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You are here: Home / Interior Decorating / How to decorate / A traditional bedroom makeover (before and after photos!)

A traditional bedroom makeover (before and after photos!)

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While I was away, we took a road trip and visited my parents.  They wanted some changes made to their bedroom decor, so before we left I put together a terrible Photoshop rendering of some ideas and picked up some things at IKEA.  (The closest IKEA to them is 4 1/2 hours away. Poor people.)

But here is where we started.  The room was decorated with traditional style in mind, in the late ’90s.

traditional-bedroom-before

traditional-bedroom-makeover

They had an abundance of furniture.  Most of them are gorgeous vintage pieces.  But they’re also all very bulky and have a lot of visual weight.  They had her grandmother’s night stands that were dainty and Hepplewhite-ish (?) style, but they thought they needed bulky, visually heavy pieces to match.  As I’ve mentioned before, furniture doesn’t need to match, it needs to balance each other.

I explained it to them this way: it’s like having a party and only inviting type A people.  Everyone is a commanding presence.  Everyone there has something to say, but there’s nobody there to listen and add the breathing room.  And each of their large, heavy furniture pieces were the commanding presence, they were all competing for attention, and without the laid-back, non-focal-point types to balance them out, the room was overwhelming.

Of course, we didn’t want to get rid of the beautiful antiques, so we just rearranged the room so they wouldn’t be the focal point anymore.  (As a side-note, in a bedroom, the bed and bed area should always be the focal point.)

We brought back the dainty vintage side tables.  What they had is on the left (sorry for the low-quality, long-distance decorating has challenges).

nightstands

In their defense, the sitting room wasn’t normally this cluttered, it had furniture they were hoping to get rid of.  We posted the dressers and nightstands on Craigslist and they were gone in a heartbeat.

bedroom-sitting-area-before

Now the after photos:

bed-area-after

master-bedroom-after
(The keyboard is just there temporarily.)

bedroom-sitting-area-after

We still have more to do in here.  We’re going to be looking for a big, creamy-colored rug to go under the bed to lighten and soften the room (and of course, provide comfort), and new bedding.  And Dad really, really wants to replace the light fixture.  We’re not sure yet if we’re going to go with something more simple and contemporary or something with more of a Craftsman style to go with the house itself.  Along the lines of these lovely lights (similar here):

contemporary-drum-pendantcraftsman-chandelier

I should also mention that this makeover has only cost $120 so far. All we purchased were the new curtains, curtain rods, and lamps (all from IKEA). Here are some before-and-afters so you don’t have to scroll:

bed-before-and-after bedroom-before-and-after sitting-area-before-and-after

A few years ago, we gave their living and dining rooms makeovers too, you can see them here: living room, dining room.

We will also be working on Mom’s craft room, which we started a plan for a year ago, but it was put on hold, and now we’re going in a different direction.  I’ll post about that when that project is resumed.

Dad said the office is next, and I’m really excited about that room!

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  1. [email protected]

    January 31, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    Moving the wardrobe to the other side was a great idea!

    Reply
    • Christina

      February 6, 2015 at 9:55 am

      Thanks! That one thing made such a huge difference.

  2. Alana in Canada

    February 1, 2015 at 2:38 pm

    Lovely changes! It does look lighter. I love the light fixture on the left. I think it has the right lines to “marry” the vague “tudor-craftsman” going on with the current direction you’re going. The trilight actually looks too heavy and busy, to my eye. Your Dad is absolutely right–what’s there now is far to “tuscan.” Any plans to re-paint? That would be a dramatic change.

    Reply
    • Christina

      February 6, 2015 at 9:58 am

      Thanks Alana! Yes, Tuscan was what they were going for–right when it was at its peak in the 90s.

      No plans to repaint. The finish is actually really, really nice. My photos didn’t do it justice at all. It’s more subtle and less bright yellow in person.

  3. Valerie Jarvis

    February 5, 2015 at 7:51 am

    Your side by side photos were most helpful to truly see and appreciate the difference. I am always pleasantly surprised what white can do. It calms and blends. End result was much more beckoning and relaxing. Nice job!

    Reply
    • Christina

      February 6, 2015 at 9:59 am

      Thank you, Valerie.

  4. Alexa~FurnishMyWay

    March 11, 2015 at 1:02 pm

    Wow! This looks great! I always get excited whenever I see how wonderful transformations look. Great post!

    Reply
  5. [email protected]

    March 25, 2015 at 11:15 pm

    That was one of the best uses of $120 I’ve ever seen! Lovely, warm and inviting space (and I love the paint too).

    Reply

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Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃

We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
Surprise! The house is going on the market today. Surprise! The house is going on the market today. (Long story that I'll fill you in on when I have more than 2 seconds.)
.
But we're once again with a realtor that calls our house "unique" instead of calling it a Mid Century Modern. 🤦‍♀️
.
We can't count how many locals came into this house and mentioned that those windows should be removed and walled up and the beams cut off. And then it would be a "normal" house. 🤯
.
Still can't really identify with people in this area. 🤷‍♀️ SO happy to be going back home to the East coast TOMORROW!
@little.victorian

Before Footer

Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃

We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
Surprise! The house is going on the market today. Surprise! The house is going on the market today. (Long story that I'll fill you in on when I have more than 2 seconds.)
.
But we're once again with a realtor that calls our house "unique" instead of calling it a Mid Century Modern. 🤦‍♀️
.
We can't count how many locals came into this house and mentioned that those windows should be removed and walled up and the beams cut off. And then it would be a "normal" house. 🤯
.
Still can't really identify with people in this area. 🤷‍♀️ SO happy to be going back home to the East coast TOMORROW!
Right? We're getting back into the house restorat Right? 
We're getting back into the house restoration and we'll be working on the powder room in the master bed. 
Guys. It's bad. Swipe to see.
And we're going to try to make it pretty with a super tiny budget of $100 in 4 weeks and we're joining the #100roomchallenge to keep us (me) motivated.
The bedroom design is starting to come together th The bedroom design is starting to come together thanks to Craigslist and Goodwill. 
#OneRoomChallenge
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#oneroomchallenge #uglyplants #prettylamps
Roscoe got his (pretty bad) spring haircut today. Roscoe got his (pretty bad) spring haircut today. Good thing he still has a gorgeous face. #baddogmom
@little.victorian

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