Bedroom Make-over: Bedding

Knowing that I would soon be moving back home upon graduation, I spent time over Thanksgiving break to dream up my perfect bedroom make-over. I wish I had pictures of the "before" but you'll just have to trust me that it was not a pretty sight. My walls were an odd green, which I'm still not quite sure why I let my mom paint my room that color. Years ago, we had added a few decorations to match along with a green,brown, and mustard print comforter. At that time, I wasn't really in to the whole home decor scene. Thank goodness your taste can change.

My favorite decor style at the moment is shades of neutrals. I contemplated using all white in my bedroom but decided it probably wasn't the best idea with a spoiled yorkie who sleeps right next to me in the bed, and would have it no other way. For a more logical approach to the light neutral family, I decided on ivory. My first addition to my new room was my bedding. I wanted a feminine, romantic style and after browsing the Pottery Barn site, I knew I had found the perfect match.

I got the Ruched Voile duvet cover and matching shams as an early Christmas present from my parents via Pottery Barn. The other details of my finished bed were added here and there as I came across them.

My amazing boyfriend helped to complete my vision by getting me the oatmeal colored Pottery Barn quilt and matching shams for graduation. When I told him that I wanted a quilt, he asked, "What does it do?". He sees no point in decorating or in items that have no functionality. Men. I chose this darker shade to bring out the color of the stitching in my duvet cover.

I wanted to add a bit of "fluff" to my bed and I found these two cuties at great prices. The furry pillow on the left was a steal from Ross for $6.99 and the sweater pillow is from Pier 1 for a reasonable $24.99.

This pillow is a copy-cat version of the Pottery Barn pillows below. I found it for $14.99 at Stein Mart. 

These are $29 each for the the pillow cover only.

I bought my 1500 thread-count sheets at the Atlanta Market for wholesale price. I've never had sheets that felt this good. I got them monogrammed on the wrong side with my initials so that they would show when I turn down the bedding. For the final touch, I added a faux-fur throw for a cozy look. I debated getting one from Pottery Barn but I decided $119 was a bit much for a blanket. I found a very similar one for $19.99 at TJ Max. I stay cold so it is on me much more than it is on my bed.

Come back to Crafty Couture to explore the rest of bedroom make-over!

Ballard Designs Rope Knot Doorstop

I'm not a big fan of little decorative items setting out. I tend to go for a few larger unique pieces. But while I was browsing the Ballard Designs site, this rope knot doorstop happened to grab my attention.

Then I saw the price tag of $45.00. I loved the rustic appeal of the knot but I could not justify paying that much for a door stop. A couple weeks had passed when I was roaming the isles of Old Time Pottery. I was looking at their selection of pet toys and all of a sudden I spotted my knot. It was labeled as a dog toy but it looked so similar to the Ballard Designs version and it was only $4.99. I completely forgot about the rest of the store and hurried to check out with my thrifty find. It went perfect in my bedroom but since I don't really need a door stop, I decided to hang it from the door knob. It definitely complements the "Rustic Chic" theme that I am going for as I make-over my room.

Pottery Barn advent calendar

Following graduation in December, I have dedicated quite a bit of time to my newfound passion for "do-it-yourself" projects. My favorite part is creating a designer-inspired look for a fraction of the retail price. My first project was a gift for one of my friends Jennifer. She is getting married in March and had an ornament shower right before Christmas. I wanted to do something special for her, something with a personal touch. I love advent calendars and had been drooling over the ones in the Pottery Barn winter catalog. The board alone, without any ornaments was $149. I knew that I could recreate the board with 25 ornaments for much, much less. I just so happened to have a large cork board and a few yards of the perfect material. The material that I used was a sand color linen fabric. I used a staple gun to secure it to the back of the board. Next, I found some blank white tags and smaller brown tags at Hobby Lobby. I used these to number the spots for the ornaments. I measured and taped off the board into 25 sections, placed the larger white tags evenly, added a brown tags to each white one, and secured them in place with silver straight pins. Then the hunt for the perfect ornaments began. I wanted to stick to a neutral theme using whites, browns, silvers, and golds. Some of the ornaments were fillers but others I intentionally picked out for Jennifer and Brad. I wanted to use things significant to marriage. I chose a gold "D" for their last name, the number 2 because it signifies a couple (I also have a thing for decorating with numbers), a wedding cake cookie cutter, a "diamond" ring, and a cross. I made some of the ornaments including the burlap ball and the jute covered ball. I could not have been happier with the final result. I wish I had taken pictures of the project in progress but at the time I didn't have any intentions of blogging about it. It really was pretty easy to make and I plan to make one for myself next Christmas.