Kalisa's Surprise....

My brother Brad called me about two weeks ago, and asked me to do a master bedroom makeover for his wife for her surprise birthday gift. She knew I was doing it, but she was given strict instructions to not discuss it with me. He video taped her talking about what she'd like to see in the room, but that footage was withheld from me. I was NOT to talk with her about any of my plans, nor was she to talk to me about any of her preferences. I was told to design the room however I wanted...nothing was off the table. I could do any colors, paint any furniture, change fixtures, buy new furniture, ANYTHING. I had to keep asking if this was really Kalisa's birthday, cuz it felt an awful lot like mine! So, I've spent the last two weeks, planning, shopping, shopping, and shopping a little more ;) I got there on Friday, and worked til Saturday night for the big "REVEAL"!

Kalisa's first glance...

Here's me giving her the "tour". I think our stances our funny - always the same! Frank was hiding behind the bed with a video camera to get her initial reaction on tape. I still haven't seen it!

Before & Afters

I decided to keep her bed and night stands. I just switched out the knobs since one was missing. Kalisa is NOT afraid of color, so I was excited to give her something a little "different". We painted the walls "tranquility", and put up grasscloth behind the bed. I did the grasscloth to neutralize some of the brighter colors in the bed, and also to allow me to use all different wood tones. I bought a dining bench for the foot of the bed because it was long an skinny. New lamps (bigger), mirror, art, pillows, and accessories to pull it all together.

We (Frank) installed some natural roman shades to add the "pecan" color to this wall, and to tie it into the grasscloth. It was important to bring in the dark woods to contrast with the lighter woods that she already had. I bought two big mirrors (ikea), added floor-to-ceiling drapes to give the room height, bought the chair off KSL, added table, lamp and accessories.

Perfect little nook!

This piece of art from Home Goods adds more shades of the same colors going on in the bedding. It also added a little contemporary flare tot he room. We added an art light to highlight it! We added new hardware to her hope chest, and I suggested that she paint it cream to match the art above the night stands.

So, I talked to Brad about things that might be sentimental I could use for some abstract art on this wall. Their family motto is "no empty chairs", so I found these pictures on-line, re-sized them, changed them to sepia, added film grain, printed them off at Costco for $3 a pop, and bought frames at Ikea for $17 a piece! I love it! There are five chairs representing each person in the family (with room for a sixth - when the time is right, OF COURSE!)

In the bathroom, everything was light excepts those amazing chocolate quartz countertops, so I decided to bring more richness by changing the light fixtures, hardware, and faucets to a rubbed bronze. We installed grasscloth behind the new framed mirrors. We also switched out the accordian blinds for the natural roman shades, new towels and accessories.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KALISA!