My son is what I’d call a messy minimalist. All he needs is a bed, a dresser, his record player and a place to plug in a laptop. Give him a real vintage Eames shell chair, and he’ll use it all right. He will turn it into coat storage. (See the left side of the image below.)
By the way, when I was photographing this room, I was suddenly and acutely aware of just how before these before shots are. They will certainly make for a dramatic after, I suppose.
The upside to his messy minimalist mindset is that he is flexible and open any plan. I’ve been running a few ideas by him out of courtesy, and he’s on board with all of them mostly because he just does not care. He is the perfect client.
Honestly, he may not ever be back to enjoy this room on a long-term basis, and that’s appropriate. He is a full-time college student in California, and he is probably going to stay there through next summer instead of spending it at BHH. In other words, he’s launching right on schedule.
The Plan
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Since the boy is away for the most part, his bedroom will now pull double-duty. It will serve as a second guest room and recording studio. Currently, every time I record a podcast interview, it takes about 20-25 minutes to set up the “studio.” It is stressful, time-consuming, and not conducive to work.
As the title of the post suggests, this room will have cabin vibes. I received a Along with this blanket, I want to layer the bed with comfy textured bedding and plenty of throw pillows. Coincidentally, Jenna Sue posted this one. However, I will likely wing it to some degree since I already have an idea floating around in my head. Ana’s plans are a great leaping off point. All I know for sure is that I am pretty set on stained vs. painted wood. Something I am considering is positioning the bed between the two doors pictured below to create more of a feature wall. That wall is wider, and it will leave a lot more room for lighting and tables on either side of the bed. Also, there is an outlet behind that gray hamper. I just purchased two are not hard-wired. Right now, the bed is centered on the bump-out which is the backside of the chimney for the dining room fireplace below. The nearest outlet is behind the dresser. If I switch the bed around, I will build a simple custom desk for my recording equipment that will fit in that alcove on the right. I’m not sure if I’ll keep that dresser or look for a replacement. It is on its last leg. As my friend Rod used to say, “When you buy crap, you get crap.” His word choice was a little saltier, but you get the gist. He was right. I am also not sure if I will paint the ceiling or just tighten up my after shots so you cannot see it. #honesty This project is not going to be a fast makeover. Well, I take that back. It might be fast, but it might also be slow. I will be working to my comfort instead of working towards an arbitrary deadline. With no guests on the docket, there’s no big hurry to get it done right away. I will keep plugging away, blogging and IGing as I go. Feel free to follow my Cabin Vibes Bedroom Pinterest board. It’s a little sparse right now, but I will add to it regularly. Now it’s your turn to weigh in. I’m trying to decide whether I want this room to be light and airy or dark and cozy. I hope you will help me decide by posting some ideas and paint colors in the comments. Before you make up your mind, let me fill you in on some details that may influence your decision. First, I am not painting the trim or windows this time around. You cannot see it in the photos, but someone painted latex over oil paint without a primer, and the latex is chipping off all over the place. Fixing it is a project I am not ready to tackle right now. Next, when I work on the windows over the summer, I am toying with the idea of painting them dark as I did in the I used Mount Etna by Sherwin-Williams which is a dark black/green shade. My computer monitor makes it look gray, but it’s not even close to being gray. I like the color so much that I will probably stick with it if I paint the windows dark. Mount Etna also coordinates beautifully with all of the colors that I chose in the guest bathroom which adjoins this bedroom. OK. Shoot. I look forward to your suggestions. PS: Are you ready for Christmas? 
The Time Table
Help Me Pick the Paint Color
12 Comments
Holly R Layer
I vote a shade of cream/brown/greige for the walls, IF you’re going the Mt Etna window trim route. If you’re leaving the window trim white (despite the chipping problem), I’d vote for a darker shade, although not too dark. A variation on navy, perhaps something mossy green? Obviously, your bedding options will influence this. The room gets plenty of natural light, which makes painting a dark color a nice option. I love your ideas! And no, I’m not ready for Christmas!
Stacy
I’m leaving all of the trim white right now. (I’m almost ready for Christmas!)
SH
A new project…yay! So isn’t this the bedroom with a half bath or something? Since your son is “launching” maybe make this the main guest room, and then the first guest room becomes the spillover guests/son’s room. And I see four doors! Entry, closet, bathroom, and ??? I vote light n airy for this one and dark and cozy for the smaller one. Otherwise, I hope your followers have more ideas.
Stacy
I’m not quite ready to admit that he’s launching 100%. For now, I’m keeping the guest room as-is. It’s silly, I know.
The four doors are entry, closet, bathroom, and shallow closet that hugs the chimney.
SH
Oops–what was I thinking 😉
Jeri
The cabin theme makes me gravitate towards warm, cozy colors rather than light and airy. The adjoining bathroom is light but could easily go with a darker room. I guess “cozy” is my feeling whether you achieve that with dark, light or a mixture. Excited to watch the progress!
Wilma
built-ins beside the bump outs? built in desk on one side, reading nook on the other? also, i don’t think you’ll regret taking the time (and pain) to paint the ceiling–my sister has ceilings like that in her house, and painting them really, really, really helped, as she didn’t have the time/budget to replace. as for the wall colour, even in a cabin, a light colour can feel cosy. smoky green by BM? reads very differently (green/blue/grey) depending on light and time of day. i’m in love with this colour :). whatever you decide, it’ll be great!!
Viktoria
I vote for Repose Gray or Mindful Gray (SW) for the wall color. They have a slight green tinge which would help wooden furniture like your beautiful dresser stand out. It should also go well with the dark green hue of your future windows. And white trim works with it as well.
Devyn
Love the idea for cabin vibes! You know well my penchant for dark and moody, and I think going darker is the right thing with this room given that it has lots of natural light. But rather than too dark, I was thinking perhaps a more mid-level range in your favorite color (green). Something like Benjamin Moore’s High Park (#467) would tie to the small green stripe on the blanket.
https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color/color/467/high-park?color=467
And then you can play on the taupe of the blanket with a few other things in the room. (Did I just suggest a color related to beige?) I also think a few accessories or in single bold color such as yellow (also in the blanket) in limited amounts to play off of the green would look wonderful.
One final thought. If you paint the ceiling the same color as the wall, the ugly tiles will almost vanish. You aren’t planning to salvage them in the future anyway, and this could buy you several years of time before needing to pull them down and addressing the ceiling.
Christina Biles
I would suggest that you use the Mount Etna on the walls. The casings & sconces would pop like mad against it and it would echo the stripe in the blanket. Then sand and restain the dresser in whatever stain you use on the headboard. (unless it is structurally unsound, in which case start watching craigslist.) So dark and cozy and maybe a little dramatic.
A bit like this http://manhattan-nest.com/2017/06/01/the-den-the-big-reveal/ or https://www.pinterest.com/pin/32088216076581671/ (the pin is mount etna)
https://www.interiorsbysarahlangtry.com/blog-posts/2016/11/10/the-one-room-challenge-week-6-the-reveal
What’s behind the door on the chimney bump out? I’d add a windowseat and convert the door casing & ?closet into a bookcase. If a matching built in is not practical, maybe a super comfy reading chair or a chairbutler thing for your guests to lay out clothing.
Vanessa
Take one or two cans of whatever is in the basement and cut it with white that you have on hand. Try to pull a color from the blanket, if that is not available, just go light with the color. That is my two cents!
Jennifer
How about painting the drop ceiling dark, to make it disappear, and going lighter on the walls? Then the windows will echo the ceiling when you paint them dark this summer.