Project: Bedroom Feature Wall

Let's talk current project and what I've got up my sleeve. If you're following along on Instagram you know I've been working on Mike and I's bedroom (although I'm pretty bad at posting stories so maybe you don't know... man I'm killing it *facepalm*) - anyways... I'm working on Mike and I's bedroom. It's been pretty neglected since we moved in and could use a spruce.

I've just wrapped up the dresser build and put all my clothes in the drawers, trimmed out the closet and have built framing for a fireplace... next up is installing the rest of the baseboards and trim as well as a feature wall.

We already have a feature wall in place and while it's pretty awesome it's just not my taste anymore. 5 years ago I thought I was hot shit for coming up with the idea, and I still think that, but I'm ready for something different. Something a little more grown up.

The idea to change this wall has been a long time coming... I was sick with the flu late January 2020 and in our bedroom for a solid week and realized this space no longer felt peaceful to me. But I didn't know what I wanted to do.

So I forced myself to sit with it for a while. I've learned that I need to mull things over for a few months before I make any decisions or movement forward when it comes to the design of our home. When I make snap decisions I tend to regret it later (home office and guest room are prime examples). That pull to change things up isn't helped by the flood of social media posts and a lot of times I feel that pressure creeping in to always be working on something otherwise why would people want to follow along?

What keeps me from the snap decisions/changes this past year has been the fact that I no longer ask for Mike's help on projects. It's not that he doesn't want to help, but he literally has no time since starting his own business, and whatever very small amount of free time he does have I don't want him to feel like he needs to help me. This has caused me to slow down, learn the skills myself and really think about what I want our house to look and feel like.

So, feature wall. What are my must haves? Well. Like I mentioned I wanted our whole room to feel a little more grown up and peaceful. I also wanted to maximize our space - that's why I built a custom dresser to move into our closet. Our room is small. Like really small. So whatever I do in this space needs to make it feel larger than it is. I'm also putting the fireplace in the room and want that to be the main focus - so the wall needs to be interesting but not too interesting (haha). The last box I wanted to check was that I wanted it to flow a little better with the rest of the house - meaning I wanted to add some elements that were in other spaces in the bedroom.

Here is where I landed.

I've been obsessed with McGee & Co. reeded wall since I first saw it on Pinterest many months ago - I've since seen others on Instagram recreate it (Pennies for a Fortune crushed it) and it's just beautiful. While I wont be adding the reeded detail at this time (too expensive) I will be creating similar molding - and these elements are already throughout our house. Our dining room has the box moulding while our entryway has board and batten.

I will be dividing up the wall in three parts (see really bad quick sketch I did on my phone above), with the largest portion being in the middle, somewhat framing our king sized bed. I say somewhat because I'm still figuring out specific measurements. The moulding will add just enough interest and looks extremely classy in my opinion. I plan on painting our entire room in Sherwin Williams Alabaster and using Portola Paints Roman Clay in Jacket for the fireplace. By painting the whole room one color and the fireplace dark I truly think it will make the space feel very large while cozy. My favorite combination.

So what do you think?! Am I on the right track?

Reminder of my must haves for the feature wall:

1. Feel 'grown up'/peaceful/cozy

2. Maximize our space/make it feel larger

3. Add interest... but not too much

4. Tie into the rest of the house

Next steps: INSTALL THE DANG THING.

Until next time,

-xo- Natasha