Empty Nester Makeover

Something happens when you become an empty nester. The bedrooms previously occupied by your children, become guest rooms. Or, for at least me they did. I’m sure some people may feel like they need to keep them exactly as they were when their kids left home (short of a shrine situation) but for me, it was an opportunity to redecorate and change things up – HOORAY! Although I still refer to these bedrooms by my kids names (Abby’s room and Johnny’s room) they do not, in any form or fashion, resemble what my 18 year olds left behind.

Johnny’s room for example has taken on several metamorphic transformations over the twenty year period since he left for college. The last bedroom switch up included a black iron bed that I bought from Zgallerie years ago, new lighter paint, a Dwell duvet and custom made dust ruffle and drapes. It’s a small room and there is a dresser in the closet, so basically the room consists of the bed and a built in dresser and shelf.

I loved the bedroom, but was ready to change things up. I considered painting the bed. When I asked Abby’s opinion she said “Well Mom, you have had that bed for a long time”. She was right. It was in my bedroom for several years before I moved it to Johnny’s room. That comment made me realize it was time for a new bed.

This makeover, along with another one that I will write about soon, all began in January. My thought was to get all this finished before the yard work begins in April. That probably sounds like a long time to redecorate a room, but I move at a turtle’s pace along with added time for special order pieces and shipping delays. After writing a previous blog post The Wall about Abby’s plank accent wall in her guest room (you can read about it here), I decided to create an accent wall of my own. After a couple of weeks, I had a plan. A brightish green upholstered bed and black and white wallpaper. I found a bed that I loved and ordered it from Wayfair with a lead time of six weeks. The upholstery fabric was called “grass green”. The perfect shade of not too bright and not too dull GREEN. The wallpaper I chose is from CB2. I looked at a zillion black and white patterns, but I kept coming back to this one. Basically, any color bed would look good with black and white wallpaper.

Finally, the delivery date had arrived for the bed. It was to be delivered to the front door. I opted out of the “white glove” delivery. I mean that is what Jerry T is for right? Later that afternoon, to my horror, the bed had been dumped by the garage, and I literally mean dumped. The delivery company never rang the doorbell and basically, after the so called delivery, got the hell out of there. Boxes were tossed on top of each other and had been torn open. Needless to say, I was a “wee bit upset” 😡.

We managed to get it all moved to the empty bedroom, but my nightmare continued. When I opened the box, I discovered that fabric had been ripped on one of the rails and the fabric was not a “grass green” but a drab olive green. The next morning after a “come to Jesus” conversation with Wayfair Customer Service, I felt slightly better. They gave me a full refund and told me to keep the bed. I order a lot of merchandise from Wayfair and I have to say, if they screw up, they will make it good again. I thought about giving this bed to my daughter Melinda or granddaughter Lani, but I really didn’t want to go through another six weeks waiting for a new bed. I would just try to make the best of the drab olive green.

The bedroom remained like this for a couple of weeks until Jerry T could find the time to put the bed together. It was basically a “catch-all” for other stuff that I had going on and the mess was driving me CRAZY. I had the wallpaper and the bedding all ready to go, just needed to get it done! All the remaining decor decisions (art, mirror, rug, window treatments, neon sign) came together very slowly. In fact, the room was not finished until June 30. As I stated above, I move really slow when it comes to decorating. I take a long time making these decisions but I am almost always very pleased with the outcome. Good things come to those who wait (or procrastinate).

Links to several of the items from this room can be found throughout and at the end of this post. Click on the pictures at the bottom of the post or the highlighted text for details or to purchase.

VOILA – Finally done! Only took me six months, but happy with the finished product. I told Abby I think it’s a bit “teenage girlish” but that’s okay. The room has a fun and happy vibe!

I went through a ton of pillows before settling on these. The three black and white ones in the back and the two round ones are actually outdoor pillows. The abstract face pillow was a gift from my daughter, Melinda. The bedding is no longer available, but I found this one on Etsy and actually like it better .

 

Once I got the wallpaper up and all the bedding in place, I felt like the room needed something else. My daughter Melinda suggested a bedside table. I took her advice and I found these at AtHome. I love them because they don’t take up a lot of visual space. I added the books and plant for some height since the table is pretty low.

 

This built in desk has been many colors over the years. Last year we painted it white and added marble to the top. The picture was a gift from Jerry T when we first got married. It was a stretch for our budget back then but I still love it to this day. The acrylic chair is from Overstock.

 

This pink glow from the neon light is real – no filter used. This is how the room looks at night. One evening after a walk, Jerry T and I were in front of our house and we could see this pink glow coming from the bedroom window. Jerry T said “it looks like a room from a bordello”! I reminded him that bordellos have red lights, not pink 🙄😂

 

These botanical prints from Paul Michael Company were perfect for this room. The basket is from AtHome.

 

I am obsessed with these faux roman shade valances from MonaGStudio on Etsy. They are made to look like a roman shade, but they are simply a valance that you can mount inside the window with a tension rod (no hardware needed) or you can also do an outside mount with a decorative rod. I am so obsessed, I got two sets. Abby also has a set of these on her bedside windows in her master bedroom. Mona is so easy and wonderful work with. You can send her your own fabric or she has a lot of different fabrics to choose from. We have the inexpensive Lowes shades underneath for privacy. A pretty economical window treatment with a custom look, not to mention I had these within one week of placing the order.

 

The mirror is another Paul Michael Company find.

ROOM FAVORITES

The Face Pillow – My daughter Melinda bought this pillow for me last summer. That in itself makes it special. It was in a great little speciality shop and surprisingly, I found it months later on Overstock. I think it adds some interest to the bed.

The Wallpaper – Like I said above, I looked at tons of wallpaper and kept coming back to this one. I’m thinking now that I should have papered the entire room!

Scroll and click on items for details or to purchase.