A client requested help transforming the owner’s bedroom of her D.C. home into a relaxing retreat where the busy professional couple could unwind and recharge at the end of the workday. The room had great bones: large west-facing windows, beautiful natural light, and a calming view of the treetops and park across the street. But the existing setup felt more transitional than tranquil.

Cool gray walls dulled the light, the king-sized bed dominated the room, and the scattered decorative pieces made the space feel more transitional than tranquil. It had potential and needed a rhythm of everyday life, storage, and a cohesive sense of style.

This redesign was about uncovering that potential and translating it into calm. By brightening the palette, refining the layout, and balancing mid-century structure with bohemian softness, the redesign created an intentional space that felt open, airy, and personal — a place designed for rest, not just sleep.

Vision board for redesign elements of the room

The Challenge

City-sized owner’s bedroom with a couple of awkwardly angled walls that swallowed the afternoon light. Storage was limited, lighting uneven, and the king-size bed visually dominated the room. Like many older D.C. homes, it came with quirks—gypsum board over plaster, a single reach-in double door closet, larger wall air vents limiting layout options, and modest 8-foot ceilings that made proportioning a puzzle.

The Vision

Create a calm, open retreat that balances mid-century structure with bohemian warmth of everyday life — plants, stained wood, woven textures, and a palette that feels like a deep exhale after a long day. Integrate existing artwork and linens into a cohesive design reflecting the client’s personal aesthetic.

“The redesign started with a palette shift, then integrated existing, second-hand, and new finds with customized storage solutions. The result: a highly efficient space where every element—from the layered textiles to the functional lighting—captures the clients’ style and their need to unwind.”

The Transformation

tarted by shifting the foundation. The gray walls became Sherwin Williams Cheviot—a warm, light neutral that brightened the space and softened the play of afternoon sun from the west-facing windows. I used a flat finish better to mask the uneven plaster, gypsum board surface of the walls. It’s remarkable how much one change in undertone can transform a room’s energy; suddenly, the artwork and wood accents felt cohesive instead of competing.

From there, I reworked the furniture plan around the bed’s footprint. The new cane-inset headboard brought in organic texture and mid-century warmth. I attached a long aluminum French cleat to mount the headboard directly to the wall since the existing bed lacked mounts to attach the legs.

To avoid blocking the air vent and visually “lift” the composition, I added **floating nightstands.** The wood nightstands had a rounded oval shape of the mid-century era and a drawer for bedside storage.
Above each nightstand, I stacked slim wood shelves, offering a practical solution for books and baskets, but airy enough to keep the walls open.
To achieve the plant-filled room and create balance on the opposite side of the room, I found a narrower corner, tiered bamboo plant stand. The six levels of varying heights accommodated not only plants but also books and baskets.
Two additional floating shelves and a perfectly-sized two-compartment linen and bamboo hamper extended use of the narrow alcove between the outer closet wall and the bedroom door. I stained the shelves and the bamboo to match the shelves above the nightstand. To ensure the door could easily be fully open—particularly for moving larger pieces of furniture—I I mounted these shelves in the alcove wall using folding brackets.

Lighting became both problem and opportunity. I replaced mismatched lamps with **wall-mounted sconces** that offered real task light for reading, then layered in a **woven pendant** to balance overhead illumination.
The sconces were mounted at the top corners of the headboard between the columns of floating shelves, offering ideal lighting for avid readers like the client and her spouse. The mid-century styled metal sconces are intentionally smaller and muted in color to prevent them from distracting from the gallery wall in between (more to come on this).

The woven pendant suspended at the far end of the room above the corner stand dispersed the light and cast soft shadows on the pants and prints around it.
To add another touch of luxury, I installed a battery powered, remote operated outlet controller that I mounted by the light switch to control all of the light sconces and pendants in the room.

For softness and grounding, a washable 8’x10’ area rug in navy and terracotta anchored the room and pulled color from the art prints hanging from the walls.

Long linen blackout drapes replaced the short dark shades, visually elongating the walls and framing the windows with warmth. The more neutral shade matching the wall color maintains an open airy and calming feeling of the room whether drawn closed or open.

In order to creating seating in the 30” remaining in the corner between the bed and door, I added a cozy upholstered chair in an orange shade that complemented the rug and the hues from the prints on the walls.

For the plants, I supplemented what the client had with a variety of indoor plants of different sizes and foliage. The plants were potted in a mix of terracotta, ceramic and woven textured pots. I was able to incorporate the three macrame knit hanging baskets gifted to the client by a friend to suspend plants from the corners of the window curtain roods. I also got three geometric metal prisms to mount air plants on the short wall by the door.

The finishing touches came from the client’s own treasures and collection acquired over time.

Notably, I made a gallery wall from four prints previously dispersed across multiple walls the focal point of the redesign. Although reminiscent of different periods, all had similar vibrant color palettes. Uniformly displaying them in black frames with a variety of colorful mats frames created a cohesive style.

I framed the other large print from the room in a wood stained finish similar to the corner plant stand. The tropical theme worked well with the rattan pendant above it and inspired inclusion of two additional beach photographs taken by a family member.
I dressed up the accent chair with a small throw blanket and pillow from the living room tied in the deeper and darker colors in the room.
In the absence of a dresser, I used a couple of the client’s cube woven baskets were I could and replaced others with lidded wicker baskets: smaller rectangular baskets with lids for storing less bulking clothing on the wall mounted shelves and larger round baskets with lids for displaying by the plant stand.

Every material choice was made to blend the tactile and the practical: wicker baskets for storage, sturdy wood furniture and a soft washable rug that could handle real life, and framed artwork curated from pieces the client already owned—each reframed to bring coherence and quiet contrast.

“Every layer had intent — lighting for rhythm, textiles for warmth, layout for ease.”

Design Notes

- Sherwin Williams Cheviot (flat finish)
- Washable rug;
- Long lined drapes.
- cription
- Large round baskets (now discontinued)
- Large and medium lidded rectangular baskets
- Plants
- Reframed art

Budget Tips:

+Buy new on holidays, seasonal, and other promotional retailer sales

+Compare prices across vendors using Google shopping search engine or visual searches of the image (note online vendors may use different names or descriptions for the same item).

+Buy used on online Marketplace platforms and local thrift shops

+Sell used furniture to be replaced

Lessons Learned

In smaller rooms, function and feeling compete for the same square footage. I’ve found that vertical design—wall-mounted furniture, layered lighting, long curtains—creates both space and serenity.

And when you’re balancing a limited budget, creativity always outweighs quantity. Reworking what you already love can make a space feel more authentic than any full overhaul.

The Result

The bedroom now feels like a sanctuary that belongs entirely to its owners—soft light, organic lines, intentional calm. It’s proof that good design can start with a clear sense of what matters most.