Yep, I Sure Did!

We all knew it was coming, it just came a bit sooner than expected.  It came on a whim.  It came out of nowhere.  But what can be expected of a girl who drives by Ikea twice daily? 

A while back, I took each of you on a tour of my desperately-in-need-of-attention guest bedroom. In that post, I also mentioned the vision I have for what the space will eventually be.  For quite some time now I have known that I wanted to see this room featuring black-and-white art, dark gray walls, and white furniture & linens.  A few weeks ago, while loitering within Ikea, I brushed by the Alvine duvet cover.  She caught my eye, and inspired the inspiration board (seen here) for my guest bedroom, but I kept thinking I would find another duvet cover in my scheme that I might like even better.  You know...the whole "grass is greener" thing.

Stupid me.  Unfortunately, I am still learning to pay closer attention to the “gut feelings” that I have on my shopping sprees.  I knew that Alvine was perfect, but I continued to shop around.  I searched high…I searched low…but I found nothing that compared to Alvine, especially when price was considered.  Her subtle pattern of gray and white, taunted me each morning and night on my commute.  Those big letters, I-K-E-A, seemed to laugh at my ignorance.

I couldn’t take it anymore!

Something had to be done, and it had to be done soon.  With all of my might, I marched back to Alvine, took her and her friends, fitted sheet, and flat sheet, and proceeded to the check-out counter.  Without looking back, I swiped my card for only around $60.00 ($39.99 for Alvine, $9.50 for each sheet). Yep, I sure did.

Here she is:

Because I already had a comforter, it was an easy switch.  I was a bit worried that the stripes would show-through, but Alvine’s beauty held strong!

Once the comforter was “fully-clothed,” I took out my needle and thread and stitched a “holder” into the top left and right corners.  This was so the comforter inside would stay in place, but would still be easy to remove if I needed to wash it.  (All I would need to do is snip the string to take out the comforter.)  By using the gray thread, and keeping the stitches on a gray piece of the pattern, you wouldn’t even be able to tell that those stitches were there.  Here’s a hint though:  Be sure to keep the knot for the stitch on the back side so that there are no loose strings that show on the front.

So there you have it.  The new addition to my décor.  Alvine has sure made the guest bedroom a happier place to be.  There is still a lot to be done, but look at how much of an impact a tiny change can make. 

I think that she even makes the carpeting appear brighter than before.  If you don't remember what the bedding/room looked like before, here's a blast from the past: 

I think my next step for this room will be to paint the walls.  I would really like to see how the scheme I have in my mind is going to play out once the walls are painted.  Choosing a darker color is always a bit risky, so I will have to make sure the color does not appear to be black.  Finding the perfect gray will be my next challenge!

Have any of you made some small changes to your décor that had a big impact?  Send me some pics! 

Yep, I Sure Did