Bedroom

My Bedroom: Breezy and Bright

Posted by Lindsay on Jun 18, 2009 in Bedroom | 8 comments

Now that the weather has warmed up around here, we’ve actually been doing something that I don’t think we’ve done for 7 months — we’ve OPENED OUR WINDOWS!  And in our bedroom, we actually have a really nice view and a cool breeze that sneaks in at night.  It’s very peaceful and fresh.

Aaahhh…it’s so nice to get some fresh air in the house. And here in Likely we have great fresh air…that is unfortunately buzzing with mosquitoes more and more every day, but that is one of the only downsides of living in the country…that we can see, anyway.

The view out of the window behind our bed is the north view, which is so nice and green – that is our neighbor’s house and front yard, which is filled with some gorgeous apple trees. What else could you ask for?

Now for our next project before next winter: new windows. We currently have single pane aluminum windows in our room, Harper’s room, the bathroom, the office, the kitchen and the laundry room. 8 windows total, but we’re only replacing 5 of them right away. They loved to retain moisture and ice up last winter…and moisture on the windows = mold = bad news. But fortunately it’s easy to take care of and we’ve kept an eye on it and kept it clean. The projects never end, do they?

{Color Therapy} Paint Color Party!

Posted by Lindsay on Jun 4, 2009 in Bathroom, Bedroom, Blogging, Color Therapy Thursdays, Decor, Dining Room, DIY | 12 comments

I love blog parties! I stumbled across this blog (via Hooked on Houses) called 320 Sycamore today and saw she was hosting a Paint Color Party and I just had to join!

She’s asking for some paint color photo inspiration today so here goes!

Here is the new “reading nook” in my living room. The walls are Ashley Gray by Benjamin Moore.

This ivory wall is actually old wood paneling, but we just painted over it with Acadia White by Benjamin Moore.

My kitchen has white cabinets (High Hiding White door, trim and cabinet paint by Ace Hardware), and the green is called Misted Fern by Benjamin Moore.

Someday I’d like to paint the kitchen a color called “Sulfur Yellow” by Benjamin Moore, but that has to wait until we get new countertops.  We have the fake blonde wood laminate right now and it won’t go together, but I really, really love Sulfur Yellow (#1).

The dining room stripes are using the Misted Fern from the kitchen and the Acadia White from the living room in two different finishes.  The green is a semi-gloss and the ivory is a satin, which gives it a wallpaper feel.

The bathroom is painted “Pumpernickel” by Ace Hardware paints.  If you’ve been reading lately you’ll know we’ve been very busy on that project!!  Click the link for more pictures of the surrounded-by-earthy-brown bathroom.

The bedroom’s upper 1/3rd is painted “Pilgrimage Foliage” by Benjamin Moore, and the lower 2/3rds are in the Acadia White (like the living room and dining room.  We have a TON of it!)

My daughter’s bedroom is painted in “Everlasting” by Benjamin Moore and the bottom is..you guessed it!  Acadia White!

My very unfinished office is painted in one of my very favorite colors: Old Salem Gray by Benjamin Moore.  It depends on the light, but it can look beige, gray or green.  As you can see this picture looks very green, but if you choose this color you won’t be sorry!  It’s so pretty!  I wish I would have gotten the office painted before the kitchen because I would have picked this for the kitchen instead of the brighter green.

And Melissa at 320 Sycamore showed a wall that she painted “Danville Tan” by Benjamin Moore…I had a client choose that color so here’s another shot of it paired with “Branchport Brown” by Benjamin Moore as well.

And there you have it – all the colors of Casa Christensen!  The next room I’d like to paint is our laundry room, which I want a very light, barely there robin’s egg blue or light sage-y green like this photo.  Mmmm…you know how I love pretty laundry rooms!  And paint!

(image linked to flickr source)

Have a good weekend, everyone and thanks for stopping by for some color inspiration!!!

If you’d like your very own paint color consultation, then feel free to contact me (lindsay @ lindsaychristensendesign.com) or click here for more information!

Love Is How We Got Her…I Mean Here…

Posted by Lindsay on Jun 3, 2009 in Art, Baby Stuff, Bedroom, Blogging, Decor, Nursery | 6 comments

After reading a very sweet comment from a reader, I headed over to her blog to check it out. From there I immediately bookmarked it and followed her on Twitter!  The blog is called {ohbrooke} and it is just gorgeous!  She’s doing some fun things with it as well, so head on over there and check it out.  After you read this post, that is.    The point of mentioning Brooke and her blog is to talk about the print that I bought from her shop!  I saw it and thought it would be PERFECT for Harper’s room!  It’s a graphic print that says “Love Is How We Got Here” in various shades of tan with a heart behind it.  How perfect is that for a little girl’s room?  Plus the colors are the same ones that I used in her room.  It arrived safely, with free shipping at quite a bargain!  It fit wonderfully into an IKEA Ribba frame that I had ready for her room, and I think it is just so cute in there!  Because yes…love is how we got her.  I mean here.

Here is the print hanging in my daughter’s room.

And here is a close-up of the print, which is linked to Brooke’s shop.  Enjoy!

Happy Mothers Day and Antique Store Find!

Posted by Lindsay on May 13, 2009 in Bedroom, Decor | 0 comments

This year I got to celebrate a new holiday: my first Mother’s Day! The photo below shows some pink roses that some friends got for me. They are so beautiful, I just had to put them next to my side of the bed on my new side table that we picked up at our local antique store! Glenn has a matching one on the opposite side (as you can see, we moved the baby bassinet out of our room as Harper is sleeping in her own crib, in her own room now! I can’t believe she’s 9 months!). We scored this matching set of side tables for $15 each!! Not exactly what I would have chosen otherwise, but they’re really growing on me. And I can’t stop thinking about some other great deals we found there…hmmm…

Now all we need are some matching lamps for each side of the bed. I think we need something substantial as the side tables are rather skinny. I’m trying to decide if I want table lamps or plug-in swing-arm wall sconces. I love, love, love Nicole’s bedroom lighting over at Making It Lovely and I would love something like these wall sconces:

Hers are Pottery Barn, but I don’t think they sell them anymore. I couldn’t find them on their website.  But I’ll keep looking. Maybe it will come to me in a dream…

(Image via Making It Lovely, linked to source).

What is it about sleeping in your own bed?

Posted by Lindsay on Apr 22, 2009 in Bedroom, Etsy Finds | 2 comments

Ah, vacation.  We had a great time in Costa Rica, but as soon as we got home and retired to our own bedroom, I was in heaven.  I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.  Yes, that kind of feeling!  What is it about sleeping in your own bed?  I love our bed.  It’s gigantic and comfortable and I could spend all day in it.  I’m blogging from it right now.  The frame is a little dated (I know, I know!) but it’s all we have for now and we’ve had it for years (it was a hand-me-down from Glenn’s sister) so it’s hard to just let go!  Eventually we’d like to get a more contemporary platform bed, but it (like a lot of things!) will have to wait…until we hit the lottery.  But a few things that we are planning for our bedroom for the near future are: 1.) New, matching side tables.  2.) Matching table lamps for the side tables.  And 3.)  A coat of brown paint (not sure yet if it will be chocolate or tan) for the moulding on the wall and the ceiling.  I’ve seen some neat dark ceilings and I think that would make our bedroom even more cozy!

When I began planning the design for our bedroom, all I knew were the colors I wanted; a warm palette of orange, brown, and cream.  I wanted to find a pattern or fabric, so I started with the pillows and did a search on etsy.  I literally searched for “orange brown cream pillow” with the goal of finding a pattern that both my husband and I could agree on (i.e. no flowers!), and I found the Joel Dewberry Aviary fabric through the pillows at Norajane’s shop!

I bought 2 pillows there – 1 square and 1 rectangle.  The square one was intended as a single throw pillow for our bed, and the rectangle one was meant to go in a wingback chair that used to be in the bedroom.  I loved them once I got them – but the square pillow looked so teeny tiny on our small bed!

Here is what it looked like -before- with the 2 pillows I bought (and I made the other square one with extra curtain fabric!!).  But how dinky to they look?

I decided to add some more pattern and bulk up the pillow factor.  I’ve had my eye on anything in the “tile” pattern from Pottery Barn for awhile, and I ran across some organic euro pillow shams in orange on eBay!  How perfect!  When you mix 2 different patterns, a general rule of thumb is to use patterns that are different sizes (1 large pattern with large colors and 1 smaller, tighter pattern with more colors is always good), and try to keep one a little lighter and airier.  What do you think of my eBay score???

My husband and I actually both loved -and agreed- on the fabric so much that I bought more of it to sew curtains to cover the closet.  Okay, I didn’t sew them (thank you to my mother-in-law!  But I did hem the bottom and plan on sewing more this summer.)  Check it out!

The other thing that I love about the new euro-size pillows (which I bought from Sears online) are super soft and fluffy, so I actually love using them to sleep on!  So there you have it, my comfy, cozy, super-gigantic, gender neutral bed and bedroom.  I could spend all day in there – especially because the window coverings are super dark so it’s a cave that you could sleep in until noon in.  Which is great because our room is on the East side of the house = direct morning sunlight!  Eek!  Alright…time for my nap…