This post contains the current plans for this space including intentional design decisions that I've made to optimize the flow in our bedroom. Note: I have painted the walls prior to taking some of the photos in this post.
Today I'm introducing a neglected space in our home: The primary bedroom. If you're like me, then your bedroom somehow keeps getting further down the priority list. Well, the time has come and I'm so excited to finally give this room a cozy new vibe!
I have registered for another round of the One Room Challenge which is a biannual event where designers and creators support each other in transforming a space in their home. The challenge runs for 8 weeks and every Wednesday the internet is flooded with creative projects/progress posts.
The Bedroom "Before"
Alright guys, lets chat about the current state of this room. When we bought our home four years ago, we impulse shopped to furnish the bedroom as soon as possible. Why? Because getting married, buying our first home together and furnishing it was overwhelming.
At the time, we found a matching furniture set which seemed like the easiest way to go. If you look at the photo above, you'll notice more of a glam vibe in the room. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it however, after living in our home for a few years and having a baby, I started to discover my own style as well as what we really need out of this space.
Read on to learn more about my intentional design plans for this space as well as the thought process behind them!
Ok, let me start by saying that there are a couple things I really wanted to tackle in this space that are going to still be on hold. These include ceiling work and replacing the carpet with LVP flooring. This is a compromise I'm making for my husband....for now anyway! Haha
Aside from those more cosmetic changes, there are a few other elements in the room that Im trying to improve. One very important one is the lack of natural lighting in our bedroom. I came up with a few ideas to brighten up the space:
1) Repaint the walls a warm white colour
2) Switch the builder grade light fixture/bulbs
3) Replace the bathroom door with a frosted glass barn door (I'll talk more about this next!)
Why The Barn Door?
Okay, Im sure you're all scratching your heads and wondering how adding a barn door will increase the lighting in my bedroom....alright here goes! Our bathroom has 2 large windows and therefore has an abundance of natural lighting. If I swap the bathroom door for a barn door with frosted glass, the light will filter through the glass and trickle into the bedroom. There are of course more reasons to remove the current bathroom door.
One reason is that the door swings into the bathroom and the shower is directly behind it. There is not enough clearance for the door to swing to the wall so it hits the shower door if opened all the way. I have added a floor mat to keep it from doing that temporarily. It also restricts the walkway so it feels more functional to add a sliding door and open up the space between the shower and bathroom vanity.
Another reason is, between the double bifold closet doors, entrance and bathroom door, it feels like half the room is taken up by the same doors. Adding a barn door will create contrast and interest to the room as well as help break it up.
Also, lets be honest....the barn door will look so much more elevated!!!
Mood Board
Here's the plan!!! Can you see my vision?! Now lets move on from the barn door and talk about some of the other pieces of furniture I plan to replace. There are two in particular that were not functioning well for us and they are: the makeup vanity and tall chest.
The Makeup Vanity- Truth be told, I rarely ever sit in this designated area to do my makeup. I naturally gravitate to the bathroom because the lighting is much better in there. Since I don't have the space to put my makeup in the bathroom, it seemed like what I really needed was more overall storage space. Insert dresser!!!! By switching it up with a 6 drawer dresser, I can designate one drawer for makeup and have the extra storage for clothing. It also fills the wall much better than the small vanity! Oh, here's what really seals the deal. My one year old learned how to grab the top of the vanity and start tipping it forward so its time for it to go bye-bye!
The Tall Chest- This is HUGE!!! Okay, okay I meant that the chest is pretty big! Let me explain. We currently have a tall chest sitting between the closet doors and the entrance door in our room. There isn't much wall space in between them so we initially bought the chest to fit that wall.
What was actually an after thought was that we wanted a TV in our room and the only plugs for it are located on that wall. Guess what ended up happening? Yup. We propped the TV over the chest which resulted in it being too high to watch comfortably. Wanna know what I'm gonna do to fix it? Replace it with a shorter & wider chest (which I'm also refinishing!) and mount the right size TV to the wall at a more comfortable height.
Okay, I know this is a lot of info to take in but I've got one more very important topic to talk about before we wrap it up! You don't wanna miss this!
Framing the Windows and Bed
Are you intrigued? I sure hope so! Lets start with framing the windows. In our bedroom, we have a narrow window on each side of our bed. It sounds normal right?
Wanna know what makes it tricky? There is just under 2 feet of space between the windows and the bed as well as over 1 foot of space between the windows and the adjacent walls. Note that the measurements are with a king size bed! With that much space around the windows they can feel a little disconnected from the rest of the room.
How do I plan to tackle this? Add drapes! Since I have the space, Im going to hang them higher and wider than the window casing to fill the empty part of the walls. This will create the illusion that the windows are larger as well as tie them in with the rest of the room!
When I talk about framing the bed, Im referring to using a rug! Anytime I'm shopping for a rug, there is one quote that always come to my mind:
"Beautiful rugs give character to boring floors."- Elsa Billgren
Full transparency, I'm not a fan of the colour of our carpet. It just feels so....blah. Since we're not replacing it with LVP flooring at this time, I decided that a rug would help liven up the floor a bit! Also, when used correctly, it will frame the bed and tie all the elements of the room together.
I used to only work with neutrals and over the last year started experimenting with adding some colours to my rugs. Let me tell you, it blew my mind how well it complimented my spaces as well as added some depth to the room! I can't wait to share the details of the rug with you soon! A huge thank you to my sponsor Loloi Rugs for providing me with the perfect piece this room!
Well, Thats the plan so far! I hope you enjoyed reading through some of the thought process that goes into my design plans! Like and comment on this post if you'd like to read more on design tips! Also be sure to follow the progress on Instagram and Tiktok! Ill be sharing all my updates along with many other creators to the official One Room Challenge website every week!
Stay tuned!
Ghalia