Bedroom Makeover: Before & After in Our Master Bedroom
I’ve been SO excited to reveal this bedroom makeover before and after to you, friend! I’ve waited for this renovation for such a long time and poured so much time, love, and effort into this project. It deserves to be in the spotlight, don’t you think?
I hope this bedroom makeover before and after serves as a little dose of inspiration for you today — and I’m so glad that I’ve finally mastered the master!
The Backstory of This Bedroom Makeover Before and After
I loved living in Manhattan, for so many different reasons. But in our small apartment, my bedroom was also my home office. So, when we moved out to the ‘burbs of Boston I dreamed of having a beautiful master bedroom. (And also a G+G HQ, which I also recently designed!)
Year after year, another project always seemed to take priority. We decorated the main living spaces, then we tackled the kids’ rooms, then we finished our basement. After living in our house for almost seven years, I decided it was finally time to do the master... but we were on a limited budget after our massive basement project.
There’s nothing like a room that’s been custom-designed by a designer, but since it wasn’t a reality for our budget (and since I had spent so much time thinking about the look I wanted to achieve), I was confident I could decorate it with a mix of low-cost options and a few custom touches.
My goal was to create a room that was sleek and sexy, but also super cozy and comfortable.
The Before of This Bedroom Makeover
There was zero sexy about the before in this bedroom makeover before and after.
The furniture was from our first condo, and it followed us to NYC and out to the ‘burbs. We had thankfully already upgraded to a king bed when we moved out of the city, so that’s the one piece that stayed in this makeover project.
Making a Plan
Our master bedroom is a pretty big space, and I planned to redo everything but the bed. Given the goal of soothing and sexy, and my style throughout the house already, I knew the room would need to be a combination of modern and traditional.
The one thing my heart was set on was incorporating a Galbraith and Paul fabric in light blue that I’d fallen in love with. I love the clean and crisp look of white, so I pictured using a lot of white and light blue.
Starting with the furniture, I did all of my shopping online on sites like Wayfair.com, Overstock.com, and One Kings Lane. I don’t enjoy shopping in general and didn’t have much time available given how busy I was with clients. Shopping online allows you to see a huge number of looks and pieces of furniture very quickly. If you can wield a tape measure, it’s pretty easy to picture the pieces in your home without seeing them in person.
I was on the hunt for two nightstands, a dresser for some of my husband’s clothes, a bench for the foot of the bed, and some sort of cozy seating option for under the window by the TV.
The Bedroom Makeover Before and After Reveal
I am over the moon about how our bedroom makeover turned out. I finally have the sleek, sexy, super relaxing master bedroom of my dreams!
It took a lot of work and plenty of research, but I was able to find some pieces that I really love.
Shopping Time: What Did I Find and Where?
Nightstands
I was excited to find nightstands at Overstock. They are the perfect size, with a crisp modern look. The Lucite legs and handles add a bit of glam.
Bench
I had seen some great benches at our local HomeSense store, and when I came across the one pictured, I knew it was perfect for our master bedroom space.
Lamps
We found this set of lamps that go with the aesthetic of the room perfectly and completed the setup with small white cube alarm clocks. They fit right in and don’t glow throughout the night.
Dresser
The dresser we found was just the right size. While it didn’t initially have a glam look for the room, I figured it would be good enough because it balanced out the feminine with its more masculine look, and gave us a spot for the TV equipment.
To connect it better to the rest of the room, we replaced the knobs to match the nightstands. With that simple hardware change, it was perfect!
Chaise
Our space allowed for a small loveseat or an oversized chair. This was a tough ‘perfect fit’ to find because I wanted it to look good, but it had to be cozy.
This is the one spot in the room that I know would look better with a custom piece to perfectly fit the space. But considering this chaise is right off the shelf, the spot is super cozy and has become my favorite place in the house to lounge.
Bedding
Beyond the furniture, the project required bedding and pillows, an area rug, drapes, and art for the walls. With all of the items above being either white or neutral, it was time to bring in some patterns and color.
I decided that the perfect place to bring in the light blue Galbraith and Paul fabric I loved was with the throw pillows! I would have loved to use it for drapes, but the cost was way too high.
My plan for the bedding was to have crisp white linens, which I find super soothing. All of the bedding came from Bed Bath & Beyond, and I had the pillows custom made at an interior design store in my town.
Rug
Ordering rugs online has always been a bit of a challenge for me. I find that the colors in person never quite match how they look online. However, I was confident that this one from One Kings Lane would look great even with a little variation in the color, and fortunately, it did! It’s one of my favorite pieces in the house and works with all the furniture.
Drapes
I have tried and tried to recreate the look of custom drapes with off the shelf options, and I have yet to succeed. So, this is the one area where I am always willing to put my money.
Given that we had a lot of window to cover, I went with a relatively plain and inexpensive fabric but added the blue tape to bring in color and dress up the room.
Art
I fell in love with this photograph by Christine Flynn that I found at One Kings Lane. Horses are my good luck animal and the serene background matched the feel I was going for in the room.
A Recap on This Bedroom Makeover Before and After
There was tons of furniture and accessories to buy for this room. While working with a designer likely would have made the project go faster, it also would have been 3x more expensive. And it would have required me to spend a lot more time on this project during the day, which I didn’t have given my professional organizing commitments.
Doing this bedroom makeover on my own allowed me to do all of the shopping and planning at night when I had the time. I’m so happy with how it all came out, and I feel extra satisfied when I lounge on the chaise knowing that I did it all myself and on a tight(ish) budget!
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