lakeside remix: pretty little bedroom

hi sweet friends. it's the fifth and final day of our cabin remake series and we're welcoming back grace from the big reveal blog to close it out in style. she's put together a rejuvinating retreat of a bedroom where at the end of your stressful vacation days filled with lounging, sitting, people watching, porch dwelling, and BLT eating you can unwind and...relax some more. enjoy!

{complete sources follow the post!}

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When Laura first asked me to make over a bedroom in her dream lake house, I was so excited. Who wouldn’t want to make over a space where there is an unlimited budget and absolutely no consequences to your actions? No husbands to have difficult conversations with when you’ve spent way too much dinero and no frustrations of having to DIY things like hanging patterned wallpaper all by your lonesome. Little did I know it would be so hard for me to work outside of my normal box.

Take a look at what I’m starting with…

Suddenly without any parameters and in need of a complete and utter overhaul, I couldn’t think of what on earth I wanted to do. With no single problem to solve, like tying together a bunch of mismatched hand me downs with zero dollars, a roll of duct tape, and a stick of gum like a modern day home decor MacGuyver, I felt a little lost. So, I did what any rational person in this situation would do…I turned to Pinterest.

One of my all time favorite cabin chic bedroom pins is this one from Sarah Sherman Samuel:

Seriously? This bedroom is perfection! I love the bold graphic wallpaper, the light and bright feel and those little bunk beds are to. die. for. My first response was, uh, just do all of that… But, since Laura wanted me to flex a little of my own design muscle, I thought I should snag my favorite elements and give them a new spin.



I decided to start with a bold, graphic wallpaper to ground the wall behind the bed. This Garden paper from Hygge & West seemed to fit the bill. Because in my alternate reality, this lake house would be a place I would visit, but not live in, I felt like taking a few risks. The rest of the room would be painted out in a white to balance the space and also to keep the wallpaper from become an overwhelming statement. One accent wall keeps the space nice and light, but also cheerful and fresh. Any more would feel like Holy Wallpaper, Batman! and that would be no bueno.

Continuing the white theme, I selected a simple Pintuck duvet from West Elm. You can’t go wrong with white bedding in any space. It is a cinch to clean and makes a room remix easy peasy. I could have stuck with the all white theme and kept the room super white, but I just couldn’t help myself from layering on two gold, ochre pillows and a fun blue and white patterned pillow with ochre tassels.

If you’ve haven’t checked out Furbish Studio’s Instagram feed and you want to get pattern mixing delusions of grandeur like me, I suggest you hop on over and get schooled in the art of crazy pattern combos. I may be a little loco, but I think it is over the top in a fun, unexpected way.

Next to my whitewashed yet pillow poppin’ bed, I have two of these Penelope nightstands from West Elm. I decided to mix it up and replace the pull with these rope pulls from Furbish Studios. I love the introduction of the natural rope texture and the pop of gold and green.

Because Kyla puts together amazing nightstand vignettes that even make the Emily Henderson take notice, I felt compelled to bring my nightstand styling A game. I grabbed this stack of pretty design books from my own house & added these ah-mazing gold double Edison bulbed sconces. I would probably prop a piece of simple artwork, like a little black and white calligraphy in a white frame against my fabulous wallpaper. 

I would have my instapal Athena Pelton make me something cheeky like “Everyday I’m hustlin’” or maybe “This is my happy place”, because in this scenario I have my very own lake house or at least one that Laura lets me come to and sometimes overstay my welcome at, so happy place it is. And, IMHO calligraphy should always be combined with a little sass. It just makes me happy.

In one corner of the room, I popped this beautiful leather butterfly chair. With all the sass and pizzazz flying around the room, it is another grounding element. And, frankly, in my world you always need a chair in the bedroom to throw your clothes on when you are too lazy to hang them up. And let’s face it, this is a lake house…I’m on vacation time.

I also added a sheepskin from Ikea. If you have ever purchased one of these, faux or real, you know they can be used in a myriad of ways. It may end up on the floor as a throw rug or draped in a chair like a cushion, maybe even one on either side of the bed to keep your toes cozy before they hit the hardwood floors. It really could end up just about anywhere (and if you have children, probably somewhere you don’t want them to be, like being used as a sled to go down the basement stairs…just a hypothetical, of course…) But, they are so ridiculously cheap and versatile, it would be criminal not to include one.

On the wall opposite the bed, I would also include a tall dresser for when I feel like putting away my clothes, like this swoon worthy mid century design from West Elm with its wood legs and handles to keep things nice and natural. Above it, I would hang this Ocean View print from Sebatian Weiss. I love that it brings in the water theme, but isn’t literal. And, lucky me, it brings in a spot of blue to tie in my crazy blue patterned pillow on the bed.

Finally, on one of the crisp white walls, I’ve added this completely rad round shelf from the Ferm Living Shop. I thought it would be fun to add a few fixed elements, like the white urchins from Furbish Studios, but also to use the shelves to display objects found while out exploring around the lake and the little town: a feather, a round smooth stone, maybe a black and white postcard.

For me, that is what this lake house would be all about: Collected adventures, stories to tell, laughter, family, and friendships. Thanks for letting me be a part of it, Laura!

Till next time,

Grace

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grrrr! this was one of the most fun, and frustrating, weeks i've had in blog-world-- frustrating of course because i can't move in right now! (if you missed it, start here on the porch, then come on in to the family & dining rooms, have a bite in the kitchen, and peek into the cutest little water closet you ever did see.)

i had to laugh when i looked back on this post and saw the comments from a few months ago. i was saying to kyla and grace that we needed to go in on a cabin together and overhaul it as a creative retreat. well, it might not have happened in real life, but at least we got to muse. {"BTdubs," as kyla would say, if some wealthy benefactor wants to make this dream a reality, you know, feel free to send a check}. hahaha.

in all seriousness, there's no way any of us (or anyone i know) is going to drop the kind of virtual money we spent this week on a whole-house rehaul of this magnitude. that's why we are bloggers- we go to every length to bring this kind of high-end style down out of the rafters and into our (and your) real houses. in fact, i've been inspired by a few of the ultra-splurges in our dream cabin, and i'm going to bring you some that are actually attainable in the coming weeks. but for this week, it was fun to pause reality and dream a little. thanks for joining us and i hope you had a good time. and a mega-shark-sized thank you to my guest designers, kyla, grace, and summer. you darlings rock!

xo,
laura

{complete sources for this post:}

wallpaper- 'garden' in white/mint by hygge and west
pintuck duvet cover- west elm
gold pillow- inside avenue
blue & white pillow- pure home
nightstands- 'penelope' by west elm
rope pulls- furbish studio
double sconce- 'branch' by cedar and moss
butterfly chair- urban outfitters
sheepskin- ikea
tree stump side table- west elm
dresser- west elm
ocean view print- sebastian weiss
round shelf- ferm living
white urchins- furbish studio