A Controversial Paint Color Transforms This Plain Bedroom (Instantly!)

published Apr 8, 2024
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Red paint is sometimes difficult to work with and style, but — when paired with the right colors and in just the right shade — it can elevate any room. (Have you heard of the unexpected red theory?)

A rust-meets-red paint job in Abigail Rogers’ (@abigailrogersinteriors) bedroom is the perfect, rich color choice for her Victorian home — but that’s only one great element of her bedroom redo, which includes an IKEA hack, a DIY headboard, and more. 

An IKEA PAX hack adds a built-in closet.

Abigail says she and her husband kicked off the bedroom redo by painting the room in Farrow & Ball’s Red Earth, and then they wanted to upgrade the white IKEA PAXes in the room so they blended in better. 

They built a platform from existing old wood to lift the wardrobes off the floor and wrapped skirting around them to look more seamless. “We then added beading to the top and sides to make them look built-in,” she says. “These were primed and painted.”

Abigail says the red paint color (and especially its matte finish) was perfect because it “can be used on wood and walls, which meant it helped make the whole execution more flawless.”

A slatted wood headboard gets a chic upholstered facelift.

Abigail also wanted to upgrade the plain wood headboard in her bedroom, which she says was “very dated” but had a quality solid wood frame. In other words, it was “too good not to find a way of upcycling!” she says. 

She added plywood and foam to her once-slatted headboard to create a solid, plush surface and then wrapped her fabric of choice around it.

“I fell in love with this beautiful Melbury Liberty of London fabric in my local fabulous remnant shop,” she explains on Instagram. “The design is by Sidney Mawson (1876-1937), who was inspired by William Morris, which I think is clear from the floral and fruit tree design … I added coordinating green fabric to the sides to make it fit.”

A lampshade gets an easy paint upgrade.

There are tons of cute accessories that complete the bedroom refresh (hello, new bedside sconces and bows adorning the nightstands!), but one accessory that features a totally copyable DIY is the lamp on top of the dresser. 

“I upcycled an old plain white lampshade by hand painting stripes of leftover Farrow & Ball’s Brinjal paint,” Abigail says. 

For more DIY-filled bedroom makeovers, check out this $525 makeover and this one with DIYs starting at $15.