Posted by
Katherine Scarrow
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 5:34 PM EDT
Real People, Renovating. Today we continue our seven-part series written by Katherine Scarrow, who decided to renovate an original condition 1940s bungalow with her boyfriend, Chris. “It didn’t seem like such a big fat scary deal to him,” she says, while she brought “abundant enthusiasm and profound naïveté” to the project. Why the difference in attitude? Chris was born into a family of builders and designers, while Katherine “grew up in a home where no one was even remotely deft with a hammer.”
Part 5: The Bedroom
The look:
Shabby chic bedroom-by-the-sea.
The challenge:
This room was pretty grim when we moved in; let’s just say, it wasn’t exactly the place you’d want to cuddle up in bed at night. As if tobacco-stained walls and a gaudy, heavy Venetian ceiling fan weren’t bad enough, the floor was in seriously rough shape — so much so, we couldn’t even refinish it (as we were able to do in the living room). After some debate, we decided to keep (versus rip out and replace) the floor and just paint it white, which ended up working out because it seems to grow more charming with every scuff and mark.
Approx. cost:
TOTAL: $900
Armoire: $380
Three-drawer chest: $200
Antique side table: $150
Small stepladder: $40
Trellis headboard: $30
Curtains: $22
Curtain for closet (made out of sugar sacks — I cut them open): $40
Table lamp: $20
The Before:
The original bedroom, avec tobacco-stained walls and gaudy ceiling fan
The Results:
The renovated bedroom; note the distressed trellis, creatively converted into a headboard
The IKEA armoire and vintage step ladder as side table.
The renovated bedroom from another angle; note the homemade sugar-sack closet curtains and the antique mirror over the chest of drawers
The Splurge:
The worn-out antique mirror overtop of the desk of drawers set us back a few dollars, but it lends a beautiful vintage vibe to the space and opens up the room.
The Steal:
By far, the biggest steal was the distressed trellis that we converted into a headboard. We spotted it at Christie's Antique Show; it was leaning up against a tree, in pretty rough shape. The man at the booth sold it to us for $30. We had to scrub it down quite a bit when we got home, but we're thrilled that it fit perfectly as a headboard in our bedroom. We love the well-worn nature of the slats, and it fits in perfectly with the look we’re trying to achieve.
What we would have done differently:
Had we the cash at the time, it would’ve been nice to purchase an older, perhaps smaller, armoire.
Design Difficulty?
On a scale of 1 to 5 Sarah Richardson heads — 5 representing the highest level of design difficulty — we give this space a 1. The white painted floor and the headboard really brought this room together.
We strongly recommend:
Want to brighten up a room? Paint the floor! Using a durable indoor paint from Benjamin Moore, we gave our bedroom an instant facelift that made it feel surprisingly cozy.
Resources:
Armoire: IKEA “HEMNES”
Dresser, curtains: IKEA “WILMA”
Lamp: IKEA “JONSBO EGBY”
Antique side table, step ladder: Christie’s Antiques Show
Trellis headboard: Christie’s Antiques Show
Sugar-sack closet curtain: SMASH
Next Up — Curb Appeal!
