bedrooms with balance

I'm on a bedroom kick this week. Actually, I've been on a bedroom kick since we moved in. However, it's heightened this week with our decision to switch bedroom locations after trying fruitlessly for the past 3 months to keep little people and their plethora of toys out of our little room and in the adjoining playroom where they are most welcome to build forts and play "pirates" and "Olympics" and "Fighting Irish football" anytime they want. While our decision to move upstairs will deprive our kids of the pirate ship/trampoline/football field that moonlights as their parents' bed, they'll be gaining a craft room and library lounge--doubling their play space. I think it's a pretty fair compromise.

So that brings me to my point, bedrooms. Ours needs to be calm. The new space is even smaller than our current room, so I've decided to try to keep it as simple and balanced as possible in hopes that even when strewn with clothes and--let's be honest--baby toys, it will still retain some semblance of peace and sophistication.

If the room above looks like it came straight out of a catalog, it's because it did. I know, it's a little contrived seeing as it was designed for Pottery Barn. Still, I love the balance of neutrals and the comforting symmetry. I kept coming back to this picture, so I thought I'd post it for you to see too. Our room has the same basic color scheme. The first coat of paint is already on the walls. We're using Pale Silver, a Restoration Hardware color, but we had it mixed in Benjamin Moore's Aura paint, which we love for it's easy application and washability. (Side note--if you're looking for paint, I highly recommend Benjamin Moore's Aura line. It's self-priming, low VOC, usually only requires one coat, and is pretty much equally washable in any finish---in short, worth every penny! I could be on their commercial :)

Here are a few more balanced beauties from Beautiful Homes and Garden's Real Life Bedrooms: Enjoy!

 

 Update: a few years later I have a few "after" pictures to share. It's probably still my favorite room in the house. Simple, restful, neutral, and just feminine enough to feel a little luxurious without being fussy or feeling "finished":

You can see a few more in this post which includes a picture of what our bedroom looked like before we got our neutral loving hands on it.

I made the headboard out of an old mantel, and you can see my list of instructions on Apartment Therapy.