Bedroom Makeover–Bedding, Bench and a Headboard

I’m back with an update on the bedroom makeover. In my last post, I told you some progress already had been made on the makeover.

When last we saw the ‘ol boudoir, it looked like this:

Master Bedroom Makeover - Before

Things really started moving this project along when Hubs was not feeling good a few weeks ago. The annual Winter Plague hit my house and we were all feeling pretty miserable. Hubs just wanted to rest and feel better. Apparently, living in a room that looked like a muted rainbow had barfed all over it wasn’t cuttin’ it for my love.

In a burst of energy he decided to do something about it. He got up, got dressed and said, “I’m going out for a while.” I had no idea what he was up to.

Hubs took a swing out to the Walmare Boutique (read: Walmart with a French accent). It’s just up the road from our house. He came home with new bedding.

Before I show you the bedding, though, I want to show you the bench. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote my original post because we’ve had the bench for several months now. It’s been living at the end of our bed since the day we got it. I’m not sure why I thought to show it as a “Ta-Da, here’s what I just found!” because I didn’t. Just find it, that is.

Chalk that one up to lingering dementia from the Plague. Sorry, that’s the best I can come up with. Anyhoo, here’s how things have really looked.

Bed with Bench

See? One more layer from that muted rainbow. Originally, I was thinking of recovering this in fur. Long, shaggy white fur. I’m not sure if I will. Now, though, I think I want more color at the end of the bed.

As it turns out, I really must have been suffering from PPD (Post-Plague Disorder) when I took the before pictures. They made sense to me at the time (ie, the non-bench that really was) but, I took pictures of the headboard next. So hold onto your I-want-to-see-the-new-bedding-now pants, because I’ve got another detour for you.

I gave you a sneak peek of the headboard when I showed  you the view from my window.

Window View

I spied the headboard on Craigslist for $40, but it was down near Columbus, which is an hour drive for me. Again, we were in the middle of Plague season, but I wanted to get out of my house and I convinced Hubs to take a swing out with me.

When we saw the headboard, I loved it, but I was concerned that it was too short and not as wide as our bed. The seller was anxious to get rid of it and felt bad we drove so far to see it. He told us he’d sell it for $20 and that was good enough for me. It was once part of an antique bedframe, so there is no way to attach it to a modern bedframe. We will have to attach it to the wall. It’s too short to rest on the floor because our bed is so tall. 

Here it is resting on top of the baseboard heater. Look at those curves! Owwww Owwww!

Curvy Iron Headboard

Can you see all the fun chips and dings in the paint? The only setback to me was the finials.

Iron Headboard Finial Close-up

They were ugly gold and the one on the left is all dented. I tried sprucing them up with some Rub ’n Buff, but as you can see, still kind of ugly and beat up.

Rub 'n Buff on Headboard Finial

Fast forward to a week ago and I was in this really cute antique store in Lexington, Ohio called Shoppe 27 and I saw a glass doorknob. I’m forever drawn to shiny objects, so naturally, I picked it up. They wanted $28 for it. Too rich for my blood. Stupid blood.

When I got home, I looked at the headboard and the image of those glass knobs in place of the finials would not leave my head. I took another swing out yesterday and happily forked over the money, convincing myself that if I had ended up paying the full price for the headboard, I would only be paying another $8 for the knobs.

Ahhh…..nothing like sweet justification to lift you over the pile of guilt in your road.

Glass Doorknob Finial on Iron Headboard

It looks like thee were made for each other, doesn’t it? I was all prepared to rig it up so they would fit because I assumed the knobs would be too big for the threaded post that held the finials. In a happy coincidence, it turns out these two lovebirds were meant to be together because it was a perfect fit! I just needed to cut down the post a bit and we were good to go.

Okay, so back to the bedding. Here’s what Hubs came home with.

New Bedding & Headboard

It’s a matelassé coverlet from the Better Homes & Garden collection. I have loved this type of quilt for years. In fact, I made a cradle version for Buddy 16 years ago, that’s how long I’ve loved it.

If you’re not familiar with the matelassé term, it simply means quilted and usually refers to quilts where the design comes from the intricate quilted pattern on a solid color of fabric. Ours has a double wedding ring quilt pattern. Kind of perfect for an anniversary gift, no?

Matelasse Coverlet by Better Homes & Garden

I have to confess I’m not a pillow girl. I don’t really know how to do them. I don’t want to prop them up because they’ll hide my headboard.  I’m clearly pillow challenged.

Headboard with Doorknob Finials

I may boost the headboard a little higher so it doesn’t get lost in a sea of pillows. I won’t actually attach the headboard until after we install the tongue and groove wood treatment behind the headboard. Right now the headboard is up on blocks. ‘Cuz I’m completely classy like that.

With the addition of the bedding, the yellow dust ruffle/bed skirt had to go. I was at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago and found a beige chiffon window scarf. A ridiculously long window scarf. Eleven-and-a-half yards long window scarf for $5.99. I wasn’t sure if it would match the bedding, but it was close enough that I bought it.

Window Scarf and Sheet

I also used an old king sized flat sheet I had from back when we had a king bed. I cut the sheet to the size of the bed and hemmed the cut edges.

Hemmed Sheet

Next, I cut the window scarf in half along the length. Since this fabric was so long and slippery, I made a cutting guide by using the center line from my table and then running a piece of tape parallel to the center line, 18 inches away which is how deep I wanted the skirt to be. I could feel my scissors against the tape, which made for a nice straight cut.

Make a Cutting Guide to Sew Long Fabric

You can see I still have a hemmed edge on the scarf. This saved me a lot of work by using that hem for the bottom of the skirt.

I sewed a narrow hem along the cut edge. It takes a little practice to use the narrow hem foot, but once you get the hang of it, you can make a beautiful narrow hem. I watched some YouTube videos to learn how to use mine.

Sewing a Narrow Hem

After I had the narrow hem in, I then sewed the two lengths together along the short end to make one really long strip of fabric. Next up was gathering. You can make your sewing machine do most of the gathering for you by setting your stitch length to the highest setting and adjusting your tension to the highest setting. See how it gathers as you sew?

Using Sewing Machine to Gather Fabric

When you are working with a lot of fabric like I was, do yourself a favor and don’t try to gather it in one long strand. The weight of the fabric will break the thread.

Gathered Ruffles

Instead, every yard or so, stop sewing, lift the pressure foot and pull the fabric away, drawing out a length of thread. Then put it back and start sewing again. This will give you several gathering points, making it easier to adjust your gathers.

Pinning Gathered Fabric

Finally, sew the gathered scarf it along the edge of the sheet. I sewed it so the gathered edge would show along the outside, but  you don’t really see it, so I probably should have done it so that edge was under the skirt.

Not bad for $6 bucks and an hour or two of my time. It is looking very crumpled, though, and I probably should have taken time to iron it before I showed if off. Someday. Maybe.

Do you see how deep that mattress is? With the memory foam topper on the bed, it measures a whopping 13” deep. Even the sheets meant for deep mattresses don’t fit very well on our bed.

Window Scarf Bed Skirt

It’s not a perfect match to the coverlet.

Matelasse Coverlet and Window Scarf Bed Skirt

The bed skirt is more pinky-brown while the coverlet is more green-brown. However, the coverlet is only phase one of the new bedding plan and I don’t really notice the different tones.

I am making an all white comforter, which will look pretty with the new bed skirt. The coverlet is very thin and it is still very cold. You can’t see it, but the striped comforter is actually under the coverlet. So a pretty new comforter is a definite must for our room.

Because we are sticking with a neutral pallet, I am trying to mix up the textures to add visual interest. I really like the sheer look of the bed skirt with the detailed design of the coverlet.

Matelasse Coverlet and Window Scarf Bed Skirt

Oh, and in case you didn’t notice, we’ve rearranged the room. I’m working on the comforter and hope to have it finished next week. Then I have some lighting to do and I bought a really cool chair when I bought the doorknob. It was $8. I was morally obligated to bring it home with me.

$8 Caned Chair

I already have all the supplies to redo this chair, so I’m hoping next week is a productive week.

Cost Breakdown:

  • Bedding – $75
  • Headboard – $20
  • Doorknob – $28
  • Dust Ruffle – $6
  • Chair – $8

Total Project Cost to Date: $137

Since everyone loves a good before and after progress shot, here you go.

Master Bedroom Makeover - Before

Master Bedroom Makeover - Progress

There you have it. This week’s progress on the boudoir makeover. Stay tuned and I’ll be back to show you our new lighting.

Suesan

Thank you for reading Frou-FruGal. For more projects, please click to my site, http://froufrugal.blogspot.com