Welcome back to the blog!
Today I’m taking you on a tour of my favourite hotel. I’m just kiddiiiiing, it’s my bedroom! Let’s take a walk around – it might be small, but it’s one of my favourite places to spend time in. When I’m not sleeping in here, I like to write my blog, read a book, or just watch Netflix on my laptop.
I’m a big believer in minimalist bedrooms. I find that I sleep better in a clutter free room. As I brought this room together over the years, I drew inspiration from luxury hotels and wellness centres (Sparkling Hill, anyone?). It was actually pretty easy to achieve, by using a lot of clean, white linens, ambient lighting, and delicate decor.
I started decorating my home in white about 9 years ago, when we moved into our apartment. A little backstory – I moved to Vancouver to be with Tristan in 2008, and our first place together was a basement suite. It had mauve walls, so I decorated with a lot of chocolate brown, black, and beige (so surprising, isn’t it?). When we moved back to Kelowna three years later, our new apartment had stark, white walls – and suddenly all of my decor looked so jarring in comparison. So I started lightening things up here and there, and eventually it took over completely – and now my place is what you see today!
I LOVE that white decor has become ultra popular, and that I can shop anywhere and find beautiful whitewashed pieces that fit right in with what I have. My dream is to one day be able to afford to shop at stores like Lakehouse. Until then, a girl can dream!
This might be surprising, but in my bedroom I try to keep decorative throw pillows to a minimum, and usually only have one, up front and centre in front of our regular pillows. I used to pile the cushions on, sometimes having 5 or 6 to remove and stack in the corner of the room every night, but eventually I realized they too, were cluttering up the room! So now I just do the one. This adorable cover is from Amazon, and you can find it here.
Let’s talk bedding. In the summer, we swap out our fluffy duvet with a light quilt because it gets so HOT in our third floor apartment. This year I wanted to upgrade our old quilt, so I ordered this one on Amazon. Our bed is a queen, but I ordered the king sized quilt for a better hang (down the side of the bed). If you decide to order the same one, beware that the pillow cases that came were MASSIVE, almost big enough for a body pillow! I took them in with my sewing machine to fit our queen sized pillows.
The ruffled coverlet also pictured was a Homesense score. It’s basically a king sized quilt as well, but it’s much heavier. I’m not sure of the brand, as it was on clearance in an unmarked bag. It was $69.99, a STEAL for a quality blanket like this. You can find amazing things in the sale sections of Homesense, I never pass up these areas of the store.
The tray pictured was from a local grocery store I frequent, Peter’s Your Independent Grocer. It’s a Loblaws store, so you can find similar items in Real Canadian Superstore as well. All of these white metal pieces with rope accents were on clearance back in July – I also bought a large round tray, and an oversized ice bucket.
The lavender decor was only $2 from Dollarama, and the gold geometric candle holders were a Christmas gift from a friend (we were at Walmart last December together, and spontaneously bought each other a gift! Love friendships like that). They were about $15 for both.
The #1 thing I get asked about by almost every single person that sees this room, is my curtain ‘headboard’! Our bed is a simple mattress set on a metal frame, and doesn’t have a headboard. Enter – the cheapest, easiest, and dare I say, prettiest way to make your room look put together instantly. I’ve been doing this for years, and sometimes I change out the curtains seasonally. All you need is a rod, 2 panels, 2 sheers, and some ribbon, and voilà! My #1 place in town to find curtain rods and sheers? Jysk! Browse rods here, and sheers here. Just an FYI, sheers look gorgeous and they’re ALWAYS cheaper than curtain panels.
Another trick for giving the impression of a headboard? Euro pillows! They’re just larger, square pillows you put farthest back on your bed. You can always find them in store at Homesense, Winners, Marshalls, and Bed Bath & Beyond, or online from Amazon and Wayfair. These ones were from Homesense for $24.99 each. They’re feather filled, with removable covers, and I’ve had them for at least 5 years now. Because we don’t actually sleep with them, they still look brand new. Besides giving the head of your bed some height, they’re also really comfortable to lean on when you’re sitting in bed on your laptop. Speaking from experience as I write this!
I made this wreath earlier this spring, and because it’s so neutral, I ended up leaving it up all summer. It cost less than $30 to make, and took maybe 25 minutes to come together? If you’ve ever looked at, or purchased pre-made wreaths in local home stores, you’ll know they typically cost upwards of $40-$60 pre-made. I’ve even seen wreaths at craft stores for $100+! For good reason though – when you buy handmade crafts you are paying for someone’s hard work and time. However, I’m a big DIYer for this reason – I don’t mind buying all the materials and putting the work in myself. Plus, making it yourself means you get to customize the hell out of it. If you want to give this minimalist hoop wreath a whirl, you can find my 25 min tutorial here.
While perusing Amazon, I found this adorable lighthouse tealight holder, and consequently discovered Kate Aspen, a decor and party supplies website. I haven’t ordered anything directly from it yet so I can’t comment on that, but I love the lighthouse so much I’m sure I will in the future! Their Instagram page is also fantastic.
Just like with wreath making, I also do all my own floral arranging at home. It’s easy if you have a hot glue gun and wire cutters! My favourite place to find the best artificial flowers is Afloral.com, but I rarely do it (like, did it once for my wedding bouquet, and once or twice more for some greenery to use at home) because the shipping cost to Canada is so high. But I still recommend it if you really want the best quality eucalyptus and cabbage roses. My favourite place in Kelowna for artificial flowers is Michaels (here’s their Insta page as well).
I know this is unpopular opinion in 2019 – but I still decorate with personal photos, and I think you should too. There’s no better way to make a house feel like home than with intimate photography.
I wrote this back in my Living Room Tour, but my 3 keys to framing your own photos are simple: use your most professional/semi-professional photos, make sure the colours are cohesive in your room, and no framing selfies.
These unique shelves were from Winners. Sometimes its nice to break up the white with a little dark accent.
I keep the art in our room somewhat subdued. This is one of the few pieces I have a soft spot for. I know it’s a little cheesy, but a little inspirational message helps get me going when I wake up in the morning!
Another example of choosing personal photos that suit the room – this is one of my favourite photos of Tristan and I, and the colours compliment our room, and this shelf nicely.
You may have seen that our formal wedding collage hangs in the living room, over our TV. Our more casual, engagement photo shoot hangs in our bedroom. I love family and couples photo sessions. Even if you can’t afford a professional photographer, I strongly suggest asking a friend with a flare for photography to snap a few photos for you. The worst that can happen is that you don’t end up liking them – but I bet you will!
Now here’s a fun subject – in recent years, I discovered I have a knack for painting furniture! I hate to post this amongst my heavily edited, white photos, but I think you guys need to see it:
Isn’t that transformation wild!? I found this dresser at the thrift shop Share, in downtown Kelowna. With a little paint from The Home Depot, and some pulls from Amazon, I was able to create the dresser of my dreams! I knew it was the one when I saw the two mini, apothecary style drawers in the middle. Used furniture is full of potential, and it’s WAY cheaper than buying new. Older furniture is also usually made of real solid wood, vs. flimsy particle board. I’ve upcycled an armoire, our living room coffee table, my desk, our nightstands, and our dresser so far, and I would recommend it to anyone. The internet is all you need to learn how to do it, and it’s super easy, I promise. Disregard colour altogether, and look for pieces with interesting shapes and bevelling, as these will look great painted a solid colour.
We have three lamps in our room. I don’t like using the overhead light often, I much prefer the soft glow of lamplight, or natural light from our big window (we are very lucky to have a huge picture windows in every room of our apartment). I would advise choosing lamps with lighter shades in your living room and office, and ones with darker shades on your bedside table, for ambience.
Another key part of creating an oasis in your bedroom – keep it smelling fresh! My sister gifted me this white marble Saje diffuser two years ago, and I’ve been hooked since. My favourite scents for relaxing are Mountain High, and Rain Forest. I prefer Goddess for midday, it’s such an uplifting scent.
I apologize in advance for anyone that is offended by the following, but I do want to give a little advice here: please do not ingest oils, or use oils topically. I am not a certified professional, but I would advise only diffusing oils with plenty of water, and taking diffuser breaks. I also personally steer clear of MLM company essential oils, and I would not join an MLM company either, just in case you were preparing to DM me. I trust, and will not be switching from Saje.
Creating vignettes is a fun way to decorate your space. The trick here is to stick to a colour scheme, balance your items, and use some layering for a ‘finished’ look. Check out this great article over at Home Stories A to Z if you would like a little more info on how to style a vignette.
Another schmaltzy art piece! How’d that get there!? In all seriousness though, I try not to go full mush on you guys because my marriage isn’t really decor/craft/recipe/Okanagan related. But I guess once in awhile it creeps in! Tristan’s the best, he helps me out a LOT with the blog, all behind the scenes work that you guys don’t see. Moral of the story – don’t marry the person you’re always going to be killing yourself trying to impress. Marry your biggest supporter, the one that is in the thick of it, right there with you. Dammit, I think I went full mush.
I don’t know if you noticed, but our bedside lamps aren’t the same! They both have the same cut crystal + chrome bases, but Tristan’s is taller, and they have different shades. That was done on purpose. I think little touches like that in a room are sweet, and personalized. A little imperfection is authentic, and really makes a room your own!
I hope you enjoyed the tour, and if you did, you can subscribe to my blog with your email address below. Drop me a comment, so I know you were here (I never check my stats LOL), and let me know what you liked best!
Until next week,
xo,
Jamie
jamiekrausehomeandliving.com 