TOUR MY
Master Bedroom
From ugly pink walls with aqua trim to a room I absolutely LOVE to wake up in.
This room. Now it’s everything I wanted and more. Even the closet, though small, is now mighty. Much of what we did in this room was cleanup. The only big expense was refinishing the hardwood floors (and they came out SO well!), but there were a lot of smaller expenses that did add up. It was all worth it though because this is now a sanctuary. And I finally understand how important one is :-).
For some reason, I failed to capture a lot of ‘before’ images. Bummer because the transformation is remarkable. There is one that will give you an idea, though, and quite a few ‘after’ pictures – keep reading…
Topics covered here
Overview
Before & Afters
All the Details
Room Views
Features I Love
Shopping Links
PROJECT overview
JUST THE FACTS, MAM

There weren’t a lot of big ticket items in this room, but a lot of smaller ones added up. We did all the work ourselves, except refinishing the hardwood floors. We were able to keep a few items from our ‘old’ room – the mattress and box spring were fairly new and we were able to re-finish a couple of furniture pieces and keep one so that helped. But I did splurge on a few things (like my bedroom drapes and my jewelry box which I adore). Because, well, it’s the bedroom.
COST BREAKDOWN
Bedding:
Decor: $339
Wall Art: $161
Flooring: $515
Furniture: $1426
Lighting: $114
Paint Supplies: $90
Plumbing Supplies: $150
Window treatments: $1320
TOTAL: $4394
Money doesn’t grow on trees. So how did we pay for this? Check out my post 6 Ways You Can Finance Your Renovation and I’ll fill you in!
 Time to complete: 2 months
Apr ’17Â Cleaned out the room (lots of trips to the dump and Goodwill). Moved our bed temporarily into the dressing room. Painted the walls and trim. Ordered much of the new furniture and decor.
May ’17 Refinished the hardwood floors (Northeast Flooring). Replaced the hallway light and the rest of the cleanup (us). Moved the bedroom furniture back in once the floors had cured (10 days).
For (non-affiliate) links to my purchases, see my shopping links below.
The time and money spent on this project were SO worth it!
- I wake up every day in a beautiful room, with the sun streaming in through the sheer linen drapes. It’s a peaceful, sweet way to get up in the morning and starts my day on the right foot every time.
- With a place for everything, nothing is ever lost in this room and it’s a snap to keep neat and clean. Even the closet.
Paint
Cost
There weren’t a lot of big ticket items in this room, but a lot of smaller ones added up.
We did all the work ourselves, except refinishing the hardwood floors. We were able to keep a few items from our ‘old’ room – the mattress and box spring were fairly new and we were able to re-finish a couple of furniture pieces and keep one so that helped. But I did splurge on a few things (like my bedroom drapes and my jewelry box which I adore). Because, well, it’s the bedroom.
COST BREAKDOWN
Bedding:
Decor: $339
Wall Art: $161
Flooring: $515
Furniture: $1426
Lighting: $114
Paint Supplies: $90
Plumbing Supplies: $150
Window treatments: $1320
TOTAL: $4394
Money doesn’t grow on trees. So how did we pay for this? Check out my post 6 Ways You Can Finance Your Renovation and I’ll fill you in!
Timing
 Time to complete: 2 months
Apr ’17Â Cleaned out the room (lots of trips to the dump and Goodwill). Moved our bed temporarily into the dressing room. Painted the walls and trim. Ordered much of the new furniture and decor.
May ’17 Refinished the hardwood floors (Northeast Flooring). Replaced the hallway light and the rest of the cleanup (us). Moved the bedroom furniture back in once the floors had cured (10 days).
Problems
Nothing out of the ordinary on this project, other than the occasional issues with our walls, which is becoming pretty normal.
Shopping
For (non-affiliate) links to my purchases, see my shopping links below.
Improvements
The time and money spent on this project were SO worth it!
- I wake up every day in a beautiful room, with the sun streaming in through the sheer linen drapes. It’s a peaceful, sweet way to get up in the morning and starts my day on the right foot every time.
- With a place for everything, nothing is ever lost in this room and it’s a snap to keep neat and clean. Even the closet.
before & AFTERS
What a remarkable difference!
The before pictures below were taken just before we closed on the house, over 25 years ago (not a lot changed until last year). After pictures were taken just recently.
all the DETAILS
WHAT WE DID AND HOW WE DID IT
One of the few pictures (there are a few more before pictures below) that even partially captures the awfulness of the ‘before’ room was a picture that I snapped when I was organizing a goodwill contribution. Notice the color of the trim and the general messiness around the bed, then check out what it looks like now, and then read about everything we did to bring about the transformation.
The first order of business was getting everything out of the room. We moved the bed temporarily to the dressing room, where we stayed until this project was completed. We gave away my old jewelry armoire. I completely cleaned out the closet (which had not been touched in over 10 years).
We also cleaned out the little sink room that sits in the corner of the bedroom (see below). This is a little gem of a room with not much more space than the small sink inside can occupy, and it features a gorgeous decorative window and a huge mirror that’s as old as the house itself. Here’s how it looks today:
We first repaired the walls and trim wherever necessary, then applied two coats of paint to both. Paint colors are listed towards the top of the page.
The floors were in bad need of refinishing, so we got the rest of the work done before we tackled the floors. Refinishing the floor was work that we hired out, click here to read all about our floor refinishing projects.
All the floors in our house are red oak, the rest of the house has skinny boards but the bedrooms have wide boards so we were curious to see how they would come out. We could not be happier with them! Here’s an ‘after’ picture of the floor:
There were a number of things left to do to finish off the space:
- Hung the new light fixture.
- Installed the new small sink in the little sink room.
- Cleaned and re-installed vintage light switches (buttons, actually) and face plates which I absolutely love.
- Painted the floor grate.
- Put all the new furniture and decor in place.
features I LOVE
Hover over the images for details (unless you’re on mobile, then tap on the image).
Jewelry box table
Framed by those beautiful sheer drapes with lots of little things I adore
Decorative window in the mini sink room
A beautiful way to look out at the world
Vintage light button, refinished
This is original to the house. Love!
Bedside Table
A just-the-right size table, refinished to match the colors in the room.
Curio Cabinet
Filled to the brim with memories, refinished to match the new colors in the room.
Picture Frames
Always half-price at Hobby Lobby!
Marla Duvet and Shams
Pottery Barn exclusive, I love the colors. See shopping links below.
Marrakesh Large Jewelry Box
I adore this jewelry box. See link below, it was worth every penny!
Cotton Tie-Top Panels
An Anthropology find (link below). I agonized over these for weeks before buying them but have no regrets. Even the details are so beautiful.
SHOPPING (and other) links
Some of my favorite parts of the room follow, with (non-affiliate) shopping links. Click or tap on the image to navigate to the link.
How about you?
Do you have a favorite area or room in your house that you’ve renovated? I’d love to hear about it. Please share in the comments below!
Your blog is absolutely stunning and your room turned out so pretty just perfect for your period home. Cannot wait to see more.
Thanks so much Lorna! I so appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to comment!