Master Bedroom Reveal - One Room Challenge Week 6! + VIDEO
/IT'S DONE!! I've officially completed my THIRD One Room Challenge and what a journey! The ORC has been such a big part of my home and blog - HALF of my house has been transformed through the design challenge. I'm so proud and grateful to participate! I mean, look at this new bedroom I get to sleep in, now!
If you found me through ORC, welcome! I'm Ashley and for the past three years, I've been restoring a craftsman bungalow in San Diego, CA. Learn a touch more about me here, preview the before-and-after room transformations here, and see my previous ORC rooms here and here.
If you want to catch up on the progress that got us where we're at now, check out each of the ORC posts below.
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - electrical and doorways
Week 3 - how to install board & batten
Week 4 - backyard surprise
Week 5 - a new door and paint
Have you been following along with my weekly videos, too? Catch up on each one, then tune in to the reveal video below!
This Week's Video - The Reveal!
If you liked that video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I'll be sharing more moving pictures!
Here are a few before and after side-by-sides before I break down everything!
The first thing I did was reconfigure the layout. I removed the doorway from the bedroom to the kitchen as a way of getting prepared to remodel the kitchen down the road. Where we lost access to midnight snacks, we gained an infinitely better configuration in the bedroom. I rotated the bed orientation and we finally have equitable space on either side of the bed. I don't know what I was thinking having it face the other way!
After patching the doorway, I installed board & batten on all of the walls to add more personality to the space. I modeled the dimensions of the new b&b off of the 100-year-old room dividers in the dining room. I nailed pine lattice strips from Metrie and it's amazing what a bit of wood and paint on the walls can do for a space! Check out the blog post and video for all the details and inspiration for this new wall treatment.
We removed one doorway but added another! I copied the dimensions and profiles on our original doors and windows to create a custom wood door from Pella. You can see in the above photo how the bottom panel of the door matches the original door to our closet next to it. I painted the inside of the new door Off-Black by Farrow & Ball and the outside I color matched to our existing exterior color palette. It looks like it should have always been there! Pella kindly sent a crew to install the new beauty and I've been staring at it ever since. Take a better look at the door in this post.
I'm lucky to have all of the original hardware in the house, but for the new door I wanted to add more modern hardware that still has a classic look. The Mormont Mortise set in matte black with the round knob from Emtek was the answer to my hardware wishes. It's so substantial, nice in the hand, and pretty on the eyes. I love how it subtly blends in on the black side of the door and pops on the red side. (More on the exterior soon.)
The door lines up with our existing three doors in the hallway so there's a straight shot from the front of the house all the way to the back. Dreamy!
Once a door was removed, a door was added, and the board and batten was installed, I painted. I used Farrow & Ball's Mole's Breath on the b&b, Ammonite on the top of the walls, and Off-Black on the doors and window sashes. You may remember that I used these same colors when I hand-painted the mural in my home office for my last One Room Challenge. I'm in love with matte paints that have a velvety look, rather than a glossy shine, so I used Estate Emulsion at 2% sheen for the Mole's Breath and Ammonite and Modern Emulsion at 7% sheen for the Off-Black. I feel like you can never go wrong with matte finishes when the color is rich.
All of the sources are linked at the bottom of this post, but I'm going to take you on a tour of each piece, starting with the sleeping quarters.
The rug is from eSaleRugs but unfortunately for you, it's vintage, so you can't get the same one. Sorry! However, eSaleRugs has a gigantic inventory of vintage and new rugs for your viewing pleasure. I always recommend a natural fiber rug, so mine is 100% wool, but you could go for silk/wool blends too. I spent HOURS shopping, so be warned that you'll have too many good options to pick from. The only rug pad I use is this one. Felt is the only material I feel comfortable putting on my wood floors without a fear of damaging them. The rug pad paired with the wool rug makes for plushy goodness when I get up in the morning.
This bed from Article was the first thing I knew I wanted for the room makeover. As soon as I realized that the bed would have to move in front of the window, I had my heart set on a spindle headboard that wouldn't block any natural light. The light oak frame keeps things feeling airy, too. Drake said it best when he sang, "I only love my bed and my momma." I'm in love with this bed and all of my hesitation to put furniture in front of a window is gone!
I have several other Article pieces in my home that I simply adore, so it was a no-brainer to add their bed to the mix! I have a lamp, side table, and pillow in the den and two amazing chairs in the living room!
For the sheets I went with my go-to organic sheet set from Target. I dressed them up with the prettiest natural linen duvet cover and shams from Pom Pom at Home. I'm committed to natural materials on my bed since I spend 10 hours a night here (I love sleep). The linen is so soft and luxurious, I don't know where it's been all my life. I'm now a linen convert.
If the linen wasn't swoon worthy enough, I also ordered the Pom Pom at Home oversized throw in midnight and it's the best throw I've ever curled up under. I actually pulled it off the bed and I'm wearing it right now while I write this post at my desk. It isn't even cold, but I just want it nearby! I'm really into heavy weighted blankets and I would gladly be smothered to death under this chunky throw.
I'm not a huge lots-of-pillows-on-the-bed person, but I wanted one accent pillow that I could also cuddle with while I slept, so what better than to buy a pillow from a dear local artist friend? Erin of Cotton & Flax makes beautiful textiles that you can use to create your own goodies with, or purchase some of her pre-made fabric items. Can someone please make me this? I love supporting female artists - you'll see there are many more lady artists in my room as I keep taking you along on my virtual tour!
Shall we venture to the side tables? These night stands from Room & Board are so so pretty. They are solid wood and handmade in Wisconsin, so I'm positive these solid wood beauties will be heirloom pieces. What I love about R&B is that their pieces are sustainably made in the United States, AND you can customize them to your needs. I picked the size, stain, and hardware so they fit my space perfectly, which was wide, dark, and dark respectively.
It was painful to do, but I drilled a 1" hole in the back of these so I could run cables for my phone in the top drawer and the Sonos on the bottom shelf. I situated it in a spot so you will NEVER see the hole unless you're looking from the back. To butt the furniture up against the wall, I got this slim plug for my side and this one for Ross' side. Having charging inside instead of on top is so seamless and so functional now. But in all honesty, I'd love these nightstands if they had no functionality at all, that charcoal stained ash is so so pretty I'd be happy if it just sat on its own like a sculpture in an art gallery.
On top of my nightstand is the beautiful blind contour portrait of me and Ross by artist Caitlin Metz, my glasses, a striped vase, the cutest (and cheap $7) alarm clock, this brass tray, a vintage jewelry box, a Sonos speaker, and a few favorite books. The jasmine and arabian lilac is from our yard and the room smells SO good now. Nothing beats free florals.
Ross' nightstand has a painting of my butt (seriously), a vintage piggy bank, a candle, a walnut coaster, some of his favorite books, a sculpture by artist Jeff Irwin, and boxes. Ross used to exclusively store electronics and microphone cables in his nightstand, so these pretty boxes are a nice place for him to store emergency bed-side cables.
Have you been admiring those sconces? I know you have, me too. Those are made by my friend Alison of the blog Deuce Cities Henhouse. She recently launched a kit shop where you can buy all of the parts to assemble her beautiful lighting designs. DIY for the win! And yay for supporting female makers!
I had her customize mine (which also happen to be half named after me - *blushing*) to be hardwired and on a dimmer so I could install them in the board & batten with that pretty wrap around detail. I used Ross' CNC machine to make wooden doughnuts that give the illusion of the batten wrapping around the light. Little details are my favorite. I get hung up on them and dwell on them for ages, but they have the biggest payoff.
Speaking of lighting, I did my favorite shade trick again! I layered blackout roman shades over light-diffusing solar shades both from SelectBlinds. I wrote a whole post and showed the details of the installation here when I installed them in my office. The double layered shades is my favorite way to adjust different lighting needs throughout the day.
I think I've covered this side of the room, let's take a look at the opposite side.
That dresser. *Sigh* I love it so much that I might name my first born after it. How do you like the name Hayward Goldman? This gorgeous solid walnut piece is from Hedge House Furniture and it's hand crafted in the Midwest. The quality is exceptional with a matte urethane, soft close drawers, and solid maple interiors. It's yet another heirloom piece that I'll pass down to my kids. You know, my kid named Hayward Goldman.
Now that I have a proper place to store my clothes, and I don't want to let the dresser down by cramming my garments inside, I'm going to have to officially Konmari fold my clothes. I teamed up with blogger bestie and Konmari expert, Natasha Habermann to help me clean out my closet a few months ago. Stay tuned for when she helps me to fold my clothes to look pretty enough to match this new dresser.
I'll give you a minute to keep admiring that walnut grain. When you're ready, I'll take you through all of the pretties that it sits with.
When I'm not staring at all of my new favorite furniture pieces and accessories, I can check myself out in this full length mirror from Overstock. In the previous version of our master, whenever I wanted to see my whole outfit, I had to stand on my bed to look at the top part of my pants. Seeing my ankles wasn't an option. The old mirror was nice, but not the most useful for a room where you put clothes on your entire person. This floor length mirror is metal so it has a really chunky and substantial look/feel to it. Are you sensing a theme that I like heavy things (blankets, dressers, hardware, etc.)? There's a handle on top for cuteness, or for a giant to carry it around like a briefcase.
The mirror has a nice glass finish, unlike some other mirrors that are more like a plexi and can distort the reflection. This one has a crystal clear view of the rest of the room - or my outfits. It also helps bounce all of that pretty light around the room.
You know how I keep mentioning female artists? Here's another one! Jill Rosenwald is a ceramicist based out of Boston that makes really beautiful customizable pieces. She has a variety of designs to chose from, then you can select the shape, size, and color of your piece. I asked for her cylindrical ice cream bowl with her Swish Alps design in charcoal and she made magic happen for my planter. She doesn't just do bowls like this, you can get mugs, plates, trays, vases, etc. She's definitely one worth looking into for customizable ceramics, and again - you'd be supporting a female artisan! Win win win.
And we have more female art! This piece by artist Angela Chrusciaki Blehm comes from Chairish who carries a bunch of beautiful original and reproduction artwork. Angela's piece jumped out at me with its bold contrast that balances some of the tone on tone that I have going in the rest of the room.
My favorite kind of art are pieces that are aesthetically beautiful, but have something that's a little curious/off/funny/odd/eerie/unique about them. And this collection on the other end of the dresser are just that. Gray Malin's Valet photograph of a giraffe at a hotel is charming and peculiar yet so beautiful. The black and white fits the neutral decor of the room but the orange giraffe and the sliver of blue sky add just a bit of oomph. The blue also ties into the rug and Orlando Soria's new book, Get It Together.
The small collage piece by artist Misty Hughes is from Minted and also fits my love for curious pieces. Collage is one of my favorite mediums, so I got two of her pieces, with the other one on the adjacent wall.
I picked this collage piece because the color brings out the wood of the bed, and it it has a soft neutral palette. Plus, a gal that looks to be dressing/undressing is perfect for the room where I store and put on all my garments.
I also ordered a third piece from Minted, and it's the large moody landscape on the opposite wall.
I had my eye on this photograph by Emily Coey for months and it served as the jumping off point for the room design. It has a deep, moody, neutral quality that inspired the tone-on-tone color palette. Ross and I are also really attracted to lush forestry because it's simply not a common sight for us in the desert of San Diego. I'm smitten with the whole print including the matte UV glass and metal frame from Minted.
It's a tiny detail, but I love how the frames float over the board & batten. It's just half an inch, but it tickles me!
Let's circle back to the dresser again. The lamp at the end is from Lamps Plus and - you guessed it - is nice and heavy. The base is ceramic and the neck is wood. I'm definitely going for a black and wood palette in this room, so it fits the bill with a nice ivory shade to balance the dark tones.
The teeny tiny ceramic piece has been a prized possession for years and years. The artist Mitsy Sleurs creates ceramic pieces to personify 50 different feelings. Can you guess which this one is? Spoiler: it's Empty.
In case there's any confusion about the grey door, that's our closet. I did a big closet clean-out earlier this year that you can see here, but I didn't even have a door on it. Let's hope that hiding things behind a door doesn't mean I'll regress to a messy closet again.
Have you noticed my light switches? Throughout the entire house, we have reproduction push button switches which are the authentic style that would have been in the house 100 years ago. I adore them. You press one to turn the lights on and the other to turn them off. Since these are reproductions, I got extra modernized switches that even have a dimmer in them - just spin the bottom button! I like switches and plugs that either purposefully stand out with black, brass, and mother of pearl accents, or ones that camouflage into their surroundings. Throughout the house, I went for the contrast with shiny brass plates. All of the switches, plates, outlets, and outlet covers are from House of Antique Hardware. I also got black sash locks from them so the locks blend in with the black windows. Have I mentioned I like tone on tone yet?
Did you forget I also re-did the backyard for the One Room Challenge?! Once the exterior door was installed I was so excited that I was making statements like, "now we can enjoy the backyard from the master!" but I seemingly forgot our backyard consisted of 40% giant jacuzzi 30% weeds and 30% boring deck. So, what's a girl to do other than re-do the backyard while simultaneously re-doing the bedroom!?
Let's go outside, shall we?
Our master bedroom isn't that big - not small, but not big. There's enough room for a bed and some storage, but no space for a seating area, so venturing to the backyard for additional seating is the perfect way to enjoy our mild San Diego climate conveniently off the master.
What a difference some black paint, a weed whacker, flowers, beautiful furniture, and a few accessories can make, right?!
The first thing I did was clean up the yard. Do you see that shaggy thing on the right next to the ivy? That's a weed. I was pretending it was a tree so I wouldn't have to tend to it, but it was a spikey weed. We also power washed, pruned the big pepper tree, and removed some ugly conduit pipes on the back of the house.
We have plans to remodel the whole backyard with new landscaping and hardscaping, but we took on this project as a stop-gap until the big transformation occurs. I feel silly for not making these simple edits sooner!
One of the easiest changes was to paint ugly things black. I already stained the fence black (still haven't finished the super up high parts) but painting the jacuzzi and bench black have changed the whole feel of the space. We have plans to get rid of the oversized jacuzzi, so I had just left it alone. But now that it's black, it makes for a nice backdrop for the new furnishings in the seating area.
Once the door was added, the deck needed to be extended so we could safely exit the master without falling out of the new door. A friend came over to help me build the deck and, boy, was it a doozy! I received a lot of questions about building it but I'm not sure it's useful to share because we tied into the existing composite decking, and built the fastest and cheapest (while still safe) platform to walk out on. Let me know what you want to know, though!
For comfy lounging, I ordered these two love seats from Stori Modern's Graphic collection which are pure dreams. They have a cool modern look with the black lines, but they have a classic and casually comfy feel too. My favorite combinations! The seats are firm yet plush and all around comfy. Basically they are chameleon furniture that could look good in any space for any kind of need. I paired them with their matching coffee table and side table which will come in handy when we enjoy some outdoor margaritas or even full outdoor meals! They are made of lightweight aluminum, so they are easy to move around if you need flexible seating, or need to put furniture away for winter weather (but I wouldn't know, I'm from San Diego and don't understand weatherizing).
Yes, we are THOSE people that own two Priuses. And proud of it! I only wish they were fully electric #goals.
We aren't ready to do major landscaping so I got this rug to cover up the weeds, then we mulched around it. I can never have too much check pattern. I added outdoor pillows (each are linked below), and sprinkled the space with potted plants and flowers.
Look who it is! This is the neighborhood cat, Sunny, who walked into my house on nearly 10 occasions during the One Room Challenge this season. He's just as happy as I am to have this nice outdoor seating area!
I instantly fell in love with this pouf because the design reminded me of the leaded glass in our dining room cabinets. It has a really dense filling so it's perfect for seating or even for setting a tray on top for more table surfaces.
The lantern from Kichler is such a cool addition! It's a wireless LED lantern that I can pick up and carry to walk to the veggie bed for late-night herb gathering, or I can take it to another corner of the yard that might need more light during an evening outdoor party. To top it off, it has a bluetooth speaker to play my tunes or podcasts!
I don't think we'll have any shortage of lighting, though, because we installed outdoor lighting from Kichler! This is the first "real" exterior lighting for us. We had overhead market lights, solar path lights, and solar motion sensors, but now we have much more reliable, yet still low-energy lighting.
This blog post is getting absurdly lengthy, so I'm going to dedicate a future post to outdoor lighting since I didn't cover it previously. I was initially intimidated by installing the lighting, but seeing how easy it is to run wire, cut it, twist it, then repeat, it's not nearly as scary as I thought. I'll share more info on how to do this soon!
Well, I think I should wrap up this novel of a blog post! Go back through each of the previous posts for more in-depth looks at each of the design elements, then shop the look with the product images below.
If you want to see more of what I have planned for my home renovation, follow me on Instagram, YouTube, and the blog! You can also take a look at my previous One Room Challenge projects here and here!
I'm not the only one that completely transformed a space over the last several weeks! Brew up a giant pot of coffee, then check out the reveals of my fellow featured designers below, and don't miss out on the guest participants, too!
Apartment 34 | Beginning in the Middle | Coco & Jack | The English Room | The Gold Hive
Gray Malin | Jenna Sue Design | Jojotastic | Kelly Rogers Int. | Linda Holt | Marcus Design
Michelle Gage | Natasha Habermann | The Painted House | Rambling Renovators
Sacramento Street | Shannon Claire | Sketch 42 | Stephanie Kraus | Bisou Style
Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC
Thank you all for following along on the journey and cheering me on! A big thanks to Linda Weinstein, who organizes the One Room Challenge event twice a year for hundreds of home bloggers - what a feat! She connected me with the folks at so many of my favorite brands that made my master into my dream bedroom. I'd like to give a huge thanks to this project's sponsors: Bellacor, Chairish, Emtek, eSaleRugs, Farrow & Ball, Gray Malin, Hedge House Furniture, House of Antique Hardware, Jill Rosenwald, Kichler, Lamps Plus, Metrie, Minted, Overstock, Pella, Pom Pom at Home, Room & Board, Select Blinds, and Stori Modern. I also need to give a shout out to my friends and family that came over to help caulk, install lighting, build a deck, paint, carry furniture, garden, and bring me. food when I had no time to make dinner!
While many of the products in this makeover were generously provided by brands, all opinions and product selections are my own.
Shop The SPACE
If you made it this far, I give you a photoshoot blooper showing off how much I love my new room but also how tired I am from renovation work!
