Bedroom Makeover

Our Primary Bedroom Makeover

I recently made a big change to my bedroom and I am excited to share the details with you today. This was a space that was having some functionality issues and needed an overhaul. The big change was that we upgraded our Queen Size bed to a King and it has been a game changer over here! We bought a new bed frame, mattress and curtains but other than that everything else in the room was already here. The furniture layout had to change to accommodate the new bed, and my husband and I are so happy with the way things are looking and functioning now.

Before

When we moved into our home 2 and a half years ago, I was unpleasantly surprised by the way the room was laid out - specifically, the wall that the bed was designed to go on was not wide enough to accommodate a king sized bed and two nightstands. You can see on the floorplan below, the widest wall is where the bed is, the other “wall” is a huge picture window, and the wall opposite the bed has an outlet and cable jack for mounting a TV.

In my mind, the furniture layout as designed by the builder seemed like the only way to configure the room. After measuring and re-measuring the wall, I had to accept that I couldn’t fit a king size bed AND two nightstands on the wall as per the floorplan. This posed a real problem for me. Nightstands, also called bedside tables, are an essential furniture item in my opinion. I like the storage potential as well as the surface area on top for resting lamps and other items. I also really gravitate to symmetry in design and love the look of two identical tables on either side of a bed. All this to say, I opted for a queen sized bed so that I could also fit two nightstands on either side of our bed. I bought two bedside tables for either side, placed my dresser opposite the bed, and mounted a TV above it. I have a cute vintage desk my husband bought me when we were dating and I tucked that beside the bedroom and closet doors. The room looked beautiful. I was especially happy with the wood accent wall I commissioned behind our bed and painted “Pigeon” by Farrow and Ball. Here are some photos I had taken of the space when it was complete...

The issue with this room design came down to function. My husband is very tall and the queen size bed was less than ideal. We lived with the status quo for 2 years but we were really struggling with the size of our bed and my quality of sleep was suffering. An important part of design is problem solving and my brain was constantly trying to figure out a way to accommodate a King sized bed in this room. Then one day while I was browsing bedrooms on Pinterest, I came across a photo of a bed in front of a window and it was an “ah-ha’ moment! Putting our bed on our "window wall" had not ever occurred to me. I quickly started searching "bed in front of window" to look at as many examples as I could find. I found so many great images and even articles on this very subject.

Bed in front of Window - Nesting with Grace

Once I realized that putting a bed along our window wall was an option, I couldn’t get out the measuring tape fast enough! I was excited to learn that the window wall in my bedroom was wide enough to accommodate a king sized bed AND two bedside tables. YES!! “But what about the TV? '' I thought, it would be awkward viewing to have it on the side of the bed and not at the foot. Another "ah-ha" moment when I realized, our cable box is wireless, so we don’t need the cable jack/outlet situation to mount the TV.

Just like that, all the pieces fell into place. We moved our queen bed in front of the window to see how we liked that set up. I am a sensitive sleeper and was a bit worried about the light from the window and the noise from the street behind us. After a few nights of living with the bed in front of the window, I was confident this floor plan was a go!

Designer tip: don’t be afraid to move your furniture around and try out a new layout. It doesn’t cost a penny, and it’s a good idea to test the functionality of a layout before investing in new furniture pieces. If you don’t have furniture to move around and you are starting from scratch, marking out dimensions on the floor with painters tape is highly recommended.

I started shopping for a new king size bed frame and fell in love with the Alexander upholstered bed in Tali Wheat. It was the perfect compliment to our existing furniture and the right scale for the room. I wanted a tall headboard to be able to lean back on while reading and watching TV in bed.

After

Once the Bed arrived, I was in love. I had to purchase a new duvet, duvet cover and sheets. I also felt like the white curtains behind the bed were blah, so purchased some new light-darkening panels from IKEA in a gorgeous navy color. I will share a complete list of sources at the bottom of this post, but let's get to the good stuff...the After Picture!