BenneTT primary bedroom
Welcome to our 1980’s Ranch Primary Bedroom…
When my husband and I purchased our new-to-us 1980’s rancher in August 2024, we were blown away by the size of the primary bedroom. Each time I walked through the door, I felt like I was in a hotel suite! I could immediately see the potential in this odd shaped bedroom with walk out balcony and en-suite bath. Even though there is a still quite a bit of work ahead of us on this bedroom, I am excited to share my vision with you and a couple sneak peaks at the results.
If you’ve read my About section before heading here, you might already know that one of my very favorite things is a weekend get-away. Not that I don’t enjoy a week long vacation in paradise, but there is something so charming and tender about steeling away for a day or two to a quiet town with a historic past, cool main street vibe, a plenty of cute stores to wander.
My dream for our primary bedroom suite was to recreate many of the design features I’ve loved during our best weekend getaways. I can’t wait to write another post about The Wildset Hotel and some of my other favorite boutique hotels, but until then, just know I take LOTS of photos and notes when I travel. I’ve even been known to bend the ear of a manager or two to know exactly what products were used or “where I can get that amazing throw pillow?” I want to soak up every splendid detail and bring it home so I can relive my favorite memories over and over again.
When approaching the design for this space, I had three concepts in mind- neutral, boutique hotel feel, and relaxing. I started with two pieces I knew were central to my design, a natural wood poster bed with clean lines, and a modern electric fireplace that we used in our previous basement. Since we have so many projects to tackle at once during our reno, I decided to opt for a less expensive version of our poster bed and the other furniture, so that there is room left in the budget for our en suite when the times comes.
In keeping with the boutique hotel theme, I knew I wanted to make good use of the room’s large footprint and create a sitting area. I had my eye on these buttery velvet barrel chairs and was sold when I saw that they came with hidden ottoman storage! I can just picture morning coffee here with my husband, and late night blog writing to my favorite Netflix binges. The caramel color is even better in person and was a perfect pairing with the neutral color palette.
www.wayfair.com
Before we go any further…let’s real talk for just a sec. As much as I hate to admit it, every space come with some challenges or requirements that can make the design process a little tricky and limit our ideal product choices. While I’d love to splurge on a gorgeous rug from some of my favorites (think Studio McGee), we have one continuous challenge when designing our home; THREE HUGE DOGS! They are absolutely my babies and I could not imagine life without their sweet faces and cuddles, but boy do they make it tough when picking out wise design choices. In our bedroom, we choose a budget friendly washable rug option, with low pile and a “hide the dirt” pattern. I love it so much more than I could have imagined! The brown color brings a dark neutral into the mix and adds so much warmth to the space. We chose to stick with a caramel brown color for our duvet, as well- allowing us to highlight a classic white quilt underneath when we want, but quickly cover up when those paws come jumping! Add in a oversized linen lumbar pillow and you have yourself a perfect pop of color for your hotel bed!
Here’s another challenge we faced and it’s a pretty common one. Closet space. We chose to add a simple white armoire for those left-over clothes and linens. In time, I would love to find a vintage piece to replace this stand-in or maybe something classic and natural, like this find. For now, it does the trick and it’s white finish allows it to blend in and work with most any decor options.
-Design Tip-
Adding a darker patterned rug to a neutral room can bring an elevated warmth to the space
Image: amazon
If I had to choose my favorites from our bedroom design, the winners would be our cream Mirren night stands from West Elm and our modern electric fireplace that completes the sitting area. These night stands were one of those “add to cart” and “buy now” decisions that I rarely make but was so glad I did. I love how the metal finish contrasts to the light natural wood of our bed and dressers- adding just the right modern touch to keep the room feeling too traditional or cottag-y. The brass fixtures mounted above them adds to the boutique hotel feel and continues the modern feel. Bonus- they are battery operated so that I can swap them out with something more permanent at a later date.
My husband (can we just start calling him Eddie?) and I almost left our amazing electric fire place at our former home- we had no idea where we were planning to put it in the new house. But, we couldn’t part with it because of how unique it is. It also does quite a good job heating up a medium sized room. As the bedroom design grew and the sitting area came to life, we realized it was just waiting for this space! It could not have been any more perfect to complete our relaxing boutique hotel style and adding a little something extra to our bedroom retreat.
Have questions about this design or my process? Feel free to read more about my E-Design process here, or contact me. I would love to hear from you!
Other items in this design:
White Gallery Frames- West Elm
Eden Wood Bench- Target
Black Iron Candleholder- Magnolia
Jocelyn Cache- The Style Edit
