Signing on for week two of the One Room Challenge. In case you missed it, last week I announced that I’ll be restoring our Master Bedroom over the next several weeks. As promised, this week I’d like to share my design plans with you, so let’s dive in!

Elegant, Restful, Classic, Collected

There are certain phrases and buzzwords that I keep coming back to for our Master Bedroom, and for our home at large. The phrases at the tip of my tongue are: elegant classicism, timelessness, restful quietude, and effortlessly collected. Overall, my plan is to create a serene space with thoughtful details that nod to the past, while looking to the future.

I think that this push-pull between past and future is especially evident in the lighting I’ve selected. The Lynden chandelier is one I’ve admired for literally years. I love its’ ribbed metal edge, and how it contrasts with the creamy alabaster shade. This fixture somehow reminds me of the Chrysler Building, a favorite landmark from my time living in New York.

On the topic of cities I’ve lived in, the Classic No. 1 wall sconce was a new discovery that I instantly fell in love with. These sconces transport me to Paris, to a favorite sidewalk cafe and the pleated cafe curtains hanging in the window. I think it must have to do with the beautiful pleated silk shade and the brass detailing. We’ll use a pair of these sconces adjacent to our bed, in place of the traditional table lamps. I can’t wait to see these sconces installed.

Our Bedding & Rug

What is a bedroom, if not for beautiful bedding? If you followed along with our Guest Bedroom Renovation last spring, you’ll remember that I selected some beautiful bedding from Garnet Hill for that space, and I’m excited to partner with them once again. We’ve stayed in our Guest Bedroom during this renovation, and there are several items of bedding that I can’t wait to have in our Master. I could wax poetic about the Dream Quilt and sateen sheets (my favorite sheets ever), and I love this classic embroidered duvet too.

You may remember that I began my career as a hospitality designer (designing hotels & restaurants), and this seems evident in my bedding choices. To me, there’s something simply elegant about all white bedding. I also gravitate to a black & white color palette, which feels so inherently luxurious.

Speaking of color palettes, for this room I’m leaning-in to all of my favorite tones like black and white, cream and beige, with accents of cool blue and gray. Elegant & restful. To that end, I’ve selected the most luxurious rug, the Calvin Klein Lunar in Pewter from Nourison. In a bedroom, I love having a silky texture underfoot. This rug will feel wonderful when stepping out of bed each morning.

Other Charming Design Details

I plan to amplify all of the charming details in our space, from historic design features like old push button lights, to utilizing our picture molding and chain to display artwork (just like I did in our Dining room). We have an old fireplace in this room which I plan to restore by refinishing the wood and painting the summer covers to match our trim. We also plan to take salvaged bead board and use it to build a pair of nightstands for our space.

Finally, I’ll amplify all of the elegant textures in our room, from the pleated silk lampshades on our wall sconces, to my own linen textiles used for our window treatments and throw pillows; from the cool metal ribbing on our chandelier, to the silken texture of our rug and new sateen sheets. This room will be all about understated elegance and thoughtful details.

Inspiring Saves

Here are some inspiration images I’ve saved as I’ve planned for our Master Bedroom renovation. Can you see these phases and buzzwords (elegant, classic, timeless, restful, collected) reflected in the images below?

The most Life-changing Upgrade

Perhaps the most life-changing upgrade coming to our Master Bedroom (and the better portion of our whole upstairs) is the introduction of heating and cooling. Yes folks, we are entering the 21st century! Since purchasing our home, we’ve been without heating and air conditioning on our second floor, which happens to be where our Master Bedroom is located. We’ve relied upon portable heaters and a/c units to rather unsuccessfully regulate our upstairs temperatures. The things we’ll do for love (of old houses).

In doing thorough research and talking with fellow old house owners, we decided that a mini-split system of heating and cooling was the best solution for our historic home. We’ve been hesitant to run invasive ductwork in a house that wasn’t designed for it. Also, as two people living in a 6+ bedroom house, we really don’t need to have the whole house heated and cooled to the same temperature. Being able to individually control the temperature room-by-room is a huge advantage for us. I’m thrilled to share that we’ll be partnering with Mitsubishi, the very best in the industry, to see this portion of the project through to completion. I’ll share more in a future blog post about why we’ve chosen a mini-split system over a conventional HVAC.

I want to take a moment to thank the wonderful sponsors who we’ve been so fortunate to partner with on this project. A special thank you to Garnet Hill, Hudson Valley Lighting, Nourison, and Mitsubishi!

Next week I’ll share the progress we’ve made in restoring our plaster walls and bead board ceilings, as well as a few surprising discoveries we’ve made so far. Be sure to stop by. Until then!

Be sure to check out all of the other amazing Guest and Featured participants in the One Room Challenge this spring. Find out more by using the link below.

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