One of the least popular rooms I’ve ever designed/published was the first iteration of my primary bedroom, and I get it – I wasn’t entirely happy with it either. It was more “put together” than “designed” in itself, and when you have so many rooms to get work done at the same time, some get neglected, which is okay. I always resist “licking my own yam” because, honestly, having a bedroom like this in any form is so wonderful that missing a few design icons seems trivial for all of you to point out.
as a reminder…
When we came in we started with a white box. Now I love a bright white airy room (despite its current unpopularity), but to be honest, this feels like a missed opportunity. So, since our home’s big unveil shoot was imminent, I made some quick decisions to see how I could create a cozy but still really simple and minimalist bedroom.
What were the things I didn’t like?
i painted the room DebonairWhich is very beautiful, and yet when the room is highly lit in summer and during the day, it can be too bright for me. Brian loves it, and no one else really has anything negative to say about it, but in the name of transparency, if I could snap my fingers, I’d paint it. EveningWhich is a much softer powder blue. In the morning and at night, the Debonair is so comfortable and beautiful, and repainting it is so expensive and annoying (so is the trim and ceiling). My first bid was $6k and it would take 3 days, which I thought would take a lot of time, but maybe not. Regardless, I’m not motivated to do it because I like it; I just don’t like it. But this is where I had to learn (again) the lesson that I don’t like when I paint rooms with too much natural light, dark (you can paint lit rooms light or medium but the contrast between dark and bright sun pools colors in the paint which can make it feel intense to me rather than moody and cozy). Similarly, I would suggest painting dark rooms a medium or dark color (not light). Anyway, in this situation it barely bothers me because it’s not a dark color (it’s a medium tone) and the cost and disruption to our lives doesn’t seem worth a minor upgrade.
wrong bed
This bed was always designed for our guest room (which doesn’t even work 100% there, ridiculous), but a week before the shoot, when my Jake Arnold for Crate and Barrel bed didn’t arrive (it’s a really beautiful caramel velvet with wood curved top, but apparently no longer available), we assembled this room here instead. And I liked it, but just didn’t like it. I really liked the scale and size, but the small print got lost in such a large room, and it meant moving to a pink room, where it would just be a cool texture.
leftover rug
I can’t give up on this rug because it is the plushest, softest, and most stain resistant rug I have ever owned. Although I’m not that motivated to create another rug line (mostly due to time/bandwidth), if someone could guarantee me that I could make this rug in many different colors, I would do it as a public service to the world. I can’t even link it. But it’s not my favorite color – light brown with blue spots, and here it can be read a little sad.
rug change
When my rug line came out, I took the pill and went this merrick rug Here, which I really liked, but it was too white in a room that was intended to be more tonal/soft. There was just too much contradiction. Also, as I’ve said before, I don’t recommend white carpeting in Oregon on your first floor, which gets the most foot traffic (better for second floor bedrooms). It went better than I thought it would (we mostly lagged behind), but I used this partnership with Anthropologie to choose This gorgeous taupe-pink rug.
Overhead “Light” Fixtures
I think Brian and I deliberately decided not to have any hanging pendants or chandeliers because we didn’t want to distract attention from the ceiling (something we loved in the bedroom of our mountain home). If I could go back in time, I would get rid of those boxes (which we almost never use) and put in a J-box for ceiling stability. I still don’t like the chandelier above the bed in the bedroom (it seems a little strange to me, but I don’t know why), but I liked it big japanese lantern For its low-key simplicity. Of course, it was just a sculpture, a figure, and not made of wire.
i really loved the curtainsThe cozy ottoman chair (which I love against the blue color in that dark corner), the hits of brass, the fireplace, giant mirrorAnd paintings. It was a nice room, not great. And I still don’t know if it’s there or not, but I like it much better!!!
art above the bed | Bed | solid quilt | broken striped blanket | blaster pillow | disc pillow | table lamp | nightstands (No Longer Available) bench | Bench Fabric (VINTAGE) | rug
After going around again and again about which bed to get, I landed on the bed This pretty pink linen slipcover bedIn a super classic shape. I canceled the crate bed because he wasn’t going to come for a while, and I wanted to be with the other one for a while. I had a partnership with Anthropologie and thought it was a good opportunity to see if I could make this room better (this post is not sponsored by them, was just something social). So I ordered bedding and rugs, and they both arrived very fast with full white glove service. I really love it here.
Now I’m trying to figure out why I like this shot so much. It has a soft ease to it that I like. Oh, I’m wearing one of my plaid boro dresses my katy skelton bench (Simply folded it and secured with leather straps), and I love how it looks here (and brings that bit of farmhouse feel to it).
As I look at this shot, I’m now wondering if the mustard is too intense. We don’t actually live with it on our bed, but when I was styling/shooting, I thought it needed a punch.
I wish we had taken a photo without seeing the yellow pieces, but here’s a tonal edited version to see the difference.
I was so excited to find a place for my new favorite painting brooks burns It works great here color wise. Some of you may be concerned about the idea of me sleeping under feet or shoes, and maybe you’re right, but it’s here for now, and I’m loving it (and I used to love that white painting, but it was a little too stark and looks better in the pink guest room right now). In fact, I should give that painting to my new website designer – the color palette makes me incredibly happy.
I liked it Lamp first but i love this lamp More here. They weren’t working in our TV room because the height of the bulbs was at our eye level when we sat on the sofa, so we always turned them off. But they’re pretty, so I put them here and I like the colors, scale, and size (and we read from Kindles, so it’s less annoying here). This is why drum shades are functionally superior to tapered shades – it blocks more of the direct bulb light and creates more uniform ambient light (less direction downwards). I just kept my old lamps in our family room (they’re a little lower/better) and added This Ikea lamp to watch television. And I still love these nightstands (they’re perfect scale), but I wish they were a little richer/deeper. They won’t be replaced anytime soon 🙂
I always like the view from the other side of the room. The fireplace is very cozy. Our heater in our room has been broken for a few weeks, so I’ve been using this fireplace for an hour or two a day to keep the room warm, and it’s wonderful.
let’s be comfortable
The room is actually very comfortable and gets better as the day goes on (which is funny to write, it’s a better “night time” room than a “day time” room, but maybe that’s good because it’s mostly enjoyed at night?). We rarely shoot with the lamps on, but I wanted to show you how the room changes as the lighting changes.
It’s a real relaxation at night, and I love lying in bed (a big reason is also my new mattress, by the way, which I love very much. It is) Sapira Hybrid ChillAnd I found “plush”, but “medium firm” is also really soft and comfortable. If you like a firm mattress, I’m not your girl, but if you want something that’s soft on top and supportive on the bottom, this is seriously my favorite mattress ever.
Here are some fun sliders!!
So what do you think??? Did you like our earlier versions better? Or a more moody and cozy new version? I am comfortable with the team in every way. If I could snap my fingers, I’d love to see a room with a gray ceiling (but not on the trim) with the current blue or Eventide (a soft, light blue) paint soaked in it.
*by photos Caitlin Green
