BHG

It is time to cozy up that bedroom for fall and winter, girls!

Let’s do a little pre-holiday bedroom nesting.

The other day we talked a bit about quilts in decorating and I wanted to quickly tell those of you who asked about where to get quilts to check out this link to my sponsor Quiltsy…I love the creativity on Etsy so I’m sure you’ll find some lovely handmade ones from these quilt makers!

BHG

So I was thinking today about how much I enjoy cozy-ing up the bedrooms this time of year. I just love this time of year, period, but I really love the cozy-ing up part.

I change my son’s sheets to flannel, add our quilt as an extra layer to our bed, and switch extra pillows from our more summery versions to warmer fall & winter pillows. I just love that ritual!

BHG

You might not have a fall or winter style bedroom, but I loved that these Better Homes & Gardens inspiration rooms transitioned to fall effortlessly with simple touches.

Here are some great ways to bring a little fall and winter to your home:

• Fall & winter pillows & pillow covers
• Layers of quilts
• Fall & winter duvet covers
• Warm colors and textures for pillow shams
• Match stick blinds (inexpensive & always chic)
• Throw rugs, even if they are small rugs you can put them at the side of your bed for cozy toes!)
• Cozy art or tapestries to walls for added layers of warmth.
• Lamps keep a room from feeling cold and dreary in the winter months.
• Change or embellish lampshades for warmer look.
• Curtains always add so much warmth. Drop cloth or sheets work great for inexpensive alternatives to drapery! Here are a bunch of DIY curtains and ideas.

For more bedroom decorating ideas, check out these bloggers amazing bedrooms!!

BHG

Thanks so much for all the support of my ebook launch tomorrow (just announced it yesterday!). This is a message that has been dear to my heart for years and years so I’m excited to be able to share it in this pretty little ebook! It will be available  bright and early Tuesday morning so come by first thing if you can! I told you lately how much I appreciate you all?  Never met this girl but I love her already.

If you received one of the free copies of the NOT a DIY Diva ebook yesterday, if you are able to post about it Tuesday so let people know about the book, that would be awesome. Thank you! Affiliate info is here if you want to earn some Gingerbread Latte money cause you all know that season is pretty much here! You’ll get 30% of every ebook sale you make with your own affiliate code!

Here is a page with authentic living and NOT a DIY Diva buttons for you!

If you have questions, you can email my awesome new VA Lindsey who will protect us all from my scattered mind during this crazy busy exciting time.

So have you added any Fall or Winter touches to your bedroom yet this season?
What are your  suggestions for warming up a room with accessories and decor?

Catch up rest of my 31 Days:: Inspired Holidays!

image: BH&G

Decorating Your Bedroom

Tips for Creating An Escape from Every Day Life

I look forward to the day I get to really spruce up my bedroom in this house. So far I’ve been too distracted by other projects and my bedroom has not received the attention it deserves.

Bedroom Photo: William Brinson {Design Sponge}

The master bedroom should be the most significant room in the house, even though it is usually the most private space. I definitely want to devote time and energy towards making our room a place I enjoy being — a place my husband and I can reconnect and retreat to at the end of every day.

House Beautiful

Sarah’s House HGTV

BH&G

I think it is important to have an escape from the world, a place to experience a sense of peace and calm in the home, a room to rest and recharge your energy and of course, a place for reconnecting and dreaming!

The awesome thing about bedroom decorating is everyone can have a different idea of what that “retreat” will look like. There is no right or wrong decorating style for a bedroom! The important thing is that you (and your spouse) LOVE your room, and find it a comfortable escape from the hard work and harsh realities of life!

BH&G

Q. How do you get started decorating the bedroom of your dreams?

A. Picture a room that would make you feel like you are on a dream vacation.

Here are the first steps in imagining the bedroom of your dreams:

• Imagine a hotel that you (and your spouse) think would be the most restful, romantic environment for a weekend getaway. Start by closing your eyes and imagining you are packing your bags right now for the weekend! Where would you LOVE to go? What would the hotel look like?

• Would the hotel be quaint and charming? Fancy and frivolous?  Would the room be colorful and happy? Peaceful and serene? Would the bed be piled high with fluffy pillows and a down comforter or would it be a sleek modern room with lots of sparkle and glam? Is your dream hotel at the coast? In the city? In a foreign country?

• You can take design cues from THAT dream vacation getaway and begin to pull together appropriate elements to recreate a similar feeling in your home (working with what you have and the limitations of your own space and budget, of course!). Make a list of all the key words you came up with from your “dream escape” to help you to keep on track with your favorite design elements.

• Here is a place I think would be a dreamy escape, maybe you’ll find your dream escape style by finding a lovely hotel or room online that sets just the right mood for your own bedroom decorating!

• You can find links to lots more bedroom inspiration photos and decorating ideas here, as well as links at the bottom of this post. Gathering inspiration photos and ideas is a great way to begin to figure out what you like and what would work in your own space! In addition to magazines online, there are also many online sources of inspiration photos such as Pinterest and Tumblr!

• Start by looking at the inspiration rooms as a whole, then go through each one again, looking specifically at bedding in each photo, the shape and material used for headboards, then look at what is on the walls in each room, how many pillows are used, what combination of fabrics you like best, then focus on the paint colors, what  lighting is used, etc. Zeroing in on specifics in a space can help you see how a room is put together and the elements you like.

BH&G

Want to talk more about creating a bedroom of your dreams? Need tips for creating the most restful bedroom?

UPDATE: This Twitter Party is now over, but I hope to have a recap of the tips posted in the near future.

I’m co-hosting a “Sleep Better Chat” Bedroom Decorating Tips Twitter party Tuesday from 7-8PM CST (5-6 PM PST) with Sleep Number Beds (@sleepnumbersarah), — we’ll be talking about decorating bedrooms! I hope you will join us! My twitter is @theinspiredroom and the hastag for the party is #sleepnumber. You can find Sleep Number on Facebook too!

Not sure what a Twitter Party or what a Hashtag is? Don’t worry! It is easy to join in a Twitter party, even if you aren’t on twitter yet! You could try it out tonight just for fun!

Here are some simple instructions that you might find helpful in joining your first Twitter party! From there, you just learn as you go!

THANKS TO ALL WHO CAME TO THE TWITTER PARTY!!

Related bedroom Decorating Posts:

Master Bedroom Room Tours: Decorating Inspiration from Blogland Bedrooms!

Creating The Feel of a Bed & Breakfast in Your Own Room

Creating a Bedroom You’ll Love {**Great Inspiration Pics**}

Four Poster Bedroom Inspiration

I want to reorganize my upstairs so I will have a guest room and so the entire second floor will function better. But I’m the master at getting sidetracked. You probably know that about me by now if you have been hanging out here long. I’m good at dreaming up ideas, even rather good at accomplishing many things in life, but not always so good at following through on all of the things I really want to do. I think I have more ambition than time.

I also think I have organizational and decorating ADD. That is probably pretty close to the truth.

Did any of you read “Sidetracked Home Executives” back in the day (Ok, YEARS ago?)? If you haven’t heard of that book or the “Sidetracked Sisters” you can find them now via FlyLady (even before Flylady I was into the S.H.E. sisters!). Anyway, their book was hilarious to me because it reminded me of myself.  I can have the greatest intentions EVER to complete a project and along the way I find myself swept away into some other wonderful idea that wasn’t really a part of my plan but sounded fun at the moment.  I am the classic S.H.E.

Sometimes I am sidetracked by crazy and unnecessary but fun rabbit trails, but often I am simply pulled away by other urgent obligations that keep me from completing my original project in a timely fashion.

So if you are like me, how can we stay on track when we start an organizing or decorating project?

Country Living Guest Room Bedside Table

Here are two of my basic but tried and true methods for getting the job done if you tend to get sidetracked!

1. Set realistic goals and deadlines.

It helps me if I set a realistic completion date and a few goals for my project. It works best for me to set a goal that coincides with some other event like company coming over or whatever. I am motivated by a REAL deadline, not just a date.

In fact, if necessary I have been known to INVENT an EVENT (like inviting people over on a Friday night) so I’ll finish a project by Thursday!  Being a recovering “perfectionist procrastinator,” the near and looming deadline is what keeps me going.

2. Keep your focus on what counts.

Only let yourself get sidetracked by things that MUST get done to maintain your routines and your family’s sanity (like feeding your kids or keeping the dishes washed) and slap your wrist if you start a new project in the middle of your main project, even if it is a good idea.

Getting sidetracked away from your project because you need to feed the kids, your dog just threw up on the floor, your mom came to town and decided to make you slipcovers, or five college students unexpectedly decided to spend the weekend at your house* is understandable and OK. Have mercy on yourself, real life happens! You need to expect those types of interruptions to happen in the middle of most projects so allow time for them and be FLEXIBLE.

But getting sidetracked because you decide randomly to organize 22 years of pictures in shoeboxes when your real goal is to set up a guest roomand re-purpose closets is NOT OK. Do not ask me how I know this.

The idea of organizing family pictures is brilliant. You might REALLY NEED to organize them. But the decision to organize photos NOW, for instance, in the middle of moving furniture around to set up a guest room, is not so good. That rabbit trail will keep you from accomplishing your mail goal.

What is my solution for rabbit trails?

Keep a notebook with a list of things to do “after the completion” date so you can get work on those “rabbit trails” later.

Are you easily sidetracked?

Tell me your sidetracked stories so I know I am not alone!

*in my case, all of the above have happened this week in the middle of my project.

Country Living, thoughtful things for guests