Bedroom: Before and After

It only took several months....But my bedroom is finally ready! From a mustard yellow, terribly painted room to your basic white IKEA paradise. 

Before I really get into insulting the previous space, I have to say that it did have a lot of good qualities to begin with. Here is the view when you walk in through the door. The floors were nice, a faux wood, but a nice color. The space is also pretty big for a 900sq condo. I easily fit in a queen bed and two dressers along one wall. There is also a big window that lets in lots of light (and looks at the metro station, can't have it all). 

Also, the condo used to be a rental and it showed. The painting was done very poorly with splashes on the ceiling and windowsill. The baseboards were not done well at all. There were strange holes in the wall. But these were mostly cosmetic and all it took in this room was a new coat of paint and some furniture. 

You can see some of the paint samples we were trying out. We needed up going with Temperate Taupe by Behr and I think it was a great choice. It looks grey in some rooms and mauve in others. So even though the place is painted the same color throughout (I have no imagination), the rooms do look different. I kept all the trims white because I thought that was a modern, clean combo. 

Also, as you can see, I do have a sink open to the room. I did try to match my furniture to the vanity to have a cohesive look. I still feel pretty ambivalent about it. I guess you have to put sinks where you have room. 

For my furniture, I knew that I really wanted a lot of storage. I also wanted a very clean and white look. Basically the plan called for a whole bunch of damage at IKEA. 

My bed is the MALM in queen. I also have two rolling storage units underneath. I could have had four, but I felt like the dressers would make them difficult to roll out completely. The dressers are also MALM, the 3 drawer and the 5. My sheets and bedding are basic white from Amazon. I also invested in lots of bleach. 

My nightstand is super simple. Because the chest is so big, everything is stored in the drawers. The lamp is a vintage piece from good ol' Goodwill with a shade that was found at another Goodwill. Always make sure you buy the right shade for the type of lamp you have. (Not that I did otherwise...twice).  The books are from Goodwill (Kevin Aucoin), Kate Spade (2016 planner) and Dollar tree! The white flowers are a Homegoods staple. 

As you can see I was very committed to a white, pink and gold theme. The birds/bookends? are thrifted, as is the box, the (fake shhh) orchid is from IKEA and the acrylic tray from Homegoods. The acrylic tray has a story. It used to be hot pink on the bottom with some weird saying. I simply got some nail polish remover and scrubbed off the paint. And then I had a nice plain white acrylic tray.  Something to try with those ugly trays that are always in the bottom of the pile at the sale isle. 

This is the wall opposite to the bed and more of a "work" area. The desk is the LINMON table with ALEX drawers. The chair is SKRUVSTA (from Craigslist, always check because you can get IKEA stuff for even cheaper!) and the mirror is NISSEDAL (best big mirror you can get for $50). I should also mention the rug is an Amazon purchase. I searched for something like "white shag rug" and got a lot of options. 

I decided to go really simple on my desk too. Probably because it's going to be covered and lots of books, notes and tears soon. The painting is from Homegoods. I had my eye on it for a while and then it got clearance because of a scratch at the lower frame part. I just leaned it against a wall, put a box in front and VOILA. Obviously well established design rules. Lamp is also IKEA. And the box and gold doodad tower are thrifted. 

So there you have it. I was trying very hard to stay on budget for this room, but to also have a modern  space that didn't look like it was filled with Craigslist furniture. I found that IKEA was a great choice, and I made sure to add personality with some thrifted pieces.