Before and After: A DIY-Filled Bedroom Makeover Goes Bold with an Unexpected Color
When you think of a calming and serene bedroom, your mind might not immediately go to dark paint colors. After all, light blue is considered to be the best paint color for the best sleep, but dark-hued bedrooms can also create a cozy, quiet vibe, like this black-walled bedroom, this navy one, and pro-DIYer Carrie Kline’s (@honeydohoney_home)’s deep pomegranate-colored oasis.
As a busy mom, Carrie wanted a soothing bedroom to serve as a sanctuary — but the space needed some love when she first moved into her Minnesota home. As Carrie describes, the walls were painted the same color as the rest of the house, a less-than-appealing grayish/off-white hue. But even so, she could see the possibilities.
“I thought the room was really nice,” Carrie says. “Way bigger than our previous home. It had a walk-in closet, which I was so excited about, large windows on two of the walls, and our own attached bathroom — magic! It was a blank slate.”
Carrie started transforming that blank slate when she was pregnant with her third child. She “wanted to create a comforting and peaceful space for myself because I knew I would be spending a lot of time in there with my newborn,” she says. “I wanted to feel comfortable, cozy, and relaxed.”
With a DIY-packed redo, that’s exactly what she achieved.
Picture frame molding plus pegs add architectural interest to the walls.
As a DIY aficionado, Carrie devised a clever workaround to create picture frame-style molding all around the bedroom. She purchased some screen molding to create her own “budget-friendly version” of picture frame molding, as she calls it. She says she spent around $150 for the materials, and it “really made a difference.”
To enhance the picture frame molding, she used a 1×3 piece of wood to create a top ledge above her bed and drilled holes every couple inches. She then cut and sanded her own dowels to make pegs. “I’m obsessed with pegs. I love how they look and love being able to hang things on them,” she says. She finished her millwork add-ons by caulking and painting.
Above the bed, Carrie used faux brick paneling (had us fooled!) that she already had on hand to create the looks-so-real brick texture.
The deep red paint is custom color-matched to the wallpaper.
Carrie initially painted the picture frame molding tan and the upper part of the walls an airy white, but as explains, over time, her style has evolved and become more daring. Eventually, she went with something much darker and moodier.
She used the wallpaper pattern Vivette Wallpaper’s “Dark Vintage Flower Bouquet” and applied it to the top portion of her walls, and then she brought a piece of the wallpaper to Home Depot and had them color match one of the burgundy colors and she painted the lower portion, trim, and doors in this hue. “The result is absolute magic,” she shares.
A DIY shelf holds plants for a pop of green.
To balance out the moody hues of the bedroom, Carrie added a punctuating shelf above her bed that displays verdant plants on the opposite side of the color wheel. “The abundance of sunlight and plants makes it feel light and calming despite being painted such dark colors,” Carrie says.
Her shelf is made from a 1×6 piece of wood and a few brackets.
The bed is the same as before, just painted.
Another easy DIY in this bedroom is the bed itself. (After all, what cozy respite would be complete without somewhere to crash at the end of the day?)
It’s the same black bed as before, but Carrie painted it a light oak color. “Instead of waiting for an unforeseeable amount of time to get the ‘bed of my dreams,’ I decided to work with what I have and use some paint to brighten up this frame,” she writes on Instagram.
Carrie’s bedroom revamp cost her about $200, excluding the wallpaper, and it certainly proves the power of DIY. (The floral wallpaper was gifted, so if you’re planning to do a similar project, add about $75 per roll to your project total.) “I love the after so much,” Carrie says.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.