Earlier this month I wrote about starting the master bedroom make-over. The plans were to keep the sage green colour of the walls and work from that bringing in the rest of the colours for our home. The colours are cool taupe, green, deep burgundy, white, black and grey with lots of wood tones to warm and tie the colours together. We ordered new bedroom furniture that was expected to arrive three weeks from the purchase date but it hasn't yet. The Mom & Pop furniture store we have dealt with for years told us yesterday that the furniture would be in tomorrow or Monday so they would call to arrange a time for delivery. During this time, we did most of the prep work like move our triple dresser into the guest room as our kid who was going to take it and the high boy decided it was too big. We worked on purging some of our clothes and I started shopping for accessories.
I'm not the type to go out and buy all the accessories for a room at once. Rather, I like to build on my ideas waiting to find just the right item to fulfill that idea. The new king size bed frame is a storage sleigh bed. I immediately decided that a homemade blanket would be ideal, bringing in a bit of old fashion country charm. I bought 4 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver yarn - medium thyme, cornmeal, buff, aran - all colours found in the new master bedroom curtains. I wanted a plain quilt for under the new blanket that would allow the blanket to become the focal point. It was a fluke that I found a king size quilt set (quilt, two pillow shams) at a bargain price that would work perfectly. A few days later I found a six piece king size bed sheet set in taupe accented with an embroidery scroll design. Finally, I found two clear raised coasters that I think are meant for pillar candles but will be used for our drink bottles on the night stands.
About a week ago, we were at Sam's Club and my husband picked out a package of king size pillows for the new bed. Serta is a good brand and the price was quite reasonable. Pillows are one of those things that most people do not replace often enough. I saw one recommendation that pillows should be replaced every 3 months but I think that could be extended if you put pillow protectors on the pillows. I think we almost need to buy another set so we have one set for the shams and one set for sleeping. We can still use some of our existing pillows as they are fairly new as well and not used for sleeping. I'll take the pillows we were using for sleeping to the animal shelter as they are always looking for pillows, blankets and towels.
A few days ago I found bedside lamps. They were mix and match in that the pieces were bought separately. I chose a brush stainless steel finish for the lamp base which was a very easy way to introduce grey into the bedroom. The A-line shape shades are a medium light taupe material with just a hint of sheen, accented with stitched scrolls imitating the scroll embroidery on the bedsheets. I think they will look quite nice with the darker wood tone of the new furniture.
We aren't sure whether the sewing machine cabinet the lamps are temporarily sitting on will be staying in the master bedroom. We may have to take out the
antique trunk as well. I'm hoping the trunk can stay as it would look quite nice with the new furniture.
I actually saw a bedspread called a Wendy blanket after the designer. I knew I just had to make it but only wanted to use four colours not the seventeen she had used. I bought the pattern on Ravelry and talk about a disappointment! The only part that could be considered a pattern was how to do the first four rows of a granny square, of which those instructions are widely available for free from numerous resources. The rest was simply how she arranged the granny squares. There were no details for anything else other than number of small granny squares and number of plain granny rows between the squares. I ended up doing several ripouts and some of them rather large ones. The so called pattern was basically useless. How she could justify charging someone for the instructions on how to work four rows of a granny square is beyond me! So I am writing up a full pattern for the blanket as I work complete with the actual way I put my design together, including the method I used for that first granny row after the small granny squares. The small granny squares are worked up to the last row then that row is
created using the join as you go method to form the band of small granny squares.
This is day 12 of working on the blanket and now that I am using my own methods, the work is progressing nicely as pictured. The piece is on top of a queen size bed (60" x 80") to give a bit of perspective as to its size. The piece is currently 46 inches square, a little over half of the size I want it to be to cover a king size bed 76" x 80". I will be working the piece to at least 80" but perhaps a bit larger. I'm currently working on the next band of small granny squares (a total of 44). I found an online tool that helps with randomly generating the colour pattern.
My initial goal was to have the blanket completed by the time the furniture arrived. Between the ripouts and other demands, progress has slowed somewhat. The piece is getting
increasingly cumbersome and heavy to work on. I know it won't be finished by the first of the week but it shouldn't take too long with any luck. I'll post more on my blanket later. I think the blanket will end up being a focal piece in the room.
Working a bit of navy blue and burgundy into the room is going to be a challenge. I'm not sure how I will do it but I'm sure something will come to mind. At least we are getting a bit closer to finishing the master bedroom makeover. Once the furniture is set up, things will come together rather quickly!
