Many of you know I’ve been working with a Professional Organizer to get my home in shape.
My Bedroom
We’ve concentrated a good deal of time and effort in my bedroom and closet, which I blogged about here. I already had one large armoire in my bedroom, which I used to house a television and folded clothes. I had lots of dark wood pieces in the room – the bed, side tables, 2 dressers, a vanity table, and this armoire:
Big Honking Armoire
Too much dark wood for my taste. I have an identical armoire in the enclosed sleeping porch that I had already painted white a few years back. We used it for toy storage for the kids, but the plan was to bring it into the bedroom so that I could kick, I mean move my husband out of the tight closet space that we had been sharing for the last 12 years. This photo shows the switch-over in progress – you can see lots of smaller furniture pieces in the room.
Bedroom Before
Here is the big move of furniture in progress – I had to call in a couple of big guns to move around the larger pieces. You can see one dark wood armoire and one that had already been painted.
It takes more than one Stager to move all this furniture!
I painted the dark wood armoire to match the already-painted one and placed each on either side of the bed. Now here’s the kicker – bringing in another large armoire (placed correctly) actually makes my bedroom appear bigger. See for yourself:
Lavender Bedroom Updated
Here’s the 1st trick: Fewer, larger furniture pieces in a room can actually make it feel larger than more, smaller furniture pieces. 2nd trick: Light-painted furniture is not as visually-heavy, and is going to make your room feel larger than dark wood furniture. 3rd trick: Placing tall pieces of furniture in the back corners of the room will make the room feel more expansive.
Mr. Man’s New Closet
Thanks to the ingenuity of my Professional Organizer, this armoire above has now become Mr. Man’s closet, and I get the previously shared single closet all to myself! I’ve still got some work to do in there, but here’s a little sneak peak of my “new” closet:
Sneak Peak of New Closet
Ok, that’s enough until I get the wallpaper to line my shelves and hang a fabulous little vintage tole chandelier in there! Back to the bedroom – I created a lovely vignette with some vintage frames, a handpainted plate, vintage luggage, and a dressmaker’s form that holds my vintage pins and necklaces.
A Little Bit of ME!
Vintage luggage can be a great place to tuck away souvenirs and scrapbook memories, as well as store hats and scarves.
Vintage Luggage
This is a shot of my vanity where I put on make-up in the morning – it also holds my rings and bracelets.
The Hand
I painted this room in Benjamin Moore’s Violet Mist over 11 years ago, and I’ve never regretted it! This antique lamp that belonged to my grandmother has been in my bedroom since I was 19 years old and was the inspiration for the wall color.
“Gone with the Wind” Lamp
Every bedroom deserves a comfortable chair and a side table to stack your books or put down your coffee cup. An ottoman is a big plus if you want to make yourself feel comfortable.
Bedroom Sitting Area
I am thrilled with the improvements we made to my bedroom – it’s beautiful AND organized! What could be better? If you’d like to organize and beautify our home, contact me about the Professional Organization services we offer at The Decorologist.
Wow those two painted armoires really do make the room seem bigger. And they look great too!
thanks,amy! their height really has a lot to do with it- brings your eyes up. and i’m loving the symmetry!
Hey Kristie, can you ask your organizer, or do you know of an organization website where I can find one local to me? What are things to ask about when looking for an organizer?
hannah,
i will check with her and see what she says – you can always google your city and “professional organizer” to see what comes up.
I love love your bedroom Kristie!!! I so need to change my wall paint colors. They are all in the dark jewel tones. I just need to do it, and stop thinking about doing it. 🙁 I’m such a procrastinator ~ it really is ridiculous! I thought I would start with a small bathroom, but I can’t decide what color to use. I also bought a pretty stencil on line, but that now has me thinking of which two colors of paint I should use… XoXo
just go for it! lighten up your colors, but make sure you gray them down – choosing more muted colors will look more sophisticated than bright, clean colors and you won’t soon tire of them.
Kristie…when you say “gray them down” what does that mean in non~decorator language? 😉
it means search the fandeck for a muddier, duller version of the color you like. it will always look lighter and brighter than it does on a small paint chip. if you want a blue color, for example, look for blues that are closer to gray than blue – they will read blue on the wall, just not “screaming” blue.
Got it now! Thank you…XoXo
Several years ago we had a designer from La-Z Boy come out and help us with furniture arrangement. She told us much the same thing as you’ve said here – about white visually diminishing large pieces and placing them at corners to expand the space. Not being one who can easily visualize in my mind I dismissed her advice and our large bookcases remained dark brown. But now seeing your pictures I can much more easily understand what will happen to our living room if I can convince dh to paint those bookcases after all! Very, very interesting!
btw I love your “gone with the wind” lamp – and love that you named it that 🙂
Lee,
Maybe showing him some photos might help. White bookcases with a dark, rich color painted in the back would be stunning and would brighten up the whole room. Good luck convincing dh!
I’ve heard other people call those lamps that – not sure what they are really called, maybe hurricane lamps?
I love it! You are a very talented designer!!
Everything looks wonderful. Love your two painted armoires! I know those must hold lots of things! Lucky you having someone help out!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia 😉
Thanks for sharing your process, Kristie. Looking good! Can’t wait to see your fabulously finished closet. You must be super excited!!
This is so beautiful! Needs to be in a magazine! Absolutely gorgeous! I hope my bedroom, looks and feels as peaceful and lovely as yours one day. Thanks!
Kristin
Just Wanna Party
Awww, thank you so much Kristin!
What a difference. Love your tips!!
Super pretty! The Lavender bedroom looks like Wedgewood china – awesome!
Everything looks wonderful! My only question is, how does the hub’s feel about his new arrangement?
he loves it because now i keep all my clothes put away neatly, rather than in piles on the chair!
Wow, gorgeous! I love the idea of the matching armoires being integrated this way – and I CAN’T WAIT to see your closet! The sneak peak is such a tease 😉
Brilliant, well done.
I love your two painted armoires!! Absolutely gorgeous. Your whole room seems cozy and beautiful. I too can not wait to see the big closet reveal!
That is just fabulous! I’m a keen DIYer and you’ve given me some great ideas.
Absolutely gorgeous and so clever Kristie! I know you will inspire so many people with this—you have inspired me. Thanks for sharing your creativity!
What about the TV in the armoire? It must be somewhere else as there is no way you could watch it from the bed. 🙂 Looks great though!!
Rory,
The tv isn’t in the armoire anymore! We are getting a little flat screen and it will hang above the tallish wood dresser that used to be to the right of the bed (it’s now in the place where the dark armoire used to be).
I featured your lovely bedroom today on Mod Mix Monday! I really love the two armoires. I’ve been wanting to do this myself but alas…I only have one armoire and it would be impossible to match…. But I sure love your’s.
Oops! forgot to leave the link….
http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/2012/04/mod-mix-monday-46.html
Thank you so much, Nita! I love your blog 🙂
Hi Kristie, Saw the two armoires and they look awesome…and the lavendar walls…well i am painting my soon to be retail space lavender (Portland Grey) above the beadboard and I just grabbed twin frenchy armoires for the shop…parallel universes!!
Wow, I love your new armoires they look fabulous and dreamy in white…
Sweet dream!
Sonia xo
Hi there,
I am wondering where the 2 armoires came from?