This space came with a lot of big challenges! Funny enough the biggest challenge was its small size. The room is roughly 10′ x 10′ feet and has a few obstacles which makes furniture placement, especially a bed, very difficult. There are two doors, one radiator, and a rather large set of windows that I had to design around. I’ve tried the bed in all configurations, but it works best for the flow of the room on the wall with the radiator, howevs designing a bed around a radiator came with its own set of challenges. Let’s continue with the reveal, shall we?

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After really considering the problem of squeezing the bed onto the same wall as the radiator, I decided that the best way to create cohesion in the space, and make the wall feel connected was to add a big beefy shelf to float above the bed and the radiator. Mimicking the other woodwork on the second floor of our home, I left the wood natural. The shelf becomes the base for ever growing plant collection as well as a mirror, candles and other small decorative items.

Because this room is south facing, it has always been a place where I put my sun loving plants, they thrive in the space. When making over this room I didn’t want to have to kick out the plants. I also had a big blank wall without the budget to fill it with large scale art. It soon dawned on me that the same materials I was using to make lamps could be used to make a sculptural wall trellis that my plants could grow on. All the WINS! Would you guys like to see the brass trellis come to the kit shop?

The windows in this bedroom were the roughest in the house. I imagine that part of the reason for their wear was due to the constant exposure from the south facing sun, which causes the wood to dry out and paint finishes to deteroiorate. It was in need of some TLC. I removed the sashes, replaced the sash cords, sanded rough spots, and painted the windows for protection from the sun as well as for looks. Find all the details and a in-depth tutorial on replacing sash cords in this post.

As I mentioned, this room has two doors, the door to the hallway and the closet door. All of the doors in our house have suffered at the hands of many coats of paint. The details in our foursquare craftsmen-style home are often understated. The paneling in the doors being one of them. With so many layers of paint its getting hard to see the detail of the panels and I wanted to try an experiment to see if stripping the doors would be worth the time investment for a fresh surface to paint on. Get all the details on my stripping adventure in my Instagram highlights found in my profile.

Probably the most impactful project of them all was transforming our full sized Ikea Malm bed into a cozy/luxe, inviting spot for our guests. I wanted to dress up the simple bed, but I also wanted to extend length, and heighten the headboard. It needed to fit perfectly into the space created by the radiator (on the right) and the full length shelf above. I borrowed a few tricks from Brady Tolbert’s post about channel tufting his bed, and then added a few of my own. For functionality I custom built two sconces and had them recessed into the tufting. Below the sconces are two very petite floating tables that hang on angle brackets hidden within the tufting. Elements always have to repeat and here you can see I have incorporated the brass of the trellis into the fixtures, and the natural woodwork of the wall shelf in the floating side tables.

Get The Look

1 – Moroccan Rug | 2 – Linen Duvet | 3 – Brass Sash Pulls | 4 – Blue Tufted Headboard | 5 – Curtain Hooks & Rings | 6 – Curtains | 7 – Brass Sconce | 8 – Geometric Coverlet | 9 – Knotted Pillow

If you happen to be visiting this site because you are coming from the ORC, whazzzup? My name is Alison, and this blog is where I’ve been hanging out for the last 9 (!) years. Here is where I share my design inspiration, DIY adventures, and tips I learn from my feet-first approach to home improvement. As a bonus I’ve been able to meet a lot of cool people along the way. My fam and I live in a 108-year-old Minneapolis four-square craftsman home. You can check out a quick house-tour right here. Last summer, my husband I purchased an A-frame style cabin in need of a little TLC in the heart of Western Wisconsin (aka West Wisco). After six months of elbow grease, our cabin is on the verge of relative stardom – it recently hosted a photoshoot with Better Homes & Gardens, oh and the fam and I got to be in it too ;) You can check the feature in the upcoming December 2018 issue!

I’m super stoked to get started and can’t wait to share more. Make sure to check in on the other guest participants, and all of the super talented featured designers. I spent a chunk of yesterday checking out every single one of their reveals, here are some of my favs. Ashley’s Bedroom and Outdoor space, Catherine & Bryan’s Living & Dining Room, Joanna’s Outdoor Patio, Michelle’s Bedroom & Sitting Room, and Natasha’s Living Room, Entry and Stairs!