31 and Some Staging

Yesterday I turned the big 3-1. I celebrated with birthday dinners at Bahama Breeze and The Mellow Mushroom, got some fun presents and finished the day with a candle stuck in a Gibson’s eclair. This was one of my more humorous gifts from Ben – he said that he’s tired of post-it notes all over the house.
I also ordered a little bday present for myself that inspired me to do some much-needed staging in our master bedroom.
This is what our master has looked like the past several weeks since the big painting project. I had the basics (furniture, paint, curtains and bedding), but it felt cold and needed some help. I debated what to do about the pillows for several weeks until I found the perfect solution!
I saw these customized pillows on Etsy and had to have them! I asked the seller to use chocolate brown thread and love, love, love how they turned out! Since I am the pillow queen, I just used a couple of throw pillows I already had instead of buying new inserts. 8-23-03 is our anniversary date.
I also switched out the pillowcases on the king-sized pillows in the back for the ones that came with the bedding and used the gray pillowcases on standard-sized pillows in front of them. It’s tough coming up with a pillow solution on a platform bed without a headboard, but this worked!
The pillows looked so great that I had to keep going and staged both side tables. Here’s the rundown: lamp, candle, glass bowl and decorative balls (Target), candlestick (Pier 1), books (already owned), sailboat (Goodwill).
Side table #2 rundown: lamp, candle, rope lantern (Target), Real Simple magazines (already owned), oil holder (Pottery Barn), flowers (Fresh Market).
Here’s a shot with the cozy lamps turned on. It makes me want to snuggle in and read Harry Potter (I’m currently on book #3). The best part was that I already had all of these items and just experimented until it felt just right.

So what’s the verdict – do you love this room as much as I do? Anyone else a fan of The Mellow Mushroom even though you hate mushrooms like me? Who else has displayed their anniversary date in their home in a creative way?