Confession: I’ve been holding out on you.

Earlier this year the dining part of the everything room {for anyone new here…the “everything room” is a mudroom, dining room and laundry room all wrapped together in one hardworking space} was looking rough. It was in that weird middle stage where stuff definitely looks better than pre-renovation but there’s no real style shining through yet. The round table was on loan from family as a space filler. I actually really liked that table but it wasn’t working for the space.

While the pedestal table could extend to seat six, we didn’t have anywhere to store the leaf and opening / closing the table was cumbersome. The room’s size and shape were screaming for something larger and rectangular. I had my eye on this West Elm table for months and months until I saved the money to snatch it up. Then it was on backorder. Then I waited impatiently for shipping confirmation. Then it arrived damaged. Then it was sent back. Then I waited impatiently again for the repaired table. Then it arrived. Then it was perfect. It was totally worth the waiting game.

The tulip chairs are still here {more on those in a future post…I just dropped the seat cushions off at the upholsterer. My first professional upholstery job!} and I found two wishbone chairs at a local liquidation outlet for the ends of the table. Those wishbone chairs have been on my wish list for years but I could never justify the usual $150-$1,000+ price tag. When I spotted these knockoffs for $70 each, I was sold. They aren’t the most comfortable chairs but they aren’t uncomfortable either. If we’re going to be sitting at the table for a long time {hello, never-ending Monopoly game with kids} we sit in the super comfy tulip chairs. But, my oh my, are the wishbones dreamy! They get moved around a lot. Sometimes they’re in the dining room; sometimes they’re in the living room. I love them no matter where they end up.

There are a few other changes to share. Maybe you remember me trying out our old cowhide, maybe not. Well, not only did the room need a larger table, a larger rug was in order, too. I found a vintage kilim on etsy from this shop for cheap. You have to look long and hard and haggle to get kilims cheap. Turns out, I’m a great haggler online. Notsomuch in real life. Typically, kilims don’t come in conventional sizes so there’s a lot of measuring going on during kilim searches. Luckily, I was able to find one that fit this room perfectly. I love that it’s “used” and isn’t too precious. Food and dirt happen and I vacuum ’em up. No fretting.

I also removed the curtains from the window in between the two Pax wardrobes. Many of you suggested nixing the curtains and you all were right! I was missing out on a ton of natural light with those weirdly placed curtains. I was so worried about the window not being centered {it’s not centered on the wall} between the wardrobes but it’s barely noticeable.

I donated the petite sofa that used to sit below the window. It was leftover from our McMansion days and I was trying to make it work but it just wasn’t. I found an inexpensive carpenter guy just starting out on craigslist and commissioned him to make this wood bench. I gave him dimensions and an inspiration photo and this is what I got for $125. That price includes sanding, staining and sealing. It’s solid and well built. Sure, HH could have made it for less but he has been so crazy busy at work lately that, most likely, it wouldn’t have happened for a couple of years. I wish I had some Ana White in me but, sadly, I don’t. #thatswhatshesaid I’ve been dying for HH to teach me how to use more power tools but I think he’s secretly scared. The pillows are from an etsy store I’ve mentioned before.

So the real reason for this post is to share my plans for making this little nook under the window a cozy reading / hangout spot for the kids or, who am I kidding, me. It shouldn’t be too difficult. A pair of sconces and something to corral a stack of books will do.

I kindasorta have my heart set on two of these plug-in sconces.

Wouldn’t they look lovely mounted to the sides of the wardrobes? We do need more lighting in this part of the room at night. During the day it’s bright but at night the only light sources in the everything room are the chandelier and a lone recessed light over the laundry nook. This side of the room is pretty dim even with those two lights on. I’m justifying the cause here, people.

Other than taking that little nook up a notch, there isn’t much left to do in this room. I mentioned the tulip chair cushions are being reupholstered. The man door to the garage {not shown} needs painted and trimmed out. I want to add art to some of the empty frames that make up the gallery wall. The wardrobes could use a healthy dose of reorganization. But those are all fairly easy projects. The hardest part is finding the time.

I apologize for not updating you on the everything room until now. I have a tendency to overanalyze blog posts. Do I show one minuscule change or wait for something meatier? Or both? Or somewhere in the middle? Ah, I don’t know. What I do know is this room is easily becoming one of my favorite spaces in our entire house. Yes, I do say this every time improvements are made but I really mean it this time.

I’ll never forget going to The Tile Shop to select floor tile for this room.

“What room will the tile go in?” the salesperson asked, ready to direct me to the correct aisle.

“Oh, it’s a mudroom / laundry room / dining room right off the garage with french doors to the backyard,” I replied nonchalantly as if it were as common as a bathroom.

Awkward silence.

Then, “Honestly, I haven’t seen one of those,” the salesperson admitted, stumped.

Well, now you have.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Our master bedroom has taken a backseat to many other projects.

We bought nightstands, organized the closet, hung an awkward curvy headboard under the window and pretty much lived with it like that for the past year. But I finally said to HH, “Enough is enough! Time to make this a room we want to sleep in every night.” I’ve slowly been acquiring pieces over the past six months and recently repainted. This past weekend we got around to hanging window treatments and installing new lighting. We’re not done with the room just yet but take a peek.

Clearly, I am still in the process of fine tuning the details {nightstand styling, hemming curtains, adding accessories, etc.} but I am already in love with this room.

It’s so weird. I had envisioned a dark and moody bedroom but somehow I ended up with a calm and airy one. If it had been totally up to me, I would have gone for those dark walls but HH was leery and told me more than once he didn’t want to feel like he was sleeping in a cave. So we went lighter and I’m surprised by how much I like it! The wall color {Benjamin Moore half moon crest} reminds me of a light gray-blue oxford shirt and it’s growing on me. Big time.

We hung a curtain rod above the closet and added four floor-to-ceiling curtains. It’s so nice not to see our jumble of clothes from bed.

The panels easily slide over to give us access to the closet. We thought doors would have been too cumbersome and we like how the curtains balance out the window on the other side of the room. And hanging the curtains high on the wall go a long way in making the room feel bigger.

We hung woven blinds and curtains on the window opposite the closet. The plan is to embellish the plain white curtains {maybe on the closet too?} with ribbon or something. And hem them. Obviously. I always like to wash, dry, iron and hang curtains BEFORE I hem them so I know they aren’t going to shrink up on me.

Ideally, I wouldn’t put my bed under a window unless it was architecturally interesting but we don’t really have a choice in this room. I tried to make the most of it. I looked at a bunch of pictures online of beds in front of windows. Many of them showed curtains falling behind the headboard but they were a little too fussy for me. The images I liked most were of simply dressed windows. So we just hung some woven blinds and called it a day. I like the texture and laid back feel of the shade.

We also switched out the curvy headboard for a straighter one to help the bed “fit” under the window better. I made sure to find one that wouldn’t overlap with the window. We love the original slate windowsills and like showing them off.

Our bedroom receives very little natural light. To keep it bright, good artificial lighting is a must. We added a new ceiling fixture, a table lamp on a dresser on the other side of the room and two swing arm lamps flanking the bed. The swing arm lamps are my favorite pieces in the room and are super functional for two like-to-read-in-bed kinda people. I actually ordered the wall lamps back in January and they’ve been sitting boxed on our dresser up until a few days ago. I was waiting to paint and receive our new headboard before we hung them. There has been a running joke in our bedroom for the past several months…

HH, trying to read his Handyman magazine by the light of a lone lightbulb on the ceiling: Boy, it sure would be nice to have some reading lights in here.

Me: Technically, we do have reading lights in here. They’re just in boxes.

The lamps support up to 75W which is more than enough for nighttime reading. The arm and shade are adjustable but I need to WD40 them. They’re a little stiff. I was this close to ordering the lamps in silver. That was my initial safe choice. But I am so glad I went for the antique brass. They feel so grown up. And I do turn 35 this year. Now if I could only keep my teenaged inappropriate humor under wraps…NAH. Borrrrrrrrring. {In my defense, I did just quell the urge to throw in a “that’s not the only stiff thing in the bedroom” joke. So sorry.}

The room is narrow so I thought horizontal striped bedding would make it feel wider. Plus, I never met a stripe I didn’t like.

I know you guys probably have a bunch of questions about where I got what but, if you don’t mind, I’d rather address those in a true “after” post. Especially since I’ll be adding in more accessories. But if there is something you are just itching to get your hands on, ask in the comments and I’ll be sure to source it for you. I just couldn’t wait any longer to share how things are looking.

In the meantime, I’ll be hanging out in my bedroom tweaking ’til my heart’s content. It’s funny. I used to blaze through this room on the way to the bathroom {the other bathroom is still gutted} and do my nighttime reading in the living room on the sofa but, now, I want to be in this room all. the. time. And it’s not even done.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking