We’ve lived in our house for a little over one year now, and our bedroom has come a long way. There was certainly nowhere to go but up! The only good thing about this bedroom’s original purple paint is that it makes the after photos look so much better. Let’s start in the landing, which you can also see in my bathroom makeover post. I’m still loving those new black hinges, and the rest of the bedroom is looking pretty good these days, too. That sign taped on the sloped wall was for our painter: it says “Paint angled walls Irish Mist.” The ceiling is a flat off-the-shelf white, and the walls (including the slanted sections) are Irish Mist from Behr. The room looks much less choppy and steep without the stark contrast of purple vs. white. This room is hard to photograph because the window is so huge – which is one of those good problems, as far as I’m concerned (e.g. “my gold bricks are too heavy”). These were our curtains for a couple of months:

Which was still somehow better than what was there before: I hung IKEA curtains. It’s a double-rod, and there are actually eight curtains up there: it’s such a wide window that it required two panels per side. So, four white curtains in front, and four blackout liners in back. (If anyone’s interested, I can do a more detailed post with specifics.) white swan curtains bankstownWe’re still using the same furniture and lamps from our previous apartment bedroom, with two changes: the rug and the bed.noble curtains abu dhabiI think the color it adds saves the room from looking too sterile. pvc strip curtains vancouverIt is very thin, so a nice rug pad was a necessity. hookless shower curtains with snap-on liner

I like dual surface rugs pads: the scratchy felted side grabs the rug, and the latex side grips the floor. Our platform bed is the P-Series Basic Bed from Night & Day Furniture. It’s nothing fancy: solid wood, sturdy, and cheap. We bought it for around $300 nearly 10 years ago from Right-On Futon in Chicago; panel curtains jyskI’ve also seen them online on Amazon and Wayfair. target dot swirl shower curtainI used it previously with my DIY upholstered headboard, but a wall-mounted headboard wasn’t an option here because our bed is in front of a window.twilight ready made blackout curtain I decided to add a simple, low-profile headboard to our existing platform bed instead of buying an entirely new bed.

Thankfully, this furniture company still makes this line, so I was able to buy a headboard that fits the frame perfectly. I went with white, and painted the bed to match. I lightly sanded the original finish, primed with oil-based primer, and then rolled oil-based white paint with a foam roller for a smooth finish. In the end, you don’t see all that much of it, which is what I wanted: The IKEA RAST nightstands that I stained and painted for our apartment are holding up great. Jarrod’s side of the bed features a Chicago hawk illustration by Diana Sudyka, commissioned by WBEZ for a web feature. When he’s not out birding (like he was when I took these photos), his binoculars hang on the peg rack. My side of the bed includes a vintage dresser, plants, and a photograph of my mom and my aunt taken in the 1960s. I picked up the perforated metal tray at H&M last week. They have some really nice home items these days and, if you’re in Chicago, the newly-redesigned Michigan Avenue store is much less of a hellhole.

The closet area is pretty much the same – the mirrored doors don’t look as bad now that the purple is gone, but I’ll probably replace them at some point. This clearly isn’t a fully finished room! Those IKEA storage bins aren’t part of my forever plan, and someday I’ll get around to unpacking that box. There’s no urgency for any of those things, however. If I haven’t needed anything from it in a year, maybe I should just bring it to Goodwill and let them unpack it…Get ready for that moment we’ve all been waiting for – the moment we get to see the final results of the Shiny, Happy Makeover contest!  We set out with a mission – to bring a bit of sunshine to one family and help them beat the winter blues. I’m happy to say that Emily Henderson has definitely made this mission a successful one! Last week, we introduced you to the winners of the Shiny, Happy Makeover contest as the Décorview installers and Emily Henderson worked like mad to finish up the makeover (not one but two rooms in under two days!).  

Emily and Gary S. are like a lot of us – so busy with parenting and work that they just haven’t had time to really focus on decorating their bedroom.  With three small boys and limited resources, their own room simply couldn’t be a priority. Dark Ikea furniture, clutter and dull window treatments combined to make the space feel chaotic, mis-matched and drab. It was definitely not a space that invited relaxation. The window treatments in the bedroom were mismatched leftovers from the previous owners. What’s worse, they weren’t even functional. The blinds over the bedroom were flimsy and awkward to adjust.  The curtains were not only unattractive, you couldn’t even open them all the way – they bumped in to the dresser! And that curtain rod! It looked like it would fall down at any second. The first step is always to figure out what the family wants and needs out of their room.  Little things can make a big difference – the depth of the window sill, furniture placement, whether they like a little bit of morning light or prefer to sleep in total darkness, and of course, the family’s personal style and color preferences.

Emily S, Emily Henderson, and Henderson’s lead designer Gina were wonderful to work with.  Everybody was so excited!  The family wanted something for their room that was both sophisticated and practical.  Once Emily Henderson said she was thinking of a vintage modern look, I knew roman shades would be an excellent fit for the window over the bed.  When I showed them the fabrics I wanted to use, they both lit up. The great thing about bringing actual product samples is you can really see what it’s going to look like in your home.  I think we’ve all had the experience of purchasing something at the store, but when we got home it just didn’t fit the way we had envisioned.  That can be really expensive and frustrating when it comes to window treatments. Once the style, color and fabric were chosen, we got to measuring.  There’s a lot that goes in to this – you have to account for the size of the window sill, whether you’re doing and inside or outside mount (we chose outside mount for this window to make it look bigger), what kind of headrail you’re using, the pleat size, etc.  

Since everything is custom made for each window, we really take the time to measure everything – twice. After that, things got really busy. Emily spent the next 10 days shopping and getting everything ready for the makeover (wallpaper, furniture, new bedding – the works) while the window treatments were being made.  The really great thing is that all of our soft treatments (drapery, shades, blinds) are custom-made here in the US. Finally, the big day arrived, along with the installation truck that makes the process go so smoothly.  Inside this truck is everything the installer needs to make sure the window treatments fit absolutely perfectly, without needing to re-order anything. (Isn’t that better than hauling back and forth from the store?) I want to take a minute to give the installers credit – they often work behind the scenes and don’t receive as much notice as the designers, but without them our jobs would be significantly less enjoyable.  Thanks to them, there’s no need for me to stand on ladders or mess with drill bits – they’ve got it covered.  

When they’re done, we’ve got beautiful, perfectly aligned window treatments.The window that used to look like this… Emily Henderson wanted to go with a creamy, coral, mossy green color pallet, with gold accents.  We chose flat-panel Ryland Mist roman shades to complement the neutral tones and add to the bright feeling of the room.  The horizontal pleat in the roman shades adds texture to the room, whether they are open or closed.  Note how mounting them on the outside of the window does make the window seem larger, and minimizes light gaps around the edge of the window treatment. For the sliding glass door, we went with slightly textured drapery in the same color as the roman shades to make the room feel cohesive. The fabric has a simple pleat to give it some fullness and life without being over-stated. We wanted to avoid something really heavy, so we used a medium-weight liner to provide effective light control while still being lightweight. The fabric softens up the room and helps to create that light, happy mood we were going for.