The Grand Reveal: Our Farmhouse Bedroom

Before I begin, let me remind you how Scott and I spent the first month after we moved home in August:

To say that this post is a long time coming could not be more of an understatement. I have wanted to reveal the product of my hard work, but as a perfectionist, I was too scared to put an unfinished room on here as my first farmhouse post. But after a long conversation with a friend, I’ve decided to accept that this house will always be a work-in-progress, and this room was my first labor of love upon moving home. Therefore, let’s document it, and hopefully it will serve as motivation to complete the room very soon.

This room has served as a guest room on the first floor for as long as I can remember, but after acquiring my fur kiddos, it was easier to sleep downstairs with them when I came home to visit, rather than trekking up to my childhood room. However, as many often-unused rooms are, this one became a bit of a catch-all.  Mom and I talked, and decided that moving home required a special space that we could retreat to until we buy the house in the spring.

The room was a cottage blue, which I loved, but I needed it lighter and brighter. The floor still had a carpet, some 30 years old, that desperately needed to come up. What I found underneath was hardwood plank floors with 3 different paint colors layered on the finish. I knew at that point, I’d be renting a drum sander and spending hours stripping the floor. Fortunately, I’d done that in the first home I owned, and was familiar with the refinishing process.

In hindsight, I would have done all the painting prior to the floors, but I didn’t want to have to wash the walls after sanding the floor, and for a ridiculous reason I sanded first. Don’t do that – always paint before refinishing.  Let me tell you this – 12 hours of sanding the floor with 6 different grits had my muscles stiff for a week. It was grueling, but I did it on my own and could not be more proud  of the result. I also had to rent an edger, which is 10x harder a piece of equipment to use than the drum sander, and if I never have to use it again, it would be too soon. Sadly, I have about 3 other rooms I want to refinish, so alas, I know we will meet again.

I used regular old Valspar to prime the walls and conceal the blue, and Sherwin Williams Passive Gray for the walls. I wanted a pale gray to contrast with bright white molding, which in the end, has proved to be absolutely stunning.

One of the least enjoyable parts was removing the closet doors and spraying them outside – turns out I got the lilac bush covered better than I did the doors. Hoping it fades by spring…

Because the room had been renovated long ago, there were few electrical outlets on the far wall where I wanted the headboard. I enlisted the help of Watt’s Electric, and though I hate to say the job was much harder than was anticipated, they were flawless in the execution of it and I would hire them a million times over. It was a great feeling to know what we could work with local talent, and even more so because we graduated with the brothers. Things come circle, it’s amazing.

The final piece of the puzzle was installing baseboard for the first time in the room. The foundation isn’t great on this side of the house (old homes are money pits…) and so the floor slopes in many places. Thankfully, my brother is as much a perfectionist as I, and handier to boot. He spent a few hours helping me install the molding, which literally transformed the space. Bro, I’m still indebted and promise to paint the walls in your new house, when you get it ;)

In the end, we moved in a few pieces of furniture from our apartment, but most of our decor is still packed away. The room has a very minimalist feel right now, and we need several key items, such as drapes, an area rug, and new ceiling lights. We have only put a few items on the walls, but the ones we put up are incredibly special. Without further ado, our finished Farmhouse Bedroom:

          

In a post of its own, I must share the few pieces of unique artwork that we have on the walls – that coming next (in the meantime, check out the To Eat List on Etsy…)

So, there you go. I’m tired. Time for a nap after all that hard work back in August… :)