Out of all of my house renovations thus far, my master bedroom was a lot less intense than my other projects, but ended up being the one that looks most dramatically different from start-to-finish. Taking this bedroom from mustard yellow to moody and masculine was mainly about cosmetics!
We’d already pulled up the terrifying burgundy carpeting the day we got the keys, and after refinishing the floors we painted the entire room top-to-bottom with high-hiding white primer with the plan to come back and finish it eventually. And then we left it like that. For years!
Finally a few months ago while in-between other projects I started obsessing over the idea of painting one of our rooms black, and our master bedroom seemed like the perfect fit – it inspired me to makeover our bedroom in only a few weeks!
My favorite change was replacing the oddly-placed light fixture with a modern chandelier. The original light was barely a foot from the front wall – I knew I needed to find something with a chain so that I could hang it in the center of the room where it belonged! I spent a long time looking at crystal chandeliers, then industrial chandeliers, then bubble chandeliers, before settling on this contemporary fixture with glass shades.
Most of the rooms in our house are bright so I really loved the idea of making our room moody and masculine. I was really inspired by this post on domino – I loved the juxtaposition of the black walls and graphic pillow with the warmth of a faux fur blanket.
The next big change was replacing the chair rail molding. I loved the beadboard, but it was
topped off with a skinny, boring square trim that didn’t match all of the other intricate molding and millwork in the house. Replacing it with actual chair rail molding was an easy fix and made painting easier.
What surprised me most about this renovation was how much bigger the room felt after I painted the walls black! I used Valspar Noir in eggshell, and brightened up the trim with a fresh coat of Valspar Ultra White in semi-gloss. I used a flat white for the ceiling.
I also think the curtains being mounted at the correct height made a huge difference in making this room feel big. After installing hardware and hemming curtains in my two other bedrooms I felt like a pro in this room!
At this point I was having a really hard time figuring out what to do for a headboard – we used to just sleep with our pillows against the wall but that wasn’t an option once we put curtains up.
One day I came home and Patrick had made a live-edge headboard for us! I love that it’s not too obtrusive but still adds a little texture! The extra pine boards that we bought for our kitchen shelving unit are the gift that keeps on giving!
Patrick and I have a massive collection of plants that we have to bring inside every winter. Usually they all end up clustered around the windows in the living room, but we were able to make a really great space for them against the back wall – our windows in this room face east so they get a lot of light.
I’m so amazed at the difference a little paint can make and I’m so excited that this is now my favorite room in the house – it came together so quickly that I really don’t know why I waited so long to get to it!
Source List
Paint + Fixtures
Walls: Valspar noir 4009-2 in eggshell
Trim: Valspar ultra white 7006-24 in semi-gloss
Ceilings: BEHR® ultra pure white ceiling flat interior paint
Shop the Room
Driscoll transitional 5 light chandelier
Coyote faux fur throw blanket
Global oversize lumbar throw pillow
Ritva cotton curtains with tie-backs
Elegance sheer voile curtain panels
1.25″ curtain rod rings with clips
Ellicott end table with storage
Similar modern table lamp with linen shade
Similar black parchment gold-lined lampshade
Similar bridle leather campaign chair
Similar black icelandic sheepskin rug
Black and white tassel throw pillow
This is beautiful! I just painted my bedroom black too. I found you through Apartment Therapy and I'm now a new subscriber!
Tania
i just saw your post on at, and i wanted to come by and say: congratulations on an amazing transformation! what was a blah room now just absolutely captures you with gutsy and serous statement. and those builtins! before, they were so out of place, now they are the star of the show! incredible! love love love!
Do the sheer curtains you have up provide enough privacy?
I feel like they do – I have the same sheers in all of the upstairs windows in my house! I had actually frosted the bottom panes of my bedroom windows years ago (before I put up curtains) so that's also another option if you think sheers are TOO sheer.