Sharing the “before” and “after” (actually “afters” since this space got two makeovers in the time we lived in our home) of our master bedroom!
(post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here})
Our master bedroom was quite a sight when we first moved in – gotta love the faux finished blue walls, overhead boob light, and mishmash of furniture:

We lived with it like this for three long years while we focused on renovating other parts of our home but then I joined in the One Room Challenge and during the course of six weeks, our bedroom went through the first of its two transformations. This was the newly made-over look:

One of the most obvious changes is the walls – the whole cracked, faux finished mess was covered in faux shiplap:

and painted in Farrow & Ball’s All White which provided the perfect backdrop for all of the gray tones I was throwing into the space. I share all of the details for DIYing your own shiplap walls in my full post on our DIY shiplap walls.
I was on a tight timeline for getting a new headboard in order to finish for my One Room Challenge reveal so I ended up snagging this cheap headboard on Craigslist, adding some extra height to it,

and painting it with Benjamin Moore Steel Wool. For the bedding, my jumping off point was the Schumacher fabric that’s on the front pillow, which was made for me by the lovely Linda of Pillow Time Girls. You can find it in her Etsy shop in a square size {here} but she’ll also sew up custom orders in any size that you need.

The linen shams are {these beauties} and the euro shams were made with {this gorgeous indoor/outdoor fabric}. The quilt is {this one} in Flagstone – it’s definitely stood the test of time and it washes like a dream! The drapes are {these lined blackouts} in charcoal and the linen ruffled bed skirt is from Pine Cone Hill but is no longer available.
For lighting on both sides of the bed, I went with {these swing arm sconces} so that we don’t have lamps using up the little nightstand space that we have. The sconces swing towards the bed, can be raised up and down, and the shades pivot at the top – love! And speaking of nightstands, the nightstands that I had bought for the room ended up being too wide after I went with a wider than planned headboard so I ended up with {these 16″ wide gunmetal nightstands}. It’s hard to find nightstands that are as narrow as this – I’ve gathered together my 15 favorite narrow nightstands in {this post} if you’re on the hunt!

At the foot of the bed, I stuck with my original design plan and used a pair of camp stools similar to {these} that are the perfect place to stack all of our new bed pillows before crawling into bed at night. The rug is {this braided beauty} that added some great texture.

For overhead lighting, I switched the old boob light out to this scalloped beauty found {here} – love it! You can check out my other flush mount lighting favorites in {this post}.
And did you notice a few other changes to that previously ugly corner?

For one, my worn chair was given a new life after being painted with Velvet Finishes “Luxurious” and reupholstered with an oversized buffalo check fabric – I’m totally smitten by it! And I have new artwork – it’s {this Minted print} by Jorey Hurley framed in an amazing acrylic and brass frame found {here}:

The photos don’t do this frame justice – it’s gorgeous!!

Across the way, things were also looking pretty darn sad before our makeover. We had a dark wood dresser with not a single thing on the wall above it:

I kept the dresser but gave it a whole new look with a few coats of paint and hung {this large round mirror} above it. The mirror came in a beautiful bronze finish but I used {this amazing stuff} to make a quick and easy change to a gold leaf finish that fit a little better with the design of my space:

The dresser paint color is Farrow & Ball’s Worsted which is a rich greige. It’s truly a stunning color with a lot of depth. The dresser knobs are {these mother of pearl knobs} that are my never-fail favorites:

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I kept the styling of my dresser super simple with {this lamp}, my thrifted planter girl head thingy, and two pieces of layered art from Minted including {this piece} by Melanie Severin and {this piece} by Renee Anne:

Our closet got a makeover too! Before it had two bifold doors and a center section that basically made half of the closet very difficult to access. So not cool:

I had my contractor remove the doors and the center support and then had the back of the closet wallpapered in {this phenomenal Farrow & Ball paisley paper}. I also kicked the old wood clothing rods to the curb and added some glam new acrylic and gold ones:

At the opening of the closet, I added a rod (a spray painted plumbing pipe from Lowe’s) and white linen IKEA drapes that I can pull closed when needed:

For the full details on our closet makeover, see {this post}
But come on, who wants to close the drapes when you’ve got this gorgeousness inside??

We already had built-in shelving on the left side of the closet but never used it very efficiently – I lucked into finding some great fabric bins at Lowes that were perfect fits for my space! Now instead of trying to see what’s buried back in the dark cubbies I can just pull out the fabric bins and easily get a good look at what’s inside:

That wraps up makeover #1 but a few years later I finally bought the bed I’d been wanting for forever and I did a little room refresh with a couple new additions too:

I bought {this upholstered bed} in a great neutral fabric – I absolutely love the classic, simple style. I also changed out the rug to {this braided jute beauty} that you can see more of in {this post}. I also changed out the nightstands since our new bed is much lower so shorter nightstands were needed – I went with {these gray nightstands} that work beautifully:

For bedside lamps, I chose {these USB lamps} because I love the convenience of being able to charge my phone bedside. I kept {this gray linen quilt} and added {this gray and white linen duvet & shams}. My pillows are {these gray and white dragon pillows} and {this velvet crosshatch pillow}:

The camp stools and scalloped overhead light {found here} stayed the same. To lighten up the room, I swapped out the dark gray drapes with white ones – I went with {these} which are the same brand and style – they’re definitely one of my go-to’s! The newly refreshed look goes so well with our new master bathroom addition – I love the way these two spaces flow together!
Thanks for coming along on my tour! If you’re wondering where anything is from, I’ve detailed it all in the Source List below:
XOXO,

Wall Color: Farrow & Ball All White | Closet Wallpaper: Farrow & Ball Paisley wallpaper
Furniture: Headboard was Craigslist find painted with Benjamin Moore Steel Wool | New Upholstered Bed | Vintage chair made over with this paint and buffalo check fabric from McGee & Co. (no longer available) | Original black metal nightstands | New gray painted nightstands | Camp stools (similar) | Dresser (old) with these knobs
Lighting: Brass swing arm sconces | White USB table lamps | Semi flushmount light (available {here} and {here} | Wood lamp on dresser – no longer available
Bedding: Euro sham fabric (gray geometric) | Cream standard shams | Gray & white dragon/floral pillows | Quilt in king (color is Flagstone) | Bed skirt – no longer available | Gray & white patterned linen duvet | Gray velvet crosshatch pillow
Drapes & Rugs: Window drapes (mine are single-width blackout lined) – had Charcoal color first and then White | White closet drapes | Cream braided rug | Diamond jute rug
Mirror, Art, & Frames: Large round mirror | Large floral print by chair (size 18 x 24) | Acrylic and brass frame | Colorful abstract print (16 x 20) | Small lily print (8 x 10)





amy says
Gorgeous! What size are the prints from Minted?
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you Amy! I just edited the source list at the end of this post to include all of the sizes for you! 🙂
Becky V says
Love it! could you share the spray paint color and brand? looks so nice!
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks Becky! You can find all of the details of the closet makeover (including info on the primer and spray paint I used) in this post: https://www.drivenbydecor.com/2016/06/replacing-bi-fold-closet-doors-curtains-closet-makeover.html
lauren says
HAHA… just read this post after commenting on your post today. off to craigslist I go 😉
Kris Jarrett says
Didn’t see this until after I replied to your comment – glad you found it! Good luck on your hunt!
CD says
Really stunning! I’m thinking of buying the rug. How do you like it? Does it get dirty quickly since it’s off white? Does it seem like a quality piece? Thanks!
Nataliya says
Very nice, Kris! I really admire your talent. I had stolen couple ideas from you already to update our bedroo. Have you ever had to argue with your husband about the ceiling light vs. fan? My husband agreed (with some pressure 🙂 but I know that fan is a comfort factor for him to fall asleep. We had just install a new ceiling fan last summer. It’s white and does not look too bad…Here is the link http://www.lampsplus.com/products/52-inch-casa-vieja-ancestry-white-hugger-ceiling-fan__r9715.html
But I am truly obsessed with the idea of chandelier in our bedroom. Do you an idea how to compromise?
Kris Jarrett says
Yes I have and I actually lost that battle in our old house where we had a bedroom ceiling fan! Since we’re living in CT now, we honestly don’t have very many super hot days so luckily it isn’t currently an issue. I wish I had some great advice for you on this one but I’d probably just try to find the prettiest ceiling fan you can!!
Anonymous says
Your ideas are fabulous. I loved the closet of your teen’s room. It looks so chic.
Kris Jarrett says
You’re so sweet – thank you so much!
mandy cat says
And here I thought I was the only genius to think of using plumbing pipe as curtain rods. Our sunroom has a 14 foot span of windows that I wanted to dress with sheer curtains. Commercial rods that size priced out at about five times the cost of the curtains themselves. Piping and wood brackets spray painted to match the wall color ran less than $20.
Kris Jarrett says
Ha! Great minds?! I wasn’t sure how the spray paint would hold up on the rods but there’s no sign at all of any wear or chipping so far – yay!
Peggy says
I think you’re a genius and the room is beautiful. But really? The dog is the best part. That little pup is GORGEOUS!!!
Kris Jarrett says
Peggy, I have to agree – cute little Hope always steals the show! 🙂
Kelly Roberts says
This is perfection! I’m dying over your buffalo print chair!!! Would you please share the approximate yardage you used? I fave a very similar chair that needs to be reupholstered. Many thanks!
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Kelly – sure it took five yards of fabric to reupholster!
Anonymous says
Many thanks Kris!! I cannot stop thinking about this beautiful chair of yours, you have inspired me to reupholster our chair which is almost identical to yours!! You are truly gifted : D
Judi says
Your project as usual turned out fabulous. There isn’t one this about your master re-do that I don’t like. I love the linen cover on your bed from Pottery Barn. They are a bit pricey but well worth the cost as they are beautiful and just good quality. I love your simple artwork in the acrylic frame. What size is you picture and frame? I would love to do this but not sure what size to do. My wall space is 5 feet wide so what size would you recommend ? This also is going in my master bedroom. You have a talent with your decorating and love everything you do. I hope your family loves how you make your house a home.
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Judi! Thank you for your sweet words! My print is 18 x 24 and the frame is 5″ wider all around (so it’s 23 x 29). The wall space it’s on is about 4 feet wide so something about this size or a little larger would probably work for your space – it just depends upon everything else going on in the room. Enjoy your weekend Judi!
Kelly says
Stunning!! You did an amazing job and I love your style! I was curious about your curtains because the curtains I have are very similar in color and I’ve been wanting to change them out for lighter ones. But now I’m realizing I just need to get some more of the same tones into my room to balance out my curtains. I was afraid adding too much blue/gray would make the room seem dark, but you balanced it in a fresh, airy and beautiful way! Thank you for the inspiration!
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks Kelly! I actually had lighter drapes planned but they unexpectedly went out of stock so I ended up with these dark ones and I actually think they look better than what I had planned!
Pamela says
Kris,
I have just recently been following your blog and love your ideas on home design/decorating. I have finally caught up on reading thru to your ORC final reveal and love your MasterBedroom especially your closet. And I completely understand your excitement about your beautiful closet. Growing up and living in homes that had small or poorly designed closets, when you finally get your dream closet it is worth a happy dance!!
PS: Your blog has given me the push I needed to get going to start work on my own home! One room at a time.
Pamela
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks so much Pamela – I love that you get my closet joy 🙂 and the best compliment I could ever get is that I inspired you to do a few things to your own home – thank you!
Melissa says
If you painted the dresser yourself, can you share tips? The finish looks silky-smooth and flawless!
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Melissa! Yes, I plan to share the full scoop in a future post but the quick and dirty of it is that I do a light sanding and use a really good oil-based primer first before the paint. And I use a small foam roller to roll on the primer and paint – it gives and incredible smooth surface and is pretty quick and easy to use!
Kevin | Thou Swell says
What an incredible transformation! The soothing neutral palette is so perfect and I love how you repurposed items in the room (the dresser looks AMAZING painted grey)! Fabulous job!!
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks Kevin! I absolutely loved your room – so inspiring!!
Kimberley says
Your bedroom is beautiful. Very cozy. Just a quick question… any concern about the fabric from your curtains falling right against your baseboard heaters? Do you have to do anything special in the winter when your heat is turned on?
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Kimberley! Our baseboard heating isn’t electric, it’s the type that uses heated water so the baseboards don’t get as hot and there’s no electric element the drapes could touch and get set on fire by (we have electric in one of our rooms that’s an addition and I definitely wouldn’t hang drapes in there). I do hang my drapes so that a few inches puddle on the floor and then in the winter I fan them out at the bottom so that they don’t actually touch the baseboard just to be extra cautious. This is our first house with baseboard heating so I’ve had to learn how to work around it!
Mandy says
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this room! I don’t think that has ever happened to me before!
The colour scheme is suburb : calm and chic but with enough contrast to stop it being too plain.
Love it. REALLY love it.
I would be really reluctant to put my clothes back in the wardrobe and cover up that stunning paper though. Lol.
Kris Jarrett says
I hear ya about the closet!! It’s been a good incentive for me to pare down my clothes so I get the max view of that pretty wallpaper 🙂