Hey, friends! I’ve been sharing our recent master bedroom refresh on Instagram and here on the blog. In case you missed the first post, my first step was dry brushing the bed and night stands with white paint for a whitewashed effect, which helped things look a little prettier (at least in my opinion..heehee). But I still had to deal with the problem of way too much furniture in too small of a space.

It’s sorta embarrassing to even share this pic. But keeping it real for ya! 🙂

Even as I write that, I think even if there had been room for all of the furniture, it wasn’t the vibe I wanted for our bedroom. The furniture made the room look too dry. I had bought it all as a set, which I’d appreciated ten years ago, but my style has changed a lot since then. As I thought about what I really wanted for our bedroom, words like cozy, comfortable, and pretty came to mind.

And these are the connections my brain made:

cozy = fireplace

comfortable = chair

pretty = neutrals and whites

Before I even dive in, I need to address the big issue. The furniture I wanted to pull out was th chest of drawers and the large dresser with a mirror. Could we survive without these in our bedroom? It hurt a little, but I made it work. We went through our clothes and got rid of a whole bunch of items we never wore. We hung what we could in our closet, stored some in our nightstands, and then I bought two of those plastic drawers from Target to put in our closet for the rest. Mission completed. We now had room to fill with cozy, comfortable, and pretty things that brought us joy.

Cozy. A real fireplace was simply out of the question. I considered an electric version, but as I stared at the options on the computer screen, they all lacked character. You see, our house is a new farmhouse, but I want it to have that feel of an old one. I will never truly be able to capture that vibe, but I knew an electric fireplace was the opposite direction from where I wanted to go. I began to consider a faux fireplace. After searching Craigslist, I found an 80 year old mantle that had layers upon layers of paint on it…for $30. I brought that pretty thing home, scraped all of those layers of paint off, until this gem emerged.

Comfortable. I wanted a space for us to sit. A place to read our Bible. A place to escape to when our two year old has a temper tantrum and Mommy just needs a time out. And I wanted it to be both comfortable and pretty. So, when I found this chair at HomeGoods, I scooped it up.

Pretty. I love, love, love whites and neutrals (mainly whites, though!). The dark furniture was just too much for me. I wanted the space to be light and bright…and white. I wanted every bit to make me smile when I look at it. That’s what the things in our home should bring us–smiles, a bit of joy.

The finishing touch for this bedroom was a painting of a church. I’d seen many on Instagram, but they were out of my price range. So I searched and searched and finally found an Etsy shop with a gorgeous church painting at a very reasonable price. I think I may have squealed when the box was delivered and I opened it up. It was the finishing touch to our mantle.

This space is where that big ole dresser with a mirror used to sit.

I have a few more things to work on with this room, but I’m happy where it’s at right now. If there are spots in your home that you aren’t happy with, journal what it is that’s bothering you. What would you like to change about it? What things could you bring to it that will bring you joy?