Sean and I have spent most of this month steadily working on giving our bedroom a much-needed makeover. Our not-very-old Big Fig mattress gave me so much pain that we purchased a new bed over the July 4th holiday. (We went with a Casper adjustable bed, which we love so far.) Making that one change made us realize that we've lived in this house for ten years now without taking too much time to really make it our own, other than painting my dressing room before we moved in.
I was diagnosed with cancer two months later. I found the lump in my neck a few days before our housewarming party. Surgery and treatment, then living life, were the main priorities. We've done little things like change light fixtures and outlets. We painted a wall in the garage and painted the cabinets in our garage laundry area. This time we decided to make changing the bedroom our priority because it was becoming such an eyesore. The paint job from the previous owner was poorly done, cracking, and dingy. We had oversized furniture pieces for the room because we were just using items we already owned or that someone had given us. There wasn't proper storage which resulted in too many wasted spaces that collected dust. Nothing felt like it represented who we are today.
I was diagnosed with cancer two months later. I found the lump in my neck a few days before our housewarming party. Surgery and treatment, then living life, were the main priorities. We've done little things like change light fixtures and outlets. We painted a wall in the garage and painted the cabinets in our garage laundry area. This time we decided to make changing the bedroom our priority because it was becoming such an eyesore. The paint job from the previous owner was poorly done, cracking, and dingy. We had oversized furniture pieces for the room because we were just using items we already owned or that someone had given us. There wasn't proper storage which resulted in too many wasted spaces that collected dust. Nothing felt like it represented who we are today.
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We just celebrated our fifteen-year anniversary and, as I mentioned, we've been in this house for ten years. We aren't the same people as we were a few years ago, much less ten or fifteen. We talked about what colors we loved the most, what we wanted the room to feel like, and how we wanted to use it. Then I came up with some color ideas and options, a basic floor plan, and what types of furniture pieces I think we needed to look for.
This room is a big part of me, not only because I designed it, but because I made so many DIY projects for decor and ambiance within the room. It's been very healing and uplifting for me to see Sean's reactions to my finished projects and my ideas come to life. For so much of my life, I was told how stupid and worthless I was, how everything I loved was ridiculous, and how I wasn't capable of anything. It happened enough that I came to believe it and I didn't think anyone else would feel differently.
When he looks at what I have created with amazement and wonder and admiration, I feel a little bit of me being stitched back together and those limiting beliefs start to fade like that photo in Back To The Future. Those moments when people really see you for who you are and love you anyway are helpful on so many levels. I've also had beautiful conversations with friends about these things too.
It just means so much to me for people to be kind and supportive and complimentary (I know everybody loves and wants those things...) because I don't think anyone realizes how invasive those negative thoughts are when that's all you heard growing up. Most people think, because I'm in my 40s, I should no longer be affected by things that happened to me from, let's say, ages 7 to 25. But what people don't take into account is that EVERY DAY from ages 7 to 25, I was bullied and shamed and ridiculed and humiliated for just being me. For loving music and dancing and having a big imagination. For being sad and sensitive and creative. For having Friends of Color, for having a larger body, for not having been born a boy, for looking too much like my dad. And on and on and on.
All this to say, healing can come from surprising places. It may not "fix" the problem, but those positive reactions and words start to outway the old upsetting ways.
Also, the point of this whole post was to start showing you the DIY projects I worked on for the bedroom before I show you the before and after of the entire room. Let's get on to that before I write the entire memoir I've been planning, shall we? 😂
We chose a nature and forest-inspired theme for the bedroom. (If you follow me on Instagram, then you know the real name of the theme.😉) We wanted it to feel like a clearing in a forest grove, like we were nestled in a secluded, enchanted woodland.
We have had these two basic Ikea dressers (the Kullen and Malm) for quite a while now. We really didn't want the added expense of buying new dressers, so I opted to paint them. I was already making the room darker by design, so I needed the dressers to be a little lighter in color and look more cohesive next to everything else. I bought a few paint sample containers to try out some different color options in the room. I purchased them through the Lowe's website so that I could just run in and pick them up. Their Sherwin-Williams paint samples are only $4. Painting a cheap 8x10 canvas with the color and hanging it on the wall was very helpful in picturing the color in different parts of the room. Once we chose a wall color (Raging Sea), I used those paint sample containers to paint the dresser drawers and some of the other painted projects within the room. (The other two colors are Spring Spirits and Hanging Vine.) This helped me not feel wasteful as I used a majority of that paint that would have otherwise gone to waste.
For a touch of Hailey pizzazz, I added the Style Selections Paint Glitter Flakes in gold to each paint color. I love the sparkle that comes through. It's also pretty subtle because the sparkle is only really noticeable when the light hits it just right. I'm going for more "enchanted" with this room idea, so I dialed myself back to subtle. (This is still the whole 1-ounce bag of paint glitter into a 7-ounce paint sample tub. I have used these glitter flakes with wall paint in my dressing room and the result is LOVELY.)
I put a primer and three coats of paint on these drawer fronts. It still isn't perfect because I'm human (like I can see some primer on the edges that the tape didn't stop), but overall it turned out great! After the paint dried, I had to buff the painted areas with a microfiber cloth to bring the glitter into focus. The harder you buff, the more glitter comes through.
Eventually, we want to add some pretty drawer pulls, but I'm still looking for the perfect ones. If I waited until everything was "done done" then you'd probably never see it.
The gradient is so pretty and definitely a feature that turned out even better than expected. It was a pretty easy update on a budget that has a big impact on the room and brings various elements together.
The gradient is so pretty and definitely a feature that turned out even better than expected. It was a pretty easy update on a budget that has a big impact on the room and brings various elements together.
I look forward to sharing more projects and progress with you!!
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