Neutral Bedroom Makeover (Cozy Vermont Style Ideas)
Welcome friends! If you’re in the mood for before and after, I have a neutral bedroom makeover to share with you today! As I’ve mentioned before, we own a ski condo in Vermont. Since we bought the place furnished, the rooms were functional but not exactly our style. Over the years, we’ve been slowly updating each room . Today, I’ll show you the steps I took to transform an unstylish guest room into a cozy bedroom to welcome friends and family.
*For your convenience, please note that this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking my links below, I will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you).
Neutral Bedroom Makeover – The Before:
Old furniture and dated bedding…
When we bought the condo, we planned to rent it out for several ski seasons. At that point, we didn’t want to invest in any new furniture that could get trashed by groups of partying ski bums. Basically, the room was a mishmash of furniture from the previous owner. And yes, that dresser you see on the left is baby furniture! There was also another baby dresser on the opposite wall…embarrassing. Since this guest room is located in the basement, it’s not even considered a legal bedroom anyway. Needless to say, it became a neglected space…
Neutral Bedroom Makeover – Phase One:
Paint the room and add new bedding…
Once we stopped rented the condo, we decided to do some freshening up. Since this bedroom is dark, I needed to keep the walls light…but couldn’t deal with the peachy paint color any longer. So, we painted the walls a soft neutral color from Behr paints. (I’m still looking for the paint sample to share the exact color). In this photo below, the color looks more gray than it does in person. To brighten up the room, I added a blue duvet from Pottery Barn. (For some reason, I couldn’t find many photos of this phase…so the bed is a little messy and there’s that huge dehumidifier sitting there!) For the most part, we left the room like this for a few years. And yes, we still had the baby furniture!
After some more time, I decided to get serious…
Neutral Bedroom Makeover – The Design Plan:
Create a mood board with a cozy Vermont vibe…
Over the years, my older son has taken over this bedroom so I wanted to give the room a masculine feel. Also, I wanted the room to have a ski lodge aesthetic without going overboard with the ski theme. So, here is the mood board I created…
Neutral Bedroom Makeover – Phase Two:
Replace carpeting with Luxury Vinyl Plank Floors (LVP)…
During the summer months, this lower level used to get very musty smelling if we didn’t use the dehumidifier. In Vermont, it takes forever to get a plumber (or any service worker for that matter) so we never got around to installing a draining system for the dehumidifier. Basically, we just used it when we were there and then emptied the container when it filled up. Also, we realized the carpeting was trapping a lot of the moisture during the summer months. This past fall, we finally ripped up the old carpeting, put a moisture barrier on the concrete floors and installed LVP flooring. Here’s an progress photo showing a close up of the floors.
After researching different flooring brands and asking friends for advice, we chose Coretec in Waddington Oak. The planks are 9 inches wide with a light to medium color and are supposed to be waterproof. Since we’ve never used LVP flooring, I am a little nervous about how they will hold up in a basement…but we’ll see. At the last minute, I panicked and almost chose wood-look tile instead so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I made the right decision!
Buy an area rug…
Although the rug looks very gray in photos, it does have some tan mixed in. When shopping for the rug, I brought my floor sample with me to make sure I liked the look. This isn’t the original rug I had in my mood board but overall, I think it works.
Neutral Bedroom Makeover – Phase Three:
Shop for furniture as planned in the mood board…
To stay on a budget, I chose nightstands and a dresser from Ashley Furniture. Basically, I wanted the look of Pottery Barn but at a better price. When I visited an Ashley showroom, I was impressed at the sturdiness of the pieces I saw online. Once again, I brought along my flooring sample to make sure I had the right wood tones. To achieve my design plan, I needed the furniture to blend with the floors without too much contrast.
To avoid the matchy-matchy look, I wanted a black bed for contrast. Even though Ashley had a few, I envisioned a higher headboard and a very low footboard. While shopping in Old Brick Furniture in Rutland, Vermont, I found a the perfect panel bed with a low footboard that could be customized in a variety of colors. Plus, the bed company is a family business located in nearby Brandon, Vermont. It’s always great to support local businesses!
Neutral Bedroom Makeover – The After:
Add lamps and bedding to pull the room together…
To complement the black bed and black drawer handles, I purchased two black lamps. I also bought a duvet and shams with gray and tan tones to pull all the colors together. Normally, I don’t use this much gray but I think the black and tan help tone it down. For the pillows, I used two suede pillows in a camel color to repeat the color of the nightstands and floor. Then for another pop of black, I bought a black plaid pillow on Etsy.
Yes, I still need to hang artwork but the room is definitely coming along! Since we live 4 1/2 hours away, it takes me awhile to decorate a room. Rather than wait until every detail is finished, I thought I’d share my progress with you!
And here’s a closeup of the bedding details. At the bottom of this blog post, I listed all the shopping sources.
After the After:
Finish accessorizing…
On my next trip up to Vermont, I will hang the ski lift artwork and another set of prints on the left wall. I also plan to add a chair in the corner with a reading lamp. Above the dresser across from bed (not shown in photos above), we plan to hang a large TV. Plus, I’ll probably accessorize the dresser with some simple accessories. Even without those few details, my neutral bedroom makeover is far enough along to welcome guests…or my son and his ski buddies!
Source List for Neutral Bedroom Makeover:
- Black Bed – exact bed (in black) / bed shown in mood board, / a beautiful alternative.
- Nightstands – exact nightstand from Ashley
- Dresser – exact dresser from Ashley
- Rug – exact from Homegoods / rug from mood board / similar rug.
- Rug Pad – exact rug pad (which works with all floors).
- Lamps – exact lamps.
- Duvet and Shams – exact duvet and shams. / quilt version / comforter.
- Suede pillows – exact suede pillows in camel.
- Black plaid pillow – exact pillow.
- Ski Art – Etsy – variety of sizes and variations.
- LVP Flooring – Coretec – Waddington Oak (check your local flooring store).
*For even more bedroom ideas, read – Beautiful Cozy Bedrooms.
Are you planning a neutral bedroom makeover?
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