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Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Our Farmhouse Bedroom Makeover

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“Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

If I die before I wake, 

I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

My version sounds a little darker compared to others I’ve heard, but it’s been a nightly prayer as I go to bed since I was able to pray it!

The bedroom for me, has always been a room that I try to keep peaceful. Try. I wanted this to be a haven within the house. Floors, that never had dust-bunnies, nightstands kept cleared of clutter, and the magical ability to have the animals sleep with us, and NOT leave pet hair behind. But for real, you get the gist.

My one non-negotiable, (that I *STILL* haven’t caved on) is that I did not want a TV in the bedroom. Maybe it’s just a ‘me’ thing but I feel like it messes with your mental state! How do you  feel about TV’s in the bedroom? Are you a die-hard proponent of one way or the other? Tell me in the comments below!

When we bought the house, I was adamant about zero carpet (excluding rugs) in the house. Because: pets. We’re in the country. There’s things like mud, pet hair, inevitable accidents, red wine…like no. Before we had the floors installed I thought it would be the greatest thing in the world, if my mom gave up her day off to come help me work on the room. Obviously, right? (Sidenote: my mom is a trooper for putting up with my crap.)

Here are some before picture of the bedroom. Nothing really terrible. But nothing really great either…except that window! I wanted to play that up big time! Keep reading to see our very own farmhouse bedroom makeover!

So on my list for this room I wanted to:

  • Paint (Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams)
  • Install laminate flooring
  • Play up the bay window and allow as much natural light as possible without dying of heat in the summer
  • Maintain a sense of tranquility here, if no where else in my life
    • Do all this within the one condition thrust upon me: ‘don’t make it girly.’ 

This is how the phone call to my mom went:

Me: “Hey mom, so I was thinking, since you’re off for the fourth, how about you come over and help me paint? I’m thinking I’ll be up pretty early so I’ll go ahead and tape everything off super early in the morning, you can take your time getting out here and with the both of us, we can get this [and the living area and kitchen] wrapped up before lunch! Sound good?”

My mom: “Sounds great, Sweetie! I’ll be there about 9!”

How she managed to say those words without laughing at me is beyond me, because I’ll tell you right now: I was so naive! I’d never painted before! I had absolutely ZERO clues about what I was doing except for my average studies on Youtube and HGTV when I watch it while gettin’ my nails did with my BFF. ZERO CLUES.

We started off strong, taping and painting, painting and taping…and we finished [the bedroom!] There were casualties but the carpet wasn’t staying so really…did it matter? If teaching and this blog don’t pan out for me…painting won’t be it for me either because I’m terrible, but you can’t tell in my B-E-A-U-tiful pictures can you?!

This was at 6:31 AM when the sunrise woke me up from our lowly mattress on the floor.
This flooring comes with 3 different width planks and has a natural hand scraped texture. Fun fact: I tested out many samples by wetting and smearing cat litter on sample pieces to see how easily it’d clean up. If you’ve ever had hard-to-clean laminate…you know.

Curtains: (Sheer and linen) Target – similar here and here

Bay curtain rod: (this matches the Umbra curtain rod sold by Target like a champ!) Amazon – here

Bamboo Blinds: Amazon but currently unavailable – similar here

Flooring: Floor N Decor – here

Dresser, bed, nightstands: Rustic Furniture Depot – here

Bench: At Home – here

Paint: Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams

For the final result, voila! I read in a blog eons ago, and if it was you, holla at me, that you want to keep your bedroom about you and your spouse *significant other*, so I’m pretty particular about what goes on the wall. Rollins the Kitten has decided that my cotton ball wreath had to go, but then we also got a little somethin’-somethin’ for above the bed FINALLY.

One evening, I was scrolling through the book of face, and because I am every advertiser’s dream, I clicked on an ad for Smallwoods and found this one. G agreed and we ordered it right then and there (I’m not paid to say this but y’all they have such great deals, you should really check them out. Made in our great state of TX!) This sign reminds us that things aren’t always perfect but that I will keep choosing you because this little setup isn’t a passive arrangement; it isn’t like my plants that I water once and hope they stay alive [spoiler: they don’t.] We keep choosing each other, even if he wants the TV in the bedroom and I don’t!

Here’s where the authenticity kicks in. That rod isn’t long enough (that’s what she said.) I put in an extra piece from a different curtain rod to make it long enough and I refuse to retouch it because #RealLife

DIY Firepit!

(This post contains affiliate links, which means, I could make a profit through your clicks.)

My one disclaimer for this post: I don’t know the cost. If I lose you there, my B, yo. This was a birthday gift to me from G and that part was kept hidden (does it have to do with the fact that he used it as an excuse to buy more tools? Most assuredly!) To prevent significant repeat trips to Lowe’s, plan ahead! Our DIY firepit was quite an undertaking, especially in the atypical cold-weathered November here in Texas. This labor of love is something we continue to adore. See how we did it below!

First, he started off with the location. Pro tip: don’t put it by a tree. Or right by your house.

Next is when your 9th grade Geometry class comes in handy because you get to make a circle. A big one. Stick a stake in the center with some brightly colored twine and spray paint yourself a circle! For ours, he cleared out a 21 foot diameter circle with a pick axe. Yep, just a pick axe. There were a lot of back rubs!

Once that was clear we used underlayment leftovers from our friends. Treat it like your foiling a pan in the oven and layer over those pieces! (Note: Cute kittens do not actually help your progress…but they make it more fun.)

After that came the decomposed granite, or ‘DG’ for those cool masonic people out there. We opted for this instead of limestone and a couple of other choices because 1) cost and 2) our ground out here will eat it up.  I’d highly encourage you to speak with someone at your local masonry when it comes to picking between different options because they know the land, and they know the product. I can admit when I’m out of my league and I stay in my own lane! DG got delivered and then G spread it out. Enter the fun part: tamping. Have you ever tamped? You use a heavy pole with a heavy flat base and slam it against the ground to just really pack everything in. So fun! Until the second time…then you’re pretty much over it. You could do what we did and pull out the riding mower and just drive in circles…that works too!

Then our Amazon Prime order came in! We live in the boonies; we have a Walmart…and a winery. So Amazon Prime is my jam! We bought a fire ring and a grate because he’s a perfectionist and wants airflow. No detail, especially the mathematical or scientific details were spared here. Here’s the fire ring and the grate that we purchased to go along with it, measured specifically to best fit our 20 foot fire pit (the edging took up 6 inches all the way around.)

Finally, it’s time for the stone. If you’re me, you just start laying and layering rows, like LEGO’s. But this isn’t me and that is not what happened. There was wet saw involved. And a blade meant specifically for stonework. Add in a slew of math that goes over my head and there were specific angles and cuts made; stone…by…stone. By stone. G edged the circumference and then around the pit liner as well. The intent has been to go back over and use some mortar but that hasn’t happened yet.

What is a fire pit without some good ‘ol Adirondack chairs, amiright? I remember a few evenings being spent searching for a Goldilocks chair, something to check every box: looks, cost, longevity. Adirondack chairs are expensive! As aforementioned, I don’t know the whole total but I know we were up there and I choose to remain blissfully ignorant. Everything we found that was pleasing to the eye was upwards of $100. We tried for the plastic chairs from Walmart driving all over kingdom come, to no avail. We finally found a chair on Amazon that would work. Quite affordable and looked good as well. The catch? They were unfinished and unassembled. That shouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong. I think the chairs were the worst part of it all. Naturally this whole endeavor took place in the coldest part of our winter thus far. I don’t ever want to be that cold again. There we were though, butts on the garage floor with nitrile gloves and painting the stain on. We tried multiple approaches; painting then assembling, assembling then painting, assembling then staining…and not a one was better than the others. It was miserable regardless. But you know what? I love them! And they’re pretty comfy if only a little ‘snug’ for a typically roomy chair. Find it here. Naturally, no good fire pit goes undecorated. I scored some microplush blankets at Walmart for $5 each and they went swimmingly with these pillow covers and outdoor pillow inserts I got from Amazon!

It all came together and we’re thrilled with what we he built! The best part though, was getting to break it in and spend time around it with friends!

(This post contains affiliate links, which means, I could make a profit through your clicks.)

 

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