Bedroom - Before and Afters

The bedroom. At 19 years old I realized that I don't have many more years that I can deck out my bedroom in whites, crystals, frills, lace...some day (Lord willing) I will be married and will have to let go of the feminine victorian décor that I love oh so much. So I went all out. Had to get it out of my system.

I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to buy a house with so much wallpaper.

Painted the trim and walls. The trim is Benjamin Moore - White Dove. You may have heard of it. It's a really popular white. I love it. The walls are Benjamin Moore - Winter Solstice. I was going for a calming, eloquent gray. I think Winter Solstice nailed it.

Next the floors - I LOVE hardwood. I think that people who put carpet over hardwood are crazy. Just crazy. I was thrilled to find hardwood under the carpet - in good shape too! But it was orange. Very orange, as you can see. So we decided to refinish it. It was really hard finding a stain to cover it. I wanted to go with a lighter look but the red oak was showing through terribly and everything I tested showed pink/orange. So I went dark. The dark stain actually had a pretty strong green undertone. I picked it because green evens out red. I was nervous, but it worked! I see no green in my floors.

First we sanded.

Then one coat of stain, and THREE of varnish (two is recommended, three is better). My Dad helped SO much with these floors. He pretty much sanded the main areas while I did the corners with a little corner sander thing (still getting familiar with the names of all these tools). Then we both stained. One of these days I will post a detailed "How-to" refinish hardwood post.

Oh and you should probably wear long gloves. My arms were stained with stain for days. I told my mom that I thought something was wrong with me and wondered if I should go to the doctor. She FREAKED out. It was a good laugh.

Anyway, the floors turned out great! I loved the dark contrast with the light walls.

Ignore me in the mirror.

I decided to decorate with all white to keep it simple and eloquent.

I got the dresser for $40 at a garage sale! (my mom found it and called me, kudos to her!)

Check out the $19, 10 minute chandelier tutorial here.

See my bedframe? I looked for an iron bedframe for MONTHS - amazon, thrift stores, retail stores, garage sale, etc. Everything I found was so expensive. I finally drove by an old purple and gold wraught iron CRIB in the trash and turned it into this daybed! I'll post that one soon too.

That bedspread is from Target - the "Shabby Chic" collection. I got all those white pillows at a thrift store for about $2-$3 each (and washed them of course). The curtains are from Ikea - $20 for two panels. The big white rug - I bought a piece of carpet and got it bound. Unfortunately, it was a few years ago so I don't remember how much it was! But if you're looking - HomeGoods is a great place to find reasonably prices rugs. I always look there first.

Sincerely,
Considering dying single, buried with my crystal chandeliers and lace curtains