Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Master Bedroom Progress: An iBoard and Our Bedside Solution

After reading the title of this post, I'm sure you must be asking "Has she lost her mind? An iBoard?".

Well, hear me out.

As you may or may not know, we've been kicking butt in our Master Bedroom recently. It's actually starting to look like something you'd stumble across online and think "now that's relaxing", rather than the white shoebox prison it was before. Or maybe I'm just flattering myself.

Either way, there's no denying that it's definitely seen an improvement due to the closet remodel, paint, crown molding, and our fabulous DIY $20 headboard solution:



So far we're loving the changes, and it makes me more relaxed just looking at that last photo.

But back to the iBoard.

Most people love television, and quite a few have more than one television in their house, and lots have a tv in their bedroom. Not us.

Nope, we digg music. Alot.

We currently only have 1 television in the house - in the basement. But stereos? We have at least 3 or 4 scattered throughout (yes, computers count, too!). What can I say? Nothing quite gets us in the mood for whatever we're doing - be it chores, working out, or lounging with friends and family - like a little music.

And our bedroom is no exception.

Unfortunately, our bedroom measures a measly 10 x 12.5 feet, and once you add all the furniture, door opening space, and our oddly-angled-bed, you don't have a whole lot of room left for a boxy stereo or speakers. What did we have? A homemade-ready-to-use iBoard.

Let me explain. Remember last week when we blogged about our Super-Easy-DIY-$20-Fabric-Headboard-Solution-Thing that we rigged up and hung just behind our bed's actual wooden headboard? Since the bed is placed at an angle to the corner of the room, we had a whole triangle of wasted space back there, and thanks to our canvas fabric headboard contraption, it was also well-hidden.


And not soundproof.

Tom snagged some simple computer speakers he wasn't using anymore (USB plug-ins for his laptop, about $20 on Amazon), hung them up on the wall behind the fabric headboard with a couple of screws, and simply plugged them into a power strip. All the wires were hidden behind the floor-to-ceiling fabric headboard except for the one cord that's intended for plugging into the computer's headphone jack. We simply plugged it into our iPod and hello, instant ambiance!


The best part? We had all the materials on-hand so our fancy-schmancy iBoard was completely free. Add to that the number of hours we'll spend listening to some tunes while we're getting ready or cleaning, the easy install, and the hidden wires and speakers, and we couldn't be happier. Seriously, we're pleased as punch about it.

Oh yeah.

But then we ran into a problem - we needed something to set our iPod on, along with our cell phones and other miscellanous bedside items. And thanks to the funky angle our bed was situated at, we knew it was gonna be tricksy trying to fit some sort of bedside table on each side and still have space to walk around in the teeny tiny room.

Thank goodness for shelves.


We bought 4 small floating shelves from Target and installed them on each side of the bed. They work great for holding our glasses of water at night, functioning as a charging station for our cell phones, and of course for holding our iPod for easy access to the music selection on our homemade iBoard.


We also added a small black magazine rack below the shelves to hold our collection of books. Because, you know, we like to read. Especially now that we have those fancy schmancy swing arm lamps. I think one reason we like them so much is because sometimes we feel like we're in a nice hotel.


We love our new bedside shelves. And if we want to grab our book for a little pre-sleep reading, all we have to do is slide out the magazine rack and snatch our good read.



I don't think we ever told you about the deal we scored on the new comforter. I found it at Target, on clearance. Originally $100, we scored it for $25. Not bad, huh?



And we found this little ceramic garden stool marked down 50%, and took it home with us for $30.


I think it adds a little touch of texture to the foot of the bed, and I love the little cutouts on it and the round shape which repeats the circular shape of the wooden bowl hung on the headboard. Why do we only have 1 at the foot of the bed?



You should know by now that we love things that are a little unexpected.


So that's how we turned our boring headboard into an awesome iBoard for free, and then created side "tables" out of floating shelves and magazine racks for stashing our water glasses and charging our electronics without sacrificing valuable floor space. Our improvised bedside "tables" ran us about $60 for both, and considering that most real bedside tables cost much more than that for just one, we think it's a steal.

What do you guys think? Are you digging the new improvements as much as we are? Anybody else going to use shelves as their next bedside table, or make their own fabric headboard so they can put hidden speakers behind it? Stay tuned because next we'll tackle the furniture - starting with refinishing our wooden headboard we've been brainstorming about!


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26 comments:

  1. Nice job you guys. I love the shelves and the music system, and the garden stool is perfect at the foot of the bed. I'm suspecting that headboard is going to get finished to match the shelving and tie it all together.

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  2. nicely done Chelsea!!! The only thought that crossed my mind was that Barley might not be too happy with ceramic stool being at the foot of the bed where he likes to lay down, lol

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  3. Love the iBoard idea! I also love how you got around the nightstand dilemma since the bed is on an angle. Very resourceful and creative!

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  4. Those are some nifty ideas you used for the room, to save space and such. The Iboard sounds neat and the shelves are nice and add to the look of the room. Great job!

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  5. Wow, that room is looking beautiful! I also do not have a tv in our room, but a place for the ipod would be ideal. Your ipod hack, pretty curtain headboard and slanted bed placement are killer ideas!

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  6. IHeart it all! So envious of that mirror! It adds mega amounts of brightness! <3

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  7. I've been shopping around for nightstands lately, and shelves is a FANTASTIC idea. I want a drawer or hiding compartment though, so maybe a closed box or basket will do the trick. Nicely done!

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  8. I am also going to have a small bedroom. Good idea with the mirror!

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  9. How creative is that?! Yal should patent it and rake in the bucks! =) Your master bedroom is coming along beautifully. Can't wait to see how it looks when you decide on the headboard color. Gives us a hint..????? But the crowning touch is your mobile decor which looks great in every room.....woof. lol

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  10. Thanks for all the comments, guys!

    @Sunny - Thanks, but I'm keeping the headboard a secret until it's done... or maybe I'm still indecisive on it. You'll just have to wait and see!

    @Clyde - Barley deals. He's lucky we even let him sleep in our room at all, considering how he's been tearing up that rug lately!

    @Sarah - We love our shelves, and they are a great space and money saver! We tried baskets at first, then went for basket-type magazine racks (for the slim profile), but ended up with something a little more open. The cutouts in the magazine racks we found seem to flow better with our shelves, but there are all sorts of options!

    @Debbie - Like I told Sunny, my lips are sealed until it's done! Consider it a surprise... :) And yes - Barley does make GREAT mobile decor!

    Thanks for stopping in, guys!
    ~Chelsea

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  11. We don't have TV but we love music. This is so neat!

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  12. absolutely great. i loved seeing all the little details you've added over time. a complete bedroom design tutorial you've created!

    do come link it up with us so our readers can find you and love you also: http://www.finecraftguild.com/diy-tutorial-linky-party-9/

    ps new party every wednesday, open all week, findable from Fine Craft Guild homepage

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  13. what a great idea and I love how crisp and clean it looks!

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  14. Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skills party this week!

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  15. Very cool!! We are still working on bedside tables. Not sure what we are going to do. Shelves might just work.

    Thanks so much for linking to MEssy Monday. You room looks absolutely amazing!

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  16. Oh my word. hubby and I are music fanatics as well. He owns as many speakers as I own shoes! heehee! and I LOVE it. Oh and our TV to stereo ratio is similar. No TV and MANY Stereos :) heehee~

    ~ Emily N. from "too Blessed to Stress"

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  17. How very creative of you guys, and your room looks fantastic.

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  18. What a cool idea! Your bedroom is looking great. So calm and peaceful.

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  19. I did the same fabric hanging project in my bedroom, and strangely enough the fabric is the same color as yours :) Love to see that someone else had the same idea. The room looks great! Thanks for stopping by our blog on Friday and linking up- we love having you participate!

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  20. Fantastic job on your decor and the iboard is so cool! :)

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  21. Thanks for stopping by, everyone! All these comments totally make our day. :)

    ~Chelsea

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  22. How creative is that?! Great idea!

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  23. I love the look of white.. and I notice that you have a dog. How do you plan to keep everything looking so crisp and pristine? I would love do get a white bedspread, but fear that our dog would rub up against it and make it look awful.

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  24. Green Gal,

    Thankfully our playful pooch is about 95% white, so most of the hair he sheds is white in color. We kept in mind his fur color when choosing our white rug, knowing that his fur would blend in better than with a darker one and keep it looking nicer. This also applies to our new white comforter - we don't worry about his fur getting on it (he's also not allowed on the furniture), but if it does we just take our vacuum to it and it looks as good as new again!

    Hope it helps!
    ~Chelsea

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