As you know, we decided that 2024 was the year of the house - as in our house.
We are getting stuff done - stuff that's been on our list for a long time, like new windows and new carpet. You might remember that we completed our primary bathroom earlier this year - MAJOR improvement and it feels SO good. Plus we had an unforeseen issue arise with our dryer vent that led to cutting out a major part of ceiling downstairs.
Just by the mere fact that I had my team over here to paint some ceilings from a project years ago, where we updated the lighting in the boys bedrooms, and because the canopy size of the lights was a little smaller than the original, the ceiling really did beg for a new coat of paint, but it was barely noticeable except to my trained eye, so I put it off...until this year.
So while we were looking up at the ceilings, we noticed a little spot of discoloration, and one thing led to another and we discovered that the dryer vent connection behind the wall had gotten separated, so the dryer was venting into an area between two joists - hot air hitting the cold AC duct work and hot + cold = condensation, so when the conditions were just right there would be a slight drip of condensation (hence the discoloration) and viola - we now have fresh paint on nearly every fifth wall (aka the ceiling) in our house.
And because the painters were here, I decided to freshen the wall paint for our two college freshmen before they came home from school for the summer. And because we're painting, all of the little boy to teen boy photos and posters etc. came down. Naturally, all I could see was a blank slate, and before you know it I thought ok, this guy needs a bigger bed (because he's had a full size since childhood) and that meant a new nightstand too, which led to a new dresser, which led to new...you get the picture (especially if you've ever read the series "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" to your kids, ha!). So today I'm sharing the design boards for one of our older kids rooms.
Modern Bedroom Design
I've tried not to go overboard when decorating my kids rooms, so I don't really layer a ton of fabrics or patterns - they're all really minimalists in a good way. I will say that this guy is such a gem - quiet and understated but generous, warm, and giving to the extent that he puts others first every day in every way, much like his Dad. :) He doesn't like to call attention to himself, prefers neutral over color and for me, this was a big indicator as to which way to go in his room.
He is a hard worker and studious beyond his years. He's like his mom in that he requires little sleep, so I wanted his room to have various spots for him to work and study. He already has a great overstuffed leather chair that was my husband's before we met. It's the most delicious leather with the best aged patina that only comes from good quality leather. Now its large in scale, but when you have a quality piece that's comfortable, it's worth making room to let it stay, and stay it does.
For the bed, I wanted to do a mixed material bed with wood and upholstery, but still masculine in style and shape. The bed I chose worked proportionately with the size of his room, and I loved the warm wood tones and the performance fabric upholstered headboard. Nearly every night he'll fall asleep working on his computer solving problems so I wanted to make sure that while he's sitting up studying, he'll have a comfortable perch against his back. The nightstand was a no brainer size in order to allow room for a bigger bed while keeping the leather chair in the corner. I showed him different options during this process just like I would to an actual client, and he sweetly (and smartly) gave me permission to do as I thought best. He hasn't declared a specific preferred design style but again, me reading him feels like modern, minimalist, neutral but warm, very MCM.
To offset the counterbalance of the wood tones of the bed and the warmth of the leather chair, I went dark on the nightstand. I like the pops of gold with the knobs and the open space above the two drawers, will be perfect to place his phone or computer to charge while he sleeps. I normally gravitate towards symmetry and love a nightstand for each side of the bed but in his room we've only used one. His bedroom has an ensuite bathroom which is lovely and a walk in closet as well but those doors lead to limitations as to what wall the bed can be placed on. With his overstuffed leather chair, there's not enough room for a pair of nightstands but trust me, he doesn't mind and honestly, neither do I.
I pulled the black over to the other side of the room with two great tall ceramic lamps, and while I did order a lamp for his nightstand, I've also included a plan to use swing arm lamps on either side of his bed. You can't have enough good light in a room in my opinion.
I decided to use the same warm wood tone on the dresser, which came in different sizes, but again because of room size and the fact that he doesn't live here full time anymore, I went with a sixty inch dresser with six drawers total. Again, he's my minimalist and he's got a minimalist wardrobe to go with it (think Steve Jobs but with actual style and that's him), so I'm not worried about him not having enough dresser space.
For bedding, I love me some layers on bedding and it's another place I love to mix high and low. I personally prefer all white bedding in layers and then add pops of color with my accent pillows, but for my guys, I've usually used pattern and color on the sheets to discern sheet size, since they all had different size beds at different times...so I could tell easily what size was whose by color or pattern - be it twin, full, or queen. For this guy's room, I'm planning to do beige/greige and maybe some mossy green, muted in color for sure, but maybe a tad of pattern - I'm still narrowing that down.
Since I know I'll go neutral on the bedding, I did want to do a little more color and pattern on the windows. When I saw this plaid for drapery panels, it reminded me of Burberry and I stopped the search right then and there - tImeless, classic, and neutral for the win y'all.
We switched his lighting out a number of years ago and while it works in every way, I won't lie and say I'm not thinking of a different ceiling light. Stay tuned to see if I end up switching that out.
I love that it still feels like him, but this can be a beautiful guest room as well, and feels timeless and classic, definitely a more age appropriate, modern bedroom design! When everything comes in, I'll sneak y'all a peek!
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