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About 4 years ago, Brian and I moved into condo that is nestled in a quiet neighborhood on a huge lake. We were smitten with the laid back, quiet feel of the development and the beautiful scenery.
Over the course of a few months, we worked to transform the condo into our own by removing more layers of wallpaper than I could count, painting, and other random odds and ends. Please, people…I beg you to NEVER wallpaper over wallpaper. It’s bad news and can move you to tears in a matter of minutes. I will not recount my experience with the half bath and the 3 yes, 3 layers of odd wallpaper because it may bring on nightmares.
Once we got the first floor the way we wanted it, we kinda just gave up. It’s not like anyone really hangs out in our bedroom anyways. We started to get used to the safari theme and it became more of a joke than an eyesore. By safari, I mean cheetah and zebra print wallpaper that adorned the walls of our master bath that beautifully corresponded with the wrought iron elephant mirrors above the sinks. I’m not knocking the animal print, it’s just not me…not in the slightest.
About two weeks ago we got new carpet installed throughout the house and it ignited the decorating spark in me once again. I spent about three hours creating a bedroom pin board on Pinterest and set out to find the perfect paint color. Once I narrowed it down, I went and purchased samples. I immediately painted three large stripes on our bedroom walls. Since Brian is a little bit of a neat freak, I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle the newly striped walls for long. Total manipulation…I know.
Thanks to the bribe of a steak dinner, Brian and his friend, Dave spent their day off stripping that safari wallpaper and covering our walls in two shades of gorgeous gray paint! I wanted to give you an actual before photo, but I completely forgot to take pics, so instead, Brian dug out some wallpaper scraps because this post needed to be accompanied with a visual representation of that wallpaper…I simply could not do it justice by a description alone.
I have ordered our new duvet, pillows, and shower curtain from West Elm and have my cart loaded with other beautiful things to fill our room with. Farewell Safari Bedroom…Now, let the redecorating begin.
love the gray! been toying with a similar shade for my bedroom.
Now I want to see the after photo! That wallpaper is too funny, glad it’s a thing of the past.
I love West Elm!! I’ve gotten a few household items from there (curtains, blinds, plates, bowls, etc) and we have gotten so many compliments on all of the. Diggin the gray color! Very nice!
I would love to be able to move my furniture around. There’s not a lot of rearranging I can do.
That wall paper is just too much!! I would love to finally decorate my bedroom. It is painted but not much else. Family room and Kids’ rooms were our priority.
I would love to re-do our kitchen!! Our house was built in 1958… so it’s not quite old enough to be “cute old”…. it’s just “old old” =)
I would love to have a project like this. Beautiful idea!
I have the same duvet from West Elm in the slate. Love it, very cozy
Becky-
That’s the color I ordered! Love it!
-Jamie
I would love to redo our bedroom or the living room.
Your duvet set is classy! Love the color!
I live in an apartment… I wish I could get rid of the stark white walls. We also have a hideous “chandelier” above our dining area that screams 1991. Icccccccck.