Lighten up.

Here's how it all went down:

1.  Remove bedding, mattresses and headboard from bed.  This was quick!  I thought about just taping off the headboard and painting around it, but I didn't want to take any chances of painting the leather and we weren't sure if we were going to cover the leather with a lighter fabric or not (we decided not to).

2.  Sand.  Because the frame was super slick and shiny, we knew it needed some roughing up if any paint was going to adhere.  There were spots where we got all the way down to bare wood without trying and some places the shine just got sanded off--which is the goal.  Either way, if you are thinking about painting your bed, make sure to sand it first if it is real shiny like ours was.

3.  Prime Time.  Chris jumped in and helped me prime the whole bed (except the back side that faces the wall) which was sweet because it went so quick.  We used the same Zinsser primer that we used for our cabinets and just about everything else around here.  On the label it says no need to sand, but we took the extra step to be safe.  Chris stoked about priming at night:

4.  Get your paint on.  This is where I stopped taking pictures because Chris wasn't around and I was racing the clock against Greta's nap time.  I painted 4 coats of a creamy white paint from True Value called "Picket Fence."  I used a small foam roller so it would go on smooth and evenly and I used a trim brush for the corners.  Yes I was bummed it took 4 coats, but going from an extremely dark bed to a really light one--I wasn't expecting a quick go at things.

5.  Last thing I did was brush 2 thin coats of Polycrylic clear gloss finish over the whole bed to protect the paint job.

Here she (he?) is:

The white frame really makes the bed pop and breaks up all that darkness.  And after we checked out the leather headboard next to the white--we loved it all over again and decided to stick with the high contrast look.  We also picked up some new white sheets (a tan set came with it) at Ross for $25 and those fun, shaggy gray pillows for $8 a pop!  We definitely still need to get a duvet cover because our insert is looking a little dingy.  And if you are worried about where the color injection is:  it's coming.  We still have art to hang.  Nightstands to get.  Lamps, glorious lamps and window treatments.  We are just getting warmed up in here, folks!