Wow, I'm so happy this project is done! Welcome, I'm delighted you're choosing to spend a few minutes of your day with me! Grab a diet Coke or another cup of coffee and let's take a look at this bed transformation.

Today is Week 2 in the One Room Challenge at Calling it Home blog. If you're not familiar with this challenge, several bloggers are taking just 6 weeks to transform a room in their homes.  Last week I shared my Restful Guest Retreat Inspiration Board.  My goal is to create a space that is calm, restful and cozy for my guests to relax in. That means bright colors will be very minimally used; it's all about soothing neutrals.

Mr DIY and I bought this gorgeous Victorian Mansion bed as newlyweds (23 years ago).


All three of my children were nursed and cuddled in it. So when we upgraded to a king bed a few years ago, I was reluctant to just let this one go. I knew someday I'd have a guest room and this beautiful bed would be used once again!

Fast-forward to present day. Our oldest son has moved out of the house and gone off to University....and lo and behold, I finally have an empty bedroom to turn into a guest retreat. My sweet son gave the thumbs up for this project. He's excited about having a bigger bed to sleep in when he comes home.

My queen-size oak bed had a few issues that led to me paint it. First of all, honey-oak might have been really popular in the 80's and 90's, but it just feels dated now. Oh, and that shell embellishment had to go (gag me with a spoon!) Plus, the headboard had a 2-inch-long gouge that was noticeable and driving me crazy.


I know that not all of you have jumped on the 'painted-furniture' boat. I do love natural wood and think it adds a lot of warmth to a space, but in some instances, painting a piece really is an improvement. This bed looks a whole lot better now that its makeover is complete.

I started by prying off the shell molding and repairing the split. I really liked the idea of adding some timeless wood accents so I found some at Lowes that I liked and added them to the bed using wood glue. The outdated shell was replaced with this charming cherub embellishment that I've had for some time (I think I bought it from a scrapbook store). It was the perfect fit!


The bed got two coats of creamy white homemade chalk paint (needs no sanding or priming). If you're new to the whole chalk paint phenomenon, you can read my post on Chalk Paint 101 for beginners.

The bed was starting to look more French Country than outdated 90's, but the solid white was giving it a shabby chic vibe that wasn't the direction I was taking this room...



 ...so I added an accent color...gray. I mixed the leftover creamy white paint with some gray, along with a squirt of black and some beige (I love mixing colors!). The walls in this room were recently painted Mindful Gray (it may be my favorite neutral ever....no pink, blue or green undertones) and I wanted the bed to be a slightly darker gray than the walls so it would stand out.

Before I got to this point, I had to carefully tape off those molding pieces and the edges of the panels. Frog Tape works wonderfully for this. If you burnish the edge of the tape with your fingernail, it produces a seal that prevents paint from seeping under.


This step was a little time consuming, but so worth it. I ended up with crisp edges that didn't require any touch up. I love how the creamy molding pieces pop against the gray (which is looking a little blue in this picture...it's not, the lighting in this room is just terrible!).


I painted this bed right in the guest room space. When it was time to distress, I really wished to avoid flying dust (I learned my lesson when I refinished our dining table in the kitchen and spent the next 6 months cleaning furniture dust!). So I wet-sanded it. All that means is running a sponge sander under water until it's wet, and then squeezing out the water. When you sand with a wet sponge, all that dust sticks to the sander and your room stays clean. I needed to rinse my sponge out periodically as it got dirty. Once the bed was distressed to my liking, it was time to wax.


I love the warmth that dark wax adds. It gives furniture depth, ages it, and takes away that 'flat' look. I began by waxing a small section with clear wax, then immediately wiped dark wax over the clear. If you do this while the clear wax is still wet, you have more control over how dark you make it. If it's too dark, adding more clear wax will help to rub off the dark. Working on small sections at a time, I waxed the headboard and footboard. I went back over it with a soft cloth and buffed it to a delightful sheen.


It turned out just as I'd envisioned but whew, painting a bed is definitely a lot of work! Especially when there's a foot board and side rails too!


This week the plan is to purchase a mattress set, get the bed made and curtains hung. After that I'll be working on some other furniture pieces that I want to use in this room.


What do you think? Are you ready to tackle your own bed and paint it? I'd love to hear what you think about my painted bed. Is it an improvement or would you have left it unpainted?

If you'd like the recipe that I use for my homemade chalk paint, just reply in the comments and I'll send it to you.

If you've been following along with my Farmhouse Modern Laundry Room makeover, I'll be posting the final reveal on Saturday and I'm so excited to show you how far we've come! You won't even recognize it as the same bland space, it is just oozing with charm!


UPDATE: you can read all about the Guest Room Makeover and see the final reveal right here: http://www.diybeautify.com/2015/05/guest-room-reveal-orc-week-6.html

If you want to see the Laundry Room Reveal, go here: http://www.diybeautify.com/2015/04/farmhouse-modern-laundry-room-reveal.html


bringing beauty to the ordinary,