one room challenge // bedroom week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda of Calling It Home! Ryan and I have been working hard on our bedroom (well, mainly he's been working hard and I've been shopping hard). I did spend all of last night carrying furniture to our basement so that counts for something, right?

Anyway, let's get to this update! (If you missed Week One you can catch up here). Here's how I've been checking off my shopping list:

- Paint

A while back I learned from The Hunted Interior that Kristin had painted her entire house in Sherwin Williams Alabaster. Sold. It is a truly perfect white. Not too warm, not too cool, and so far I have it in 3-1/2 rooms of the house and it works everywhere. Happily, the paint part of this project is wrapped up!

- Rug

I purchased this rug from One Kings Lane and decided to keep it after a resounding thumbs-up in an Instagram poll. I am notoriously unable to commit to things that have pattern or color (which is why in a perfect world, my whole house should just be this apartment), so I'm still 50/50 on this rug. For the first few hours I had it, I was certain I'd return it. Then over the course of the next few days I loved it more every time I looked at it. Now that the return deadline has passed, I almost hate it. And then I like it. Grr. I have no idea. But at the end of the day, it was only $139 the day I bought it, only $15 for the shipping, and if I can't live with it after a couple years, I'm not out that much. Really it's a small investment for a rug this big (it's about 8 x 11!) and for a trendy touch in a room. (Guess that answers how I'm coming on the philosophical merits of owning less but more expensive things, blerg). 

- Mattress

We ordered the Tuft & Needle and have logged one night of sleep so far. It's so weird to buy a mattress without any idea what it feels like. I knew I loved Tempurpedic and I was hoping this would be close without the expense. It comes in a box and you unroll it, unseal the plastic shrink wrap, and let it inflate. Bizarre but cool! I'm not sure what to think of how it feels- it's weird. Firm and soft at the same time...comfortable for sure, but you're supposed to give it a week to fully inflate and I'm reserving final judgement until then.

- Bedframe

It would be my first choice to get a simple platform that elevates the mattress a bit, and forgo the whole headboard/ bedframe thing. I actually quite love how beds look with the pillows propped against a wall and a mess of sheets piled on top. It could be a lingering obsession with Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I am always drawn to rooms that feel unfinished and a little bit empty. 

My one requirement is for the platform frame to be upholstered, and here's where it gets tricky. The whole reason for this purchase is to squeeze every last snuggle out of my kids before they're too much older. As they take running leaps across the room to jump into bed, I can't have them slamming their little knees on hard wooden corners camouflaged by percale. But upholstered platforms by themselves, at least all the ones I've found, are almost as expensive as the whole set that includes the headboard. I hate to spend $500 on something you'll never see when the "finished" bed is only a few bucks more. Ya know?

So I decided I really liked this bed from Dot & Bo and the price was reasonable at just over $500. But you go to check out and a little delivery surcharge of $150 gets tacked on. All of a sudden I'm spending almost $700 and I don't even really want a bed! 

After pinning nearly every bed with this shape and look that there is to be found on the internet, I happened upon one at Target. Did you know Target sells beds? This bed was under $500, with an extra 15%, then 10%, then 5% off...and because I have the Red Card they waived the delivery surcharge and the shipping. I ordered a King for under $365 all-in. I was pretty excited until my confirmation email told me that it wouldn't be here until mid-May. Information that would have been nice while I was shopping!! Grrr. So, it won't be here in time for the challenge end. I'll just have to hope you stick with me an extra week or two. :)

This is definitely a gamble. There was no fabric swatch, no reviews, and questionable sizing (it says King, but it also says 29" wide on everything...hmmm...)...I had to at least try though. And if it's a disaster, we just take it across the street to Target and return it and we're not out anything. Except great blog reveal photos. Oh well. Also, I am tempted to see if Ryan can switch the legs to something a little more stylish.

Skyline Upholstered Nail Button Bed

- Bedding

After hemming and hawing I decided to go for the H&M Linen Duvet Set. Aaaaand it was sold out in the charcoal. Ha! Yep, the morning after my post went live last week, the King size was gone. I wrote to customer service and they think it will be back in stock by June. I really don't want to wait that long, so I found almost the same thing at West Elm and ordered that instead. I bought the Slate duvet cover and Pink Champagne pillow shams. It was definitely more expensive though, bummer!

via West Elm

Here are some pictures of how it looks today. The rug and the mattress are here and pretty much nothing else. I'm waiting for the bedding to come in the mail. 

This little settee was a barn sale find a few years back. I've always meant to reupholster it, and it's floated around the house in various rooms over the years. I think it will fit very nicely under the window so I'd like to finally get it recovered if I can.

I'm afraid that, since I won't have a bedframe as of May 7th, when the ORC ends, the photos of the room won't look much different than this! But this challenge is happening in real time, and this is how it really is, so I'm letting the chips fall where they may. What's next?

- Paint the window trim white
- Spray paint our curtain rod
- Hang drapes
- Hang lighting

Hopefully next week I'll have some window & lighting updates for you!

It's also probably noteworthy that I've already abandoned much of my mood board from last week. After seeing some coral in real life next to the rug, it's not a great combo. I'm hoping to go the very pale pink route instead. And now I'm off to Linda's to see how everyone else is coming along. Even though I'm stressing over the decisions a little, I'm having a ton of fun doing it among friends.

{I'm also sharing this with the awesome community at the House of Hipsters Found & Foraged Party}