The boyfriend and I have started the search for our next rental. Even after all of these years, I'm still somewhat disturbed by how little bang you get for your buck in the Austin rental market. However, I am getting a little excited about decorating the new digs. We have pared down a lot of our things, got rid of our old couches, and plan on getting rid of more - so I don't feel the need to stick with most of the decor from the old house. I feel like a clean slate. And that's basically what we're going to get. We were fortunate in our last rental to be able to paint the walls whatever color we wanted, but the new place will most likely sport rental white or (if we're lucky) beige. But I'm hopeful I'll be able to embrace the bland and work with it.
One of the biggest changes will be getting the master bedroom back to ourselves. At the last house, my son's bedroom was right off of the living room, so we opted to make it into a playroom and had him sleep in a toddler bed in our room. Not ideal, but it meant we could use our living room after he went to bed instead of worrying about waking him up if the TV was too loud. It also gave me a little peace of mind since I always worried that the house was a potential death trap. Definitely not a feature I'm hoping to find in the next place.
Anyway, with the new adults-only status of the master bedroom, I'm hoping to go a little modern and sophisticated. I came across this picture of a black-and-white bedroom done immaculately on the blog
Sketch42 and decided it was the direction I definitely wanted to go in. Her apartment was featured in this month's Rue magazine.
Isn't it gorgeous! The antique brass swing arm lamps are my absolute favorite thing about the room and I'm hoping to find a much cheaper source on similar ones. Hers are from Circa Lighting for $231 each. I found these cuties for a smidge cheaper ($176 each) at
CSN.
Her walls are obviously black (wallpapered in Imperial Trellis, blogland's favorite pattern ever), which won't be possible in a rental. So I started searching for other inspirational black and white bedrooms.
I actually hate everything about this room EXCEPT for the gorgeous fabric on the bed. The new place will hopefully accommodate a king bed, but if not I would have no qualms about reupholstering our current queen in something like this.
Another black wall, but I love the detail and the glass bench at the end of the bed. Oh, and the black leather lampshades. Black lampshades are definitely a must have. I love the lamps in this room:
More black lampshades.
I love the metallic wallpaper, but I don't want to have pops of yellow. Instead I'm leaning towards fuchsia - just a few touches. Because fuchsia is a damn sexy color.
This one's not a bedroom, but when I was thinking of the style I wanted to achieve, I kept coming up with "Candice Olson"-esque. Not that I can ever remember her doing a black and white bedroom, but her designs definitely have that touch of elegance, glam, and modernity that I'm hoping to achieve. Her rooms always look luxe. I LOVE the gold tiles - have to figure out a way to DIY me some.
And then I found it - THE picture will serve as my #1 inspiration:
First of all, it has white walls. Which was kind of the point. I love the four-poster bed, and since I doubt I find one as glamorous, I'm thinking of building this one from
Ana White's plans:
The starburst mirror is a beauty, and I've pretty much reached my limit on starburst mirrors. But I love the white and gold accents on it. I also adore the curved white nightstands. Hopefully I'll find a pair on Craigslist I can makeover. The curtains are so simple and elegant. And the greek key bench is lovely - I just haven't found a great fabric for my knock-off version.
So, that's an idea of where I'm currently heading for the master bedroom. Don't hold me to it, though. I'm kind of notorious about changing my mind about decor about a million times before I finally commit.
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