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03.25.16 / Bedroom Refresh!

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A few months ago I was craving a fresher look for our bedroom. The blue of the patterned sheets had bled and faded from years of use and washing. They never looked clean. The striped duvet and matching shams were stained from my overnight acne lotion. (Adult acne is my nemesis.) After upgrading to linen bedding in the boys’ room, I thought it would be ideal for the master bedroom, too. We made the switch from cotton to linen four months ago. We’ll never go back!

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I bought two linen shams, a fitted linen sheet, a zippered duvet cover and skipped the flat sheet. Sleeping without a flat sheet took some getting used to, but making the bed is super quick and easy now! Slipping into a bed outfitted in linen is pure bliss.

Hint: To make a queen bed appear wider, pull pillows to the outermost edges of the headboard then fill the gap between them with a fun throw pillow.

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The other great thing about linen is that it always looks good. Rumpled, wrinkly linen is so cozy and inviting in its imperfection, and it just gets better with each wash.

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I think I finally zeroed in on my simple-but-layered happy place when it comes to bedding. I layered the white linen with olive lumbar pillows for contrast. The small kilim pillow – which I had on hand already – makes a colorful focal point. At the foot of the bed, I folded two light throws. The ivory knit provides texture, and the indigo remnant lends color and pattern.

cheetah bed

They also protect the duvet cover when Cheetah curls up at the foot of the bed :)

brentwood home mattress

Shortly after we made the switch, we realized that outfitting an old, dirty mattress with linen bedding is like putting lipstick on a pig, so we hunted for an affordable, eco-friendly upgrade. Mainly, we were looking for something crafted in the U.S. with quality materials (preferably organic), no chemical flame retardants and low VOC emissions. We found all that and more in the Brentwood Home s-bed. Backed by a 120-night guarantee and 25-year limited warranty, we couldn’t not give it a try.

We ordered the queen mattress in medium feel ($800 with free shipping, made to order) four months ago and purposefully held off on reviewing it until we could give it an honest assessment after sleeping on it for several months. Steve and I are both side sleepers who prefer a supportive yet not overly firm mattress. When the box arrived (yep, the mattress ships vacuum sealed in a box), my immediate thought was that they had sent the wrong size. I removed our old mattress, opened the new mattress box (by this point, I was sure it was a twin), placed it on the bed and cut away the plastic wrap. Over the course of a minute, it swelled into a true queen mattress. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. It reminded me of those little foam figurines that expand in water – minus the water.

We’ve had two mattresses before this one (a hand-me-down and a new purchase) and were fully prepared for the inevitable new mattress adjustment period. But you know what? It took us longer to get used to sleeping without a flat sheet than to adjust to the new mattress. In fact, there was absolutely no adjustment period. From day one, it felt like we were sleeping on nothing which sounds strange but is pretty much the best thing you can say about a mattress. Four months in, we’re still loving it and sleeping soundly. Steve is somewhat of a mattress snob. (He always checks the mattress tags at hotels and vacation rentals.) He tells me at least once a week how much he loves this mattress. It’s been a wonderful upgrade.

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Bedding sources:

mattress protector – Coop Home (I use these on all the mattresses in our home.)
linen shams, fitted sheet, zippered duvet cover – Vilenda Linen (same etsy shop I bought from for the boys’ linen bedding)
olive lumbar pillows – Amber Interiors Shoppe
kilim pillow – etsy, similar
ivory bedspread – lovee
shibori throw – Morrissey Fabric
shibori pillow – Homegirl Collection

To share the love, I reached out to the nice people at Brentwood Home to see if they would be up for a giveaway. They said yes! They’re kindly offering up one of their s-bed mattresses to a lucky reader. See entry details below.

*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.*

Congrats to Dana Leigh and her husband!

PRIZE: one s-bed mattress from Brentwood Home (size and feel to be determined by winner)

RULES: You must be at least 18 years old and have a shipping address within the contiguous U.S. (No P.O. boxes please.) One entry per email address.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post proclaiming, “MATTRESS ME!”

DEADLINE: Enter before 9:00 p.m. EST Sunday, April 3rd. One random winner will be announced Monday, April 4th.

WHILE YOU’RE AT IT: Besides a good mattress and cooperative kids, what else do you need for restful sleep? I’ll go first. A light cotton tank is a must for me, even in the winter. #sweatysleeper We also have one of these trusty sound machines in every bedroom and take them with us when we travel.

House*Tweaking readers can score 10% off their Brentwood Home order by using the discount code Housetweaking10.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I want to thank all of you for your well wishes and words of encouragement. THANK YOU. I wasn’t planning on it, but I had to take some time off. The kids ended up getting sick, too. Luckily, Cheetah hasn’t made anymore attempts to run away and I haven’t had anymore run-ins with opossums ;)

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I’ve been tweaking things here and there in our bedroom. Mostly because I like change every now and then, but also because a few things felt slightly off. Take the IKEA HEMNES shoe cabinet, for instance. It actually started out in our entry, then I moved it to the master bedroom after I realized it made more sense functionally. (We don’t enter through the front door on a regular basis, so we don’t really need shoe storage there.) I hung a mirror (an octagonal one at first, then a rectangular one) and spray painted the knobs gold, but the vignette always felt flat to me. (Also, looking back at old posts is a little like looking at pictures of myself from college or high school. It’s embarrassing.)

Additionally, in my opinion, the cabinet knobs were awkwardly placed. They were positioned about one-third of the way down the drawer fronts. We had to give them a good tug to open the shoe compartments. I always thought handles/pulls located higher up on the fronts would work and look better. (IKEA must have received similar feedback because they now offer the STÄLL cabinet with notched handles.) I decided to try my hand at making leather pulls for the shoe cabinet.

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I removed the original knobs, filled the holes with wood putty then sanded the putty smooth taking care NOT to sand the surface of the drawer fronts. (I just wanted to do a quick and easy patch & touchup job. If possible, I didn’t want to paint the entire fronts/cabinet.) After the putty had dried completely, I used a small watercolor brush from my kids’ art supplies to brush on two coats of paint over the putty only. I used Benjamin Moore white dove in semigloss (leftover from our baseboards and trim) because it was what I had on hand and there was a snow storm and I wasn’t dragging the kids to the store for eight drops of paint. It isn’t a perfect match but it worked just fine for the minuscule touchups. These photos are untouched other than lightening them up a little, but you really can’t tell where the knob holes used to be unless the sun is shining and you look at the cabinet from just the right angle.

Of course, you can have paint color-matched for a flawless finish if you’re worried about inconsistencies.

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Once the holes were patched and painted, I got to work on the pulls. I found a faux leather belt at my local Salvation Army store. It was long enough for four pulls and the $1.99 price tag was perfect. When I got to the counter and found out it was included in the daily special (50% off all yellow tags!), I was stoked. The belt rang in at a whopping 99¢ and, after a grueling week from hell, it completely made my day. It’s the little things, people.

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I cut the buckle off the belt then measured and cut four 4½” strips for the pulls.

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I folded each strip over on itself, measured 3/8″ down from the cut ends then drilled a hole through each pull. (I don’t remember the exact size of the drill bit, but it was slightly smaller than the shaft of the machine screws I bought for the project. Keep reading for more info on those.) I used the same wood scrap from the DIY wood bead strand for a cleaner cut and to protect the floor. If you haven’t noticed by now, I tend to work on the floor in whatever room I’m working on at the moment. I’m too impatient to set things up elsewhere!

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I bought four 10-24 x 1″ brass machine screws plus washers and nuts in the same size for this project. I found them at Lowe’s and they cost ~$6 total. For each pull, I slipped a screw through a washer then the hole in the leather.

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I removed the shoe compartments from the cabinet (they simply pull up and out) and used the same drill bit to drill a hole in each front ~½” down from the top. I wanted the tops of the pulls to line up with the tops of the fronts without interfering with opening/closing. Again, I used a wood scrap underneath for a clean cut.

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Then I used a flathead screwdriver to screw the pulls onto the fronts. I secured them with a 10-24 brass nut. I probably could have used a slightly longer screw as I had to bust out pliers to screw the nuts on, but it all worked out. Steve says the screws are perfect because they don’t stick out and pose a hazard to hands reaching into the cabinet for a pair of shoes. One thing is for sure. They aren’t going anywhere!

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I love, love, LOVE how the brass looks against the (faux) saddle leather. I was worried the pulls might scream “BELT!” but I actually like the stitching. Especially at <$2 per pull!

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The new pulls are way more functional, too. No more tugging at awkwardly placed knobs.

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Surprise! Two of the compartments are empty. Steve uses the one on the bottom left as a hidden charging station for his phone.

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I didn’t plan for it, but the new pulls tie in to the leather bench at the foot of the bed. #happyaccident I sprung for a new mirror. Maybe you noticed? I really felt like we needed something round to break up all the straight lines and I wanted a touch of black. I found an affordable, round mirror with a black frame here. The scale is spot on. FYI – It’s heavy!

Thanks to the new leather pulls, round mirror and some Trader Joe’s blooms, I’ve fallen in love with this little corner of our bedroom. It just feels right. And now I want to add leather pulls made from thrifted belts to all the things. #savethebelts

Stay tuned for more bedroom updates, coming soon!

P.S. – If DIY isn’t your thing, pre-made leather pulls on an armoire.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking