A Tour of The (mostly) Black and White Bedroom
What do you do when you have a room to transform on a minuscule budget? …
For the past two months I’ve been sharing various furniture makeover projects with you. And finally after all this sweat and toil, I am ready to show you the girls’ mostly black and white bedroom in full.
I’ve included links to all the projects at the end of the post.
It was quite a tall order. And I’ll be the first to say I am not a decorator, but I know when something doesn’t look right…or more importantly, I know how a room makes me feel. So I went with my gut on this one.
This is not exactly what you expect from a young ladies room but that Hemnes dresser was the starting point. We painted the walls white….
At first I was against the idea but then after a read of the DIY Home Planner I relented and decided to free myself up. After all this is their room, I shouldn’t be fighting them! Why not go along with their idea.
And this was the result. A reverse ombre wall with a space there on the top! My youngest painted the wall in two days and to say that my jaw dropped is an understatement. It turned out so much better than I expected. It was a win-win for everyone especially since the older daughter loves blue.
Now you may think the placement of the beds is a bit odd, but this was their choice and since I had freed myself to go along with their ideas, I went along with this radical for me furniture placement. It may seem a bit tight when you walk in but then you have this space that is anchored by the blue rug.
Each girl chose her own duvet cover, so that the room was not too matchy-matchy. Aww, I would have loved matchy-matchy, but I have to respect their differences. There was no way my blue-loving girl was going to go with a gray striped pattern.
The lamps were also given a makeover and look nice and fresh to fit in the room.
At this point they have deliberately not really hung anything on the walls (except for some fairy lights above the bed to the right you see below). My younger one uses the wall as a backdrop to make her videos so she wanted a blank slate. This side of the room is very calm.
This came about when I went to the basement and found the Cinderella dresser, as I fondly call it. It was in very bad shape but I knew if I gave it a makeover and placed it between the two Billy bookcases I’d have a huge amount of storage. The mirror was the crowning glory.
Covering all those boxes in toile contact paper servers to unify the whole thing. Otherwise there would have been so much color, it would have defeated the purpose of the room – remember tranquil and calm.
We’ve placed a very simple black desk next to the bookcase for the computer and the shelf on top is for a few necessities. Actually, the shelf was there from before and we thought we would just work with it. It turns out we really like it there.
For seating the girls are using an old ottoman that has storage but this is just temporary. Although it does look rather good.
I just had to share this photo of my Cinderella dresser, notice how nice and shiny the top is? And it is hard as a rock now that the paint has cured. You know it is going to get a lot of abuse with all those beauty products!
By the way, I just found out this dresser is called a Campaign dresser. I was looking through the internet and saw another one from Crate and Barrel priced for $699. Not a bad upcycle!
I think I did pretty well considering that we had to start from scratch.
But the most important thing here is that my girls absolutely love their room. It came out much better then what they expected. And it was all the result of teamwork and of this mama keeping an open mind and really paying attention to what they had to say. And if we have a bit of color peeking through, well that’s okay, I promise not to freak out. You can also see lots more ideas on how to get a fun bedroom here.
I hope you have enjoyed the tour of the mostly black and white bedroom and maybe you too have come away with some ideas. Even if this is not your style it always helps to look at things from someone else’s point of view, even if it means painting a whole wall in ombre!
I’ve included links to all the projects below.
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This blog is for entertainment purposes only; my DIY tutorials are not professional advice. Read my full disclaimer here.
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I love it Mary! I love all the black & white but that accent wall and the twinkle light are so cool.
🙂 gwingal
Nikki it is like your little reading corner but in a more grown up version. Girls gotta have their twinkles. 😉
what a beautiful room and I’m really impressed with your sons decoration of the feature wall. The room looks really relaxing
Thank you. It is for my two daughters who are in their late teens so it was very appropriate that they would want a bit of sophistication in there.
Very nice, Mary. It’s very sophisticated. I’m not sure how old your girls are but this can take them ahead many moons should they wish and to be honest, you could plunk any weekend guest in there of any age and I think they’d be most comfortable and not feel like they were in “the kids’ room.” Beautifully done.
Jeanie my girls are 19 and 20 so they are at that stage between wanting to hold onto their younger selves and moving forward into the adult world. I think the furniture is so neutral that we won’t have any problems with it at all. They can always add things to the walls and change out the bedding.
The girls room is very well done. I love all the coordinating yet unique art projects and diy projects. Its beautiful and functional and a special place for them. Very well done Mary. I bet it helps them feel at home in New York.
Isn’t it a great feeling to finally be finished with something you worked so hard on? I can ride that feeling for a month! Love what you did and I can see why the girls love it. It’s awesome Mary! Great job.
Mary, their room turned out great!!! All of your hard work paid off beautifully! It’d be fun to see how the room looks at night! Can your camera’s aperature open up and on a tripod can you capture it?? This is when I wish I had the Canon 5D although I can capture quite a bit at night with my little Canon EOS Rebel set about 1″ wide for about 20 seconds. 😉
Oh, had the girls thought about painting the closet doors?? They would look really good blended into the ombre wall! Great room, Everybody!!!! Enjoy it!
Amazing, Mary!! Lucky girls to have such a talented and thrifty momma who could make their bedroom dreams come true!!
Mary, The wall is gorgeous; and the black and white looks really sophisticated! I love those floral covered boxes and how all the blue works in perfectly with this room. Great job!
What a statement that painted wall makes–your youngest did a gorgeous job! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
I’ve loved watching the whole transition take place, everything has come together so wonderfully Mary. My favorite would have to be how everything is neutral which really makes the colorful paintings and mural take center stage, allowing the girls personality to shine through. Thanks for sharing your process at #fridaysfurniturefix!
It’s turned out wonderfully, 2 tastes and styles in one cohesive room. I especially love the ombre wall.
Hemnes furniture is lovely, we have the 8 drawer unit in our room and the bedside tables, they are sturdy and the drawers run so smoothly. We’ve had ours 3 years now and it’s still like new, so it’s a good investment.
OMG Mary! What have you done here! It is a gorgeous space for both of your girls. Chic, girly and with a little drama! You did excellent work my friend! Hugs and kisses to you and your girls!