Bedroom

Ciao wall to wall carpet!

From kids' room to master bedroom.

Bridget’s “luxe bohemian” Oakland apartment is full of unique furniture, eccentric art, and beautiful textiles. But even all of those wonderful elements combined can make a space feel cluttered and disorderly, as Bridget says was the case in her bedroom. “It was starting to feel clunky and granny-ish. There were big, heavy furniture pieces and too many color schemes.” To fix that, Bridget got the idea to rearrange large furniture pieces and mix it up with new art.

"When we moved into the house we discovered an original 19th Century fireplace had been lurking behind a desk and beneath the carpet the old floorboards were still in tact."

"I love the fact that it finally looks like a bedroom."

"I moved to San Francisco with a couple of suitcases and found a room that barely fit a bed and didn't have a closet."

"I love how light and airy it feels which was a goal. I love the bright and happy splashes of colors in the accessories."

Nancy’s second bedroom was in need of a little oomph, and oomph it received! With a hand-drawn wall treatment, colors and patterns and incredible furniture finds, the space went full force glam. From Nancy: Before, we used our small second bedroom for storage and to hold our treadmill. It was a complete waste of space, and in NYC that is completely unheard of. It’s a pretty narrow room, but it has good bones with its pre-war moldings and original hardwood floors.

Christina’s master bedroom had a lot going for it, it just needed a little help to truly shine. With some smart upgrades, a very cool paint choice and a terrific plant collection, she created a dramatic new look for her space. From Christina: Out of all of my house renovations thus far, my master bedroom was a lot less intense than my other projects, but ended up being the one that looks most dramatically different from start-to-finish.

Erin’s guest bedroom is small but makes up for it with great views. She was feeling it was a little too orange-y for her tastes and decided to paint the wainscoting grey. It made a world of difference, but wasn’t totally what she envisioned, so she dove in and gave the room an entirely new look. From Erin: Our guest room is the smallest in the house, but has amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean. It always felt dark and dreary and sad.

Marti’s master bedroom makeover was a slow and steady labor of love. Her first move was to tackle the too-bright purple paint and choose a color that was a little more serene. After that, she mixed DIY projects with budget finds for a chic and calm bedroom. From Marti: We’ve lived in our house for a little over one year now, and our bedroom has come a long way. There was certainly nowhere to go but up!

Sarah’s dorm room is fun, bright and youthful. By mixing bright colorful DIY projects with bright white minimalism, she made her space look larger — all without sacrificing personality. From Sarah: As a junior in college, I had the opportunity to live in a single dorm room, and I couldn’t wait to start decorating. The goal was to make the dark 12′ X 8.5′ room more colorful and fun, but also feel open and inviting.

Courtney and John felt that they could take a leap of design faith in their guest room. A dark and daring ceiling and some funky, textured decor helped shape the room into an interesting and inviting space. From Courtney & John: In our opinion, a guest room renovation is the best kind of renovation! Though you want the room to be cohesive with the rest of your home, you don’t have to live in it everyday, so you can afford to take some risks.

Liz’s bedroom was already a cozy and serene space with a sloped ceiling and white plan walls, but she wanted to add a little something special. From Liz: To get this project started, I adapted a few ideas from one of my favorite bloggers, Jenna Sue. This girl has added amazing faux wood beams in her home and recently did a bathroom makeover with lace curtains around a clawfoot tub that seriously left my jaw on the floor. It was to die for, you guys!

A dreamy bedroom on a budget

We are big fans of Calling It Home’s yearly One Room Challenge, and love to watch all the amazing transformations that happen in just six short weeks. Some are more extensive than others, but all are amazing and inspirational. Above is a blank slate guest bedroom from Pencil & Paper Co. which became a layered, yet fresh and comfortable space for house guests.

If you’re short on space, lofting your bed is one of the best ways to magically gain square footage. However, sleeping in the sky is not without its challenges—I’m looking at you, late-night ladder navigation. Here are 14 ways to make your loft bed dreamy. The built-in cubby smartly stores extra pillows and blankets—and books, if you’re me. The addition of a bedside outlet is so helpful, allowing for a phone charger, radio, fan, and more.

Amanda writes: “When we first bought the house, I painted our bedroom this deep, dark teal. I had rented so long, I just wanted to cover every surface with paint and wallpaper! While a pretty color, it made our room very depressing, dark, and cave-like.” When our contractor was taking out the walls and ceilings, we realized we had an awesome pitch to the ceiling. We decided to keep it lofty, and add a faux beam. This room is now so light and airy.

We’ve seen smart & beautiful design from Kevin before, and he’s keeping it up with this gorgeous master bedroom makeover. From Kevin: After decorating most of my father’s house in one fell swoop, the master bedroom was left unfinished and needed some attention.

When Paige and Thorben moved into their San Francisco apartment, they knew they were going to stay put for a while. And though they were renting, the couple made it a goal to customize their apartment to their liking—something they could call home and be proud of. Throughout the years, they’ve tackled many ambitious projects: building a Murphy bed, custom shelving, and “hacking” their kitchen lighting.

When you live in one place for awhile, rooms will begin to need a refresh. Such was the case for Sarah’s bedroom, and she enlisted the help of best friend and former roommate Katie to help give the small space a makeover. From Katie: My best friend Sarah has been living in the same rental apartment for over 6 years, and it was time for a refresh. I used to live in this apartment with her, so filling holes in the wall was therapeutic for the both of us!

Well, folks, the long-anticipated day has come. Remember this sadness? Well, it’s sadness no more! After a Saturday spent covered in white paint and a Sunday spent arranging and rearranging objects, our new and improved bedroom has finally come into being.

Planning a room makeover can be fun, especially when it comes to sorting through inspiration photos and figuring out what elements you like most. But it can also be frustrating: developing a budget, thinking about needs, considering design constraints. It was all necessary, but once the planning was out of the way, the fun part of this makeover could begin: shopping!

It’s been over a year since my partner and I moved into our home. There were plenty of things to occupy our attention, such as getting rid of the garish mixture of red and yellow walls in the downstairs living area, installing a new door, fixing some damaged exterior portions, and so on and so forth. But finally, enough was enough, and we decided to tackle the one room that hadn’t gotten a speck of attention: the bedroom. Feast your eyes on that peachy-beige wonder.

We love a good “shop your space” room transformation. Jay is a Minneapolis-based designer and this bedroom project was completed in a day (another benefit of using a lot of what you’ve got!). With a few new elements and a shift in the space, there’s now a blissful new bedroom: From Jay: This bedroom redo was really fast and really easy.

It’s not uncommon to work on every room in your home before you get to your bedroom since it’s a room guests often don’t see. This was the case with Autumn and Justin whose Michigan home we toured last year. They felt great about the rest of their home, but really wanted a “grown up” master bedroom. Seems like they saved the best for last… Ta da! Lighter, brighter and with a soothing, calm vibe.

Kristi’s guest bedroom is a walk-through room, so a regular bed just doesn’t work. But neither was this plain futon, so she decided to build something more functional. So stylish, and we love that it’s on casters! From Kristi: Our guest bedroom is a small room, and a walk through from the kitchen to the back of the house, so a traditional full-sized bed wouldn’t work.

We’ve all seen the reality shows where stylists ambush poor unsuspecting souls, insult their fashion sense, and then give them a brand new look by the end of the program. Usually the process involved taming frizzy hair, peeling off layers and layers of heavy makeup, and toning down wardrobe choices. Think of this bedroom “before” shot as the willing participant, and this next “after” photo as the new and improved, more sophisticated, version of its former self.

In redoing a bedroom for his mother, Gonçalo worked in some family heirlooms that in a way that preserved memories, but created a soothing atmosphere. Check out the transformation: From Gonçalo: We live in the countryside around Lisbon, Portugal. We had this old furniture from my grandparents, brought from Africa in the ’70s. I wanted to surprise my mother with a new room… but keeping the family memories!

Anna’s lime green room had won her a teen interior design contest, but three years later, this 19-year-old graphic design major had other plans for the space. From Anna: About three summers ago, I had the honor of working with Pottery Barn Teen as their “student stylist.” As a Student Stylist, I wrote articles and produced pictures and videos for their website, with the focus of the videos/pictures/articles being my room.

Have I got a doozy of a before & after for you today. Have you ever purchased a house or moved into a rental that comes with plenty of the previous owner’s ‘character’? For Lidy and her family that meant acquiring a bright fuschia bedroom when they purchased their home near Calgary, Canada. It takes a strong vision and sense of style to transform a room like this into something so modern and cool. Above is how the room looked when they decided to purchase the house.

Amanda had a tiny extra room that wasn’t much more than a dumping ground for “old clothes, holiday decorations, paperwork, and hockey gear,” becoming pretty unusable. But with a guest visit on the horizon, she gave herself the challenge of transforming it into a room a guest could enjoy staying in! From Amanda: To brighten the room and add some life, I brought in color with the pillows and ottomans from Target.

A lot of people have guest rooms that really just function as glorified storage spaces that collect the flotsam and jetsam of our lives. Sure they host visitors from time to time, and might serve as a quiet work space when needed, but rarely do they serve as the heart of the home. This was all about to change for Emily, who needed to convert this bonus space into a specific purpose. See what she did…. There was a good reason for the redo: namely, a brand new edition to the family!

Wendy fell so in love with the character and charm of this rental apartment she was a bit blind to the stained, outdated wallpaper in the bedroom. But after moving in, she realized an update was needed, and she went with a dark and dramatic color palette. From Wendy: When my children and I moved into our rental apartment last winter, I was so wowed by the charm and character of our new space that I scarcely noticed the dingy, stained wallpaper covering every room in the house.

Project from: Joy Location: Boston When I moved in with my husband two years ago, our condo was a blank slate of cream colored paint, bare walls, and uncovered windows. We set to work infusing the space with personality, working first on our main kitchen/dining/living space, then the home office, and finally the bathrooms. But we dragged our feet getting around to the master bedroom, since we’re really the only ones who spend any time in there.

A white wall can be quite the inspiring canvas for interesting or even a little crazy ideas. Shehzeen had one of those ideas, and though her husband was a little dubious, after she finished DIYing a statement wall in their bedroom, there’s no doubt it was a brilliant — and easy-to-do — idea! From Shehzeen: When I moved into my current apartment, I immediately knew I wanted a statement wall for my bedroom and everything else could happen around it. So I painted it. Hated it.