Hello everyone! This is reveal week of the Spring ’24 One Room Challenge and time for the participants to reveal their final projects! If you are finding me through the ORC, welcome to my blog where I share my passion for creating comforting homes by thrifting, sewing and a little diy-ing along the way. While I’m not averse to buying new, I love being able to stretch a budget and get that “layered over time” look by incorporating vintage pieces. You can follow my decorating journey on the HomeSpunStyle Instagram.
If you missed my earlier posts where we started an English Coastal Style makeover of our master bedroom, you can find them here:
The back story: We purchased our 1940’s home in 2020. It’s a classic New England cedar shingle, cape cod style house that once was a small seasonal beach house.
Little by little we’ve been renovating – starting with the one room cottage on the property and then with a major remodel of the kitchen. Most recently, we focused on our primary bedroom , incorporating an English coastal vibe that seems befitting of the style and location of this house
Our bedroom is a small space (11 x 11) so the goal was to infuse as much character as possible. It also lacked closet space so we stole a little bit of space from the adjacent living room to build a modest double closet.
We changed out the small circle finger pulls on the doors to large rectangular solid brass door pulls. Details like these can really elevate the overall look.
We then shiplapped the two exterior walls, added new trim moulding around the windows and doors, and painted everything in BM Simply White. You can read about the shiplap here.
Windows: The room has two windows and originally I thought I would add two sets of Pottery Barn Emery linen drapes in oatmeal to both windows. But after installing one set on the window behind the bed, I decided not to do drapes on the side window. I like how the drapes “frame” the bed, making it a focal point, and at the same time I like the simplicity of the shiplap on the side window wall. Sometimes less is more!
Lighting: We replaced the boob light with a light/fan combo ceiling fixture (see above photo). We like a little air flow at night and you can barely hear it! The wicker style adds to the coastal vibe. The picture lamps above the nightstands were a nice thrifted find for only $3 for the pair! I used rub ‘n buff in European Gold to make them look more like a matching set.
Bedding: Initially I thought we would add a headboard but here again it didn’t seem necessary once the curtains were installed. It would also have brought the bed out another 6 inches from the wall, eating up valuable floor space in our small room. For the bedding, I already had all-white bedding basics including the linen duvet cover. I added a Pottery Barn pleated linen bedskirt which I purchased used on Ebay. I needed an 18″ drop and this one fit the bill. Under-bed storage is a must for us so the bedskirt hides our two plastic rolling storage bins.
For a little English vibe, I purchased a nutmeg brown gingham check duvet from H&M. I am digging the gingham trend right now but I’m guessing I will tire of it eventually so I went lower-end on this piece. Serena & Lily, Heather Taylor Home and Piglet in Bed are all sources for high-end quality woven gingham duvets. The biggest differences between my low-end duvet is that the gingham pattern is printed on the fabric rather than woven and it is a cotton/poly blend rather than linen. However the fabric is soft and gives me the trendy look I was after.
I made the body pillow insert because I like down/feather inserts in all my pillows and an insert this size is expensive! You can read how I made it here. The sage green linen cover is from Target’s Casaluna line and is a great value. I wanted to keep my pillow game simple as I make this bed everyday and don’t want to fuss with a bunch of pillows. The body pillow camouflages our four sleeping pillows nicely and adds a little color. The linen style stripe pillow is from my Etsy shop.
Floor: The old hardwood floors are in nice shape and for now I’m enjoying the simplicity of the bare wood. Maybe in the fall I’ll feel the need to cozy up the room with a rug.
Furniture: Our nightstands and armoire are a dark cherry wood. As much as I’d like to replace them with something less formal and lighter in color, nothing has surfaced yet on FBMP at the right price and right location so stay tuned!
Also, the armoire is huge and holds a lot of clothes so I doubt that I will find anything compatible but we’ll see what comes along. For now, I am downplaying the formality of the nightstands by adding a few vintage decor items. On top of the armoire I added a new West Elm white washed wicker storage basket which throws some lighter tones over to that side of the room.
Decor: All the wall art is vintage. The two paint by number bird prints were actually the inspiration for the entire room! I thrifted these a few years ago and have been storing them.
I also found the vintage oil seascape in its original frame at a thrift store. I love how it has similar colors to the bird paintings. It was $10 and included the frame. I rub ‘n buffed all three frames in European Gold.
The large accordian hat rack is an Ebay purchase.
This makeover was a mix of high and low budget items with the biggest spends on the shiplap and , closet doors. The PB curtains and West Elm storage basket were also pricey but I used credit card points to purchase them. Here’s the full budget breakdown:
- Shiplap, trim, paint -$700
- Pottery Barn Emery linen curtains 2 panels $320
- Ballard Design French return rod/rings $120
- Closet doors – Home Depot $330, unlacquered solid brass door pulls $25
- Bedding – H&M gingham duvet $65, Target body pillow cover $15, PB bedskirt from Ebay $59, Etsy stripe pillow $28
- Lighting – Home Depot ceiling fixture $130, Habitat Restore picture lights $3, Wayfair Birch Lane Momsen lamp $54
- Storage – West Elm lidded wicker storage basket $145
- Decor – Walmart bubble planter $8.50, small picture frame $20 – Etsy , large accordion rack $15 – Ebay
- wicker demijohn, bird prints, seascape, linen books, straw beach bag, storage containers on wheels were all thrifted at various times
Marrying English country style with a coastal vibe seems like they would be in opposition because English style leans maximalist while coastal style is more minimal. But I think we achieved a good balance that seems to fit the overall feel of our cape style home and the shore town in which we live.
Be sure to check out the amazing reveals of all the participants on the One Room Challenge Blog!
Thank you for following along for another One Room Challenge room makeover!
Debra
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
