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Carrie’s Design Dilemma

Posted by
September 29, 2009

Carrie’s ready to give her bedroom a chic and modern new look. Here’s her letter:

I am SO EXCITED that my boyfriend Brian got me a custom mood board from YHL for my 25th birthday! We live in Richmond as well and I LOVE your site, your style, your advice, and pretty much everything you write about! Can you tell I’m excited? Our bedroom needs your help. I think our style is pretty modern (think IKEA, CB2, ZGallerie, Jonathan Adler and Target of course) with a hint of beachy/casual. I love pops of color and fun patterns. The bed and dresser must stay. The shades should also stay – I love them, but I think they need a little dressing up! I love the chaise lounge (it was my grandmother’s) although I’m not really sure how to make it work in the space. The weird little letter writing desk can go but I’d like to the nightstands (they can also be painted). We also have a super ugly ceiling fan that I’d love to replace. The rug, bedding, lamps, and other accessories can go. Feel free to go mood board-crazy! I’d like to keep the White Satin wall color, but when it comes to accessories, I love orange and blue together! I can’t wait to see what you come up with! The room is definitely ready for a makeover! -Carrie (and Brian)

Yes it certainly is ready for a punchy and modern pick-me-up. Here’s the plan:

And now for the mood board breakdown.

1. We drew our inspiration from Carrie’s favorite color combo of blue and orange to create a modern and punchy palette with pops of clementine orange and vibrant turquoise. Because the walls will remain the existing White Satin color, these splashes of color won’t overwhelm the space but will come together to create a room with a Domino chiclectic (chic + eclectic) feeling. Especially when they’re paired with the more traditional bed and dresser that will stay in the room. And although the walls will remain untouched, we’d love to see a soft subtle pewter color on the trim and the doors (Benjamin Moore’s Light Pewter) to correct their existing warm undertones and make the entire room feel cool, cohesive and luxe.

2. When it comes to the bedding, we’d love to see any simple and crisp white duvet that tickles Carrie’s fancy punched up with a turquoise throw like this folded at the foot of the bed for some major impact. And speaking of major impact, we’d like the head of the bed turned 90% counter clockwise and placed centered under the single back window (which we’ll beef up with curtains hung high and wide for a dramatic focal point of a headboard). This arrangement will still accommodate the matching existing bedside tables (which will look awesome once they’re painted a deep orange color- Benjamin Moore’s Fall Harvest- for an eclectic mixed & matched modern vibe).

3. Then we’d love to see the dresser moved to the opposite wall in place of the antique desk where it will provide storage and further establish our eclectic mix of punchy modern accessories and more subdued traditional furnishings (like the bed). The posh finishing touch for that area of the room is this amazing beachy chic art from ZGallerie (which is 20% off when you enter M20 at checkout). And because it’s still not super cheap even on sale though, Carrie could also get this look by purchasing a sea fan online and framing it on a light blue mat herself. Either way it’ll really add polish when it’s hanging above the dresser and it’s such a nice accessory to gaze at from bed.

4. It doesn’t get more perfect than these matching lamps (with free shipping!) for this happy space. We’d love to see them on each of the newly-painted orange bedside tables flanking the bed for instant ambiance.

5. These vibrant floor length curtains (on sale!) will add softness along with some major punch when they’re hung high and wide above each window in the space. And by cheating them extra wide around the window that will soon serve as a headboard of sorts for the bed, they really will fill out the room and create a warm and inviting vibe in a snap. Oh and when it comes to the double window, we’d love to see three of them on one long rod so there’s one on the outside of each window and one panel softening the thin strip of wall between them (to mimic the look of one larger window).

6. These fun little turquoise containers (also on sale when you enter M20 at checkout) will look great on the dresser to add more pops of our accent color along with providing some concealed storage for everything from hair accessories to makeup brushes and beyond.

7. We couldn’t resist this cool little vase as another way to inject some hits of color to the top of the dresser or the bedside tables. And short-stemmed faux orange gerber daisies would live forever and always look nice and cheerful.

8. To add more oomph to the bed’s new duvet we’d love to see a few punchy turquoise pillows like these tossed into the mix along with the knitted throw that will be folded at the foot of the bed. Simple but oh so stunning.

9. This rug will really make the room, and we’d love to see it placed at the foot of the bed, just like the one in this amazing house that we crashed. It’s not on Ikea’s website to provide a link, but it’s available in stores and will definitely take the room from blah to brilliant.

10. And speaking of Ikea, this leaning floor mirror comes in three colors but none of them are orange. Good thing a few coats of the same paint we suggested for the bedside tables (Benjamin Moore’s Fall Harvest) will change that. Then Carrie can lean it up in the center of that slightly bumped out wall where her dresser used to live to create a little zone where she can check herself out before facing the day.

Oh and we can’t forget the new ceiling fan. We hunted down a more current white version that will practically disappear into the ceiling for an airier and lighter look without sacrificing comfort and function (two things we’re always a fan of- har har).

So there you have it. A bedroom full of cool and modern style. We can’t wait to see what you guys think!

Update: We sadly can no longer find the time to take on client commissioned mood boards (we now whip up general inspiration boards instead) but if we ever reinstate them we’ll make a big announcement!

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