our teeny master bedroom, or, my biggest decorating dilemma...

Our master bedroom is small...like, really small. Our house is about 80 years old and all of the original bedrooms are upstairs. Sometime in the 1970s, a little room was added off the living area downstairs. This is the only room with a bath attached, and the only one with a closet larger than a shower stall. When we first moved into the house in 2009, we took one of the upstairs bedrooms so our son wouldn't be upstairs by himself. Our daughter arrived in 2010. Last fall, we decided to move into the downstairs bedroom and use the large, upstairs room as a playroom/office. Honestly, we didn't even know if our king-sized mattresses would fit in the room and still leave enough space to open the bathroom door. I've played a lot with the arrangement but think what we have now works well. The real down side is that I sleep on the side of the bed that is up against the wall, so I have to climb (or fall, depending on how tired I am) up and down the end of the bed. Also, making the bed is like one of those half-time shows where those brother-sister groups have choreographed these weird acrobatic routines. That means I have to jump up and down on the bed to make it. I've only hit my head on the chandelier twice :)

I love salvage, and my budget is pretty small, so this is fortunate for me! Our headboard is an old 5-panel wood door. I love the fact that it still has some of the original brass hardware. I love vintage frames and am especially drawn to the ones that are falling apart, which does present some challenges in hanging them. I also found a great skeleton of a crystal chandelier for $20 at my favorite local junk spot in town. I have vintage letters and numbers in other parts of our home so I was thrilled to find this vintage metal "&" for $36 at a local shop. I wanted something to dress down the gold frames so our room didn't look formal, which isn't us at all. The burlap valance helps with that as well; valance being used pretty loosely here, as all I did was hang some burlap on a curtain rod and tie it up with twine in a few spots, but it's exactly what I wanted.

I found the chairs at the foot of the bed from that favorite junk store as well. They were only $20 each and I just loved the lines. The cream vinyl is in perfect condition and the matte black finish has just the right amount of wear. I knew I'd find a place for them and was happily surprised that there is just enough room at the foot of our bed.

My husband is a pastor, which means we are overrun with books. I really wanted a small bookcase for the spot behind the door. When I scored this free pallet, I knew I had the perfect solution. It is really heavy, so it took a lot of anchors, but it is secured to the wall and holds the books that he just has to have in the bedroom for nighttime reading, along with some photos, a heart my sweet son made for me out of twigs, and a beautiful hand-written note from our son the day our daughter was born, thanking God for her. The antique french laundry basket has been in just about every room in the house, but currently holds extra blankets in the bin and a stack of home magazines on the bottomthe perfect compromise. I think it has a new home here.

Last, we do have a tv in our bedroom *cue gasp*. While I am no longer ashamed of this from a personal standpoint, it does provide some decorating issues. I decided to frame it with frames echoing what we have over our bed. The first frame has a drawer from my grandmother's old singer sewing machine cabinet. The center frame holds a painting by a street artist from our first trip to Paris, a gift for our ten year anniversary, and it was my first real piece of art, so it will always be my favorite. The last frame holds two small salvage windows; my first salvage purchase about 15 years ago.

I love that our bedroom, although small, holds so many of my favorite items, or items that remind me of special moments, people and places. It makes me feel like this has been our home for much longer than almost 3 years. I'd love to hear your thoughts and your bedroom decorating dilemmas - thanks for stopping by!