My Bedroom Makeover
Today is a very exciting day here on the blog. I am beyond excited to finally share my bedroom makeover with you all! It all started with a cross-country move back in November, a fresh lick of paint and some fixture updates (shout out to my amazing dad!) to give my mom’s spare bedroom a refresh. Then All Modern got in touch about a Mid Century Modern collaboration and I was over the moon to finally make my Interiors Pinterest board a reality. I’ve never designed a room from start to finish before, always piecing it together bit by bit, so this was a fun new challenge for me. I’m totally obsessed (and honestly a tad relieved) by the way this room came together so seamlessly. So without further ado, let me give you a little look around my bedroom and talk you through the changes.
This post is kindly sponsored by All Modern and contains some gifted items and affiliate links.
The Inspiration
One of the first changes made in this space was to swap out the gray-blue walls for a soft off-white. Not that I mind the color, but considering how much time I spend photographing things for my job, white walls are sort of a necessity in my mind. As soon as the walls were painted and the new light installed, I realized how extremely bright and bare it felt. Natural wood furniture and soft furnishings were needed to really help warm up the space and give it that cozy feeling.
Mid Century Modern has long been my favorite design style as it’s a bit retro and so well-complimented by minimalist and Scandi elements. And All Modern (as the name would suggest) has some really lovely MCM styles to choose from and with a wide price range for different budgets. I also wanted to add some pops of pastel colors, a bit of greenery and lots of abstract art prints. Throw it all together and you get a bright, airy and textural space that’s equal parts invigorating and relaxing, a space that shows off all my favorite things and inspires me daily.
The Focal Point of the Room
First and foremost, I wanted this space to feel like a peaceful and comfortable place to lay my head each night. For that reason, I made the bed the main focal point in the center of the room rather than pushing it against a wall. I opted for a simple warm wood bed frame that gives me the option of later adding a headboard. I went with my usual all white bedding (feels so crisp and clean) and a few of of my favorite velvet and berber-inspired throw pillows. To warm up the room, I knew I wanted to add a low pile rug and I’ve had my eye of this Loloi design for a while now. It was the last piece added and it helped to break up the hard wood surfaces, make the blush tones in the room pop and just pull everything together perfectly.
Moveable Feast For the Eyes
One very useful tip for decorating that I picked up from Kate Spiers, is to sprinkle all my favorite books, candles, ceramics and random trinkets around the room to style surfaces and add visual interest. Whether it be a stack of pretty coffee table books on my nightstand or girl-boss inspiration handy on my desk, books are a great way to fill a space and make it feel personal. It’s also really nice to have books so readily available rather than stuffed away in a bookcase where I’m likely to forget about them completely. Another styling trick I picked up out of necessity (renter problems) is to prop framed prints against the wall, rather than hanging them up. This allows you to easily move them around and switch them out when your space needs a quick refresh. Including some living element, be it fresh flowers or potted plants, is so important to breath life and color into a room. As someone in a creative job, I always need to be surrounded by beautiful and visually stimulating things to keep me feeling inspired.
Work-life balance
Did I mention that my bedroom now doubles as my office? It took a lot of browsing online before I finally landed on this walnut desk (actually a console table) that fits the space well and matches the other pieces in the room. Luckily my job requires little more than a laptop and external hard drive so a small desk is ideal. An upholstered chair with wooden legs (as opposed to wheels) was also on my WFH checklist so that it could double as an accent chair and make the room feel less like an office. My last desk was a lot bigger and had zero storage so it quickly became a dumping ground. Now I have a bit of a routine where all visual reminders of work go into the drawers at the end of the day and the space is once again transformed into a serene bedroom.
Chic Storage Solutions
Storage was a big issue with this space as I was basically cramming a one bedroom apartment’s worth of things into one bedroom, with some spill over into the loft and garage if I’m being perfectly honest. Because of the nature of my work, I’ve got a lot of clothing, shoes and accessories. This is something I frequently struggle to come to terms with because of how ruthless I am about editing down my wardrobe and preaching the same to you all on a regular basis. Turns out clothing just takes up a lot of space! Luckily I’ve got ample closet space for hanging most of my clothing but there were still had a few items I wanted to store in a dresser for easier access, like activewear and pajamas.
I found this gorgeous three-drawer dresser from All Modern that fit perfectly into the odd little nook in my room. While this style is currently sold out, they have the same six-drawer dresser available that’s a great value and quality and which I was very tempted by if I had the extra space. I adore this piece with it’s super minimal design and warm wood tone. It really anchors the space so nicely and honestly makes getting ready in the morning so much easier!
My Nightstand Routine
An evening pre-sleep routine has become so important to me with all the time spent at home these day. It helps me unwind and decompress after a day sat at my desk a few feet away. Going through a few simple motions somehow breaks the day up and distinguishes work hours from personal time, at least in my mind. And I’ve managed to turn my nightstand into a little evening routine station of sorts. Everything from my manifestation journal and current reading materials to my sleep spray, lip gloss and eye mask are all right at my finger tips. I love this two-drawer dresser because it gives me a bit more storage and has a super sleek and functional design to match the dresser. I’m also quite proud of the fact that I put this bad boy together in under 30 minutes. You’d think I’m training for the flat pack furniture Olympics with everything I’ve assembled in the past month.
All The Other Little Details
One of my favorite aspects of Mid Century Modern design is brass accents. As you may have deduced from my jewelry collection, I love a bit of gold hardware. The lighting fixture is one of my favorite details in the room. It’s an elegant frosted globe and brass fixture that’s the perfect size for the room while still making a statement. I continued the brass accents with a budget-friendly brass globe lamp on my nightstand (I prefer a task lamp to a shaded lamp) and the minimal gold Cappa curtain rod from Umbra.
As for picture frames, I have a real mixture now of black, white and natural wood colors, which surprisingly doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. The large abstract prints and wood frames are from Desenio but I’ll share more on that soon! The other prints which you may recognize from my old apartment, are from Jan Skacelik and Hôtel Magique. I love filling my space with abstract art prints. I often find my eyes resting on them while I’m deep in thought, contemplating something brilliant no doubt (lol). But they really do have a calming effect on my mind.
If you saw my room reno vlog, you may remember that this shelf was already in the room when I arrived and I was contemplating removing it. There were actually two stacked on top of each other, leaving little space to display much. While trying to figure out how to style them I decided to just remove the top shelf altogether, which instantly created more space for taller plants and a framed print. Don’t you just love simple fixes?
My Mid Century Modern Dream Space
Overall I’m so thrilled with how this space turned out. What most pleasantly surprised me throughout this whole makeover process is just how functional a relatively small space can be. Without feeling too cluttered or cramped, I have enough room to work during the week and sprawl out on the weekends. It just goes to show that any room, if it’s thought out and considered, can become a dream space to cozy up.
The project was somewhat slow-going as I was working within a small budget and making gradual changes over the course of three or so months. I also got a whole lot of help from my amazing parents, so it became a fun collaboration in that way. And I’m so grateful to All Modern for helping me create my dream Mid Century Modern room and realizing this space to its full potential. I hope you all love it as much as I do!
This post is sponsored by All Modern. Contains gifted items and affiliate links.
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