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Bedroom Redo

I bet you forgot all about our bedroom redo but today I’m bringing you up to date – finally! I will say, this project seemed to drag on and on and on. And not for any particular reason although I think the installation of the closet door nearly killed Dale. One thing I want to point out: because I’m a bad blogger there aren’t great before photos. That’s partially my fault as I didn’t make the time to take any myself. It’s mostly, though, because Dale’s iPhone died earlier last spring and he lost all his photos. I’m pretty sure the ones of the bedroom weren’t the ones he was truly upset about (goodbye, thousands of photos) but it’s a bummer that all his progress shots of the work he did in the bedroom were part of the Great Photo Loss of 2019.

In any case, I do have a few before photos. This is our triple dresser before we had it painted.

And the chest on chest, again, before we had it painted.

Now, before all you wood lovers come at me, I want to point out that this furniture is from 1987. The oak is lovely but I was looking for something fresh and updated. We actually went furniture shopping but let me tell you, all we saw were these really big pieces and those just don’t work in a house like ours that’s somewhere around 150 years old. And also, the bedroom sets we saw were pretty expensive and I just didn’t like anything all that much.

Here’s the bedroom after the wallpaper had been stripped. Goodbye outdated blue and yellow flowered wallpaper. Those curtains went, too.

And here we are with a fresh coat of primer. I was already happier! We didn’t change the rug as we had just replaced that a few years ago so Dale covered it carefully when he started painting. I should point out that during this project we moved to our upstairs guest bedroom. At first it was fun – almost like being on vacation and the slanted ceilings up there made it cozy and like being in a tent. But after a while that double bed got smaller and smaller and I sure was glad to move back into our room when we came back from New York City after our trip in April. I think all told we lived in the upstairs room for about 3 weeks.

Okay, are you ready for the big reveal? Let’s start with the furniture. Here’s the triple dresser:

And here’s the chest on chest:

I contacted Jen, of ReJenerated Finds, a local woman who paints and refinishes furniture, and she did a wonderful job with our furniture. Both pieces have white chalk paint with espresso stained tops. All the hardware is new and updated and I’m totally in love with how they came out.

And here’s the shot of the bed with it’s new neutral bedding – it’s gray and white ticking although I don’t know if you can see that very well. You might try clickety bigety to see the stripes better. You can also see the closet door, painted black to match all of our other interior doors, and to say that I’m excited to have a door on our closet would be a pretty huge understatement. (Prior to this we’ve always just had a curtain there.)

The lights are new, too, and you can also see a new nightstand for me (on the right) and a table for Dale (on the left) that we moved from another room in the house temporarily. The nightstand for me was one I found at the ReStore and it was refinished and painted to match the other two pieces by Jen. We’re still on the look out for something for Dale but I know we’ll find something perfect eventually. I’ll be adding more throw pillows (Dale is probably not excited at all to hear that news) but for now these work. The yellow one was on the bed before and the love one was in the living room. I really enjoy “shopping” my house to move pillows and curtains and artwork around.

Speaking of artwork, you may notice that there isn’t any up on the walls yet. We’re still debating what we want to hang and, much to Dale’s annoyance, I have not given the go ahead to hang anything.

Here’s a slightly closer shot of the bed with the lights and closet door in the background. That mirror over the dresser is one we got ages ago at a yard sale – no need to change it at all as it went perfectly with our new look.

We had a new TV put on the wall (Dale thinks it’s too high and I tend to agree but I’m not in favor of making more wholes in the wall to fix it) and the curtains I got you’ve seen before. They are like dotted swiss on steroids and they are perfect for summer as they let in loads of light and I can see the window boxes through them but I’ll be swapping them out for something heavier when the fall and winter arrives.

The paint is Urban Sunrise by Valspar and it’s a gloriously neutral gray. It doesn’t look blue or green or lavender, it’s just truly gray. And I love how neutral everything is, it’s exactly what I wanted because it means I can swap out curtains and bedding, pillows and more. I plan to have loads of red in here when Christmas comes and I’m really excited about that prospect!

And there you have it. Our multi-month bedroom redo!

This Post Has 24 Comments

  1. Oh well done! I love how it turned out, Carole! I especially LOVE the dresser re-do’s! They turned out beautifully!

  2. It looks so airy and relaxing. You couldn’t have planned that mirror better! The refreshed furniture looks fabulous. Too bad Dale’s picture weren’t backed up in the iCloud, I can imagine how disappointing that loss would be.

  3. Love the redo. Have often wondered how it was progressing but didn’t want to ask for fear of getting Dale in trouble!?????

  4. Your bedroom looks really updated and fresh! Much of our furniture is old oak (antique) so I probably wouldn’t have even had the idea to paint it, but yours looks great! The neutrals are lovely and it all works. (Plus, the tops of your dressers and nightstands are so neat and uncluttered!)

    P.S. I’m very sorry for the Great Photo Loss of 2019. I recently lost some important texts I had been saving (damn Verizon) and I still want to cry.

  5. It looks great! I used to be a ‘don’t paint the wood’ girl, but after living in a very small apartment with lots of wood for over a year, I’m not that strict anymore. Painting wood can make such a huge difference. I love how new and modern your old furniture looks now.

  6. Oh, Carole! It’s so PERFECT and fresh and relaxing! I’ll bet you just love to go in there and just … ahhhhhh! … smile about how GREAT it all looks. I’m really loving how those dressers turned out — and since I have their “twins” (also from 1987 even) in my bedroom, you’ve given me a new idea. (Won’t Tom be thrilled?) I just love it, Carole. XO

  7. Fantastic! We just finished ours, and I’m still giddy. I’m trying to knock out one room at a time. The grey I used tends toward blue–it’s called “River Veil.”

  8. Looks very peaceful and restful. I just swap out our duvet 3 or 4 times a year for seasonal appropriateness – an easy fix!

  9. The Re-Do is fabulous Carole. Love the *new* furniture and everything is so light and airy. The black closet door is also fabulous!! You are going to have to show seasonal pictures for us!

  10. I wasn’t in until the final photo. It looks beautiful now and so versatile with color pops if and when you want.

  11. I love how it turned out, Carole. I painted my bedroom a flat gray a couple of years ago, and I have never tired of it. It is so neutral, I don’t even notice the walls, and that’s a good thing because it is a small room.
    I think it certainly makes it more expansive. I think the furniture looks great, and I love the expresso tops. I wish I was as neat and orderly as you, but alas, I am not. My bedroom is usually a mess. Yours looks very restful and welcoming.

  12. Your room looks so inviting and classic (classy, too). The details, the dresser tops, the black door, the lights over the bed, are beautiful touches. More pillows and colors that pop will give you an easy change when you decide it’s time. You have a good eye whether it’s decor, photos, food styling, or your own look. Love it!

  13. It all looks wonderful! I think you were wise to refinish the furniture you had — it looks very fresh now, and most of the stuff you find in stores these days isn’t as well built as the pieces from the “olden days.”

  14. Carole – the furniture looks lovely, I am all for re-do painting to bring us to the current. It all looks just wonderful. I am sure you will find just the right 2nd nightstand – have you heard of the Blessing Barn in Mendon? Its a charity based re-store.

  15. That looks wonderful. We need to do quite a bit of “updating” in our house, and you’ve given me some ideas.

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