This Grayish-White Bedroom Got a “Serene, Ethereal, and Romantic” Makeover

Sarah EverettHome Projects Editor
Sarah EverettHome Projects Editor
I organize the Before & After series and cover DIY and design. I joined AT in October 2020 as a production assistant. I have an MA in Journalism from the University of Missouri and a BA in Journalism from Belmont University. Past editorial stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and local magazines in my hometown, Columbia, Missouri.
published Aug 20, 2025
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Trips and vacations can be a great source of interior (and exterior!) inspiration for your home (check out these five travel-inspired rooms for proof). And Michaela Hillman’s bedroom color palette was inspired by a bed and breakfast in Porto, Portugal, with a dusty, velvety pink paired with a dark sage green. (Before, it just had grayish-white walls.)

A wallpaper mural sets the tone. 

Michaela kicked off her bedroom makeover by picking a dramatic wallpaper mural with lots of greens. She installed the mural in panels and used a smoothing tool to remove the air bubbles. 

She says she only wallpapered one wall and paired that with paint “to save extra bucks,” and it took her a while to land on exactly the paint she wanted, but she ended up going with a light blue faux limewash paint that blends in with the sky of the mural. To make the painting process a little more fun, she invited friends over and hosted a sip-and-paint party. 

Adding lighting to the back of the bed creates a cozy, moody feel. 

The room blends new and old; the nightstands are from CB2, the bed is from Interior Define, and the chocolate brown rug is from eBay. In fact, there are a few eBay, thrift, and Facebook Marketplace pieces that Michaela says add a bit of “patina” to the room.

One of her favorite details is the backlighting; she added an LED strip light behind her new pinkish-purple velvet headboard “to evoke the feeling of a boutique hotel,” and she still plans to add sconces to the room. “The transformation reads bright and airy in the day, and deep and moody after twilight hours,” she says.

The doors and trim got a makeover, too.

Michaela also painted the trim around the window and her bedroom doors in a deep aqua: Behr’s Thermal. “I was nervous at first, but it turned out so good!” Michaela says on TikTok.

The windows also have new automatic blinds that Michaela installed herself. All together, she says the bedroom is “serene, ethereal, and romantic.” To see more of her home, check out her bathroom makeover here.