Welcome blogging friends and family. I’ve been wanting to write about the bedroom refresh we did last fall all winter. Where does the time go? Before spring takes a good hold on me and I’m out in the garden, I’m going to carve out some time right now and tell you all about it.
First some back story and a thanks to Cheryl!
A few years ago, an old high school friend of mine posted pictures of her recently renovated bedroom. I loved them! She had a similar oak bedroom set as ours but had used chalk paint to create a whole new look. It was so refreshing! After building our first house in 1988 we were thrilled to buy a Shermag oak bedroom set AND a matching dining room set at the same time. (I haven’t touched the dining room set…yet.) At the time everything in our new house was all matchy, matchy and looked spectacular throughout the ’90’s. Over the years, the only update we did was covering our brass bed with a new look. You know, new comforter/skirts, and pillows. The most recent comforter set was an expensive treat we bought around ten years ago, or was that twelve. Anyhow, it’s what you do when you have kids as there is always something else to buy; crib bedding, toddler bedding, big kid bedding, teenager bedding, and finally off to University bedding.
So, I put the seed of my friend’s bedroom renovation in my back pocket and finally, FINALLY last fall I pulled it out. It was long overdue but since I love that Cottage Core look I knew painting the oak set was only going to improve the look in our bedroom. I did a ton of research on using chalk paint and while my husband wanted to use the old latex tried and true, I wanted a different look. I also wanted to play around with distressing the piece after it was painted. That’s easier to do when you use chalk paint.
I’m quite proud of myself. I took off all the hardware and then did all the prep, painting and re-assembly of the pulls and handles. The only thing my husband David helped me with was spray painting the brass as he was concerned I’d get it all over the place. It’s true. I usually get more on me than on whatever project I’m painting. The point is, if I can do it, ANYONE, can do it.
I have to say thought that the one thing that held me back all these years from painting this set was that I have always been reluctant to paint over lovely wood.
I have NO regrets though and still, six months later, I’m LOVING my bedroom.
I’ll share the pictures now, but I wanted to let you know that another thing I really love about the new look is that it’s no longer totally matching. The bedside tables and my chest of drawers are all “White Linen” but I did David’s tall boy an “Aged Grey,” which actually looks like a bluish grey. This is a nice change and a bit more masculine. Also, it looks great against the grey/blue walls in our bedroom.
Some of the other extras we bought to refresh the room were:
White curtains from Amazon. I really like them as they are a heavy weight and kept our room warmer this past winter. Finally, I found the carpet this spring on the Wayfair site. The carpet is crucial, as the kids often use our bedroom door to come in after being in the pool or the hot tub and usually they are dripping wet. This saves our wood floor big time.
Okay, ready to see the before and after? Here we go…..oh this is the fun part.
Our old bedroom. Our brass bed and our very ’80’s Shermag Oak bedside tables. Also, check out the lamps…they have little amber beads hanging off the shades. Shea sh! In the corner is my mom’s old dressing table, which our daughter Alyssa had brought home with her last summer when she moved back home. She didn’t have room for it so we kept it in our bedroom, although since then it’s been claimed by our daughter Grace…who asked for a room makeover after she saw how our room turned out. Anyway, looking at my mom’s old dressing table makes me wonder if someday our kids will have some of our pieces and maybe remember when their mom painted the set. In this picture you can see how much wood we have in our bedroom; wood floors, wood furniture and even the bedding is brown. The comforter folded at the end of the bed is actually a light blue…almost aqua colour and matches with the shams and rectangular pillow. It was lovely years ago but seriously our bedroom needed an update!Here you can see David’s tall boy better, as well as the curtains and a corner of the old beige rug. I was reluctant to take down the curtains as they were a wonderful room darkening curtain. The rod was a bit bent though as it held up the long span of curtain. I was hoping David could repair it and we could spray paint it black but it was not repairable. We bought a new curtain rod on line. My bedside table. It would have been nice to find a different table for a new look but once it was painted I loved it again. I think painting the hardware black was a good change as well. I did look into buying new drawer pulls but do you know how expensive it would be to change out all the hardware? Crazy expensive, besides, I could buy new lamps for what it would have cost for new hardware. Tip…David put the old hardware on a large piece of cardboard and just spray painted them when he was doing the brass bed. I think it’s a huge improvement.
Okay are you ready for the transformation?
First, this is the paint we used. We also used, “Aged Grey,” for David’s high boy. Same paint company. I had wanted to try “Annie Sloan’s” chalk paint but I couldn’t find it in our little town so I bought the Rust-oleum White Linen and the Aged Grey. And while I can’t compare it to the Anne Sloan product, I was really happy with the product we used. Also, many people that use chalk paint also finish it with a wax, but David was concerned that it wouldn’t stand up so we used Rust-oleum’s protective top coat. So far, so good! Our bedroom doesn’t get a lot of wear and tear. Me, in my painting duds….I cleaned all the pieces with a de-greasing cleaning product called, “Simple Green,” before I started painting. The pieces weren’t overly dirty, even though this set was over thirty years old! What I loved about using chalk paint is that it dries super fast!!! It did take me three coats for good coverage but since it dried so fast it only took me one day to paint everything. A tip…I found it handy to spray my brush with water as chalk paint can become too thick for a lovely thin coat. I let everything dry over night and then I took some sanding paper and distressed the pieces. Finally, I put two protective top coats over all the pieces. I waited 24 hours between coats for the top coat to dry well. All in all, it took me three days to paint everything. One day for the chalk paint. One day for the distressing and first coat of protective coating. Then one final day for the final coat of top coat. The evening of the third day I put on the newly sprayed hardware. It a perfect long weekend project. And now our refreshed bedroom….The bedding we found at Bed Bath Beyond. It’s a Bee and Willow brand. I fell in love with the “Believe,” pillow also on the Bed Bath Beyond website. I’ve read that sayings are not in vogue any longer but I love this word (believe)….and of course the word, “Hope.” Anyway, it can always be flipped to the other side where it’s just white. The lamp I found on the Wayfair website too. I had gone into our local Homesense store to search for lamps but for the last two years, (throughout Covid) stock has been low. Anyway, I’m happy with the lamps and find at night they throw more light when I’m reading than our old shades did. Our cat Ryuuki likes our new bedding too. On the edge of the picture you can see the red plaid blanket I had on our bed throughout the Christmas season….it’s my homage to the “Outlander,” books and t.v. series. Both, which I love. A different angle view. Since we are not lacking mirrors in our master bedroom, we took the mirror off of my dresser and put a couple of lamps and a small smart T.V…..which is actually our daughter Alyssa’s. When she moved home last summer there was no place to put it so instead of storing it in our crawl space, we put it in our bedroom. I haven’t had a t.V. in our bedroom for YEARS….but it’s nice to watch a movie once in awhile in bed. The picture above David’s high boy is a numbered Brent Heighton print. We went back and forth over changing the frame but decided to leave it as is. We have another one over our bed….and decided that we would not change the frame. You can see the new curtains in this picture as well. I found them on Amazon (I know, I know…we try not to use Amazon but it’s so hard to find items in our small town) and they are a heavy weight and kept our bedroom warmer this past winter. We only lower the venetians in the summer as our view is so great. When I saw this carpet on the Wayfair site I knew it would be perfect and it is. It’s a 7 x 9One last look. I think what makes this such a huge improvement is that there is not so much wood. From the aspect of Feng Shui, there is a better balance of all the elements now in the room….and when things are in balance, then there is a greater sense of peace and calm. Isn’t that what we want in a bedroom?You can see the light distressing I did on my bedside table in this picture. And on my bedside table I keep my gratitude journal, *thank you to my friend T) a candle to light in the evening for a bedtime meditation moment and a place to put my tea cup…”Hope,” …..is always by my side.
If you want to refresh your bedroom but don’t have the time or the cash for a totally refresh, no problem.
Here are some easy ways to refresh your space.
Clean your room really well. Wash the bedding, dry it in the sunshine. Put all your clothes away…hopefully in a decluttered closet.
Add some scent, some lavender essential oil or light some scented candles.
Add a plant or some flowers.
Hang some new art or framed pictures of happy times/loved ones.
Change the lighting….I love to read in bed and having good lighting is important to me. I love the mini lights on my dresser now too!
Clear your bedside table and add only what you love to look at or need.
Add a new soft blanket…something that says, come and have a nap…..something that entices your pet or loved one to join you.
Think about the air in the room, crack a window, make sure you are breathing fresh air when you sleep.
Add some quiet noise….something restful. White noise works for some people but I like cracking the window and hearing the wind, the birds, etc
Rotate.flip the mattress, find a new pillow, remember when you lay down each night, You Are Loved!”
Thank you for visiting today.
This video reminds me of my mom….she would laugh and say, “goodnight Irene.” Going to sleep with a smile is the best way to end the day. Good night my dear family and friends. Good night Irene/mom too!
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
