Grownup Bedroom: Update
Like many people home during quarantine, we’ve really started to think about our space and have had a renewed sense of motivation to finish up some projects. I realized that in the 8+ years that C and I have lived together, we’ve never had a “real” bedroom. We’ve collected furniture here and there that we liked, but we’ve moved quite a bit over the last few years and we never quite “finished” our room wherever we lived. Once we bought our home I assumed we’d get to it, but we’ve prioritized common living spaces and then of course focused on Nell’s nursery. We are parents now and spend more time and money than ever on spaces we can enjoy as a family - which is definitely the right decision for us, but the time has come for us to have our own space.
Serena & Lily reached out about helping with an open-ended design project on deck and I jumped at the chance - I’ve had my eye on this bed for over a year now and knew it’d be the perfect focal piece for our room. Our old bed was an inexpensive upholstered bed I bought for our old rental in navy cotton. I hadn’t anticipated what an incredible dust magnet it would be and how dark it would make our space feel in our new home. The Webster Bed felt both light and airy and also timeless. It’s also hardwood which was really important to me in terms of longevity. I was hemming and hawing on instagram stories about whether to go with the white or the brown, when my friend Michelle of Madison Hudson Design DM’d me and offered to help me pull the room together. Michelle and I used to work together at vineyard vines few years ago when she lead visual design and I was leading marketing. She owns her own interior design firm now and I knew she’d know exactly how to help me pull together the modern traditional space I was going for. The entire process has been completely virtual and couldn’t have been smoother. In fact, I feel similar about interior design as I did about our wedding planner after our wedding - their value is so crystal clear once you work with a great one that you can’t imagine why you stressed so much about doing it all on your own in the past! It’s a luxury for sure but in both cases, I feel confident that it actually kept us ON budget vs. the other way around. Having someone weighing tradeoffs and priorities without the emotional side of things prevents you from overspending.
I will share all of the detail on how we worked together in a post when this space is fully finished. COVID has caused pretty significant delays in shipping, samples, vendors, etc. which has actually been nice as we haven’t rushed any decisions, but I thought I’d share our progress so far.
First, I had a Facetime call with Michelle to show her the space. I then measured every inch of the room, including windows, doors and air vents, and sent that mock up along to her. I also sent links to the pieces I had already chosen and wanted to keep, like our bed, mirror, lighting, and paint color (Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore). I also sent photos of the current space and a few inspiration photos. Here is the before:
As you can see, the room is a long rectangle. I have a weird thing about my feet needing to face the door when I’m sleeping so we put the bed under the window. We bought our dressers new at the rental home we were in before we bought our house so I was being stubborn about making them work as well.
After a few days, Michelle sent a recommended layout for the room and instantaneously brought the entire project together for me. I don’t know why I had never thought of this but now 1000% see the value of working with a professional!
Next she provided a visual mood board of the space, which I will share when the room is finished. We rearranged the room according to her layout and it immediately made a huge difference! We then installed drapes, hung art, sold one of our dressers, and moved the other one into the guest room. C is just going in there for his clothes until our new furniture arrives (similar here) because we love how open our room feels without the dark furniture! I temporarily moved this vintage dresser into the room for my own clothes, both so I could visualize how a long, lower piece would look in the space.
We also ordered new shades for our lamps (they will look like this!) and nightstands (similar). We are also waiting on custom roman shades (our first ever professional windows… I feel incredibly grown up). Our furniture won’t arrive until the fall, but we are so thrilled with how the rooms already and are so happy to spend time in here. Stay tuned for the final update, and shop similar pieces at the end of this post.
Thank you Serena & Lily for generously providing a partial product credit for the Webster Bed. Thank you Madison Hudson Design for your partnership in designing this space!
Sneak peek at what’s coming next :)
