Reclaiming Home Decorating had the pleasure of working on a surprise primary bedroom makeover. Lisa wanted to surprise her husband with a new bedroom for his birthday. When we started, the bedroom felt empty and cold. It is a very large room and the furniture was not to scale. Lisa wanted the room to feel warm, cozy, and like a special retreat for her and her husband. She wanted a rustic feel to the space, but the rest of her house showed that she also loves a space with a classic feel. We decided to mix the styles together and I love the end result. The styles complement and contrast so well. Here are some before and afters!
The first thing we did was paint the back wall a charcoal colour. This had the visual effect of centering the room on the beautifully dark feature wall, making it feel less overwhelming. We moved the dresser to the other side of the room and added two large nightstands. The nightstands are much more to scale for the size of the room. We used lamps Lisa already had in the kids’ playroom that were out of sync with that space. The lamps are much more to scale and add polish to the space. We also placed mirrors above the bed for balance. A barn beam bench at the foot of the bed extends that side of the room into the rest of the space. Now it feels cozy and warm with just the right amount of furniture.
We added pillows and new bedding. The layered and textured blankets and pillows make the room so cozy! I didn’t want to leave and I really wanted to climb into that bed and take a good nap.
These amazing barn beams were found on Kijiji and I’ve made a few things out of them. I had two smaller pieces left over from one of these projects and they were perfect for a DIY bench for the end of Lisa’s bed. I love the look and texture of the bench, and adding the fur on top of it is just the icing on the cake!
Even though we painted the back wall a dark colour, the room is still very bright because we changed out the window coverings. The original curtains were dark and were hung too low on the wall and too narrowly on either side of the window. They also were not blackout curtains, which is an important feature in a bedroom. The new curtains have an amazing linen texture and let in so much light. We hung them high and wide so they don’t interfere at all with the window, and makes the space look big and bright. Lisa commented that the windows look huge now! The truth is the windows ARE really big — so big that in order to find custom blinds to fit them would have been more expensive than our budget allowed. We found an alternative at IKEA. These blackout blinds black out the sun when necessary, cost a quarter of what custom blinds would have cost, and fit nicely into the scheme of this bedroom makeover.
Since we had balanced the bed side of the room with bigger nightstands and moved the dresser to another spot, we now had a blank wall where that dresser used to sit. On it we put a gallery wall of family pictures using frames that Lisa already had.
This end of the room opposite the bed was empty except for dog beds and a TV that they rarely used. I triple-asked Lisa if her husband used the TV before we got rid of it! We moved the dresser to the wall beside the bathroom, and added lighting and accessories to the top. We also added a custom handmade full-length mirror to the room, and a small chair and accessories. Not only do these items fill the space without overwhelming it, they also give a purpose to that part of the room: it is now a dressing and sitting area. The chair is super comfortable and has a great view out the window. It feels so inviting over here now!
Lisa already had a lot of amazing accessories that she owned. It was so fun going through her things and filling in empty spots with things I already knew she loved. Dotted throughout the space are special pictures. And the chair was living in another part of the house where it didn’t really work, and it fits this space perfectly and it is very comfortable.
I love all the things we added that were special to the couple. The wooden masks were purchased on their honeymoon and go well with all the other special pictures and knick knacks that Lisa loves. We had to wait over a week to see what her husband thought of it all. He loved it and, I have to say, I was relieved to hear it! Lisa wanted it to be so special for him and I am glad it turned out the way she wanted. She was such a wonderful person to work with and this was a special project. Do you need a bedroom makeover or do you have a space that needs transforming? If you would like a transformation of your rooms see my services page here.
