Primary Bedroom
As we get closer to our whole house renovation - which will be happening this calendar year, thank God - I’m allowing myself to start designing the new iterations of rooms. Mostly I’m doing it for fun, but there is a practical element to it, too: if we know what furniture we want to use post-renovation, we can sell or donate the rest when we move out and won’t have to pay to store it.
My friend Heather wrote a post a few months ago about the pressures of decorating a “grown-up” home, and I know exactly what she means because we’ve been telling ourselves since we moved into our house that it wouldn’t be our grown-up home until after the renovation. Almost anything we did before the renovation could be temporary - from the adhesive backsplash in the kitchen that has started peeling off to the paint that’s in deperate need of touch-ups and from the too-small rugs that came with us from our old apartment to the Ikea dressers that are in various stages of disintegration. They didn’t really matter because they weren’t for keeps. Buying the house was the investment to start; everything else could be put off until after the renovation.
So, while I do like our primary bedroom in its current state, it’s definitely not our “grown-up” primary bedroom. That’s what I’m planning now.
Structually, the primary bedroom will only see minor changes. We’ll be adding central air and heat, which means we’ll be able to get rid of the radiator and reclaim that floor space. And, as you can see below, the closet currently sticks outside of the bedroom; it’s narrow and deep and not a good use of space. We’ll incorporate it into the bathroom, which is behind the primary bedroom, when we renovate, and we’ll build a six-foot wide reach-in closet in the room.
The layout is going to stay the same because there isn’t much space to get more creative, but we are going to change out every piece of furniture and most of the decor in the room. (Note: we did think about putting the bed against the windows on the short wall, but the windows aren’t centered and the dissymmetry would drive me insane.) Take a look at the floor plans below and then we’ll dive into my moodboard!
Because of the width of the room, which only measures 10’4”, we need a shallow dresser across from the bed. I use an Ikea Tarva right now and would love to upgrade to Room and Board’s ten-drawer Emerson dresser. It’s 18” deep, 2” more than the Tarva, but it’s shockingly hard to find shallow dressers! Jon’s current dresser is a huge beautiful antique cherrywood piece that we inherited from my grandparents, but it’s not his style and there won’t be room for it once we build out the closet. I’m hoping his clothes will all be managed by the closet system we’ll install but, if not, we’ll swap out the matching nightstands (19”w and 38”h) for three-drawer dressers (36”w and 35”h) from the same line. That’ll be a bit more of a squeeze but it should work!
Speaking of storage, I know I want an upholstered bed with storage underneath. At the moment, we have a second-hand headboard I bought off FBMP and a bed frame; I like the headboard but want every piece in the bedroom to be as useful as possible. The bed below isn’t exactly what we want - it’s a gray velvet and I’d prefer a gray linen - but it’s the right shape and size.
The sconces will be new, too, replacing Ikea lamps I’ve had since 2013, and the rug will be as well. I’m dying to put grasscloth on the walls, though think we’ll have to go for faux rather than the real deal because of the expense. The sea green roller shades are in our room now and might as well stay, but we’ll add some curtains (or at least valances, depending on how much yardage is needed for each) made from this Fermoi fabric I bought off a local interior designer on Instagram last year.
The chair pictured is similar to one that was handed down to us by a neighbor a while ago; it’s currently painted navy blue and lives in the living room, and I think I’ll either strip it all the way down or repaint it. It’s going where Charlie’s bed is now, as I doubt that Charlie - who will be about 14 when the renovation is finished - will be able to climb the stairs when we move back in. If he can, though, he obviously takes priority! And, last but not least, I’m looking forward to hunting for a black and gold antique mirror.
The image below makes me feel so peaceful. It’s pretty similar, stylistically, to what we have now… just more grown-up.
