Laura's Bedroom (Before + After!)

We are a little over halfway through the tour of my home (we've already done the dining room and kitchen, living room, and outdoor area), and I'm so excited to share our bedroom space with you today. I'm a big believer in not having any tvs or work-related distractions where I sleep. I feel like this practice trains my brain to see the bedroom as a peaceful space dedicated to slumber, and since we are so good at sleeping in, I feel like it must be working. Like seriously, your brother in college gets up before I do on a Saturday. It's the only sport I'm good at, and I take great pride in my work.

You can see in the before photo that there wasn't much happening in this room when we first moved in. Brown shag carpet, beige walls, and we had just had the "popcorn" texture scraped off the ceiling. All in all, it really needed a fresh dose of personality. For the first year and a half we had robin's egg blue walls in this room. We loved the color, but we only have two small windows in the corner of the room, so it's pretty dark most of the time. I thought white walls would give us the brightest scenario possible, and it did feel brighter once we switched colors.

We've only had our geometric headboard panels a few months now, but we love the fresh vibe that it adds to the room. I was slightly worried that my husband would think there was too much pink in the space, but he's got good taste and he loves it all too. Here's a factual tidbit for you: pink was considered a boy's color up until the 1940s because it was "decided and stronger" while blue was considered "delicate and dainty." Who knew?? I love the moody star and moon scene on our duvet cover as well. It's like an upside down skylight at all times.

One of my favorite home DIY projects is this skull bookend set that I made last year when all the Halloween decor came out. I recently painted that Z Gallerie mirror a light pink to give it a fresh feel and I love how it came out.

Vintage signage is the best. I've hung the font above the plant shelf in several spots in our house (like above our bar cart in the living room with glitter paper behind it) and I want to use our DIY tutorial to make more. I had my eye on that silver skull for a while and Todd got it for me last Valentine's Day. Love it!

I passed over this giant cow skull for several months at a local vintage shop and every time I would stop in front of it for ten minutes deciding if I should buy it or not. Finally I did and I'm crazy for it. I think I was worried it would appear too Western for our style, but I don't feel that way at all. Besides, he's a little bit country, but we're a little bit rock 'n' roll...so it all works out. If you're assuming this bookshelf contains only the works of great philosophers, then you are correct! It's packed to the brim with Calvin and Hobbes, Fox Trot, and Pearls Before Swine comic books—all high indicators of a brilliant mind.

Although it's better to have a small en suite bathroom than none at all, we had quite the problem with the door swinging into the already small bathroom. So this sliding door Josh built for us is a life saver! The bathroom feels so much bigger now, and I love the striped pattern I chose—so cute! We will share how we built that soon.

We love to lounge in our comfy Gervin chair and read or hang out with the cats. I always feel that no chair is fully accepted into the family until I see the cats napping on it, and this one is a winner. Also, how can you say no to a glitter smiley face pillow? I was so happy with how my DIY hanging globe planters turned out at the studio that I made another set so I could have them at my house too.

This gallery wall is just the right combo of prints to add a little bit of fun to our room. We are obsessed with Wes Anderson, so the Margot and Richie prints from The Royal Tenenbaums are perfection, and my brother's talented girlfriend, Sarah, drew us my favorite quote from Moonrise Kingdom. While he's mostly known to you guys as the Wizard of the Woodshed, our very own Josh Rhodes actually made the awesome ice cream print up top. My husband Todd's favorite movie of all time is The Big Lebowski, so when I ran across this print I knew I had to surprise him with it. He may have said that I was the best wife of all time when I gave it to him. But then again, I may have told him to say it because I was so pleased with myself for finding it. Details, details...

I have a few vintage hat boxes in my closet, but I thought it would be fun to make a spot to hang a few on the wall instead. These wire word hangers were actually pretty easy to create and I love using fun phrases in whatever I'm making.

You can see that the fur babies love to look out the window (I think they signed up for one of those neighborhood watches without telling me), so I have to keep stools by all the vantage points since we don't have window ledges. Also, Todd and I were arguing over having a pendant light or a fan in the room (I hate ceiling fans), so I found this pendant/fan that was the perfect solution. The clear blades swing out of the top of the pendant when you turn the fan on and they go right back in when you just want it to be a light. Genius!

Overall, I love how this space is turning out, and I'm so glad that we finally got it finished. It's only taken two years, but better late than never! xo. Laura

Credits // Author: Laura Gummerman, Photography: Janae Hardy and Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.