You may remember Mary from her fantastic, handmade roman shades. Well, turns out those lovely windows used to be Mary's bedroom windows when she shared the space with a roommate. Like many city dwellers making do in a small space, Mary's old bedroom (pictured above) had many functions including living room, office and storage space. After her roommate moved out, Mary decided her bedroom needed a makeover and she began by moving it out of the living room...
Mary says, "The biggest change was really space — less stuff and allowing the room to be just a bedroom instead of bedroom, television room, office, and storage, all in one. More wall space let me edit what to hang on the walls and more closet space let me get rid of the super clutter."
A fresh coat of color on the walls (Benjamin Moore "At Sea"), new bedding (Target), and two new IKEA side tables completed the makeover for about $200. We think the transformation is wonderful — bright, colorful and very personal. Great job, Mary!
Do you have a Before & After to share? Bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen, lamp, chairs — we'd love to see whatever you've been up to in your own space! Send us an email at boston(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com and you could see your hard work and creativity here on AT!
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Lovely! Just enough in a small space.
view kaylia's profile
Very nice.
I especially want the kittehs.
view Aldyth's profile
Very nice - pretty and serene. I love that you have the bookcase in the bedroom - I thought I was the only one to do that.
view oceandreamer56's profile
I want to live there! The colors are just perfect.
view Craftypants's profile
one question -- do the CATS like the makeover?
view Kat1's profile
really nice
view mariegael's profile
What an improvement!
view bepsf's profile
The room is gorgeous and serene! And I want to nom nom the orange tabbies.
view tam-tbag's profile
is IKEA still selling those night stands because I can't find them on the site
view LaDonnaNichole's profile
I wish we could click on image and it would get bigger!
(hint, hint)
Such gorgeous detail to be seen...
view liveinpeace's profile
i have the same bedding! wish i had the same wall color too... (renting-cant paint).
it looks great!
view eribear12's profile
Gorgeous! Love the wall color and the bedding! Target eh? May have to check that out! Thanks for the inspiraton! My orange tabby Sam would love this!
view suzy8track's profile
I love the wall color & how well it goes with the bedding!
view unseeneclipse's profile
Pretty!
view martigny's profile
beeeee-yute-E-ful!!!! really serene and lovely.
view littlebunnyfoofoo's profile
Yet another reason why I wish we had Target in Canada. I love that bedding!
view emmabemma's profile
I didn't even notice the room. Those fat lumps on your bed are wonderful.
view oakland's profile
Gorgeous. I'm gonna copy your wall color. Please don't be mad :)
view medusa12120's profile
I've always loved the combination of a teal/seafoam blue with red. The white keeps it bright and fresh. Adorable.
view 2lastnames's profile
The paint is beautiful. Might be nice to see the bookshelf painted the same color, simply to help it blend in a little bit and open up the space even more. It's a big dark spot in the room.
Emily
view Emily Sneds's profile
The colors are beautiful - a huge round of applause for Mary. I love this room. Only things I would change is a little less stuff hung on the wall - it looks a little cluttered. The bookshelf would fit in even better if painted white - though the dark does keep a decent contrast.
view ChrisGal's profile
What happened to the chicken photos in the before shot?
They looked really cool...
Nice makeover BTW! Great job!!
www.thebitterfoodie.blogspot.com
view thebitterfoodie's profile
So pretty, where did you get the patterned lampshade?
view EastVillageAmy's profile
CATS!? Those are cats!? And here, I was wondering how you got the ponies into the apartment. No wonder the room looked small...the kitties took up 350 sq. ft. (teasing...love the cats).
Great clean look btw - the blue really makes the bedding pop.
Cheers~
Sheri @ http://www.everlastingdesigns.net
view playadelcarmen2002's profile
The shears give the room such an ethereal feel... so serene. Thanks for that idea and the paint color, too.
P.S. Those cats are ridiculously cute.
(East Village Amy - the lamp and shade are from Ikea!)
view sunan's profile
oooohhhhh.....
pretty room! love everything!!
view formosagirl's profile
Great color combo! Like how you have different lamps.
I would lower the pictures above the lamps, so they were very closer to the lamps. They seem too disconnected. Otherwise, love the room.
view Expat Decorator's profile
I, too, need info on those bedside tables! I've checked and rechecked Ikea's site with no luck.
Anyone? Please?
view Cheryl's profile
I, too, have that bedding and wish I could paint my walls!! Looks just lovely.
view chelleann's profile
I'm pretty sure that those are the Hemnes side tables in white:
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/90121234
Apologies if I'm incorrect.
view prairie girl's profile
it's a great redo and done on a real budget. always like how people can redo a room and make a big impact all on a small budget.
view nirvanadude22's profile
prairie girl, thanks and I wish! But it's not the same table. This one is narrow and deep (crucial for me!) whereas the Hemnes is wider than it is deep. This one has two shelves and a deep drawer; the linked Hemnes has one shelf and a shallow drawer.
view Cheryl's profile
Great makeover!
view martigny's profile
Cute Cute Cute!!
view LoriSF's profile
I especially love that these little side lamps don't match, yet are the same height and proportion. It's the little things that make it all work.
view medusa12120's profile