Hello!!! We promise we haven’t forgotten you or our bedrooms. But admittedly, Caitlin and I both know we haven’t been as on top of our bedroom progress as we had hoped. SO SORRY!! However, progress has been made (I actually have a very exciting announcement:))!! So today we wanted to give a little update on the progress and ask y’alls opinion about a couple of things we are a little stuck on. Design should always be collaborative! So we’ll spare you a long intro and just get right to it. Caitlin take it away…
Caitlin
Before we get into it – everyone, please wish Jess a happy birthday! I couldn’t ask for a better work wife, friend, confidant, or inspiration. I was nervous meeting Jess for the first time – I was intimidated by how cool she was! – and was pleasantly surprised to discover the kindest person I’ve ever known. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUNGO!
I know. I KNOW! I know what you’re thinking. “Caitlin, you’ve been working on this space for over a year. What’s the holdup?” It’s a fair ask, so I’d like to see your question and raise you an inquiry of my own: am I, uh, dumb? Because guys – I can’t figure out how to go faster. How are you managing your decorating budget with your more necessary expenditures? Am I totally missing something? (Seriously, I’m asking.)
Maybe you can relate – it just feels like a struggle to prioritize my own home when there are birthday presents to buy, destination bachelorette parties and weddings to attend, cross-country moves to pay off, car payments, medical bill installments…it all adds up so fast! So time and time again, this (functional, livable, halfway-finished) space is pushed to the back burner. I’ve been struck by the curse of the “good enough for now” room – has anyone else been afflicted? PLEASE ADVISE.
But it’s not all doom and gloom! Over the past few months, I was able to stash away a seemingly-paltry sum – just over $1,000 – which I spent on a few essential upgrades. My biggest splurge was on this vintage Danish teak and mahogany gentleman’s chest. It’s perfectly sized for the space (4? wide and nearly 4? tall!) with an ultra-functional combination of dressers and shelves. I paid $750 in total for this one – including delivery from the Palm Desert area, over two hours away! – so it wasn’t cheap, but it was well worth the wait.
That’s a keep-forever piece of furniture, folks! I love the classic proportions, the warm-but-not-too orange wood finish, and the simple raised detail of the drawer pull. Let me sell you on the vision a bit: imagine framed art on the wall, a vintage statement lamp with a punchy shade, and a full-length mirror hung to the left side of the dresser. This $98 mirror is my current frontrunner, but I’m thinking about painting the frame in some way. Thoughts?
Looking into the room, you may clock two new additions: plug-in Stilnovo-style sconces! The damage? $127.45 for the pair, and $84.73 for the TaskRabbit who mounted them to the plaster wall. The shipping took an eternity and we had to manually assemble each sconce, but I couldn’t be more pleased with the finished product. I still need to mask the cords a bit (using this tutorial from Sara, bless her), but I’m holding off until we land on a paint color. To that end: help! The cognac/cobalt/olive/gold color palette is MUCH more flexible than I’d anticipated – it looks good with every paint color I’ve thrown into my mockup! When all of your options are good options, how do you decide? (I’m open to suggestions. Begging for them, even!)
It wouldn’t be an update post without an admission of regret: I don’t think I made the right nightstand call. I grabbed these Serena & Lily-style side tables at TJ Maxx, and they’re a perfect fit in so many ways…but now, after the addition of the wood dresser, they look a little out of place. Too coastal? Too glam? Too fussy? These nightstands do technically check all of my boxes – the right size, the right shape, the right functionality – but something is off. Am I overthinking, or do you agree?
Man – the room gets more and more unhinged as we go! DON’T JUDGE ME, PLEASE. This is my dresser, stylishly adorned with the 12-year-old television from my first apartment in LA. I love having two TVs in the house – Dennis can play EAFC with his friends in the living room while I binge Investigation Discovery in the bedroom – but this placement is GARBAGE. Den’s view of the TV is often blocked; I’m essentially parallel with the screen, which is surprisingly not conducive to productive viewing; and, most importantly, I’m wasting SO MUCH GOOD STYLING SPACE. The flat surface that houses our monstrous black box will soon play host to 9 square feet of art, trinkets, and ephemera. Just you wait!!!
Which brings us to our final wall: a big, blank, shoe-corralling YAWNFEST. I’m imagining a Frame TV hiding up here, mixed amongst some sort of gallery wall. (A TV we can both watch while laying in bed at night, no strange positioning required! Can you imagine?) Ideally, I’d like to move the shoe storage out of the bedroom entirely – we have a lot of hall space, and I think I could figure out a way to hide them with some sort of skirted table – but I am very open to suggestions.
I know that this all doesn’t seem like much, but it’s felt like a lot of progress to me! I do still have a few large expenses looming: a good vintage light fixture (and an electrician to install it – our building still has the original wiring, and I know my skill level), the Frame TV, high-quality framing for a few precious art pieces, and maybe some swapped nightstands…but I can (truly) see the light at the end of the tunnel! I know I can DIY some window treatments; I know we can handle painting; I know that eventually, it’ll cool down enough to warrant making the bed with more than a sheet. It’s getting there! But man, I’ll take all the feedback I can get. What say you???
Jess
Alright, first things first… I NO LONGER AM SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR!! Let me tell you that I. Feel. Different. More together. More distinguished. Maybe less embarrassed to have friends see my bedroom. It’s been amazing. The first night was wild. It was like I was sleeping on a tower overseeing all of my land. After that, I nearly set up an office in my bed but knew I’d have no chance of actual productivity. But man, between my new custom Buildlane bed (saying that is still a dream come true) and my Tuft & Needle mattress, you can’t tell me that when I’m in that room I’m not a full-blown freaking princess. Here is a sneak peek. AHHH!!
BUT WAIT. Please please know that literally 95% of the bedding and the rug will change! Right now this room is a hundred shades of beige but NOT in a way I think is good and to me it just looks drab. So avert your eyes from those things and focus on that beautiful bed and incredible bench:)
Can you stand it!? I have a bed and it’s one that I know I’ll love forever. I said it in my last post about the design process, but the goal was not only to design exactly what I wanted for this room but to also make sure this bed was versatile style-wise for the future. I chose fabrics and colors I’ve loved my whole life so regardless of what room and style I put with this bed, it will work. I will also steam it a little more before the shoot I promise. But I kinda love the lived-in look.
This is a much better representation of what the colors look like in person. Warm but elevated (that’s at least what I’m telling myself the vibe is). As a reminder, I got these incredible fabrics from Kravet. The velvet is Clarke & Clarke in “Honey” and the linen is Kravet Basics x Thom Filicia in Sweeting – Ivory. I also couldn’t be happier with Buildlane’s construction! It’s exactly what I envisioned. If you are a designer that needs custom furniture I can’t recommend either of these companies more.
Oh, and that little wall sticker in the first bedroom photo is the paint color I’ve chosen! White Flour by Sherwin-Williams.
If you can believe it allllll of these sticker samples are white. Like white, white! But as you can see, in my room some go blue, purple, and even yellow. Wild, right?? I even ordered the one that Sara used in her living and dining room and it’s the top middle one. It’s so blue in my room but perfect and happy in hers. Before I ordered the samples I was sure that was going to be the one before I put it up on my wall. That’s why testing is sooooo important in the space you are painting. Recs are great but it’s impossible to make a final call without getting a swatch in the actual room. DON’T DO IT, K??
I know that painting it a different white seems a little nuts to some but that’s exactly what I did in my last apartment and it made all the difference. It felt brand new in the best way so I am pumped to get this color up on these walls! Plus, since I’ve lived there for almost 4 years my wonderful landlord is paying for the painter. Thank the lord since I legit have 11 doors in my bedroom (french doors and screens to the balcony) as well as all that trim. So could I do it myself?? Technically yes but it’s a no for me dawg.
Now, let’s hear it for the bench!
I am still pinching myself that I, Jessica A. Bunge, have a Katy Skelton piece in my home. Due to some back-ordering issues for the original Kelly Wearster patterned fabric that I had picked out, I decided to go solid with the main bench fabric. I matched the color to the off-white in the Gaston Y Daniela green check fabric which turned out to be this Kravet Basics. It’s actually so so perfect and gives me a lot more room to play with pattern on the bedding. Plus if I’m totally honest, I was getting a little “square happy” and very grateful to have been pushed to pull back a little:) Look, your girl loves a square shape and sometimes I need to be saved from myself!
So again, PLEASE ignore the bedding and rug you see. It’s NOT how it will look when it’s done. Can you tell I’m extremely nervous people will think that I think this looks good?? It just doesn’t do the bed or bench any justice!
Now, I have two questions on a different topic. I’m not sold on what I should do for my curtains.
Question #1: I love the lightness of my simple linen IKEA panels but have dreams of them being a soft warm taupe. Should I get new ones or try to stain them with maybe tea?? My only concern is that I do really like them as-is and could save them for the future. The I could just get new panels in the color I want.
Oh, and here’s yet another ask to please pardon the mess that was my bedroom last year! This was the only decent picture I had to show the curtains. I also realized I’m going to have to get them hemmed if I don’t raise the rod which is annoying but not the end of the world. See next question…
Question #2: I’m undecided about where I would hang my curtain rod. As you can see it’s currently it’s on the window moulding. I’ve always intended to raise it above to give the room more height. But since this is a 110-year-old building maybe that’s not the move? But I’m also planning on doing a tile border under the crown moulding so covering the majority of that side might look strange? Thoughts??
Now, I typed this question and then I made these graphics and I’m more torn. I way prefer the rod above the moulding (I realized I did in my living room lol) but picturing the tile and having them under the rod does seem odd. I just don’t know. I guess I’ll tile first and then decide?? Again, thoughts?
Ok, that’s where we’re at and again, we promise we are moving as fast as we can! Any thoughts on our questions would greatly be appreciated:) BYEEEE xx