We obviously needed to redecorate the entire unit but we had bigger fish to fry - we wanted to update the kitchen, living area and master bath before we spent too much time on aesthetics. My sister had surprised us by redecorating the guest bedroom a year before and we loved it, but we just hadn't made time to work on the master. Once the major renovations were done, though, it was time to give the master bedroom some attention. I wanted to surprise Tony with the new decor so I asked my sister to come to help.
Mary Jane is very experienced with "Shabby Chic" painting. Following her instructions, I bought paint, plaster of paris, and wax. We mixed the paint, plaster of paris and water and painted two coats on each piece of furniture.
While the paint was drying, we went shopping. We decided we wanted to have a navy & white nautical theme. We found a couple of options for quilts and were thrilled when Beals had a great sale on our first choice and a matching throw pillow.
When we got home, we started waxing the furniture to give it the shabby look. The top drawers and headboard had a lattice work design that didn't really look good with the white paint so we decided to paint them blue to match the new quilt.
With more paint to dry, we had time to do more shopping so we swung by a couple of thrift shops to look for a piece of furniture where we could hide Lola's litter box. We found a toy chest at the Humane Society store that would be perfect. It needed a matching cushion so we hurried over to Jo Ann's to get some fabric and foam for the cushion. I finished covering the cushion at the condo but had to take the cover home to add the anchor embroidery. I was able to keep this hidden from Tony since he rarely visits my sewing dungeon!
We used matte blue spray paint to paint the brass lamps and drawer pulls. My seashell knitted afghan perfectly coordinated with the decor!
Gerry, the manager of our condo complex, saw us going by with the spray paint and when she found out we were decorating with blue and white, donated a seashell picture to match!
I didn't say anything to Tony about the new decor so when we came down last Thursday, I was excited to see what he would say. At first, he only noticed the new quilt and said, "That looks nice." We were still unpacking and getting settled so I didn't say anything more. After a few minutes, he came out of the bedroom and was properly surprised and pleased by all the work we had done!
