Our Bedroom Got a Moody Makeover

After 8 years of leaving our bedroom largely as-is, we gave it a sweeping makeover that includes a new color, lowered bed and updated textiles.

A Cozy, Moody Bedroom Refresh

The primary bedroom in our Chicago home was one of the earliest projects we took on. It was tackled in conjunction with the laundry room and bathroom, which together encompass the back 1/3 or so of the second floor. The deep blue-black walls held up well and we refreshed the room with new bedding and furniture a couple of times over the course of nine years or so.

But after the better part of a decade, it was time for a full once-over with some pretty significant tweaks! Overall, the bedroom layout worked really well for us and the way we use the space, but there were a couple of pesky pain points that needed to be remedied once and for all. So with a boost of creativity, we hit our favorite neighborhood paint stores in search of our new color…

A Bewitching Color

No doubt inspired by all of the reds and warm tones we’re using over at our Red House project (which is still in full swing, by the way), we were inspired to shift toward a warm, moody palette. Deep red tones felt like the right direction, so we grabbed a handful of paint chips, then narrowed it down to a few favorite burgundy, auburn and merlot shades. In the end, Benjamin Moore’s Bewitched took the final prize.

We called our favorite local painter and he was able to squeeze us in between other jobs within a few days! Usually, we’d tackle the task ourselves, but time was in short supply and we knew that our guy, Mirek, would do impeccable work at a fair price.

The color was exactly what we were searching for. It’s vibrant and warm in the daytime, and dark and moody at night. The ceiling in this room is far from straight, so in order to hide the imperfect slope at the wall junction, we took the paint all the way up to onto the ceiling. It feels infinite and comforting at the same time. We’re obsessed.

The Nightstand Pain Point(s)

One of the issues working against us in the old bedroom setup was the nightstand situation. Kim’s round nightstand only had one tiny drawer and wasted a lot of corner space. Mine was nothing more than a floating marble shelf that barely held a glass of water and my phone charger. We were both in need of a solution and this was the perfect time to take care of it.

Kim opted for The Nightstand from Thuma as a perfect complement to our new lower bed. It’s sturdy and simple and just the right size to tuck in between the bed and the window wall, with exactly enough space for the curtains to drape beautifully.

The espresso tone plays perfectly with the new wall color and is a near-perfect match for the recently re-stained headboard (more on how we acheived this later!). Speaking of the headboard, we solved another awkward pain point there as well. The legs of the vintage headboard were formerly attached to a standard metal bed frame, but that turned out to be too tall for the new Thuma platform bed. To solve this, I simply removed the leg structure from the semi-circle portion of the headboard. We then attached a pair of heavy duty d-rings and hung the headboard on the wall like an oversized picture frame. It hugs the wall nice and flush and its sturdier than its ever been. Easy!

Over on my side of the bed, we found this beautiful solid walnut floating nightstand on etsy and we love the way it complements the other wood tones in the room. I now have space for a drink, my phone charger and (gasp!) even a book or two. Sometimes the smallest of upgrades is enough to make life a little better and we’re big fans of beautiful convenience.

The Decision to Keep the Trim White

We definitely considered going ‘full-moody’ and painting the closet doors and millwork the same color as the walls, but we decided that would have been a bit overboard in this application. We absolutely love contrast and colored trim (see here, here and here), but in our 1887 home, we’ve decided to leave all of the millwork consistently white. It’s a unifier that allows for cohesion between each room and we love the more traditional look for this space.

Painted millwork in this space would have certainly been dramatic, but it also would have likely leaned toward being overwhelming. As is stands now, The trio of windows to the right of the bed and the closet doors to the left of the bed do a perfect job of breaking up the deep red walls and allowed us the lightness to be confident carrying the bold color onto the ceiling.

Upgrading the Television + Adding a Gallery Wall

Ahhh, the age old debate of whether at TV belongs in the bedroom. I resisted the addition of a TV in our room for a long time, but Kim finally convinced me a few years ago and we haven’t looked back. With the old wall color, which was nearly black, a standard black television did the trick just fine. With this new color, however, the old TV stuck out like a sore thumb, so we took this an an opportunity to upgrade in a couple of ways.

We wanted to incorporate a Frame TV up here, but we also wanted to upgrade to the new matte screen Frame TV downstairs in the living room where glare can be a problem. A switcharoo solution was in order! We purchased the new 2024 Frame TV model in the same 50″ size for downstairs, and moved the former living room TV up to our room where glare isn’t an issue since we only watch it at night.

The new (old) TV was then integrated into a gallery wall full of meaningful family photos to distract further from its existence and everyone is happy!

A Mirror Swap

We love a full-length mirror in a bedroom and we’ve had this Acacia CB2 model for years. We knew we wanted to keep it, but with the new gallery wall surrounding the TV, it couldn’t stay in its old place to the right of the dresser. The wall to the left of the laundry room door seemed like the perfect spot, so we tested it out and immediately committed to it.

This time around, instead of wall mounting, we leaned it gently against the wall and secured it with anti-tip hardware like this for safety. Grandma’s chair stays layered in place and we love how the green velvet pops against the gold curtains and deep red walls. The double sconce stayed roughly in the same spot, but moved vertically to align with the top of the laundry room door millwork.

We’re thrilled the transformation and we hope it’ll serve our needs as long as the old version of the space did. As you can see, Catfish is a big fan as well! What do you all think? What works? What would you change if it were your space?

Room Sources

Paint Color + Furniture: Wall color is Benjamin Moore Bewitched CSP-450 | bed frame | nightstand | nightstand (scott) | dresser

Bedding + Textiles: curtains | curtain rod | rug | runner (similar) | bedding | pillows

Lighting, Art + Accessories: ceiling light | frame TV | double wall sconce (similar) | sonos speaker | closet hardware | lamp | white gallery frame | square brass frame | large brass frame | floor mirror

See all the updates we’ve made to our bedroom right here! This is how we upgraded an IKEA dresser, and 8 things you can do right now for a closet you’ll enjoy waking up to.