Sweet Dreams: Bedroom Renovation Part 1
We're almost finished with our bedroom renovation. We're just putting finishing touches on it over the coming weeks.

As you probably can tell, I don't start many things in work and life without some sort of mood or inspiration board. Like a sketch on a slightly larger and more tactile scale, I highly recommend this process. Your mind will feel less overwhelmed and cluttered when taking on daunting projects when you have everything right out in front of you. You won't forget that genius moment of inspiration (that perfect blue-gray of that beach stone) AND you can physically toss out anything from the board that no longer works for you ("Pink?! What was I thinking?").

Start with how you want the room to feel.
Verbalize it out loud, write it down with colored markers—whatever it takes. It can be descriptive ("organic modern") have a persona ("Jackie O goes punk-rock!") or mimic a place ("our trip to Tuscany"). Whatever it takes to get you to commit to the feel and objective. You need something to base all of your design decisions on, going forward.

I started with wanting:
For me, this  determined the color palette right away and I chose these colors as the basis for the room.



My goal here was to create warmth and coziness but without a cavernous, dark feel. The balance, or "serene" side of the equation will come from the Palladian Blue (both colors from Benjamin Moore). This color combination is not "new"—any form of earth and sky/water has always been a great way to achieve a balanced, organic feel. Brown is deep, rich and grounds the room. The muted blue-green is quiet yet uplifting. And these updated, unexpected versions of those colors keep it modern and in step with our overall house palette.




June 20, 2010 at 8:22 PM  
Anonymous Jessica Weil said...
I consider myself creatively-challenged in many ways. Hell, I can barely put together a matching outfit, let alone design the interior of a house. That being said, I think it's fascinating to be placed right in the midst of your creative thought process through this blog post. Looking forward to Part 2!

Post a Comment

About Us


Christopher Scott and Jodi Vautrin are the husband and wife team behind Ourhaus, where they chronicle their adventures in home improvement, decorating and travel. After purchasing a unique loft space just a few miles north of Boston, they began photographing and writing about their projects and it blossomed into a creative outlet and platform.

When they’re not home improving, Jodi spends her days as a freelance creative director & designer with a focus on user interface and interactive design, and is an entrepreneur at heart. She serves on the board of AIGA Boston as Vice President of Emerging Ideas & Events.

In his professional life, Christopher is the Technology Director for a multi-service ad agency based in Harvard Square. In his private life, he enjoys tinkering in all its forms, whether it's rebuilding the Ourhaus home network (again), fooling himself into thinking he knows how to fix home appliances, or trying to unravel the mysteries of the guitar. He also flies planes, performs open heart surgery and sings at bar mitzvahs (though not all at the same time).

They share their “haus” with their adorable, highly food-motivated chocolate lab, Lucy.