Em’s Primary Bedroom Update – New Bed Alert!

One of the least popular rooms I’ve ever finished/published was the first iteration of my primary bedroom, and I get it – I wasn’t fully happy with it either. It was more “put together” than “designed” per se, and when you have so many rooms to finish at the same time, some get neglected, which is fine. I always resist “yucking my own yum” because, honestly, having a bedroom like this in any form is so wonderful that missing a few design marks just feels petty to point out to you all.

As a reminder…

We started with a white box when we moved in. Now I like a bright white airy room (despite its current unpopularity), but admittedly, this felt like a missed opportunity. So, as the big reveal shoot of our house was impending, I made some quick decisions to see how I could create a cozy but still really simple and minimal bedroom.

What Were The Things I Didn’t Like?

I painted the room Debonaire, which is so pretty, and yet when the room is super bright in the summer, and during the day, it can be too bright for me. Brian loves it, and no one else really has a negative thing to say about it, but in the name of transparency, if I could snap my fingers, I would paint it Eventide, which is a much softer powder blue. In the morning and at night, Debonaire is just so cozy and pretty, and repainting it is so expensive and annoying (so much trim and ceiling). My first quote was $6k and would take 3 days, which I thought was a lot of time, but maybe it’s not. Regardless, I’m not motivated to do it because I like it; I just don’t love it. But this is where I had to learn the lesson (again) that I don’t like when I paint rooms with a ton of natural light, dark (you can paint light rooms light or medium but the contrast between the darkness and the bright sun picks up the pigment in the paint that can make it feel intense for me, rather than moody and cozy). Similarly, I’d suggest painting dark rooms medium or dark (not light). ANYWAY, it only barely bothers me in this situation since it’s not a dark color (it’s a medium tone) and the cost and disruption to our lives doesn’t feel worth it for a slight upgrade.

Wrong Bed

This bed was always designed for our guest room (which doesn’t 100% work there either, hilariously), but the week before the shoot, when my Jake Arnold for Crate & Barrel bed didn’t arrive (that’s the really pretty caramel velvet with a wood curved top, but apparently no longer available), we had this room assembled in here instead. And I liked it, but just didn’t love it. I really liked the scale and the shape, but the small print got lost in such a big room, and it was meant to go in the rosy room, where it would just be a quiet texture.

Leftover Rug

I can’t quit this rug because it’s the plushiest, softest, and most stain-hiding rug ever. While I’m not that motivated to do another rug line (mostly because of time/bandwidth), if someone could guarantee me that I could just make this rug in many different colors, I would do it as a public service to the world. I can’t even link it up. But it’s not my favorite color – a light gray with blue flecks in it, and it can just read a little sad in here.

Rug Change

When my rug line came out, I shot and left this Merrick rug in here, which I really loved, but it was pretty white in a room that was meant to be more tonal/soft. There was just a lot of contrast. Plus, I’ve said it before, I don’t recommend putting white rugs on your first floor, with the most foot traffic, in Oregon (better for second-floor bedrooms). It held up far better than I thought it would (we are mostly shoes off), but I used this partnership with Anthropologie to choose this super pretty taupey-pink rug.

Overhead “Light” Fixture

I think Brian and I intentionally chose not to have a hanging pendant or chandelier because we didn’t want the distraction on the ceiling (something we loved in our mountain house bedroom). If I could go back in time, I would get rid of the cans (that we almost never use) and put in a J-box for a ceiling fixture. I still don’t love a chandelier in a bedroom over a bed (feels a bit fancy for me, but I have no idea why), but I liked the big Japanese lantern for its low-key simplicity. Of course, it was just a sculpture, a shape, and wasn’t wired.

I really loved the curtains, the cozy ottoman chair (which I love against the blue paint color in that darker corner), the hits of brass, the fireplace, the huge mirror, and the paintings. It was a good room, just not great. And I still don’t know if it’s there yet, but I like it so much better!!!

Art Above Bed | Bed | Solid Quilts | Broken Stripe Blanket | Bloster Pillow | Disc Pillow | Table Lamps | Nightstands (no longer available) | Bench | Bench Fabric (vintage) | Rug

After going round and round about what bed to get, I landed on this pretty rose linen slipcover bed, in a super classic shape. I cancelled the Crate bed because it wasn’t going to arrive for a while, and I wanted to live with the other one for a bit. I had a partnership with Anthropologie and figured it was a good opportunity to see if I could make this room better (this post isn’t sponsored by them, just some social was). So I ordered the bed and rug, and they both came so fast, with full white glove service. I really, really love it in here.

Now I’m trying to figure out why I love this shot so much. There is a soft coziness about it that I love. Oh, I put one of my plaid boro fabrics on my Katy Skelton bench (just folded it over and secured it with the leather straps), and I love how it looks in here (and brings in that bit of farmhouse that feels good).

As I’m staring at this shot, I’m wondering now if the mustard is just way too intense. We actually don’t live with it on our bed, but when I was styling/shooting, I thought it needed to be punched up.

I wish we had just taken a photo without the yellow pieces to see, but here is a tonal edited version to see the difference.

I was so excited to find a spot for my new favorite painting by Brooks Burns that works so well in here, color-wise. Some of you might be concerned about the idea that I’m sleeping underneath feet or shoes, and maybe you are right, but it’s here for now, and I’m loving it (and I loved that white painting, but it was rather stark and looks better in the pink guest room right now). I should give that painting to my new website designer, actually – the color palette makes me incredibly happy.

I liked the lamps before, but I LOVE these lamps in here more. They weren’t working in our TV room as the height of bulb is right at our eye level when we sat on the sofa, so we always turned them off. But they are so pretty, so I put them in here and love the color, scale, and shape (and we read from Kindles, so it’s less annoying in here). This is why drum shades are functionally better than the tapered shade – it blocks more of the direct bulb light and creates more of an even ambient light (less directionally downward). I put our old lamps in our family room for now (they are slightly lower/better) and added this IKEA lamp for TV watching. And I still like these nightstands (they are the perfect scale), but I do wish they were slightly richer/darker. Not changing them anytime soon 🙂

I always love the view of the other side of the room. The fireplace is so cozy. Our heater in our room has been broken for a few weeks, so I’ve been using this fireplace for an hour or so a day to keep the room warm, and it’s just wonderful.

Let’s Get Cozy

The room really is so cozy and gets better as the day goes on (which is hilarious to write, it’s a better “nighttime” room than a “daytime” room, but maybe that’s good since it’s mostly enjoyed at night?). We rarely shoot with lamps on, but I wanted to show you how the room changes as the light changes.

It’s a real retreat at night, and I LOVE getting into bed (a huge reason is also because of my new mattress, BTW, that I LOVE. It’s the Sapira Hybrid Chill, and I got the “plush,” but the “medium firm” is also really soft and cozy. If you like hard mattresses, I’m not your gal, but if you want something soft on top and supportive underneath, it truly is my favorite ever.

Here are some fun sliders!!

So what do you think??? Do you like the versions we had before better? Or the moodier and cozier new version? I’m team cozy all the way. If I could snap my fingers, I’d love to see the room with a taupe ceiling (but not on the trim) with the current blue or color drenching in Eventide (a softer, lighter blue).

*Photos by Kaitlin Green