Our blue bedroom reveal

A blue master bedroom makeover…

Have you tried one of those escape room things yet?

If you haven’t, you should try it on a date night or a night out with friends. They are super fun. The premise is that you are trying to get out of a room in as little time as possible by noodling your way through obscure clues and such.

Even before I went to one the first time, I was no escape room newbie. Because we had our very own escape room in our home, too. It was our master bedroom. Here it is:

Do you have an escape room of your own at home, too? A space in your house that you’d love to redo, but it’s constantly getting moved to the bottom of the ever-changing, ever-growing priority list?

I’m guessing I’m not alone here. For us, those spaces are, in a very particular order:

1. the kitchen $$$
2. the master bathroom $$
3. the master bedroom $

We’ve lived in our current house for about four years now. And during that time, the master bedroom has looked pretty much the same way it did on the day we moved in.

So, I became adept at walking around in there with my eyes closed…like a female Houdini when it came to getting out of that space fast. No one in their right mind would want to be in there. I wanted to escape that room.

But, the master bedroom’s time makeover has arrived. Cue the AFTER shots!

Before this space was just kind of a big, plain Jane box. It needed some pizazz. Some architectural details and such. We decided to build a faux fireplace.

We framed it out, and built-in a spot for our electric fireplace (yes, they exist). Then we installed brick paneling. It is REAL brick, only thinner, and set on mesh panels to make installation MUCH easier.

This is how the fireplace feature looked after the brick went in. I loved it, but I wanted a more toned-down look for the brick.

So we did a “german smear” technique on it.

Here’s a quick video on the entire transformation process:

I love how the german smear technique tones down and brightens up the color of the brick. And that electric fireplace is awesome.

If you don’t have gas in your house either, I recommend trying an electric one. Not only will it crank out some serious heat, but the kids LOVE to fiddle with the remote because you can change the flames into pretty much any color of the rainbow. #itsthesmallthings

And I’d like to share a small personal victory with you guys…see that plant in the corner? It’s REAL. And I am KEEPING IT ALIVE.

I know this is likely not a big deal in your own home, but here, in the land of black thumbs, this is BIG TIME.

Not only have I managed to keep that fig alive, I’ve been managing not to kill these sweet little succulents.

Dave was not too excited about the concept of a “sitting area” in the bedroom. And I can’t blame him. His argument was simply that we don’t tend to sit. Ever. And that’s true.

But believe it or not, since we went forward with this plan, we actually HAVE sat…and enjoyed ourselves for 3 minutes or more…at least TWICE.

The cane back chairs have been ours for years. They are both Craigslist finds that we had reupholstered. And that blue ikat settee across the way is as comfy as it is adorable.

I had been wanting a king-sized bed forever, so this makeover gave me the chance. And we got the mattress online! Yep. Didn’t have to lay on nasty test mattresses in a germ incubator/mattress store.

The mattress was delivered in a box! And we LOVE it. You can check out the same one HERE. Here’s us unboxing it:

I made simple envelope pillows for the bed from toile and floral fabrics. We even got SUPER Martha up in here and made a bolster cover with that blue striped fabric.

If you can sew a straight seam and know how to use the search bar on YouTube, I definitely recommend trying to sew your own pillows.

Creating your own pillows is less expensive, AND you’ll have so many more options! I can never find finished pillow covers with just the right colors/pattern/fabric that I have in my head.

But there are SO many gorgeous fabrics out there! Go for it next time you want to change up some pillows at home!

Did you notice the gorgeous painting of the nest with three eggs above the fireplace?

It was done by the same artist who painted Bessie (the popular cow portrait that hangs in our guest room). I asked her to paint these bees to hang over our bed. So now, we have the birds and the bees gracing our walls.

Before this makeover, I called this space the escape room. After the makeover? I still call this lovely blue bedroom our escape room.

The only difference is that now, I come in here to escape everything else, rather than do everything in my power to get out.

Pssst…before you go, I sure would love to hang out with you again really soon! Sign up now and get a FREE copy of “Builder-Grade To Beautiful: 10 Totally Transformative Home Decorating Solutions, All Under $100!” Click here to enter your email or on the image below. Your copy will be sent right away!