The Curbly Bedroom Makeover

Oh my, do I have a case of bedroom jealousy. This one is one of my favorites EVER. Sure, it doesn’t hurt that its really big and has a big walk-in closet attached so we had no storage issues (lord I HATE storage issues). Besides that the whole space is just so calm, quiet, inviting and airy. It just feels like one of those bedrooms you don’t have to even keep clean – like it comes with these little miniature cleaning angels, a la Disney’s Enchanted, that will adorably mate your socks while singing Ariel’s ‘Look at this stuff…’ song.

I imagine not being able to wait to go to bed every night, the kiddos crawling into bed on saturday nights for movie nights, cuddle fests on sunday morning and just general ‘pretending you are at a hotel’ kind of relaxation. I want it so bad.

This is a brand new room that Bruno and Alicia added on to the their house. (See their living room and dining room makeovers, too) The house was a ‘four-square’ before which means that there are four small bedrooms on the second floor, so there wasn’t room for a master. So they had this drawn up to get an addition added.

They gave these plans to the contractor who transformed it like so:

‘Sup Studs.

Anyway, they now have a great, big bright bedroom to do a lot of great, big, bright things in. They wanted it to feel sophisticated but with some energy to it, clean and calm but not sparse and cold, and eclectic and vintage without being too busy. All requests that I’m absolutely up for.

Here’s where we started with (actually the chandelier is installed, so it’s not an absolutely ‘before’ before but you get it):

And now ….

Indeed. That transformation is more intense than Brian’s  Black Swan Halloween costume last year.  Please check out said costume HERE. I actually put that photo in the post at first because its one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me (and will ever happen to you) but it kinda ruined the post, (the chest hair with the leotard kinda distracted from the color palette of this bedroom) so you’ll have to click on that to see it.

So lets break this design down, shall we?

The room was first painted gray, Sherwin-Williams Crushed Ice SW 7647, which is super pretty. It’s a warm gray that still Then we started furnishing, one find at a time – all with the same plan of ‘mid-century modern meets classic’ balancing masculine and feminine. We found these campaign night stands on Craigslist for $40, and which we painted  them Sherwin-Williams Gauntlet Gray. We chose the gray because we wanted to pull in the color of the beautiful Loloi rug, and contrast with the wall, but make them different from the dresser downstairs. I absolutely love how it turned out. They provide storage and feel fresh and new. They are masculine but with that brass accent that make Alicia (and me) so happy. Plus these bad boys were pretty darn cheap.

Speaking of the rug,  this is a great example of some good rug on rug action. The carpet it a very low pile berber, which is really easy to layer rugs on top of since its so flat. Sure, you don’t need it but you also don’t need throw pillows, art on all your walls or hugs from your boyfriend after watching the pilot of Parenthood  – but it sure makes everything better. It has enough pattern/texture to add interest and depth without any busy-ness. It ground the bedroom without being this massive chunk of color on the floor (which could have been fine, but keeping it tonal makes it calmer and makes it feel bigger).

The Ripley gold lamps are from LampPlus and are big and glam and yet not overly feminine. Like Rupaul, without a wig on.

We styled the nightstand simply (well, that’s simple for me) with just a candle from West Elm, some of her pretty jewelry, some poetry books (Um, how else are they going to read each other poetry at night?) and some flowers picked from the backyard placed in a simple CB2 marta glass. For more nightstand styling tips check out this video – then you can see what pants I used to wear pre-pregnancy and you can also lament whether i’ll make it back into them or not.

The bedroom has high ceilings and therefore could handle a real chandelier, and this bad boy (by Jonathan Adler for Lamps Plus) is a REAL chandelier. It’s perfect because for a chandelier it’s rather masculine – with the black and modern lines so it edges up the bedroom a little bit. We made the black tie in with the rest of the room through the bench and the black lamp in the corner – echoing that color around the room evenly – we are super intentional like that.

The embroidered pillows on the bed are from Forage Modern (and I LOVE THEM VERY MUCH). They aren’t cheap ($100 a pop) but they were so perfect (calm, but exciting … unique and handmade yet not too granny for Bruno) so they were happy to buy them. The Bedding is a combination of CB2 and West Elm linen bedding.

Lets talk BED shall we? The bed was a bit of a challenge. Our budget was $1200, which should have been fine but we couldn’t find anything that wasn’t gray very easily and then checking lead times was such a problem. Everything took 6 weeks. But we finally found this full bed (full as in headboard, footboard and sides, not full as in ‘size’) from Target for $749. It’s actually awesome for that price. I guess it was a pain to put together – it’s a king so its pretty cumbersome, but it looks GREAT in the room.

Then over in the corner was a little chair and lamp ‘moment’. I love this chair very much. Its handmade by a furniture designer in Minneapolis, sold at Forage Modern. We mixed it with a vintage standing lamp. See how that lamps ‘speaks’ to the chandelier? They are totally speaking the same language – probably saying really inappropriate things about the nightstand lamps. In french.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room we have this awesome mid-century inspired dresser from Blue Ocean Traders. (Yes, Blue Ocean Traders is a wholesale company that you have to be a designer or store to purchase from. Sorry!!!)

That lamp, however is another Nate Berkus for Target Classic; otherwise known as ‘that man +  that company = best partnership ever’. The tray next to it is also Sir. Nates – hell, those frames might be, too. Dear Nate, I’d like to invite you to do wrong. Oh I’m sorry, You can’t?  Punk

The brass hand is from the vintage stores because having gold jewelry isn’t enough. One must only put gold on their gold.

The gold pillow in the bench is from West Elm, the blanket underneath is from Forage Modern and the plaid underneath is just left over fabric from the chairs downstairs – yes, just folded as a prop.  We are tricky like that.

There you have it, folks. One master bedroom designed and styled by yours truly, shot by the very lovely Melissa Oholendt, produced by The Curbly Blog.

Wall Color: Sherwin-Williams Crushed Ice SW 7647 | Bed: Brompton Tufted Wingback Bed in Navy from Target | Sheets: CB2 | Blanket on bed: CB2 | Pillows: CB2 & Forage | Duvet Cover: West Elm | Mirror: Vintage (Hunt & Gather, $180) | Credenza: Blue Ocean Traders | Lounge Chair: Rapson Inc (Forage Modern Workshop) | Blinds: Laura Ashley Soft Fold Roman shades in Cameo Apple Blossom from Blinds.com | Rug: Transitional Sahara from Loloi Rugs | Campaign Dressers: Vintage (CL $100 painted in Sherwin Williams Gauntlet Gray SW 7019) | Bench: Forage Modern Workshop | Gold West Elm Pillow (bench) | Forage Modern Throw (bench) | Gold box: vintage (Mall of St. Paul, $18) | Bedside table lamps: Ripley Gold Table Lamp from LampsPlus.com | Dresser lamp: Nate Berkus for Target  | Dresser tray: Nate Berkus | Brass hand: Vintage | Two picture frames: Target | West Elm vase with flowers | Plaid blanket: Target | Side table: Vintage (corner) | Brass & black lamp: Vintage | Pot/plant from CB2 | Abstract Painting: vintage (Mall of St. Paul, $40).

This post was in partnership with Sherwin-Williams but all design choices, words, thoughts and emotions are mine. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that support this blog. 

For more of the Curbly’s Traditional Craftsman: The Sunroom | The Dining Room | The Living Room