Room reveal: my new lighter, brighter master bedroom + shop it!

I shared our master bedroom on Instagram last month but I thought I’d give it a place here on the blog too as it was super popular! Read to the end for details and links for everything.

Long time readers know our bedroom used to be moody and navy (and the story behind how wrong I got that wall colour first go!), but after a few years of this look (below) I’ll be honest with you, I just wasn’t vibing it anymore! And that’s okay! Our tastes change.

BEFORE The bedroom was dark and moody | Image by Jacqui Turk

We also got new windows which was a big deal for this room and that’s because the window in this room was the worst of all our old windows: timber, rotting and had even got to the point where it wouldn’t open anymore. Healthy, huh?! Thank goodness we could open the window in the attached en suite!

The old window was previously hidden behind plantation shutters (thank goodness as it would have really killed my aesthetic!) but they were making the already mediocre natural light even worse. Given the opportunity to get rid of the shutters when we got our new windows (they wouldn’t fit back on anyway and I gave them away on Facebook to some very happy renovators!), I was thrilled to swap to roman blinds! Hello daylight!

I bought the frames for these prints from Temple & Webster and then ordered custom size mats online

The dark and moody hotel look worked for our bedroom before because it was a bit, well, dingy! But now we’ve let the light in and I’m all about light, bright and airy! I really wanted to channel spring in this room and for it to be a little less uptight, more casual, light in all senses of the word, and fresh! We also ditched the grey carpet and replaced it with the laminate floor we have elsewhere in our home and that made a huge difference to the light in the room. It immediately felt much bigger too. And oh, how I love to be able to mop in here, especially as this room is, for whatever reason, the dustiest place in the house!

Changing the wall colour of course made a major difference. We went for another Haymes Paint colour, Chinchilla Fur, which I know well because I already have it in our kitchen on the panelling and more recently used it for the panelling in the en suite so this ties the rooms together nicely. It looks totally different in the kitchen mind you (but I love both versions!), which is why you need to always get your sample pots, or use the clever The Big Paint Sample stickers like I do. Don’t think you’ve picked a dark navy off the fan deck and then come home to find the painters have turned your room bright primary blue! Yes, that was me!

The wall colour and timber accents tie in with our ensuite

I hoped my custom made fuchsia velvet bedhead might still work in here but it just didn’t. I left it for a few weeks before making the decision to swap it out (and again, it has gone to a new home where it will be very loved!). Long term readers will remember that we finally worked out this was the best orientation for this room despite a bed under the window not being the ideal. No off the shelf bedhead fits under this huge, low window, but I had a clever idea to hack the super affordable Kmart rattan one by cutting the bottom off the legs. I’m so happy with this. The bedhead isn’t super obvious because of all the pillows and because there’s not much height there, but I didn’t want to have nothing either! I was really trying not to spend too much on this room.

The bargain Kmart bedhead with the legs cut down to size

The linen is just divine. I mean I’m lucky to have been gifted a lot of gorgeous linen in my time, but when LinenMe let me choose from their collection, I picked these sheets and quilt cover for our guest bedroom but then had to steal them for the master! They were just perfect and I cannot enthuse enough about how good this stuff feels too. You can see the quality and I know they will be on high rotation.

I feel like good bedsides (much like entertainment units) are really hard to find so when I found the perfect ones at Life Interiors I had to have them. The oak and marble combo was perfect, and I’ve worked out one drawer is essential for all those bits and bobs, but two leads to them being full of rubbish! The previous navy ones were gorgeous but a bad combo with all the dust we get in this room. The marble is another light surface to reflect light too. I like that they’re not solid which adds to the feeling of space and light.

The timber floating shelf on the right was originally destined for the office but was too long for that room and one day it hit me it would be the perfect thing under the mirror (a wedding gift many years ago). It just works! And I love another timber accent for a bit of warmth.

The wardrobe doors got an upgrade with new satin brass handles from Gainsborough to replace the standard chrome ones and we had recently upgraded all our internal handles with beautiful new ones from their Avant range too. It’s amazing how these little changes add up. Pops of pink and gold elements are dotted everywhere, which is a bit of a Jen signature and ties it all together.

A reality of sharing this room with my husband is that we cannot survive and keep a reasonably tidy room without what I call a ‘chairdrobe’ and this boucle one is a work of art! With its timber and brass elements it was the perfect choice.

Our bedroom isn’t perfect. It’s not that big for a master (3.5 x 4m) and it’s a bit of an awkward shape, not least because the only way to make it work is to have the bed under the window. It doesn’t have a walk-in as this house was built in the sixties, but do you know what, for all its imperfections, it looks and feels pretty great now! And aside from how it looks, with functioning windows that open, air con and a hygienic hard floor, it it is so much healthier too, and for somewhere you spend so much time, that’s a big plus!

I’m still dreaming of adding a skylight (with an automatic blind of course). We shall see!