Before and After: A 1940s Home’s Intensely Blue Bedroom Gets a Soothing $600 Refresh
February is Bedroom Month on Apartment Therapy! We’re sharing stories all month about bedrooms — from how to decorate them, to the fascinating history of them, and so much more. Head over here to see them all!
Homes with family history are special — and worth preserving — even if that preservation requires gallons and gallons of paint to cover some seriously intense blue walls.
Jessica Youngquist (@jyoung211)’s farmhouse was built by her great-grandparents about 80 years ago; her grandfather grew up there. “However,” she says, “it’s been almost 40 years since my great-grandparents have actually lived here, which means lots of projects trying to bring this home back to life.”
Her bedroom redo is one of the biggest transformations in the house. “From bright blue walls and ceilings and the black chalkboard wall to the old and worn white oak floors, this project was a lot of work,” she says.
Jessica says it was difficult to relax in a room with such bold walls. “I love bright, natural and airy spaces,” she says. “This room was the opposite of that.”
She wanted to paint the walls white and give the floors some TLC, and to do so, she and her boyfriend rented a drum sander from a local tool shop, bought seven gallons (!!!) of Sherwin-Williams’ Alabaster, and got to work.
“We spent a couple of weeks mudding walls trying to repair some issues with the plaster, many coats of primer, and lots of scrubbing,” she recalls of taking the walls from deep blue to airy white.
Jessica also refinished the floors — a first for her. “It is definitely a process, but the final result was so worth it,” she says. “Sanding down hardwood floors that haven’t been touched in almost 80 years was so bittersweet. It felt amazing to restore this space to its original condition and see the floors come out like new again.”
Once the floors were sanded, Jessica and her boyfriend selected a stain, which took a bit longer than she expected. “I bought almost 20 different stains to play around with, and nothing really stood out to me,” Jessica says. “I wanted to keep the natural look of the beautiful white oak floors. After a couple days of research and experimenting, I decided on a white wash stain and a water-based polyurethane. This was the most natural combination by far, and we absolutely love our results.”
Jessica says she loves the new floors so much that it was almost hard to put down her new rug, an heirloom-looking pick from Rugs Direct. Still, she says, “decorating this room and picking out the finishes was just as fun.”
For her furniture, she wanted to keep things neutral with subtle pops of color. “We opted for ‘cheaper’ furniture for now, but still very good quality,” she says. Her black metal bed was under $200, and many of her other pieces are Target finds, like the circular brass mirror, the woven-front nightstands, the cozy pouf, and the textured throw.
“Someday I’ll replace our dresser with something warmer, so there’s not quite as much white, but we’re still loving this space regardless,” she says.
Overall, she’s proud of how much brighter — and more spacious — the room feels now. “It truly feels like a different space,” she says. “The Alabaster paint on the walls helps the natural sunlight shine through.”
And as Jessica’s projects continue, she’ll slowly restore her family home’s beauty. “I really wanted my grandfather to see his childhood home come back to life, and these changes make all the difference,” she says.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.