I love your gran's vanity. It is beautiful. Don't worry about the furniture not matching. I am like you and tend to like it to, but most don't and your piece is wonderful.

I think you need more (or larger) art where you have the black and white one now. The wall seems to swallow this up. Think large scale in it. I used to be afraid of this, but have come to love it now. Using a very large piece of art has a wow factor to it and doesn't look cluttered.

I think you could use something with a splash of color in it. Maybe a print that picks up the color of your copperish pillows.

Your room is very soothing.

On the idea of adding a chair and removing the vanity, that would be nice IF you would use the chair. It would be a nice place to read of watch t.v., but it seems that you are torn about the vanity. I would leave the vanity if I had the emotional ties that you have to it.

Good luck

I don't think the vanity has to match in style, but I would paint it black to match your other furniture.

Love the new paint colour on the walls.

I LOVE the new wall color--very peaceful. I also love each of your furniture pieces, but honestly, I think there's just too much furniture in the room--or maybe it's just that the very large dresser (with the mirror) seems to take over the room. If possible, I would replace it with an antique dresser to play off that beautiful vanity. I would also replace the vanity chair, as I don't think the metal of the chair that's presently there really goes with it. I really love your bedding, lamps, and shutters: the whole bed area looks cozy, but elegant. Once you figure out what you will do with the furniture, then turn to the wall art issue: you don't want to have holes in your beautiful newly painted walls due to changing your mind after-the-fact. :)

I think you've done a great job! Love the color and the shutters behind your bed.

I think if you switch out the vanity with the tall chest, it will balance the room more. Then, with the larger piece on one of your 'blank' walls, you could re-introduce the six b&ws to that wall and they won't look so isolated in the expanse.

For the other wall, you could put a big piece of art there or if the big mirror (over the chest) is a stand-alone, it might be fun to put an art piece over over the chest and hang the mirror on that wall.

Another inexpensive idea to create large wall hanings is to get fiberboard panels and wallpaper them. You could pick out a beautiful print because everything else is solid.

I'm a big mirror person but even I think there might be one too many mirrors in that room. :)

LOVE the new color!

Try the TV on top of the tall chest of drawers instead of the smaller round mirror! If possible -- could the mirror be mounted on the wall by the door?? Or perhaps add a long mirror on the back of the closet door?

Then clear the top of the large horizontal chest of drawers. Now -- add a simple tall clear glass buffet lamp on the left hand side by your jewelery chest. Place the hobnail items in the middle and the end (you may want to switch one of the vases to your bathroom counter to hold makeup brushes or by the bath to hold bath salts)

On the lovely vanity -- look for a pair of taller cut-glass lamps to balance out the visual height of the mirror. A small bench seat or stool might work well -- something that could sit next to the vanity during the day. Add an oval tray to the middle of the vanity to "corral" small items. Add silver-framed photos.

LOve the idea of black-and-white artworks -- BUT go for personal photos -- just create a family gallery wall! Much more personal for a bedroom!

Well, we've only had the furniture since Hurricane Katrina...less than three years...after we had to rebuild our home. I fell in love with the set but didn't realize how LARGE the dresser would be in our room, especially with the awkwardness of the layout of our room.

There is NO WAY my husband is going to be OK with us ditching the dresser to buy a new one. It's a good, solid piece and it's quite lovely. I know it's large. But it's here to stay.

I do agree that there is a lot of furniture though. The mirror isn't usually there, so that does add to the "clutter" factor of the picture. But that's part of the reason. I was thinking of parting with the vanity...to soften the room a bit. I don't know.

As for painting it black...it's one of the three pieces that survived the hurricane and my dad put upteen hours into refinishing it so that it was in pristine condition. I think he'd kill me if I painted over it! I feel like I'm stuck. So I think I either hand it over to them for a while or I keep it. Those are my options for now.

The bed area, I love. The furniture area needs help.

I definitely need something bigger on the left side of the bed. But what about the right side of the bed where the area is even BIGGER than the left? DO I match the left or break it up into two different things or something else altogether?

Can the dresser and vanity be switched and the tv on top of the tall chest oposite the bed for viewing? Keep the floor mirror next to the vanity to balance the weight of the large dresser.

Bodica,

I think the dresser is too wide for the space where the vanity is. From where the bed ends, there is 8 feet to the end of that wall which is where you'd round the corner after you enter the room. When you first enter the room, you're looking at the side of that tall chest and at the front of the dresser so the vanity is to your right. So that wall with the vanity has 8 feet of free space. The dresser is 5'7" long and 1'7" deep. So if you centered it, you'd have a foot of space on each side. So you'd have a dresser basically immediately to your right when you walked into the room and only a foot to get between the corner of the bed and the dresser. I think that's too tight.

I've thought about trying to put the TV on the chest but I think I'd go blind trying to view it. The room is 18 feet long.

The mirror isn't always out. I should have put it away for the picture. I just had it out b/c I had just pulled a bunch of stuff out of the closet.

Ahhhh! I hate the shape of this room!

Love the vanity, please, please don't paint it. I'd find a chair that is either black or the color of the vanity, and then find some fabric that echoes the colors you're using, and make a seat pillow. Black, white, brown, grey, and some other color you like. Doesn't have to be florals or frou-frou, but another color and texture would soften the angles, as well.

DISCLAIMER: THE FULL LENGTH MIRROR IS USUALLY PUT AWAY IN THE CLOSET!!!! (I think this is missed in the first post. I may take a new pic.) LOL!

teacats,

See my message to Bodica about the TV. It's just too far on the other side of the room! That's why I'm stumped. It's 18' long!

Mirror isn't out all the time, so that's not an issue. It folds and gets put in the closet.

I love your idea about the dresser b/c we do need more light on that side of the room.

I love your ideas! But the TV still stumps me.

What if we switched the chest and vanity and put the TV on the chest on the other side of the room? Would that work?

ideefixe,

I was thinking of even a fun zebra print or a toile...in black and white. To bring in the unexpected. I guess I could keep it subdued also...

My reactions to your room... The grey/blue color is really nice and soothing and elegant. The bed area is simple and not cluttered and opposite wall has too much furniture in contrast. I don't think the round mirror suits the rest of the room. There are too many mirrors and the shapes are not relating with each other. Unless there's a better place in the room for the round mirror (maybe on the empty wall alongside the bed) and the standing mirror, I would remove them. I would definitely switch the location of grans vanity with the tall dresser, I think it would balance out better but I still think maybe the mirror of grans vanity and the dresser mirror still may be too much.

OK, I took a photo WITHOUT the full-length mirror. I shouldn't have taken it with the mirror. I think the paint fumes had gotten to me! This is how it usually looks without the mirror:

And I decided to see what it would look like if I switched the chest and the vanity. What do you think? Better or worse?

If I kept it, I would move the round mirror somewhere and the TV would move from the dresser to over the chest. But I'm not going to all the trouble of moving the TV if this arrangement isn't staying...

This is what it looks like when you're entering the room. Before, you saw the side of the chest. I'd probably need to get a stool that slides under the vanity now if I keep this arrangement. But you can see why I want to get the TV off the dresser. It's the first thing people see!

So what do you think, keep it as it was or do it like this? And there's still the option of ditching the vanity and getting a reading area where the vanity was and keeping the chest where it originally was. But then I still have the TV on the darned dresser. And I still have the artwork to deal with on each side of the bed. *sigh*

kraftdee, thank you for your input. I don't know if you saw in an above reply but I can't put the dresser on that wall. It's too large to go where the vanity is. The only wall it will fit on is the wall it's on. That wall is longer than the vanity wall. My husband will only have one foot of clearance to get to his side of the bed if I put the dresser where the vanity is. Good thoughts on the mirror though. We can definitely put it somewhere else!

Personally, I prefer the first arrangement, since my concern would be that having the two dressers facing each other would make the room seem like a tunnel. I like the idea of the TV on the tall chest, however. Since you will keep the large dresser (which is very nice), I would break up all the black in the room by putting a vase with a gorgeous bunch of dried (red?) flowers on it, and put a piece of art work on the wall above the vanity to balance out the colors in the the dried flowers on the large dresser. I would then put a round rug in the middle of the floor.

P.S. The vanity is gorgeous.

P.P.S. Here's what I have on my bedroom dresser to break up all the pale yellow/blues in the room.

I love the vanity and the new color in the room.
The TV looks like maybe only about 19 inch and it does not seem to be a flat LCD. You can get a 19 inch so resonably now that if you bought one at least you would save some space there and it would not looks so cluttered behind that set. I am sure they run now about 349.00 or less. I know you did not ask for this info but it just struck me as something you might not have thought of. Cute little girl you have there, when my DD hit the teens I gave her my vanity and she loved it for her room, so hang on to that lovely piece and do not paint it.

I like it better this way and now you won't be walking in the room facing a big chest. The room seems more balanced now.

I stand corrected. I can put the dresser on the vanity wall (where the vanity originally was). It won't be super spacious. But what are the reasons for switching it? Should I do this?

I want to thank you guys for all you comments and compliments. You guys are awesome!

lyban, I did think about getting a flatscreen. It would take up less space. Thanks (re: my DD). I want to give it to her at some point. That's the plan!

This arrangement seems to break up the black a bit.

organic_smallhome, it doesn't feel like a tunnel. But I can't put the TV on the chest if it's on the other side of the room. I'm going to go see how it feels again when I walk back in there right now.

I like the vanity over where you moved it better.

I would play with the room arrangement on paper or on BHG to see if you can move the bed to another wall and you won't have that long space with all the furniture. I had my room like that years ago 12x18 and then moved the bed opposite the wall and worked from there I had my tripe dresser across from the bed. I had about the same amount of furniture as you except I didn't have a vanity but did have a TV stand.

You know, I don't think it looks all that bad the way you have it originally. I love the new wall color, and the only option would be to remove the vanity, but then you'll have a blank wall there, and would be hard pressed to find a chair or something that fits there that's not going to stick out as far as the vanity. I'd just keep the chair tucked all the way under.

As far as the tv, a flat screen would be less obtrusive, but a tv is what it is. A necessary part of my bedroom!! I love my TV, and you're never going to see a TV in a bedroom professionally decorated or in a picture in a magazine. Those rooms are also not generally all that fun to live in either.

You've got a narrow room, you've done good with the furniture you have to work with. I think it looks great. I would maybe add some art prints, or even without them, I like the bare walls. It feels very uncluttered and soothing.

Thank you caroleoh! You're sweet!

As of now, I'm leaving it with the vanity between the bath and closet and the chest where the vanity originally was. I moved the TV from the dresser to the chest and like it SO much better! I even like the way I can see the TV better from the bed. It's up higher and more comfortable to view from that angle. Now I just have to route my cable wire underneath the carpet and baseboards from the dresser wall.

So...caroleoh likes the blank walls. Anyone else have other thoughts on the walls beside the bed? What do I do with them??

I love the way your bed looks where it is, but just to try more understanding of the room, if the bed is on either side wall, is there space to walk?
or reverse the bed, the headboard even with the interior entry wall, facing away from the bath room, making the bath/closet like a private hall to enter the bedroom. no, no room around the end tables...
Just having fun thinking, it is a beautiful room.

Love the wall color, love serenity of the bed area.

I would leave the television on the dresser but remove the mirror that is above the dresser. Accept the fact that the TV is there and decorate the dresser accordingly. Someone here posted a photo of their TV on the dresser and it was quite tasteful. If I spot it again, I will link it.

Too many little things sprinkled randomly around the room. If there are items you love, such as the hobnail vases, maybe put them on their own shelf in the room. But keeping with the clean lines going on in the bed area, I would reduce the visual clutter in the other half of the room.

graywings, that's exactly what I'm trying to do...reduce the visual clutter! That was an excellent way of putting it. The mirror is attached to the dresser. I kind of like the lines of it like that. I did put the TV on the chest and like it this way for now...I think. But I'd love to see the link if you can find the picture you have.

Bodica, I did it on graph paper and couldn't work it. You can walk. The room is 18x10 feet. But with the doorway, that takes 3 feet off of the original vanity wall. The bed is 80.5" wide and 88" long. The nightstands are 20" round. If you move the bed to the longer wall, the wall with the dresser, I couldn't figure out how to configure everything else. Because you're looking at, what, 10 feet of that long wall being taken up by the width of the bed and nightstands, which leaves 8 feet. The length of the bed leaves 2 1/2 feet between the end of the bed and the opposite wall. So you can walk. But you have to have ample clearance before and after you start walking so you can get past it, know what I mean?

I tried and tried to arrange everything out on graph paper (with precise measurements) but couldn't get it right. It seemed we'd be squeezing by the bed in the end.

babs

I love the room color. I picked up quiet moments sample by mistake and tested it out anyway and loved it. Now I want to paint my spare room that color. Could you tell me where you got your bedding?
Love Grandmas vanity. Keep it.
Sorry I can't offer advice on room arrangement since I am challenged in that dept also.

You must be small ppl.? do you even have a foot on either side of the bed? I would mount the TV above the upright dresser on the wall, as it appears to be a LCD flat screen.

There's almost two feet on each side of the bed. That's why I had to find narrow nightstands for each side of the bed. There was another poster on here the other day searching for narrow nightstands b/c she had the same predicament! It was nice to know we're not alone! I guess we're normal sized so it's not an issue. We definitely don't have to squeeze in and it doesn't feel tight at all. I think the angle of the photo makes it look tighter than it is and it makes the bed look wider than it is...you know how photos can distort things depending on where you're standing?

The TV has a flat screen but it's a bulky TV and has a wide base, so the TV depth isn't flat. If we do get a flat-panel wide-screen, we will mount it. But that will involve getting an electrician to run the wires in through the walls. So that will be later on. For now, we'll just put it on the chest. But that's definitely a good future plan!

Denali, the bedding was a nice find from Steinmart. I got it right after Hurricane Katrina. I found it while our home was still being renovated. I remember hoping it would work because I loved it! I kept it in the package at my mom's house for months!

Back to the art on the walls...do I try to do something similar on both sides of the bed (aka two large pieces) or do something different (aka one large piece and say, three moderate sized pieces on the other? I'm still lost on that front.

Thanks guys!

As I staged earlier, I have recently learned that I love LARGE prints. I think I would go with one really large print on the wall at the end of the dresser. It is the wall that you see when you enter the room. I think this will draw the eye to that end of the room. Your bed area is very nice but I think at the moment, people entering the room see the dresser first and that blank wall. Something large would draw the eye there and on to the bed.

I love black and white photo or art and also love sepia toned ones. (even though my home does not reflect this) My classroom and office have always been done in black and white art.)

I think that a sepia print of some kind would go great with your colors. Although it sounds like the brownish tone might not look good with your grayish walls, I think they would. You could frame in black and work with mat colors if you wanted some contrast. Seeing the photo that organic poster of her similar colored room helps visualize using a pop of color. Her pitcher with the dried arrangement gives the idea of what the sepia would look like. (hers is a brighter hue)

You mentioned living in NO and having prints already framed. How many? Could you use them above the chest and/or the vanity?

I also love the vanity where you moved it and the t.v. on the chest. (guess the pictures would fit above the t.v. that high. LOL)

You might even find a sepia print of NO. The black and white photos might even work around this.

I am including some links to some prints from allposters.com to let you see ideas.

Since I don't know what you like, I just grabbed several. I really think the pop of sepia tone would look great with your pillow on the bed and still not move you into "colors".

The rooom is great. I can show you a pic of a large art on one of my walls if you want. But the style is very, very different. I am all Southwest, Native American and very casual.

Wow printersdevil! Thanks for the ideas! I didn't see any links though...did you forget them?

I was also wondering about bronze frames to pick up the bronze in the bedding pillows? The sepia would pick that up too! Good idea!

The N.O. prints are around 8x11 and there are 6 of them.

Thanks!

Oh, and some are horizontal and some vertical...for interest.

Anyone else feel free to chime in. I feel like I've been forgotten about! LOL!

I haad the links in a Word document and copied and pasted it to put in another reply since I realized I had left them off and now they aren't there. I have done this often---thought I had posted and evidently only did the preview. I didn't save the document!

What I did was go to allposters.com and put in sepia or sepia tone in their search engine. It showed numerous prints and some that were just more in that tone. There were several of old iron gates, some trees, roads, etc. In fact, as I was looking, I think I moved around and clicked on various areas of the site--architecture. landscapes, etc. plus the word sepia. For some reason more things come up that way.

I also remember one print that was of some flower---maybe a lily that was in tones that reminded me of your bedding.

I think a large photo of your pretty little one would be great in a sepia. Many of the hour photo places can send this off and have it done. Or on the opposite wall a gallery wall of family pics with a larger prominent one that is in sepia.

You do have a beautiful space to work with.