Master Bedroom Niche

Our master bedroom and bathroom are off the main living area. There are some cute double doors at the bedroom / bathroom entrance. After you go through the double doors you enter a little hall. To the right is our walk in clothes closet and bedroom, to the left is the master bathroom and another walk in closet that we use for storage.

In the hallway the builder had designed a niche in the wall. Another one of the surprises that showed up during the building process. It was just a big indent in the wall for quite sometime as we worked on other projects in the house. It’s really not deep enough to be useable it is just something built to add dimension and look pretty.

After we did the half bathroom ceiling and had almost a whole sheet of bead board left over I decided it would be nice to put bead board on the back wall and frame it like a picture.

Thankful the amount of bead board I had left over would do the niche so we just needed to pick up some pieces of primed mdf to frame it.

This was a two part problem, figuring out how to design the niche and then how to decorate it. It is only a couple inches deep so it’s not like a shelf that you can use it has no function other then to add a little dimension to a space.

I had originally just painted it the same color as the hallway walls knowing at some point I would do something a little different with it.

I love coming up with a project that doesn’t really cost much because you are using left over pieces of wood but can also get finished on a Saturday. We began by putting the bead board on the back of the niche. It was very quick and easy. We had a tiny bit of wiggle room to making it fit because we were framing the exterior of the niche so it was going to cover the ends of the bead board so it didn’t need to fit perfectly. I say that but Monte is not someone who factors in the wiggle room, he is one that makes things fit well regardless that the trim is going to cover the edges.

He then framed it using 1 1/2 ” primed mdf trim on the inside of the niche then trimmed the exterior with 2 1/2 ” primed mdf again using 45 degree angles on the corners.

I was really happy with the way it turned out. Now it just needed some decor so it looked purposeful. A month or two before starting this project I was at Hobby Lobby with Monte wandering around and checking out the clearance section. I came across this large frame, that is 30″ x 43″. I honestly didn’t have a purpose for it but is was only $10. I’m don’t usually buy stuff I don’t have a need for but I knew I would probably kick myself later if I didn’t grab it. It is just the frame without any glass but getting a frame that large is very expensive. I left it leaning against the wall in our storage closet hoping one day I’d find a need for it. I also figured if that day didn’t come I could happily donate it to Goodwill. When we started this project the pieces to decorating it began to fall into place and I was able to use the large picture frame I found on a killer deal.

The summers here in Arizona get hot, which I don’t mind but on the 4th of July it is hard to enjoy the great out doors when it is scorching hot. We decided to head to Payson AZ and do a little hike in the morning to celebrate the 4th. I was surprised how hot it still was but thankfully we went early before it became unbearable. After our hike we drove around the quaint little town of Payson and decided to stop at a couple antique stores. While there I came across this 24″ x 25″ tin ceiling tile. I had seen ceiling tiles at a home decor store before but I was shocked by how expensive they were. When I found a large selection of tin ceiling tiles leaning against an old shed in the yard of the antique store I got pretty excited. Because they had several I was able to pick through them and find one I really liked. I though it was super cute with the dents and dings and chippy paint. Since the ceiling tiles were outside they were quite dirty but I was able to clean it up without loosing too much of its chipped paint and character.

The final piece to the decor puzzle was finding something to hang it on. I have a favorite antique store in the valley that I like to walk through. I was looking for something to hang the tile by and held out hope that I could possible find an old door knob that would complete the look. I was thrilled to find this old door knob already attached to a piece of wood so it was just a matter of hanging it up with the frame and ceiling tile.

Originally I didn’t want to nail the frame, door knob or ceiling tile to the bead board incase I changed my mind so we just used velcro command strips to hang everything. It worked incredibly well until several months later the door knob fell which caused the ceiling tile to fall. I’m not sure why it decided to fall after such a long time later. Since I was loving the design I decided to have Monte use the air nailer and attach it with some very fine finishing nails so it would stay secure.

I think it looks incredible and adds a little character to such a boring space. I walk by it several times a day. I really love the ceiling tile and enjoy looking at it and wondering what its story might be. Pieces like this ceiling tile look like they have a great story and have quite an adventure, whether they were in the parlor of victorian home or in the kitchen on a ranch. I will never know it’s true story but I do enjoy looking at it often as I walk in and out of my bedroom.

Since I was able to use left over bead board this project was very inexpensive. It was less then $20 for the framing and under $30 for the decor pieces I used. If we ever move the ceiling tile will definitely move with us. I know it’s a little weird to enjoy a piece of decor as much as I love this one.

I love it when a simple project adds so much to a space in your home. I especially love it when it is inexpensive but definitely doesn’t look cheap.