Laura’s Master Bedroom Refresh (Before + After!)

I love changing up my spaces from time to time to refresh the vibe of a room. I’m pretty sure my husband, Todd, could live in the same house with the same things for his whole life and never notice, but I always feel like a room gets “stale” after looking exactly the same for a while. Now, refreshing a space doesn’t mean that you have to go out and buy all new items—heck no! Usually, my room refreshes consist of a few new (or at least new-to-me items) mixed in with some original pieces, items from other places in the house, and some originals that have been transformed through some DIY magic. Our bedroom was one of the first rooms we worked on when we moved into our house 3.5 years ago (you can see what the first design looked like in this post), so I thought it could use a little makeover to feel even more bright and open.

I think we bought our double dresser around the same time that we bought the bed (newlywed shopping!) and while I like the size and functionality of it, it’s also so dark and big that it just sucked up all the light on that side of the room. After a few (OK, a lot!) coats of white paint and a few added details, I love how unique it now looks and it makes a huge difference in the brightness of the room. This is the planter next to the dresser (I just painted the legs gold).

I used to have a bookshelf in our room, but it just became a magnet for clutter with all the shelves. So I hunted down a skinny, simple console table (similar here) to hold a few simple fun things (like that super cute phone!) and that wall feels super clean and neat now. Also, that amazing mirror is sold out (sorry!) but I think this one is another really pretty take on a sunburst mirror.

We’ve had this platform bed for coming up on nine years now and while I still liked the shape of it, the dark color wasn’t helping our room feel bright, so I did a DIY reupholstery to change it to pink and cover up the tufted buttons for a more modern feel—no regrets there! I’m still using my nightstands that I made over a few years ago, so I just gave them a new bit of paint here and there to touch them up a bit. One of my favorite pieces in the room is actually that furry blanket—how fun is that?!

As much as l still love the trim on our DIY customized closet doors, I thought a new color would go a long way in making the room feel fresh, so I painted them a pale pink (Tartlet by Ecos) and I love how they turned out.

I wanted to add some colors that don’t usually appear in my house (usually I have a strict palette of select pastels I choose from) and this Palm Springs print was a perfect way to add color and a nod to the California/mid-century vibe we have going on in the house. I also printed out a photo of Todd and I when we visited that Saguaro Hotel two years ago on our Babymoon vacation to hang on the wall next to the bed to add a personal touch to the space—take me baaaack!! I have that gold hanging planter in a few rooms of the house (DIY version here) and I love how they lift a little greenery into the air.

Since part of a refresh usually involves me moving things around the house, I switched this brass sputnik light from my craft room and I think it was the perfect addition to the space and compliments the gold globe lamp and nightstand lights as well (similar here). I still dream of having this lamp in a room someday, but I’d definitely need to find the perfect setting for it …

Isn’t that print amazing?!I switched that shag rug from another room into the space, so that was another “free” change that I could easily make. I don’t know about you, but my brain needs that bit of something different every so often, and this makeover has been a huge improvement on how extra warm and cozy the room feels to me. Hope you found a little inspiration for next time you want to refresh one of your spaces! xo. Laura

Credits//Author: Laura Gummerman. Photography: Amber Ulmer. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.