My Bedroom Redo Reveal!

I now have a whole new respect for interior design bloggers, you guys. Trying to both makeover a room and then make it look good on camera has completely worn me out. But, at long last and after several tries, here's the best I can make our new bedroom look:

My goal was to make our room like something out of Restoration Hardware: mostly colorless, lots of vintage textures, and a hefty dose of sparkle. It's a complete 180 from how our room used to look. (Brace yourself):

For the last 8 years or so our bedroom has been a dark Indian-inspired tent, complete with an actual fabric tented ceiling, bright orange striéd walls, colorful bottles and lamps, and bedding made from fuchsia, red, and orange satin. It was hot in every sense of the word, and I adored it, but after so long I was ready for a change. (And poor John was, too. This really was MY room more than his.)

I snapped a quick photo before we began demo, so here's the ugly "Before" picture with our cotton summer bedding and extra clutter:



And, after about three months of work, the After:
 

John and I poured a staggering amount of work into this room, but I think it should last us another 8 years, easy. :) Here, lemme walk you through the process:
 

First we tore down the tent ceiling, primed the walls, ripped up the carpet, and patched the broken tile underneath with concrete:

 There may also be a patch with the Epbot bot on it. What.

Next we laid down this fantastic vinyl plank flooring that looks like wood but feels like linoleum, so it's a bit warmer/softer on the feet. It also requires no underlayment, so you can lay it right over tile! Woot!

Once that was down, John installed all new base and crown molding, ran all the electrical wiring for our new lights, and we painted the walls a putty color that wasn't really as green as this looks.

Next I took 2 or 3 days to refinish the walls in a soft-looking but very scratchy-feeling plaster finish, using Valspar's Brushed Suede paint from Lowe's. I did the entire room with that little brush, and was very, VERY happy when it was finally done.

While I worked on the walls, John covered our old popcorn ceiling with more of those miraculous styrofoam ceiling tiles. (Some were a bit wonky, but after 3 or 4 tubes of caulking and a coat of paint, they look beeeYOOteeful.)

Next came our new pendant lights, which I made myself by ordering all the bits separately and wiring them up. (This was shockingly easy, and cost half as much as buying them fully assembled. I'll have a tutorial with source links soon!)

The curtain was an impulse buy at Ikea; it's a soft velvet-like material that goes beautifully with the plaster walls. I didn't like the modern grommet hangers, though, so we sewed a new pocket in the bottom of the curtains and hung them upside down. Our linen bedding is also from Ikea.

(We only have the one small window in our room, but since we work all night and sleep during the day, we keep it covered at all times. That's why I went with lighter colors and lots of mirrors; to maximize the artificial light.)

Next we made the clock and giant antiqued mirror panels, which took about a week, all told. (The mirror panels will also get their own tutorial, so I won't go into those here.)

Then John made us a new headboard - with a secret:

See those cut-outs on the side? That's where our embedded light switches go, to control our respective pendant lights. SO COOL, amiright?

We covered the front and top with upholstery foam, and then stapled on a layer of dark brown linen. It's not perfect, but it's dark enough that I don't think the odd lumpy wrinkle shows:

Plus, I did mention the light switches, right?? They're dimmers, so we can set our new pendant lights to a gorgeous soft glow. It's super awesome.

Funny story about that fan: I think I looked through every fan in existence to find one I thought would look right in a Restoration Hardware store - my guideline for the whole room. This was the only one I thought could work. Then, a few days after I ordered it on Amazon, I discovered Restoration Hardware was selling this very fan on their website - and it was one of only 3 fans they carry total. Ha! So I guess I got that part right, at least!

The artwork on my side are pencil sketches by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, in $10 Hobby Lobby frames:

Our Hobby Lobby framing department is terrible for ordering anything custom (they're lost or messed up nearly every order we've made), but if you just want an in-stock mat & frame, they're great. You can bring your art in, have a mat cut in five minutes, and then assemble it all yourself at their framing station, which has everything from glass cleaner to hanging hardware right at your fingertips.

We looked everywhere for a good starburst mirror, but I guess those are starting to go out of style? Or maybe they're still so in style that they're all sold out? Well, no matter: we just made our own! And it was CHEAP, too - only about $15 for materials.

 

 The secret is that automotive stick-on mirror - only $5 at Discount Auto Parts. Awww yeeeeah.

I used this fantastic tutorial by Allison, but instead of silver leaf - which is messy and tedious - I just used chrome spray paint. Easy peasy! Also, instead of a cardboard center, John made a more durable (and excessively complicated) one out of wood:

 Then he drilled a small hole in the top spoke and hung the mirror from our curtain rod with clear fishing line, so it looks like it's floating:

Hi, Lily!

 

Embarrassing as this is to admit, I'm still not done with the other side of the room, so no pictures of that for you! (I'm stuck on my vanity; I still need a new stool, and I'm not happy with the mirror.  We also have a skinny bare corner to fill, and I'm not sure a generic fake tree is the answer. If you guys have any suggestions, throw them in the comments, won't you?)

I will show you my fantabulous new silver horsey, though:

 Isn't he adorable? (Home Goods, baby!) That horse and lamp are quite possibly the most glamorous things in my home. I feel spoiled just looking at them.

(That wall's not finished, btw; we still have to hang the big metal piece and maybe switch out the plant.)

I also snuck my seahorse statue from the back room onto John's nightstand:

K, I think that's everything! (If I missed anything, feel free to ask me in the comments.) Hope you guys liked seeing my new Sabbatical Space! It really was the perfect project while I was away - a cool retreat from all the golds and rich colors of the rest of the house, but still with lots of sparkly personality. I hope. :)

Stay tuned for instructions on the pendants lights and antiqued mirrors, plus the announcement of the creepy doll mobile winner!