As many of you know, I LOVE working on our house. There isn’t a room I haven’t touched. Except for our bedroom that is…For the first 3 years we lived there, our bedroom was just remnants of our furniture we bought cheap for our apartment and a faded duvet that didn’t quite match everything going on in the room. This past summer, I decided enough time had passed with our bedroom being blah, and it needed a sophisticated redo that matched our evolving style.
I’ve always been drawn to the period the house was built, the 1920s, but instead of embracing the craftsman style I ventured into the more glamorous decor of the day. Art Deco! I love the inlaid detail of the wood furniture, the rich colors, and the touches of gold. I wanted to incorporate my love of flowers into the mix, so I went with a more bohemian version of an Art Deco bedroom. I’ve slowly been collecting vintage furniture and decor, and doing some DIYS to stay on budget. More than 6 months later and it’s finally complete!
I started with purchasing a new rug and bedding. I stilled loved our Amalfi Blue walls, so I stuck with jewel tones to round out the color palette. The oriental rug and Indian quilt brought in some feminine touches and colors while the mustard duvet balanced it out with a more geometric, masculine tone. I learned from the past that we don’t use throw pillows much on our bed, so I kept it simple with just the 4 pillows we use everyday.
I then swapped out the curtains, for some luxe looking teal velvet curtains. I wanted them to match the wall color to make the room feel bigger. However, to add a touch of detail and color, I sewed mustard tassel trim along the sides. I swapped out our curtain rod for a gold one with crystal ends, and some pretty leaf tiebacks to pull back the curtains during the day.
Next up was changing out the metal finishes so they all matched. I upgraded the white plastic outlets to Art Deco style gold plates, along with the air vent. The ceiling fan is already gold, but I wanted a little change, so I added pink tulip light shades.
Our bedside lighting also got a big upgrade. We had clunky lamps before that would get knocked over by the cats, so I bought tulip light sconces instead to free up our bedside tables. Since they were wired to be inside the wall (and we didn’t want to deal with that headache), we rewired them so they could be plugged into an outlet. We added a clicker so they can be turned on at my nightstand. We also covered the outlet cords with tubing, and painted them the color of the walls so they blend in.
One of my most satisfying updates was uncovering the original metal hardware on the doors. They had been covered by layers of paint, so I boiled and scraped the paint off to reveal a lovely patina on the brass.
Having an Art Deco themed room meant I needed authentic Art Deco furniture. I hunted for months on Facebook Marketplace and at Antique Malls for the right pieces. Ryan wanted a horizontal dresser, which seems more rare among that style of furniture, and we needed another nightstand. We were lucky enough to inherit my nightstand from Ryan’s grandfather.
I have a great dad who picked up my dresser-find in Louisville and brought it up. It’s actually a buffet, but has lots of storage for Ryan. It was in beautiful shape, but the previous owners had cover a good amount of it in white paint. I had a hunch that the Art Deco wood detail was still underneath, so I stripped the paint. It was messy but worth it! 
The nightstand I drove to Lexington for was in decent shape, it just needed some Old English to cover the scratches and one drawer recovered in veneer. The bottom drawer was missing it’s original Bakelite handle, but I found an inexpensive replica online. And then somehow during the restoration, the original handle on the top drawer went missing 😦 So I had to order another replica handle.
For our inherited nightstand, my dad replaced the chipped wood veneer on top and added some trim to the sides. We discovered it was actually part of a vanity, and it had been chopped apart. The trim polished off the rough edges from the cut.
I originally had an idea to do a completely upholstered headboard in a shell shape. I was going to build it based off of a headboard I had recently seen that was way more expensive. However, I discovered a really nice, solid wood headboard for $50 on Facebook Marketplace that I couldn’t pass up. I removed the middle section, which was attached to the outer trim with screws and some glue. I glued padding and stapled a pretty soft, grayish blue fabric around it. I also darkened the stain on the outer trim to match the nightstand and dresser. Once dry, I reattached the newly upholstered middle to the outer trim. I love the grand scale of it and it’s detailed edge.
To match the soft, grayish blue of the upholstered headboard, I painted all the doors. trim and windows a similar color. I love the softer contrast between the deep teal walls and the trim. It seemed more intentional with the space and decor than plain white trim. With a lot of help from Ryan (and a lot of trial and error with cuts), we added a thin crown molding in the same color.
With most of the room complete, it was time to move onto the art for the walls. I went back and forth on ideas, but I instantly had a plan when I saw this beautiful metal flower at Home Goods. It reminded me of something you might see in the ocean. I started hunting for flowers similar in style and found some smaller, white ones at Hobby Lobby. I sprayed them gold and arranged them on the wall along with some “spiky” gold pieces that also looked sea-worthy.
The final wall I wanted to decorate was behind the dresser. We have our flat screen on top and it felt out of place in this very fancy, antique room. I found various vintage-style and actual vintage art to make an collage. A couple pieces are maps, a few vintage French ads, a luggage stamp from Nice, some embroidered flower cameos, a vintage Airline ad, a Cincinnati Union Terminal placemat and some nature pieces completed the look. All in different frames, the collage is very eclectic. 
I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome, it feels like a grown up room that fits our style (well, mostly my style. But Ryan likes it!). If you have any questions on any of the projects involved, let me know!
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