Classic Yet Emboldened

We are so excited to publish our last project of 2024, join us as we walk through the process of how we brought this room from simple to striking!

For starters, take a look at where our project began. The picture shown is from the listing photos from when our client purchased her home. This project was for a guest room, and as our client had just purchased this home, they had not yet made any changes to the room. When we met for our consultation, there was not yet any furniture in the room at all. All that existed were the gray cellular shades (pictured) mounted in the window that conveyed with the sale of the house. This was a completely fresh start for us which was excellent news as our client let us know we were on an extremly tight timeline for the completion of this project. We had a month to complete this room so that it would be ready to host her very first guests in her new home.

In almost every situation, a month is not at all enough time to start and complete a project. There are innumerable decisions that must be made when pulling a project together, combine that with contractor schedules, supply and product shipping times, and installations, project timelines quickly grow. Only having a month to create, execute, and implement a design really is next to impossible.

We were very clear with our client that we were willing to make every effort to succeed, but that there was a high probability that we would not be able to complete the project in time. Also we were transparent from the start that due to the timeframe, this project would need to be completed with items from large box stores or items we could pick up same day in store, and that we would not be able to custom design anything. Once we chatted over the finer details with our client we got to work!

Our client LOVES classic details of character filled homes, and was anxious to add mouldings to her own home! This is where we ran into our second very large obstacle. We discussed with our client that our contractors were booked out for the month and already involved in other jobs. She was confident as long as we told her which items to purchase, and designed a simple pattern for the moulding, that she and her father-in-law could DIY the moulding.

Having only just started the project, and with two seemingly insurmountable obstacles glaring at us, we resolved to see this project though no matter the odds. We drew up a design that brought in our clients requests for character and color while maintaing a comforting atmosphere that would induce rest for any guest that had the pleasure of staying in the room. We really wanted to emphasize textures in this room to help it feel larger than what it was. An insanely soft rug, heavy textured drapes (we were lucky enough to find a company that could produce perfectly color matched drapes within our timeframe, seriously an absolute miracle), and woven baskets would help bring in enough textures to help the room feel as if it was plentiful instead of the reality that fitting a queen size bed in the room would be a very tight squeeze.

Overall as far as furniture was concerned, the room would be able to handle a queen size bed, a very narrow piece of furniture which would offer some sort of storage, and a potted plant in the corner. The room could also accomodate two very small nightstands if needed. We constructed the layout below for the client. Truth be told, if we had more time to complete the project, we would have suggested that the closet be reconstructed to allow for more storage and more space within the room. However, as that was not an available option to us we proceeded with the plan below.

Once our client had approved the product list, design selections, and layout, we started hammering away. With one week already spent on space planning, product procurement, and design, we needed to move quickly! Approvals in hand and products ordered, we first started by having our client and her father in law DIY the picture frame and crown mouldings. Next they sanded, filled, and caulked the mouldings in preparation for paint. We removed the main door and closet door for painting and new knob installation which was also DIY'ed by our client. While the doors were drying, we were priming and painting the walls now adorned with their new accoutrements. Week two came to a close via a small bump in our road to completion; our client told us she did not yet want to purchase a bed for this room, but that she would be re-allocating the funds we set aside for this towards a new bed for her primary bedroom (spoiler alert, an upcoming estimated 2025 project) and using her old bed frame as the guest bed for now.

After checking back in with our client to make sure all other plans still had the green light, week three consisted of receiving orders for product shipments, inspections for product damage, in person decor shopping, scouting for bed frame upholstery, and a very stressful hunt for just the right antique mirror. Sconces were mounted, the rug arrived and was installed, the console table arrived and was constructed and installed, wooden blinds mounted, everything seemed as if we would make the deadline!

Then drama ensued, hurdle three had come crashing down, quite literally! The drapes we were so beyond blessed to find that could be customized and shipped within our timeframe had arrived during week three and were stunning! Heavy 500 gsm blackout drapes, triple pleated, memory shaped, and rushed perfectly through production, these drapes were the biggest expense of the room. Worth absolutely every penny and as beautiful as they were, our client could not wait to see them in the room and hung them the day after they arrived. We were stunned to hear at the end of week three that the drapes had fallen. Our client had unfortunately not mounted the curtains into studs and the weight of the drapes had pulled the rod off the wall!

Thankfully after a quick stop at Lowes, an afternoon of instailling curtain rod blocking and fixing the dry wall, we were back on track! The weekend before week four was spent sanding, priming and repainting where the rod had fallen and remounting the curtains into the solid blocking. Now well anchored and re-hung, it was impossible to tell there had ever been an issue and we were set to tackle the last week of our project!

Week four was a mad dash to install and stage our remaining product deliveries. We were also still on the lookout for our design pièce de résistance, the perfect antique mirror. With only a week left we were scavenging any antique shop we could find. We were finding incredible mirrors, but they were either damaged, not the correct dimensions, not the right shape, or astronomically expensive. We were losing steam and beginning to worry, until we walked into one of our favorite shops on Friday of week four.

The shop consisted of a conglomerate of antique booths that wound through an old refurbished warehouse. Many of these booths were bursting at their seams with beautiful goodies, and we were going to have to keep a careful eye to find what we were searching for. Incredibly, we were lucky enough to finally find it in the second to last booth before the exit, the perfect mirror at an incredible price! Having hit the jackpot, we headed back to our clients home, mirror and decor in tow for our final installation.

After spending Friday evening carefully mounting the mirror, setting up the console decor and making the bed with freshly washed linens, the room was ready and oh so inviting. Her guests arrived the following Monday, stayed for a wonderful week and then we were able to come and photograph the project for publication.

Alderwood Interiors is proud to present after an incredible month of blessings and luck our "Classic yet emboldened" project. We are so grateful you are here to share this moment with us and cannot wait to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Tell us, would you be brave and go bold or are you a fan of the neutral trend?