New floors, painted walls, brand spankin’ new bed, and our bedroom is finally finished after a couple months of semi-hard work. Let’s take a tour, shall we?
I should preface by saying that I did take some amazing ‘before’ shots when we’d first moved in and the room was truly hideous, but I seem to have lost them somewhere along the line, which is disappointing. (I live for before and afters.) #rookiemistake
First things first: I ripped up the carpet and laid new (plywood) flooring. You can check out the how-to here. I also gave the walls three much needed coats of paint; the shade I used was Polar Bear (Behr).
Before…
…during…
…after!
The floor has been down for about two months now and it is holding up really, really well. My dogs are not soft of foot and it takes a beating on the regular, but it still looks great and feels awesome under my (always) bare feet.
Our dresser was looking a little sad and boring, so I made this mirror framed out with 1×3 strapping and stained with Minwax Early American to give it a little life:
I also wanted to make Sharkie a fancy-pants bed that was all her own, as she really likes being up off the floor. (Tank is content with his giant floor pillow and Jack sleeps with us because he is my best friend.) Anyways, I made a simple, three-sided box out of plywood and stained it using Minwax Ebony, added a few six inch furniture legs that I’d spray painted gold and BAM: new bed for Shark:
I could not wait to get rid of the ceiling fan — which was a bit of battle. For someone who has never once turned on the ceiling fan or expressed any interest in ceiling fans, Matt really went to bat for that thing. However, once we got it down and switched it out for my awesome retro thrift-store find, he conceded that it was in fact way, way better.
I’ve mentioned several times that I am obsessed with television (Buffy is my jam), and so naturally we have one in our bedroom. For the first month we lived in the house, the TV was sitting atop this horrid old bookshelf:
BARF. Would you look at that sad sack of a bookshelf? I really needed an inexpensive solution that would hide the TV and beautify the entire thing at the same time, so I built a cabinet top out of plywood using my Kreg Jig and attached it to the bookshelf. To finish I painted the whole piece white, and stenciled a tribal design on each side.
It is so much fresher and cleaner looking now! I’m still deciding whether or not I’m going to keep the stencil or paint over it. We’ll see.
At this point, it was time to tackle the bed. I had my heart set on building this West Elm inspired behemoth, using plans by Jen Woodhouse. It took about three weeks for me to finish, but it was well worth the time, and the entire thing only cost about $210. Up until this point, we’d had a queen set that just sat on the metal frame it came with; no headboard, no nothing.
What a piece of garbage. Have I mentioned I am obsessed with our new bed?
Once we had the bed set up in the room, it really dwarfed our night stands. I threw together a couple of taller ones to tide us over until we can find something a little nicer, and they turned out ok. I would really love some metal ones to contrast with the wood in the bed, but it can wait.
I have one more semi-big project in the works, but other than that I think it’s time to call it on this makeover! I love finally having a grown-up bedroom (never had one of those before) that is relaxing and reflective of our my taste/style. Can I just shut the door and pretend the rest of the house doesn’t exist?
What do you all think of my floral, granny-chic quilt? Yay or nay?
I absolutely love this room al !
Thanks Hale!
I love this! We have a kitchen floor to redo and I’m super tempted to try your idea! You did a fabulous job!
Thanks Michelle! I have been thinking about doing these in the kitchen as well, but maybe painted instead? Be sure to share when you end up doing yours: I would love to see how they turn out!
They look great. I’m actually waiting on a friend to help me pick up the last ten sheets of plywood (thankfully Home Depot cut each 4 x8 into 6″ planks with no extra charge). I cannot wait to start….all 800sq feet! Great job!
That’s awesome, Wendy! Let me know how they turn out, and good luck!!
This is a fantastic idea! And looks amazing!! What did you seal the plywood with once you were finished??
Thanks Anna! I used Minwax Ultimate Floor finish in Satin. Three coats! http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/hardwood-floors/minwax-ultimate-floor-finish
I have been saving plank floor DIYs for a while. I have to tell yours and one other one are by far the best I have seen! Your floors look great! Your DIY instructions were very easy to follow. Oh and I like your floral quilt its a nice pop of color in your room!
That is so awesome to hear: thank you Texan! I love these floors and would recommend them to anyone looking for a cheap solution that still looks and feels great. 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions at all about them, I’d be happy to share any tips or tricks. Thanks for your lovely comment and for stopping by the blog.
Love it! I so want to do this to our bedrooms. Thanks for the info and inspiration.
Glad you like it Janet! Would love to see how yours turn out once you’re finished!
You’ve done an amazing job!
I am thinking of the plywood floors for an entire home and have a couple questions.
1. Are you having any squeaking since you didn’t use glue?
2. Since you sanded before you installed, did you add a small bevel to the edges? The edges look square but I’m concerned that if any of the subfloor is not even that the final floor will have varying levels and create a mini ledge that may chip.
Thanks!
Hi Jen! Thank you for the comment! I have not had any squeaking or creaking with the floors *yet*; it’s been about seven months now so they have had time to settle, but that isn’t to say they won’t start creaking in the future. I did bevel the edges. I wanted to make sure they weren’t sharp or splintery and so I just ran my electric sander across to take down the edges when I was sanding the planks before the install. I hope that helps! I honestly love the floors so much; even more than I thought I would. I love they way the look and especially the way they feel, which honestly was my biggest worry.
Let me know if you have any further questions and good luck! I’d love to see them when you’re done!
Allison, your one bad mama jama good job!!
Haha! Thanks Cris!