childhood home takeover vol.1

Bedroom Before and After

This past June I packed up my beloved Redondo condo and moved to my childhood home in Torrance. It’s hard to believe that a single (then 31-year-old) gal could need more space than the condo provided but when your hobbies require table saws and things of that nature you quickly start feeling cramped in a 900 square foot dwelling. I now have a 4 bedroom home to play with…oh the possibilities! I have so so many ideas and plans…where to begin? I made the obvious choice. The bedroom. First, I had to decide which room I was going to sleep in. You would think that the master would be a no brainer…but did I mention I have a lot of craft supplies?? I opted to make the master my office/work space and take my brothers childhood room as my own. It’s west facing so it receives great light. It’s actually been occupied by guests for the past umpteen years, so don’t be alarmed when you see floral wallpaper border…not that there’s anything wrong with that lol. My mom was way into wallpaper, as you’ll see in many of my “before” pics. It’s actually a skill I’m rather grateful she has…I love me some wallpaper as well…it’s back guys!

Here’s what I was working with

You’re looking at 30 year old carpet…yikes.

Step One: Strip the carpet, remove baseboards, and patch holes.

Step Two: Remove wallpaper.

Step Three: Pick out wall color. This is the hardest part! I mean…look at all the options!

Picking paint is tricky…it never looks like the sample, it’s always way darker on the wall than it is on the little paint chip…when it’s covering a large area it can be overwhelming. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way! I would usually sample a bunch of colors on the wall and see which works best with the flooring/furniture but in this case, the walls were my jumping off point. I had a blue sheet that was exactly the color I wanted. I hung it on the wall for a while to make sure I liked it with the natural lighting in the room. Once I decided to pull the trigger I brought the sheet to Lowes with me and matched it to the samples. I found a perfect match! Olympic B56-4 Aqua Blue.

Lucky me…I have the most helpful friends! Jess came over and helped me paint!

Step Four: Laying the wood flooring. Boy…I thought picking paint was hard…installing flooring is worse! I think my body ached for two weeks after this process!

Step Five: Baseboards and decorative mouldings. I picked the baseboards I wanted and found that they offered them in a contractors pack…it saves money to buy it that way! They have the pack in both 8 and 12 feet but I opted for the 12 so I would have less cuts/seams…downside was I had to drive with them hanging out of the back of my car!

You wouldn’t believe the impact new baseboards make….look at the before and after!

In addition to the baseboards I wanted to add decorative mouldings to the wall. For very little money, it adds a sophistication to the room. I needed a miter saw and nail gun for this project.

Step Six: Furniture

I’m using most of my existing furniture from the condo.

Bed: custom from The American Iron Bed Company

Bedding: Pottery Barn

Bedside Table: Home Goods

Bedside lamp: Home Goods

Reading chair: Home Goods

Ottoman: Target

Reading Lamp: Ikea

Desk Chair: Ikea

Desk and Chest: I got these from a furniture builder in Redondo Beach who has since gone out of business. They were both white (shabby chic). The desk was painted green and I painted the chest and orangy/red…Sunset Skyline to be exact (from Lowes)

Step Seven: Decorating! The best part. Here are a few details that went into the room.

Curtains: They are actually shower curtains from Anthropologie…I had a 20% off coupon. Using shower curtains saved a lot of money, window coverings can get really expensive!