Master Bedroom - Take Two!

It’s been just over three years since we built and moved into our home, and I can hardly believe it. While we still love most of the choices we made at the time, a few have never felt quite right (or feel a bit dated already). I fully get the “first-world-problem” thing here, but hear me out. There are a LOT of often quick decisions to make building a home, and when you’re in the industry yourself, and know how many options are out there… let’s just say it was slightly overwhelming. And definitely the largest design undertaking I’ve done to date.

We built smack in the early/middle days of the “modern farmhouse” trend, and definitely leant into that, especially with the exterior. We do live on a bit of land outside the city limits after all, and so it made sense. There are many things I love about the simplicity, clean lines and fresh feeling of the whole house, but lately, I’m feeling a big pull toward more warmth.

We initially chose to paint much of our home white (Baby’s Breath by Benjamin Moore – a nice, fresh white with just the tiniest hint of grey in it). Our master bedroom faces south and has two tall, narrow windows flanking the bed. I figured there’s such a lot of white and light - let’s add some contrast with a black headboard wall. So, we did that. At that point in time, I’d seen it done a few times online, and liked the vibe. (Now, a Pinterest search will show you tons of great examples.) Maybe it felt young and sexy, all that contrast and black.... It definitely looked great with the warm wood furniture we had.

The totally fine, but chilly (professionally-photographed) before:

Many of your will prefer that edgier look this to the new makeover, and that’s okay! It was/ is a great vibe in a lot of ways. But fast-forward almost three years later, and my husband and I were both over it. As much as I love my mainly white walls, somehow in the bedroom, I wanted a less jarring, more cozy and comfy space. Something somehow more grown up. Maybe it was the pandemic anxiety we were feeling, but what I really wanted was a nice warm hug of a room.

My husband recently started carrying Farrow and Ball paint at work – bonus! I’d been wanting to try it out, so this was a perfect chance to do so. We went with Old White – a warm, light/mid-toned neutral with serious pea soup green undertones. That may not sound appealing to you, but I promise, it works! I said I wanted comfy and cozy, and what delivers that better than warm soup on a cold day? If you're in Southern Ontario, you can get it here: (Sarmazian Bros Flooring).

We decided that it was time to finally purchase a proper bed frame. When we moved in, we upgraded to a king-sized mattress. The room could handle it – in fact, was built for it - and we still had a young family who snuggled up with us. We cashed in our VISA points for some Wayfair gift cards, and I spent awhile researching affordable but attractive options with great ratings. We settled on a lovely grey linen upholstered frame that came within a couple of weeks and didn’t take a whole day to assemble! (Alrai Bed from Wayfair Pro)

The Inspo Board:

I sold our makeshift nightstands and lamps on Facebook Marketplace within an hour of listing them, and started on a hunt for new ones, but the vibe I was going for (a sort of warm, casual SoCal vibe) needed more vintage pieces. I wanted it to feel lived in and cozy – not brand new.

Usually, I’d prefer to mix and match the furniture pieces in the bedroom, but we did have the corresponding nightstand to our dresser in storage. Thanks to my in-laws’ propensity for quality, my husband’s childhood Sklar Peppler bedroom set was still in great condition, and back in style. The nightstands turned out to be one of my favourite features of the room. Our previous ones always felt puny next to the huge bed, but they did the job at the time. These (old) new ones are low riders and a great width to balance the king bed. They also happened to hit at the perfect height for our windows, not at all blocking that dreamy light. The late 70s/80s styling was bang on for the picture I had in my head.

The 3-D plan: (No, this probably wasn't a necessary step in this particular project, but I had time on my hands with homeschooling and no guests in the hair studio!)

Then, all that was left was the styling! We moved a cream wool rug from another space in our home to layer with the vintage Chobi we love, but was always too small. I ordered some long, olive green velvet curtains, and rods from IKEA (luxe look for less!). The contrast between the low bed and side table, and the long lines of the window really creates some drama and shows off the high ceiling. Next, I found some great textured lamps on Wayfair that fit the bill perfectly, (Biana lamp from Wayfair Pro). A couple of well-priced pieces at Homesense did the trick for art.

Here it is, up close.

And the other end - picture a sleek, black-framed arched floor length mirror in place of that one!

Here's a side-by-side - I still like both but I'd rather snooze in the new one!

Other than not loving the mirror I refinished from brown to gold, and maybe finding something like a modern mobile or hanging plant to fill that space over the headboard, I think we’re done. (Still on the hunt for a well-priced black arched full length to replace it, but no rush.)

Now, to figure out a way to keep my daughter from making it her constant hang out! I guess we’re all enjoying the big warm hug that is our So-Cal, grown-up master bedroom.

Have you tackled any projects in your own home during this weird pandemic year?

Let me know in the comments!

xo B