In case you missed it, we moved into a new home in August 2020! We are going to be renovating the entire home from top to bottom over the course of the next few years. We’re starting with the main floor, which includes the kitchen, living room, dining room, and porch. We spend the majority of our time in those spaces, but obviously our bedroom is right up there!
A comfortable, cozy, relaxing bedroom is so important. It’s the last thing you see before you close your eyes and the first thing you see when you open them again in the morning. If you are unhappy with your surroundings in your bedroom, that makes for a less-than-ideal experience for both of those times of day! I truly believe that the space you live in reflects directly on how you live your life: if you’re comfortable, relaxed, and inspired at home, you are more productive and happier in life. A while back, I wrote about 7 ways to update your bedroom, and I’ll be putting a few of those ideas to use in this refresh!
Our bedroom currently has original windows, trim, and flooring, and was painted a neutral beige color for resale. We will eventually (in a year or two, hopefully) be renovating the entire floor which will include increasing the size of the bedroom and adding a walk-in closet and ensuite bathroom. For now, I want to do a quick “facelift” makeover so that we can enjoy it more for the time being until we start a larger renovation. We’ll keep our existing furniture, which includes a bed, nightstands, and dresser. We’ve had it since we got married almost 5 years ago, and while I plan to purchase new furniture for our bedroom down the road, it’s just not a priority for the time being- we have a few other projects to spend money on!
The “Before”
Currently, this room is very underwhelming. It had been given a very quick update for resale; the light fixture appears to be new but was likely an off-the-shelf cheap fixture from a big box store, and the paint color is the same that was continued throughout the home. Although I’d love to get new furniture, at least it fits in here. I haphazardly added some curtains, but they are not level so I’ll have to rehang them!
To me, the paint color lacks inspiration and the trim color clashes with the color of our current furniture. The doors are hollow and look cheap with the polished brass handles. Overall, it just feels “BLEH”, ya know?
Thankfully, our dresser and mirror fits perfectly on that empty wall next to my closet. Josh’s closet is on the wall to the right. The door on the right leads to the hallway.
This configuration with our bed was the best for flow of the room due to the door placement of the bathroom and closets. The off-center window might prove to be a bit of a design challenge, but I have some plans to balance it out!
The Goal
My goal with this refresh is to create a light, bright, neutral, and cozy bedroom, and keep costs low while doing it. The color scheme I have in mind is white, gray, beige, moss green, and black. I want to add a variety of textures to bring some extra warmth and depth to the room.
In any space, the easiest ways to add a cozy vibe to a space are with lighting and texture. I’ll paint the walls white (going with a classic- Alabaster, by Sherwin Williams). I also want to paint the trim, and I chose a cult favorite: Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams. It’s truly the perfect “greige” color that looks great with everything! Since we will eventually be replacing all of the windows, I want to play around with the idea of black windows, so I’m going to try painting the window frames black, but I’m honestly not sure how it’ll turn out. The doors will get painted Agreeable Gray as well, and I’ll paint the hardware black.
The light fixture will get replaced, and we’ll hang blackout blinds on the windows not only for the blackout effect, but to add some insulation to these drafty windows for the upcoming winter. The draperies will be re-hung as well. To create a more balanced wall on the headboard side, I’ll add a floating shelf with some artwork, and a curtain to just one side of the window.
I’ll replace our worn, cheap rug with a neutral vintage rug, add some cozy texture with a leather bench, linen bedding, and a variety of pillows. Ceramic lamps on the bedside table and dresser will add warmth, and the artwork will add some visual interest to an otherwise neutral space.
The Inspiration
With any project, I always start with finding some inspiration images. In this case, I couldn’t really find anything that showed exactly what I was going for, but I have a few different images that provided some inspiration for the color scheme and overall vibe below.
I love this image by House Seven Design. There are a variety of warm textures going on, and I find the color palette so soothing and inviting.
This one has popped up on Pinterest for me and I can’t seem to find the original source. However, I love the contrasting trim and neutral palette featured here!
Again, this bedroom by Pure Salt Interiors, featured in MyDomaine, has an overall neutral backdrop but has some color added in with pillows and bedding. I love the moss green color featured here!
Finding the Perfect Additions
After the inspiration gathering comes finding the items! Since we’re keeping the main furniture items, that saved quite a bit of time. When estimating design hours for clients, I usually say 8-12 hours on the design for a bedroom when starting from scratch. This project took quite a bit less time, especially since I’ll be reusing some decor and furniture.
Many rooms start literally from the ground up, with the rug being the starting point. I found the perfect vintage rug at Revival Rugs and used that to coordinate the rest of the design. PSA: If vintage rugs are your thing and you haven’t heard of Revival, you NEED to check them out. They have a huge assortment of so many different sizes, colors, and styles, so you’re sure to find just the one for your project!
I had found some affordable neutral blackout drapes at Target, and chose black curtain rods. I’ve been in love with these lamps for quite awhile, but they were quite a bit pricier than our budget allowed for this project. Instead, I went to Goodwill and found some similar-shaped ceramic lamps for just $8 each! I bought some new shades, and will spray paint the lamps for a new look. The ceiling fixture adds a modern touch with a white linen shade and black metal wire.
Etsy is my go-to shop for artwork, and I wanted a mix of modern and vintage pieces. I found some great options and also mixed in one that I already had. I printed them on high-quality art paper, and will frame them in a variety of frame textures as well. They will be arranged on a long floating shelf on the right side of the headboard wall, and will create the perfect distraction from the off-center window!
I wanted a sleek black floor mirror, but didn’t want to fork over too much as I don’t know what the situation might be for a floor mirror after our big remodel. I found one on Amazon for $150 and it worked out perfectly. Our cathedral arched mirror that used to be in our other home’s entryway was a perfect fit above the dresser.
For our bed, I found pillows and pillow covers on both Amazon and at Target. I purchased a custom lumbar pillow cover with olive green accents from one of my favorite Etsy shops to finish off the pillows.
Although I still love it, our white pinstriped duvet has seen better days. Having a dog isn’t exactly compatible with white bedding! I went in search for a new neutral option, and settled on linen fabric. As it turns out, linen fabric is one of the most expensive bedding options you can find! Since I didn’t want to spend $500 a new duvet cover, I went back to Amazon where I found one that had great reviews for $140 and although I haven’t put it on the bed yet, the quality seems good!
Last but not least, I found some new handles to give our dresser and nightstands a bit of an updated look. I also found a faux leather bench that adds some nice warmth as well as the added function of holding the clothes we’d otherwise toss on the ground… can anyone else relate to that?
Next Step: Bringing it to life!
Everything is ordered, so very soon I’ll be getting started on the actual redecorating process! Stay tuned and head to my Instagram account for behind-the-scenes action!
SHOP THE ITEMS
