Preppy Cottage Bedroom Reveal

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Finally! In the wee hours of the morning, I finished my cottage update, and I couldn't be happier with the results. What started out as bland and run-of-the-mill is now crisp and vibrant. In order to appreciate where we are now, you have to understand where we started. On that note, let's take a brief and slightly unpleasant stroll down memory lane...

Remember these photos? Here is what we started with last spring. Dark, dirty and depressing.

PHASE ONE: THE CLEANUP

First, we painted the walls with Benjamin Moore's Shaker Beige, a great neutral base, and updated the trim with some high gloss white paint.

Next, we took up the stained, dated carpet and were pleasantly surprised to find birch floors, which we promptly refinished.

For lighting, I opted to hang pendants on either side of the bed. I didn't want to compromise my table space with lamps.

Finally, we brought in some secondhand furniture picked up by a friend at a garage sale
and hung floor-to-ceiling white linen curtains to try and add height to the seven-foot ceilings.

The room was livable and clean, but boring and totally devoid of personality.

In short, not bad...for a first draft.

PHASE TWO: THE MAKEOVER

I lived with the room for a year, then got "the itch." I needed to put some more "me" into the room by adding color, texture and pattern. My mission: move from bland to bold.

First, I got rid of the bulky bed (people with long strides don't do well with footboards - ouch!) and made this upholstered headboard using 3/4" MDF, Sunbrella fabric and gold nail head trim.

Next, I painted the oak dresser with Annie Sloan's chalk paint in Linen White and added a lamp I picked up for one whole dollar last week. I painted the lamp blue to balance the blue in the headboard across the room.

Remember the blue dresser I had in the living room?

I paired it back up with its partner and painted both Mossy Green by Behr. I used Brasso to restore the gold finish to the knobs which, not so coincidentally, mirror the square shape of the stencil on my accent wall. I also added gold braces to the corners as accents to give them that "campaign" look. You can see some of my favorite pieces of yard sale art hanging around the room.

Next came the stenciled accent wall. Using Royal Design Studio's large Hollywood Squares stencil and Martha Stewart's Tiger Eye metallic paint, I created the look of an expensive wall covering for a fraction of the cost.

 

I picked up some great beads at a yard sale for a buck and have been wearing them non-stop. They also function as a nice pop of color for the new design scheme.

For a small room, we have a ton of storage, with three closets and even an en suite bath, which is just a VISION in pink tile...stay tuned for a future update of that room.

This shade will do for now, but I'm in the market for a shorter harp and something with a bit more style. I do love this metal box that I picked up at a yard sale. It's the perfect place to store my camera and lenses.

I anticipate growing this collection as I find more pieces in my travels.

I'm still smitten with my $5 desk! There's nothing some sanding, scrubbing, shellac and wax can't cure!

MAKEOVER COST

Stencil - $56

Paint (green and gold) - $20

Desk - $5

Lamp - $1

Metal Box - $5

Jewelry Dish - $1

Nightstands - $60/pair

Dresser - $50

Brasso  - $0 (had it already)

Bedding - $69 (TJ Maxx)

Sunbrella - $21

Nail heads - $17/roll (had them already)

Yard sale art - $8

Curtains - $40 (IKEA)

Total Room Budget = $335.00

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