Gray/Pink Teen Bedroom Reveal

Thanks for the great response to the High/Low post about Margaret's gray/pink teen bedroom makeover! I have photos today of the room's current state, although it was hard to get the colors to show up perfectly with my phone.

We still have one MAJOR thing to do, which is to create a gallery wall on the long wall opposite the bed. This is where the room will really get its personal style, and considering how much time teens spend in their beds, eating, studying, watching Netflix, etc, she'll get to see it a lot. Margaret hopes to start by having some of the photos she's taken enlarged and printed in black and white. Can't wait to see what else she chooses. I tried to get whole room photos today, but clothes strewn about thwarted me. Hope these snippets will do!

This photo shows the nailhead trim headboard, bedding, Target lamp, and small mirrors from TJ Maxx.

To the right of the bed is an antique dresser that used to be my mom's. It could use a new coat of paint, but for now we just spray painted the knobs gold. This dresser has been every color of the rainbow.

On the other side of the bed is the Target lamp I LOVE on an end table I got out of the trash when Margaret was 2.

Further left is a rubbermaid storage shelf that we already had. We just bought gray/white cubes from Target to go in the top cubbies. 

She enjoyed picking the accessories from Target:

On the same wall as the rubbermaid storage is the vanity area. The vanity gets a lot of use. Here's the ghost chair, the Target desk and fluffy pillow, plus a gorgeous gold mirror I found by the side of the road.

One last thing: 

On the "don't you love social media?" front, here's a NEW mirrored night stand to replace the wooden one I got out of the trash! My childhood friend Brad and his wife saw the blog post last week and offered us 2 of these for free. They were just languishing in their exercise room! Margaret is THRILLED. "Doesn't that just take it up a notch?" she said. Yes, yes it does. I like it even better than the one I found on Amazon.

Her room is less cluttered than before, and she's really enjoying it and the sense of calm it brings, except for the pile of clothes on the floor. 

Now to get to that gallery wall... 

Gray and Pink Teen Room Makeover, High/Low Edition

Margaret and I re-did her room on a budget.

To raise money for the project, we found whatever we could around the house to sell on a yard sale site. This helped us set our budget and also get rid of excess clothes and accessories that were cluttering up her room. We moved a bunch of books and keepsakes to the basement.

The look she wanted was Hollywood Regency meets Modern, and she was able to find a lot of ideas online. She wanted a mix of metals and textures, with a lot of white throw in.

To plan for the room, she sent me links of what she wanted, and I poked around for less expensive options. In some cases, we went with her choices, and in others mine. We are both happy with the results, and I thought I'd share the process with you here:

The paint color we  used was a continuation from our lower level: Benjamin Moore's Moonshine, a soft gray; we kept the white trim as-is.

An upholstered queen headboard was the centerpiece of the room. This is the one she wanted:

HIGH

Ella Headboard from Pier One: 449.00

I found this one:

LOW

Baxton Headboard from Overstock.com: $129.99

VERDICT: We went with the lower priced one from Overstock and it works perfectly!

She wanted pale pink bedding and there were LOTS of options! 

She chose this set from Urban Outfitters:

HIGH Eyelash bedding in Rose: $189.00 for comforter, $49.99 for 2 shams

I found this much less expensive one, that is quite similar in tone and texture: 

LOW Amazon LUSH Decor Belle 3 Piece quilt Set: $74.99

 And this one for even less, although not in the perfect shade
:

LOWEST Amazon Chez Moi Collection Ella 3 piece comforter set: $49.99

VERDICT: She asked for a gift card from her grandparents for her birthday, and went with the more expensive option from Urban Outfitters. She loves it!

Fuzzy Throw Pillow

HIGH

West Elm Mongolian Lamb throw pillow: 79.99

 LOW

Amazon Mongolian lamb throw pillow: 37.99

LOWEST  

Target throw pillow (FAUX): 17.99 (sale)

VERDICT: We decided that real sheep fur wasn't as important to us as price, so we went with the Target one.

 For lamps, she was looking for antique brass like this one.

HIGH

Crate and Barrel Theorem Aged Brass Lamp: $219

LOW Amazon Satin Brass Hoyt Table Lamp 79.99

LOWEST

Target Hudson Industrial Brass Table Lamp: $49.00

VERDICT: Target for the win-- again! What a great lamp. I hope she gets tired of it, because I want it. Wait until you see it in her room.

Makeup Vanity:

HIGH

West Elm Mid Century Modern Desk: $399

LOW

Target Basic White Desk: 93.49 (sale)

VERDICT: Target desk! Easy to put together, and it keeps all of her makeup neat in the wide drawer.

Vanity Chair:

HIGH/LOW/LOWEST

Online these range from 450.00 on down. We bought one from Tuesday Morning for 99.00 (not available online), but here is one just like it, for less.

Amazon Casper Dining Armchair in Clear: 71.27

VERDICT: I still think we got a pretty good deal, but I wish I'd seen this one sooner and purchased it.

Dresser:

HIGH

Pier One Mirrored Silver Dresser: 999.95

LOW

Wayfair Mirrored Dresser: 580.60

VERDICT: Mirrored dressers are lovely, but even at almost 50% off retail, the "low" one from Wayfair was outside our budget. Instead, we kept the same 75 year old white dresser she had and spray painted the handles gold for an update.

Nightstand:

LOWEST Amazon Graham Mirrored 2 Drawer End Table: 169.99

VERDICT: Yep, she wanted a new nightstand too. This one is indicative of the MANY mirrored ones we looked at, and the price is the best we saw. However, we were still out of funds, so we painted her old nightstand's handle gold and are keeping our eye out for a more modern, less expensive nightstand down the road.

We are leaning toward something like this, but hopefully on the cheap:

Hay Needle Baby Relax Miles Nightstand: 149.99

I hope you enjoyed seeing our choices and are inspired by how Margaret got the look she wanted, with the budget she had to work with. While she only got a few new pieces of furniture, the room is transformed!

Up next: Photos of the room itself! 

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