If there's one thing I've learned from other bloggers, it's that things don't always have to be used as originally intended.  Some people, like Gil at My Repurposed Life and Donna at Funky Junk Interiors based their blogs around the idea of turning one thing into something else entirely.

But I've admitted before that I'm no creative genius like them.  I was not the one who originally came up with the idea to take something intended to highlight a light fixture on a ceiling and turn it into art for a wall.  Better Homes and Gardens -- several years ago before Pinterest was a twinkle in anyone's eye -- was the first place I saw it done.  I'm sure I still have the page cut out of the magazine glued into an inspiration binder somewhere.

And I'm so happy that the inspiration from years ago finally turned into reality to solve a decor dilemma in my own house.  At long last, here's the big reveal:



Super-cool, huh?  I am so happy to have found just the right thing to fill up that big expanse of wall.  Here's what it looked like before:


Boring, no?  Not anymore!  And I'm happy to be ahead of the trend (if it becomes a trend, that is) and not the last to try something.  Once something has been done so many times, I just can't see doing it myself.  Can anyone say "yellow rosette DwellStudio pillow from Target"?  Admit it ... you know you have one!

My husband and I both like to do things a little differently than most.  We never wanted a Ford Taurus or a Toyota Camry when everyone had one.  We shunned tradition and built a 1920s-style Craftsman bungalow instead of moving into a typical McMansion.  We research local haunts when we travel instead of sticking with chains we've heard of before.

Now we have a pretty unique bedroom installation, and I'm excited to finally show it off!  If you're intrigued by this project, these links will help answer some questions about how I got here:

• Amazing ways ceiling medallions have been used on walls
• Other options I considered for the wall
• My method for deciding how to lay out the medallions on the wall

I'm sure some of you will wonder how I hung them. I just used Command Strips.  They didn't always stick well to the back because the medallions have a powdery finish on them.  They come primed, so there's a fine dust on the back that's hard to remove.  When sticking was a problem, I used super glue to stick the strip to the back of the medallion.  Easy enough.  Just took a little longer than planned to get them hung.

Oh, and be careful what medallions you choose.  Some (like the ones I found locally at Lowe's) are plastic, whereas the ones I purchased (from Crown-Molding.com and ArchitecturalDepot.com) are "rigid polyurethane millwork," manufactured to resemble the old plaster medallions.

At long last, my master bedroom is finally complete, and I can add a new room to my House Tour.  I guess I'll have to wait for next weekend to catch the right light for photos, though.  Oh, the frustrations of working during the day and waiting for the weekends to get decent photographs!  (Ha, ha.  I know, there are much worse things.)

Speaking of photos, I have certainly learned a lot about the manual settings on my camera in the past several months, and my goal for 2012 is to learn more about capturing great shots.  I hope to buy a new lens soon, as I feel like mine are limiting me.  My photos just don't seem sharp and crisp, although I use a tripod for indoor shots.  Now if I could just sit myself down long enough without a computer in my lap to read the photography books I got for Xmas, I might be able to get somewhere.

One thing I have learned is that interior lights can be your enemy.  My bedroom is so dark, with the chocolate brown walls and since our house is very shaded.  I used to turn on the lights to get brighter photos.  This time, I left the lights off and just scheduled my photo shoot for the time of day when a soft, natural light filters in through my back windows.  If you didn't notice the lighting difference in the photos above, look again.  Interesting, huh?

Maybe I better get to reading those photography books before I schedule my bedroom house tour photo shoot.  If only I weren't addicted to ye ole internet!  I do have a lot of blog reading to catch up on.  Luckily The Mr. has a gig tonight and The Teen has some new gaming toys, and I'll be left all alone to reintroduce myself to my lonely Google Reader list.  I'll be seeing some of you there later!