candle selection, where the little orange maple leaf candle was hiding!

Hubs' table looking a lot more charming with the addition of - some beautiful honeycomb lights gifted from my mum to me, wrapped around a spare table centrpiece purchased wholesale for my wedding (oh yes, a post on that eventually!), a framed snap of a local sunset, another Ikea lace tealight and maple leaf, and a purple maple leaf from Japan that one of my Highschool host sisters gifted to me. On another placemat from Target, with orange coasters with a forgotten origin :o)

I love it when things go perfectly together, like this lace tealight holder with the lace print placemat underneath.

Lit with love light.

My jewellery 'station' at the time. I found some fabulous Wisteria branches in my parents tip heap and rescued them for this project. It is by far my most favourite way to display jewellery, if sometimes a little impractical! The gorgeous, partially visible print of Turquoise butterflies was Op-shopped, and if I'm entirely honest, it was intended as a gift for a dear friend. But as soon as I perched it temporarily on the dresser, it seemed to become very, very stuck.....? The little cards you see are wishes from our wedding guests, which I love reading over and over again.

Tissue blossoms!!!

Aren't they just captivating?

And here we are today! Turquoise accents have snuck in, and really made the room pop with colour! I've added some framed prints of our engagement shoot with Capture Studio, and splurged on some wall flowers at Myer, $39.95, which I have spread across the whole house!

Hubs' side always seems to lack a little something, but I don't want to encroach on his 'manliness' anymore than I already have, so I hold back. A little. He too got some framed prints of our engagement shoot and a few wallflowers. Poor guy.

I told you Turquoise had snuck in! I home shopped this set up from some recent and not so recent purchases - A water carafe from Ikea $9.99, purchased a few months ago for our kitchen area, an Ikea plate in a deep grape colour that doesn't show up so well here. It was purchase years ago! To top it off, a little birdy! I settled for him after drooling over some original bone china versions that were way out of my budget (for now!). He was about $12 from a cheapo shop.

Where it really lives when I'm not taking photos of it purely for aesthetics!

And when I brought in the water carafe, in followed these glasses from, you guessed it... Ikea! They sit pretty on our respective maple leaves, ready to quench midnight thirst!

They make smile. At least once a day.

I acquired a couple more candle holders; the bone china sea anemone was Op-shopped for some forgotten bargain price, and the other was picked up at a reduced price from Sussan of all places.

This is my little girly stash, which simply has no other place to live until we have a house with a Girls Only room! The lace parasol was a lovely gift from one of my dearest friends on my wedding day. On it you'll find a couple of pink blossoms (hairclips) probably from Diva, an ostrich feather bought for a costume (can't wait to do some costume posts!) and a sweet little note from a dear friend on my hen's night. All of this rests with a truly beautiful book gifted from yet another wonderful friend, and a snuggly rug for cold winter nights. All coralled in a simple white magazine holder, another gift! Wow, I am a lucky girl!

Sure did!

A close up of the Ikea lamp you couldn't really see on Hubs' sidetable, so fresh and white!

New additions to his side would be the little apricot glass leaf dish, Op-shopped but originally made in Japan (a special place in my heart due to a really special host sister and a 3 week school trip!)

A very close friend knew me so well when she found this Turquoise rosette cushion for my birthday spoils! It is about time I made some fresh Tissue Blossoms though, they're looking a little faded after 12 or so months!

Tablescape.

Mmmm, love the texture!