Creating a Cozy and Curated Primary Bedroom

Yesterday I shared the thrifted, upcycled art I hung on our reclaimed headboard that I made. Today, I am sharing more of our eclectic primary bedroom makeover that I have been working on. I hope to show you how to create a warm and cozy, curated and collected, but also cohesive look in your home.

As I said, I made the headboard a few years ago from reclaimed wood. I left the boards as is, joining them together on the back and using a French cleat to hang it on the wall. The tall height helps with our 12 foot ceilings. You can read about the art in the post below this one. 

While a reclaimed wood headboard might be considered rustic, pairing it with other eclectic and boho finds elevates it. The natural wood adds a warmth and organic touch that is necessary in every space. 

I will never be a matchy, matchy furniture person, never have been. I prefer the look of items collected over time rather than a furniture store look. Unique pieces add so much more character and warmth. I had been using a pallet wood shelf that I made for my book for a nightstand. It was useful and fit well, but the unfinished pallet wood was more of the industrial style I decorated with five or so years ago.

I found this at the thrift store for $40. I am not sure if it was small buffet or a commode. It did have the back piece that you see in the BEFORE photo below. I chose not to use that (it is under my bed so it is nearby in case I use this piece somewhere else in the future.

I always give furniture a sniff before I buy. I avoid anything that has been in a smoker's home. This one smelled fine...except when I was loading it into my car an got a whiff of the inside. No smoke, nothing had died in it, but a distinctive musty antique smell. I knew Wise Owl's Furniture Salve would solve that. I have a picture of it below when I used it on the cedar chest. For the nightstand, I washed it thoroughly, even on the bottom of it and under the drawer with some hot water and bleach. Then I used the salve on every inch of it. You can get the salve from my friend TINA HERE.

I let the nightstand sit for a few weeks to make sure the smell was gone. I have a super strong sense of smell and since this would be next to my face at night, and partially over a heat vent, I wanted to make sure it didn't smell musty. I all I smell is a lovely scent of lemons from the salve. The drawer has a stain in it, looks like ink and doesn't bother me at all. helps to show the age of the piece.

There is plenty of space for all of my nightstand needs.

I just found this antique bowl (that I paid 90 CENTS FOR!!) at the thrift store. It holds all the remotes. Why so many remotes in the bedroom you ask? I do go to sleep with the TV on, a habit that started when I was pregnant with my son who died when he was six days old. Because we knew he had a rare hear defect when I was pregnant, I had horrible insomnia. I finally found that if I could be on the couch and watch something familiar, a favorite movie or TV series, I could fall asleep. I still do that. One remote is for my bed that raises and lowers at the head and foot. Okay, now that I have justified my TV watching at bed time, if anyone knows anything about this bowl, please let me know.

It has a gold rim on the inside and this one the bottom. Look at that crazing.

The cedar chest at the end of my bed is another thrift store find that I paid $35 for. It was badly scratched and sticky and gunky.

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I sanded, and sanded, and sanded. I removed the wood feet, one was broken, and added these gold feet you can buy HERE and used antique gold Rub-n-Buff on the straps and then the Wise Owl Furniture Salve to make that natural cedar shine.

The bench at the end of the bed holds a few blankets.

And it is nice to sit on when putting shoes on. The vintage, wool rug under it is from a garage sale. It has great colors for my space in it and helps to add another layer of coziness.

But, the bench is really about helping the 14 year old dog up on our bed (her bed?).

The orange comforter and shams I purchased new a few years ago at Target, they are part of the Nate Berkus collection. The other pillows and shams are all from the thrift store. The two matching square pillows were from Pottery Barn. I only buy linens from a thrift store if I can wash them. Pillows have to be covers that can be removed. 

Using a few matching items such as the wall sconces and the mirrors give the room some symmetry and helps it to not look like a hot jumbled mess. The mirrors were given to me and the sconces can be purchased HERE. I still need to wrap the black cords or give them the gold Rub-n-Buff treatment. We have switches on either side of the bed that work with the outlets that the sconces are plugged into.

Hubby's nightstand is a tall, skinny stand also from the thrift store. It holds his phone and a book on top and has space for other books below.

Take time to collect and curate items that work in your space. Repeat elements--colors, textures, and materials, use items you love and that have some history, include some symmetry to create a cohesive and personal look in your home on a budget. Oh, and enjoy the process.