Before and After: A “Depressing” White Bedroom Becomes a Cozy, Stylish Retreat
When moving to a new home, time and budget constraints can push redos for less-used rooms to the back burner. After all, it makes sense to prioritize the spaces that get more traffic, like living rooms and kitchens.
When Kylene Cummings and her boyfriend Matthew George moved into a two-bedroom Southern California townhouse together, they started by decorating the living room. “We love to entertain, so when decorating, we focused on the living room first, devoting all of our time and budget to the communal space,” Kylene says. Meanwhile, their main bedroom remained full of leftover pieces from college for four months.
“We were only in the room to sleep, but it was a bit depressing,” Kylene says. “It was far from the cozy and romantic retreat we wanted, but the large blank box was intimidating. We didn’t know where to even start.”
Once most of the country started entering quarantine, Kylene and Matthew, like many others, were motivated to make a change. “After we began to work from home, making our house as lovely as possible became my fixation,” Kylene says. “We were stressed and anxious and I wanted a retreat that married both of our tastes. I’m more mid-century modern and bohemian, and my boyfriend Matthew likes rustic styles.”
Their newly redone bedroom manages to fit in both their tastes, starting with a hunter green accent wall (Sherwin-Williams’s Hunt Club). In front of it, Kylene and Matthew placed their new bed — a sophisticated-looking upholstered number that’s just as cozy as it is pretty.
Kylene kicked the old broken nightstands to the curb and brought in a pair of new ones, which are each topped with a mid-century-inspired brass reading light. And next to the window — newly outfitted with cool graphic curtains — she added a rustic-industrial shelf for plants and decor.
The other rustic touch: a cool distressed dresser with warm wood tones. Kylene also chose accents that fit in with her boho style, like a patterned bench for the end of the bed and textured accent pillows.
It took nine months to pull the whole project together. “The only thing I didn’t hesitate on was the wall color,” Kylene says. “But finding the right furniture and accents took a lot of time.”
That included the sleeping area, as well as a TV area across from it that manages to be both stylish and functional.
The result of all that searching is worth it, Kylene says.
“I love, love, LOVE the ‘after,’” she says. “I love the wall color and how it contrasts against the gray of the headboard and the gold lamps. I love the black and white bohemian pieces like the bench, blanket, and the lumbar pillow. The TV area turned out so much better than I had hoped, and the curtains are striking and offer us relief from the sun. I don’t think I would do anything differently — except maybe stop doubting myself!”
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