One of the biggest rules I break in traditional decorating is the one that says you shouldn’t paint a small room dark because it will make it feel smaller. While this can be true, there is nothing that says you shouldn’t break the rules if you love it.
Because my house is so small and there aren’t a lot of places to go escape, I wanted to create a space that felt like a retreat. Scroll down the before pictures below and get a little insight into my plan. Then, keep scrolling to read my reason behind the design and how it all turned out.
Before Pictures + The Plan
The Plan: Paint the entire room dark gray. Build a living wall next to the hat rack out of reclaimed fence boards.
The Plan: Find a mirror for above the dresser and accessorize. Paint the diffuser gold.
The Plan: Replace this thin trim to match the big window as close as possible since that trim is original to the house.
The Plan: Build a floating shelf above the bed out of reclaimed fence boards. In the future, replace it with a giant tufted headboard.
The Plan: Repaint all of the trim and doors with a fresh coat of bright white paint. Patch the big hole in the wall where an old security system panel was mounted.
The Plan: Replace the lamps with my old desk lamps and spray paint them gold.
The Plan: Spray paint the hardware on the filing cabinet nightstands gold.
The Results
Even though the walls are dark, the three windows let in a lot of light. The contrast of the dark walls with the saltillo tile, gold accents, and lighter wood really makes everything just pop!
I made the living wall out of reclaimed fence boards in an afternoon. The living wall and rustic hat rack help give the room a nod to nature. Adding natural elements make the room feel relaxing.
The mirror and candlesticks are thrifted. I spray painted the Young Living diffuser metallic gold. The ladder and blanket were both gifts.
Here you can see the new window trim. The style now matches the original trim on the big window.
Fresh white paint on all of the trim and doors makes everything clean and fresh.
The lamps used to be in the office of my big house. I repurposed them here and spray painted them metallic gold.
Filing cabinets make fantastic nightstands. They are the perfect height and deeper than a traditional nightstand so they hold twice as much. The hardware was spray painted metallic gold.
Final Touches
Brass accents contrast nicely with the dark gray walls. The plant pot and candlesticks were thrifted. The wine barrel candle holder was a gift and the iron garden decor came out of my old house.
You can find all of the details on how to make the rustic hat rack here.
I have had so much fun collecting the brass candlesticks. I think the mother of pearl set is my favorite! What part of my small bedroom, big style makeover do you like the best?
Tahni,
I absolutely love the idea of the living wall!! Im all about the outdoors inside. I also love the contrast of the walls against the door and windows..i would NOT have done that, but it’s fabulous. Lastly the entire side of the room where the bed is..that’s gorgeous! ❤
Dawn – Awe thank you so much. I followed up on my living wall on Instagram. Unfortunately, it became a dead wall. However, I repurposed it outside on the fence and I’m going to plant succulents in it.