PRIMARY BEDROOM REFRESH: HOW WE TURNED OUR BORING, MATCHY-MATCHY BEDROOM INTO A MODERN TRADITIONAL RETREAT WITHOUT BUYING ALL NEW FURNITURE

After two years of slowly transforming our primary bedroom, I am so excited to finally be writing this blog post. When we moved into this house at the very end of 2019, our bedroom was reminiscent of a big box showroom. We had a full matching furniture set, no artwork, and a hodgepodge of generic decor that we brought over from our first apartment. For the first year and a half, we were more focused on designing and decorating the public spaces that other people would see, so our bedroom took a back seat. While the room was functional and met our needs, it did not feel cozy, relaxing, or inspiring — all feelings I longed to evoke in this space. So, in early 2021, I decided it was time to start transforming our bedroom into a space that sparked joy, and two years later I can finally say that this space is complete! So, without further ado, here’s all the details on how we transformed our boring, matchy-matchy bedroom into a modern traditional retreat without buying all new furniture!

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Disclaimer: This post contains sponsored content from Hunter Fan Company. Additionally, some links contained in this post are affiliate links. That means that if you click on the link and purchase an item, I get a small percentage of that sale at no extra cost to you. Please know that products and brands recommended here at stay home style are ones that I use, love, and trust.

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THE BEFORE

When we got our first apartment together in 2018, this matching bedroom set from Ashley Furniture was what we picked out to replace our old college furniture. I loved the design of this mid-century inspired line when we picked it out in 2018 and, honestly, I still love the design to this day. What I didn’t love, however, was having all of these pieces together in the same room. Although matching sets are convenient (especially when you’re first starting out like we were), having a room full of furniture that is all from the same line can feel sterile, flat, and uninspiring. Additionally, this set in particular felt very heavy with its rich wood tones taking over 3 out of 4 walls in the room. A matching set combined with little to no artwork and generic decor made for a lifeless space that was in desperate need of a refresh.

BREAKING UP THE MATCHING SET

So first, let me start by saying that it took me a while to figure out how to start. I knew I wanted to break up the matching set, but I didn’t want to have to purchase all new furniture. Since the bed and nightstands were on the same wall, I knew it was one or the other, so I decided we would keep the bed and dresser, and sell the nightstands and tall chest of drawers. This would leave us with only two matching pieces (the bed and dresser) and we could use the money we made from selling the rest to put towards new nightstands.

So that is what we did! We sold those pieces on Facebook Marketplace for $500, and I went on the hunt for the perfect night stands. I wanted something with a classic, traditional-ish silhouette that would feel distinctly different from what we had while still complementing our mid-century style bed and dresser. I searched and searched for what I was calling “modern traditional” nightstands and I kept coming back to Anthropologie’s Washed Wood Night Stand. While I loved the size and silhouette of this piece, there were two issues: cost and color. At full price, these nightstands retailed for $498 and only came in two colors: natural and indigo. Neither the price nor the colors were ideal for our budget and space, so I kept searching online and at antique stores for the perfect ones at the right price.

During Memorial Day Weekend of 2021, I saw one of the Anthro nightstands pop up on Facebook Marketplace for $250. Although the color was definitely not ideal, I had the idea that maybe it could be painted black. The only problem now was that there was only one listed, and I needed two. Lucky for us though, Anthro was running a Memorial Day sale at the time that brought the total down to $358 + $149 delivery. Although we were hoping to keep the total for the nightstands around $500, we decided the extra $250 was worth it, and we bought the nightstands (one from Facebook Marketplace and one directly from Anthro). They were 100% worth splurge and the work IMO, and I documented the process of spray painting the nightstands in a separate blog post that you can read if you’re interested. Just click the image below to check it out!

NEW PAINT AND FLOORS

When we built our house in 2019, we had carpet in all three bedrooms and the entire house was painted the same color: Sherwin Williams Silverpointe. In 2022, we decided to re-paint the primary bedroom and replace all of the carpet in the house with the same hardwood floors we had in our main living area.

When we were deciding on a paint color for the bedroom, I was torn between Farrow and Ball’s French Gray and Benjamin Moore’s White Dove. I actually decided on French Gray originally, but after painting one wall I knew it wasn’t the right choice for our space. My husband is the real MVP though and repainted that wall and the rest of the room in White Dove. This warm, creamy white makes the space feel bright and calm while serving as the perfect backdrop for the warm woods, black and brass accents, and muted artwork.

The flooring we chose matches what is in the rest of the house. It is an engineered hardwood from Shaw Flooring in the color Oceanside. It was professionally installed by the company we purchased the flooring from and the total cost for materials and labor for all three bedrooms was around $5000.

LIGHTING

Lighting is an important part of any room’s design, but layered lighting is essential to the overall feel and function of a bedroom. Layering different types of lighting allows you to create different moods, add depth and dimension to the space, and create a cozy and comfortable environment for a variety of different tasks.

When we moved in, all we had in the bedroom was a builder grade ceiling fan and two bedside table lamps. This lighting was sufficient, but it was concentrated to one side of the room and there really was nothing special about any of the fixtures (aesthetically or functionally).

The first lighting change we made was purchasing new bedside lamps. I wanted something simple, timeless, and substantial, and fell in love with the Massa Terracotta Jar Table Lamp from Pacific Coast Lighting. These lamps retail for over $200 each, but I found two open box on eBay for $93 each (don’t sleep on eBay y’all!!). I love how the large scale, vintage inspired shape, and organic terracotta finish of these lamps look and feel in our space. To increase the functionality of our new bedside lamps, we added Amazon smart plugs that pair with Alexa so that we can turn them on and off via voice control. This can be done with any lamp and it is one of my favorite features that we added during the refresh process.

The next lighting change we made in the space was adding two additional lamps on the other side of the room to balance the light.

On the dresser, we added this Resin Table Lamp from Studio McGee’s line at Target. This lamp is an amazing dupe for the Shoppe Amber Interiors Calabria Reggio Table Lamp and is less than 1/6 of the price. In this spot, the lamp functions more as accent lighting rather than task lighting, and I love the way it illuminates this vignette at night.

In the other corner, we added the Safavieh Stefan floor lamp (gifted by Longaberger as part of a previous collaboration) that we’ve named “the reading light” for Alexa’s purposes. Rarely does any reading happen in this corner… but we use this lamp every single day! It is great to turn on late at night or early in the morning while laying in bed, as it gives off a nice warm glow that illuminates the room without being right next to our faces like the bedside lamps. We have this one on a smart plug as well, so all we have to say is “Alexa, turn on/off the reading light” and it will come on or go off without us ever having to get out of bed.

Disclaimer: This section is sponsored by Hunter Fan Company.

The finishing touch to our bedroom refresh was switching out the old, builder grade ceiling fan with the 52″ Hepburn Ceiling Fan from Hunter Fan Company. Although I wish we were the type of people who could have a pretty chandelier or flush mount in the bedroom, we are just not those people. A ceiling fan in the bedroom is an absolute MUST for us, and thanks to Hunter we don’t have to compromise on comfort or design. While this section of the post is sponsored, believe me when I say I am head over heels for this gorgeous ceiling fan. I chose the Modern Brass and Aged Oak color combination and I love the way the colors, modern silhouette, and vintage inspired globe tie our space together. It has a dimmable light, three speed settings for the fan, and reversible blades so you have the option of an Aged Oak or a White Grain look. It comes with a corresponding light switch as well that allows you to control everything directly from the switch without having any pulls dangling from the fixture. You can also purchase a remote separately that allows you to control the light and fan from bed, which you already know we love being able to do. This Hunter fan truly checks all of the boxes for me and was the perfect finishing touch for this space.

NEW CURTAINS

New curtains made such a difference in this space. Previously, we had the sheers pictured below hung with standard ring clips that looked lifeless and cheap.

Since we have blackout shades on our windows, we don’t necessarily need curtains, but I wanted to use them to bring something soft and flowy into the space to contrast the hard surfaces and clean lines of the furniture. After seeing the Ikea Ritva hack from The Grit and Polish I decided to give these $40/pair DIY pinch pleat curtains a try. Although they were tedious to pleat and sew, I LOVE how they turned out (especially for that price)!

The curtains are 2″ longer than the ones we had previously, so I have been meaning to move the rod up higher so that they just barely “kiss” the floor rather than breaking and folding like they do below. I have yet to do that, however, so the ends currently just collect dust on the floor… don’t be like me! 😂

We have had the black out woven wood shades since we moved in, but I get questions about them all the time so I wanted to share a little on those here too. They are the Premier Woven Wood Shades from Select Blinds in the color south beach tan. We got the black out liner on ours and it works amazing! Unfortunately, I believe the south beach tan color has been discontinued, but they have many other beautiful colors and styles to choose from. I would recommend ordering samples so you can see the colors and texture in person before ordering. I would also recommend signing up for emails, as they regularly send out sales and promotions to their email subscribers!

THE COZY CORNER

This corner came together slowly, but I love how it turned out. This area of the room always felt empty, but it was hard to put anything there because of the way the door swings. I found this swivel glider at an outlet store called Dirt Cheap for $204 (it retails on Target’s website for $500) and it fit perfectly.

I talked about the lamp earlier, but in addition to providing task lighting for this corner, it is also a beautiful statement piece. I love the way the black and brass colors coordinate with the nightstands on the other side of the room, and how the subtle curves add another layer of softness to contrast the clean lines in the rest of the space.

The stool is an antique from the late 1800s that I found a local antique shopping event for $85. It’s not the sturdiest of foot stools, but it is beautiful and practical enough for propping up your feet.

The side table is from Wayfair and I LOVE the shape of the legs. It feels very vintage and the brass color ties in nicely with the rest of the space. It is also super affordable!

The large full length mirror was actually a DIY that John made for me from an old bathroom vanity mirror. It is 8 feet tall and absolutely stunning! We used this tutorial from Sawdust to Stitches as a guide and tweaked the dimensions to fit our mirror.

Also, people always ask me about that tissue holder… it was a thrift find, so sadly I don’t have a link 🥲

ARTWORK AND DECOR

Artwork and decor is something this space was desperately lacking when we moved in. Adding in meaningful, functional, and intentional pieces are what make a space feel finished and lived in.

The beach is my happy place, and it is also the place where John and I first met, so I decided to pull in larger scale seascapes over the bed and dresser. The art over the bed is from McGee & Co and it is a giclee framed canvas print called Before Sundown. It is moody and textured with a vintage painting feel to it that I love! The two seascape sketches stacked over the dresser were actually digital downloads from an Etsy shop called Blue Jay Vintage Art. The owner of this shop was SO amazing and created custom aspect ratios for these digital downloads so I could get them printed to exactly the sizes I needed. I had them printed and framed by Frame it Easy as part of a collaboration and they turned amazing! I love that they are behind non-glare acrylic too so there is no glare on the artwork from the window. Here are the details on the frames, sizes, and digital prints:

Top: Granby in gold with non-glare acrylic in size 26 1/4″ x 18 1/4″ with this print

Bottom: Granby in gold with non-glare acrylic in size 38 5/8″ x 22 11/16″ with this print

I also layered in a couple of smaller, original art pieces that I’ve collected to bring in some unique and special elements to the space. The small landscape in the vintage gold frame on the dresser is an original from Humbled Craft Co, and the sketched silhouette on the wall by the window is an original from Hemi’s Handmade Silhouette’s. See my post Seven Places to Source Affordable, Original Artwork for more details and my tips for sourcing original pieces at any price point.

On each nightstand, I also added a small photo of us for a personal touch. I love getting to see the wedding photo on my nightstand every morning when I wake up.

Over the nightstands, I added two matching mirrors that reflect light from windows directly across the room. Since we only have windows on that side of the space, adding these mirrors made the room feel so much brighter! I found one mirror on Facebook Marketplace and the other used like new on Amazon.

I also added a plant by the window to bring some life into the space. I have a black thumb, so we are on plant #3 right now, but I refuse to go artificial here because I just love the life and natural beauty of a real plant. Asparagus ferns seem to take well to this spot, so fingers crossed I can keep this one alive!

THE RUG AND THE BENCH

Not too long after we moved in, I added a rug under the bed. This rug was the one we had in our living room at our old apartment, and it did not mesh well in this space. Then, to make matters worse, I added this tribal patterned bench that completely clashed with the rug.

Eventually, I stumbled upon the perfect rug at a thrift store that was a much better fit! This rug from the Loloi x Magnolia collection is 100% wool and the soft colors and traditional pattern blended perfectly into our space. This particular style has been discontinued, which is such a shame because the quality is SO good. Unlike my other Loloi rugs, this one is thick and has an amazing hooked wool texture. The best part is, I got it for just $100! It retailed for around $700 when it was still available, so I feel like I got it for a steal.

While I liked the tribal pattern on the bench, it did not feel right for this space. Instead of buying a new bench, I decided to recover it in a more fitting tribal pattern. I found this vintage inspired velvet upholstery fabric on Etsy and I love how the bench turned out.

THE BEDDING

The one thing that didn’t really change in this space is our bedding. We got new sheets and added some new throw pillows along the way, but our linen duvet from West Elm has been with us from the start. We received this bedding as a wedding gift, and it just gets better and better with every wash. I loved our linen duvet so much that I decided to get linen sheets as well, and I don’t think I will ever go back to cotton.

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And there you have it — all the details on how we transformed our boring, matchy-matchy bedroom into a modern traditional retreat without buying all new furniture! It was a slow and steady process, but the end result was well worth the wait.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks for reading!