Izabela’s Design Dilemma

Our latest decorating connundrum involves Izabela’s almost-there bedroom. And we’d be happy to add a few finishing touches to close the book on her master bedroom makeover.

I’ve been admiring your sense of style and hope that you can help me with our master bedroom. We recently updated it with furniture and lamps. The original lamps had white shades (I know, your favorite color), but I decided to buy these shades from Anthropologie because the room needed some pattern. What do you think? Also, the biggest dilemma is the wall with the two ugly shelves from Pottery Barn. They are coming down for sure, but what do you think would look good on such a big wall? Any suggestions would be appreciated. And keep up the wonderful work on your blog! -Izabela

So let’s take a look at a few finishing touches that we dug up for Izabela’s sleeping space:

Here’s the moodboard breakdown.

1. To help break up all the squares above the bed, we’d suggest that Izabela replace her rectangular frame with a round object - like a silver framed mirror. Mirrors are always a good thing, and the silver finish ties in with her existing bedside lamp bases (see #5). She can grab this mirror from Bellacor, or turn any round mirror silver with a coat of “hammered nickel” spraypaint.

2. We’re often jealous of high ceilings, but sometimes they can fight the cozy feeling that a bedroom should evoke. By painting this tan striped gradient on the walls, Izabela will add some weight to the bottom half of the room and draw the eye away from the expansive ceiling. The top color in our gradient is Izabela’s existing wall color (so she won’t even have to break out the ladder) and the other two tones can easily be selected by choosing slightly darker tans from the same paint swatch (Glidden has 5 coordinating colors on each card).

3. Once those too-small shelves on the big wall have magically vanished, we think the stage will be set for some large-scale artwork. This trio of fabric panels from Design Public does the trick nicely, but could also be recreated with any printed fabric of your choosing. She could even buy long canvases (or even rolls of butcher paper) and draw or paint a similar vignette if she’s feeling artsy.

4. This is (hopefully close to) the green in Izabela’s headboard and curtains, and it’s a great accent color for the other accessories in the room. We love how it works with the existing wall color and even with those pops of tomato red in the lamps. Nice eye, Izabela.

5. Here’s a close-up of her amazing mercury-glass-based bedside lamps, already swanked up with tomato-red lampshades from Anthropologie. Genius.

6. To dress up the bed, we’re always a fan of crisp white linens. But in this case we’d recommend something with a rich, brown pinstripe to further anchor the room and add to the classic feeling that the silver mirror and lamp bases evoke. This set from Linens ‘n Things tickles our fancy.

7. Lastly, we’d tie the room together with a few more pops of tomato-red. Lacquered picture frames by the bed, a red bordered rug under the bed or even something little like this pillow from Anthropologie would totally do the trick.

We’re sure you guys have lots of other ideas as well as tips for big walls and tall ceilings, so let’s hear ‘em. Comment away, folks, comment away.

And if you’re in dire need of some decorating advice, click here to score your very own virtual design consultation.

(Post by John)