Yesterday, Sasha finally caved and bought something we’ve been talking about for months: a new king bed. He recently agreed to redo our bedroom, which is the only room in the house which didn’t get redone when we moved in together after our wedding. After months of pinning dream rooms and even publishing this dedicated master bedroom post, we embarked on the redesign process by buying the Isabel king bed from Ethan Allen (this is it, but we ordered it without the nail heads and with the diamond tufts). I am super excited.
For some reason, this room has caused me the most mental anguish – other rooms in the house were no-brainers when designing and decorating them. Perhaps it’s due to the small amount of time I have in the day to plan! So the other night I sat down on the computer, opened up Photoshop, and created our new bedroom – bed, nightstands, dresser, couch, desk, etc. Fortunately for Sasha, I like our current rug (and well, that’s about all).
[are you following along on Pinterest?]
After playing around with different pieces of furniture, I rearranged everything multiple times. In order to create out playroom, we recently moved the futon and my small desk into our large-and-previously barren room. Once the bed and nightstands arrive (we went for these ones), and we move the room around, we’ll decide if the futon needs to go back to the playroom. I definitely want a reading nook (à la this photo), so we’ll keep the floral chair we have in the room for now and add an accent table and perhaps snatch up a new chair if I see one for a good price at Home Goods (they sometimes have the best ones!). I am looking at different grays for the walls and thinking about even having an accent wall of some sort. Decisions, decisions.
So here we go, our new room ‘plan’:
Note: The bed shown above is ours from Ethan Allen, but the one linked is from Hayneedle and is very similar!
So, do you have a room you want to redesign? Here is my recommended approach on how to tackle the project.
- Find room inspiration on Pinterest, Houzz, Glitter Guide, Apartment Therapy, Apartment 34, HGTV and other design websites.
- Create a pinboard on Pinterest and pin all of the rooms you love to that board.
- Start adding similar pieces directly from furniture stores when you find them.
- Once you have a solid idea of what you want the room to look like and know which staple pieces you want to buy, create a collage of your room. You can use Photoshop if you have it, or go the more basic route and use PowerPoint (doesn’t have to look fancy!).
- Play around with the space – moving an image of a bed is much less laborious than moving the actual bed. I lay the pieces out the way they actually will look so that I had to turn the page around when it’s printed. This works best for my brain, but may not for yours!
- Once your furniture is decided on, order the biggest pieces first and wait for them to arrive (in our case, 8-10 weeks for the bed). Once those pieces arrive, make sure you are still 100% with the other items and order those.
- Arrange the room as you had planned and rearrange if necessary. Don’t be afraid to return something, even if it’s a pain to box it back up and ship it away. You’ll regret not taking the time to do this in a year.
- Then comes decorating. This is separate in my mind from design. Designing involves the layout and big furniture items. At this point, you’ll have a color scheme and style chosen. Using the inspiration rooms, start scouring the internet and local stores for paintings, lamps, candles, frames, books, flowers, prints, foliage, etc. Some of my favorite stores for fun decor include: Society Social, Jonathan Adler, Lulu and Georgia, West Elm, Anthropologie, World Market, C. Wonder, Biscuit Home and the Nate Berkus and Threshold collections at Target.
- Once you’re done, take photos and return the favor by pinning them to Pinterest!
What about you? I would truly love to hear about how you go about a room or house redesign. Do you pin photos? Or just buy a staple piece and work around that? Or is it sporadic purchases which miraculously all come together in the end? Please share your approach in the comments below.
12 Comments
I blame SAMT for this new bedroom set! This is one expensive post 🙂
Ha, you are silly.
I am not this methodical, but perhaps should be. I do pin a lot, but am guilty of ordering items off One Kings Lane and making them work when they all arrive.
It’s kind of neurotic, but it’s the only way I can do it! My SIL did the same with OKL and her apartment is perfect.
Love the new bed. We have a couch from Ethan Allen and love it. I use Pinterest for design – hadn’t thought of making a collage. Good idea!
Thank you, Jessica! We’re excited about it!! Pinterest is amazing, right?
Wow, it’s gettin’ sexy over there! I think Isla will have a new friend to play with, real soon 😉 I love this post and your design sensibilities. I know you’ll have much fun getting it all set up and then posting the reveal. Maybe you can show us some ‘progress’ photos in the coming weeks!
Ha, I love you. WAITTTT, a new friend… REALLY?
I’m very excited to get the pieces and start to play (then order the rest!). Poor Sasha!
can’t wait to see the finished room, love the pieces you’ve chosen so far!!!
you’re very organized… love it.
Thank you Mara!!! I may be organized about this… but you don’t want to see my desk right now. Disaster!
Love the new bed + nightstands! This new room is so you. I used to buy one thing at a time, but realized new items didn’t always work with the old, then I’d have to return or sell what no longer fit. I like your process way better!
xxChristie
http://www.KiKiMac.me
PS- Pretty new signature!
Thank you!!! You’re so sweet. It’s way nicer to be able to buy one thing at a time (and Sasha would much prefer) but when you’re going from dark wood to white and mirrored, it doesn’t work as easily! I need to sell this set on Craigslist… or join Memorial Trading Club (is that what it’s called?).
xoxox