Before: a room that serves a purpose, but has no personality or style.
This began as an act of kindness for a friend. Erin Cononie of Damsel in Distress Vintage (one of our temporary dealers who’ll be at Chartreuse & co for Market Days, April 15-17) took on the exciting task of completely redesigning her friend’s bedroom. While you can see that the bones of the furniture are great, the space needed some attention. So while her friend was away for a few days, Erin went to work.
- Place furniture
First step in any room design is place the furniture where is gives the best flow.
- TIP: If possible, this task is easiest if you have space to remove everything but the structure pieces from the room. It’s easier to move and to see the space that way. But sometimes this just isn’t feasible, so you just work around the extra stuff.
Begin by considering the way you use and want to move through a space, and the furniture will place itself (with the help of a couple of strong guys!).
In this case, the bed has been moved away from the side wall and is placed where you can enjoy the view from your bed. Also, on a practical level, it’s much easier to make a bed when it’s not up against a wall. And finally, I always like to be greeted by the bed itself when I enter a bedroom. It’s just more welcoming that way.
2. Gather your new items in one area.
Place all the new items in an area outside the room so you can carefully choose from them as the decor comes together.
- TIP: Do any work on these items BEFORE you begin the decorating process. Trust me, it’s just easier that way.
Inexpensive candlesticks found at Goodwill – ready for a make-over
Look at how fresh these are after a fresh coat of paint and some antiquing wax.
3. Unify with color.
Erin chose a soft, creamy white with blue accents. The entire point of the makeover to create a soothing, feminine space. This palette works well.
4. Calm with symmetry.
The final placement of the wall art and furniture gives balance to the space, and naturally soothes.
- TIP: Vintage frames are an inexpensive and versatile way to create ‘wall art’. Here the wreaths can be replaced seasonally. Try contrast in the paint color with the walls for dramatic effect.
5. Place lighting throughout.
Note the impact of the table lamp’s light on the room. I rarely use overhead lighting in a room. While I love the look of chandeliers, when I’m in a space, I only want the eye-level lighting turned on. It’s warmth and immediacy welcome you in a way the flood of light from above never can.
So there you have it: a complete transformation from utilitarian to soft comfort with just a few cans of paint, some ingenuity, and a couple of days’ work.
Erin, and dozens of other talented dealers and designers, will be showing at Chartreuse & co next weekend, April 15-17 during Market Days.
Thanks for reading,
Virginia