I didn't want to bombard you with too many fabulous pictures all in one blog post, so that's why this is Part 1 of the Master Retreat @ Brainerd Street. Today I'll talk about the serene space I call bedroom. I love putting on my jammies and snuggling up in bed. It's my happy place.

When my husband and I decided it was time to upgrade to a larger home, we knew we also wanted to upgrade our master suite. The small {and super charming} cottage we lived in before The Brainerd Street House had a very small bedroom and a 60 square foot master bathroom, literally.

How did I survive??

So when we saw that the master bedroom and bathroom of The Brainerd Street House could take up most of the second story, we were sold! And after much debate, we even took another bedroom on the second story, and converted it into our closet - which I'm sorry to say that you will not see because it's a complete disaster. But I will tell you that it does have our washer and dryer in there - a must have if you have a two story house. Laundry done right in the closet - GENIUS!

Here are some before pictures of our bedroom. It really wasn't in bad shape, it just needed a little face lift with lighter colors. There were some lovely suede roman shades {eek} and the walls were painted a khaki color, which I'm sure we all painted one of our rooms in at one point. Remember when that was the go to neutral? I'm so grateful today's go to neutrals are shades of grey and white.

The fireplace looked like it was in pretty good shape. However, behind that beautiful ironwork, it was falling in. So we had to have it rebuilt. The mantle was in good shape, but after all the paint stripping we did downstairs, we decided to leave it white. Which is fine by me, because you can still see all the beautiful details. We did, however, strip the paint off the door....Oh that door, I could say some ugly things that have to do with potty words about the color, but I'll refrain.

After spending hours painting our bedroom, this is the final product {there are no pictures of the progress because I was totally 7 months pregnant doing it, don't judge} - it is so much lighter, brighter, and is a perfect space to snuggle in.

We knew we wanted a light shade of blue. I can't remember what color this is exactly, but I know it had something to do with pelicans and it came from Lowes. The blue is serene but adds subtle contrast to our mostly neutral home. I added some fun orange throw pillows to the side chairs and orange accessories for a fun pop of bright color.

When we finished remodeling the house, we splurged and bought a king size bed because our queen bed looked tiny in the space. I knew I wanted a nice, tall, tufted headboard, but our bank account wasn't having it. So we had to be resourceful and we figured out how to make one. {Side note - this was also before all the great websites like Wayfair, Overstock, and Joss and Main, with affordable home products.} Although I want to upgrade to a wingback headboard soon, I like this one just fine. And it only cost about $100.

I love a white bed. White sheets, white comforter, white quilt, it's so fresh and clean! Throw on a fun heart pillow, and add a cozy textured throw and ta-da! A cozy, comfy, snuggle-able bed. Don't you just want to jump on it?

The bench was another fantastic Pluderosa find. Remember, that's the place over in Loxley, AL that you just must visit! It's an antique European bench that was an awful shade of yellow, so we added some white paint, and it's now a great place to put our shoes on in the morning.

This whole side of the room was bare for about 2 years after we moved into the house. It was such a big wall that I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. Well, when a friend called and said a local Home and Garden magazine wanted to feature our home, I had to scramble!! A trip to Atlanta Ikea was in the works. I went in with no idea what I wanted to do with this wall, and this is what we came back with - and I just LOVE it. The gallery wall is perfect for displaying our favorite memories, the chairs add a nice touch of texture, and the bookcase is a good place to store all of our 'This Old House' magazines {If you look closely, you can see the magazine we are on the cover of}.

One of our favorite weekend morning games is to lay in the bed with our son and have him show us his favorite picture from our gallery wall. It's fun to talk about where we were and what we were doing in each picture. My intention was to continuously change them out, but we shall see if it ever really happens.

Make some time to snuggle with your littles or specials this weekend! Have a good one!

Stay tuned for Part 2 : The Master Bathroom....