Young House Love

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Cutting The Posts Off Our Canopy Bed

Yup, we finally gave Ed a little haircut. For over a year and a half we tried to work with the posts on Ed the bed, but the realization that we didn’t have a lofted ceiling or a floor plan that made sense of those big dramatic posts slowly worked its way into our conscious and we finally decided that just because Ed was born with long hair posts doesn’t mean that a little haircut is cruel and unusual bed punishment. So here he is before…

Bedroom Moved1

… during…

Cutting Legs1

… and after…

Cuttinglegs14

This whole bed-trimming project was free, took about an hour of work, and we totally dig the more open look. It was just too much vertical stuff going on- especially with the bed right next to the window (with those floor length curtains going on). Ed’s totally crying out for a large fabric headboard so we can raise the mirror above the bed about another foot or two (like this poorly photoshopped rendering) and someday we’d love to stain the floors (and possibly the dresser) darker…

Headboard2

… but we’re getting there. And just because I can’t stop at one photoshopped headboard option, here are some more I had fun with:

Headboard4

Headboard3

But back to reality. You know we like to use what we have, and we love Ed for so many reasons. The height, the comfort, and the thin airy legs that he sits on which allow us to hang out be weird under the bed…

Bedroom Moved4

… so instead of completely scrapping him (ex: craigslisting him and buying a new bed) we devised a completely reversible plan to give his posts a little trim. How is it reversible? Well, while they don’t just screw off or anything, they’re solid wood posts. So we can always reattach them by adding a nice long metal screw to the center of each post that we could just screw back into the bed frame to attach them (it’s how a bunch of Ikea items are made, like how Lack tables have legs that can be screwed on and off). So although we don’t foresee any reason to put those suckers back on, who knows… maybe someday we’ll end up in a house with lofted ceilings and we’ll wish we could put Ed back together – and now, theoretically we can. Haha.

So after concocting our little Ed-tweaking plan, this is how it all went down (complete with insanely embarrassing not-meant-to-sound-perverted comments by yours truly):

For those who can’t watch the video (perhaps you’re at work, although it pretty much tells the story on mute) we snapped some photos for ya too. We basically just lined the Dremel up (we have a Multimax, and used the wood cutting attachment) with the base of the post and slowly sawed around it.

Cutting Legs2

Oh and see how we put a piece of cardboard between the mattress and the post? Just wanted to make sure we didn’t get too chop-happy near the mattress (and moving our organic mattress takes the strength of ten vampires, so we just didn’t have it in us).

Cutting Legs3

Thankfully we had no mattress casualties and each post came down after around five minutes of careful cutting.

Cutting Legs4

We actually got much better at making super clean cuts as we went, so we’re glad we started on the two bottom posts of the bed (which will always be covered by the comforter anyway) and worked our way up to the top two posts, which are seen a lot more.

Cutting Legs6

John even let me take a spin. I had to wrestle the Dremel from his cold dead tool-loving hands, but it was worth the trouble. Girls need a romp with a power tool every once in a while too. Especially because safety glasses are so undeniably sexy.

Cutting Legs7

We were really surprised how nice the top posts looked when they were cut. See the circle detail that they ended up sporting (the bottom posts didn’t have those)? They made it look like a decorative design, so they looked convincing. Like they were meant to be this way. Total happy accident.

Cutting Legs8

Then we just did some sanding to get everything smooth…

Cutting Legs9

… and I used the Ikea-white paint (I did a little hunting to find the perfect white paint that matches Ikea’s white tone here) that we had leftover from another project.

Cutting Legs11

 Check out the top right post after cutting, sanding, and painting…

Post1

… and the top left post after the same rigmarole.

Post2

By the time the paint dried and we made the bed it totally looked like Ed was born this way. Cue the Lady Gaga dance-a-thon.

Cuttinglegs14

Here’s John breaking it down. Just kidding. He ran through the shot and kicked his leg up in some sort of weird victory cry and somehow the camera caught his ghosted karate move. Hilarious.

Cutting Legs13

Here are things from another angle. Obviously we need nice large art where those botanicals are floating on that wall on the right of this picture (we’ll rehang the botanicals over a chair that we have in another corner), but we’re getting there. Especially once we build an upholstered headboard for Ed and move the mirror a bit higher, so it further ties into the chandelier.

Cutting Legs12

I can’t tell you how much we like this hand-me-down dresser from John’s parents in the nook. It’s the perfect fit.

Cutting Legs15

We already shared how it looks from the hallway in this morning’s post, but here’s that shot again, just to refresh the ol’ memory:

Hall Farest Shot

Although it definitely doesn’t match the wood dresser on the other side, there’s something charming about the little white nightstand in the window. And the fact that we have the same bedside lamps on each one sort of connects the two pieces, even though they’re very different.

Cutting Legs16

Here’s a straight shot of the bed as it looks now. I’m definitely itching to get on that headboard project so I can bump the mirror up a bit higher so not everything will be in the same line (the art on the right and the mirror are so perfectly lined up, I think the bed will feel more special with a big fabric headboard and a higher focal point above it). And as for the color of the dresser and the white nightstand, we’re open to painting or staining something, but we’re not rushing into anything.

Cutting Legs17

One thing is for sure, it definitely feels more homey and full than it used to look back when the bed was on the wall near the door.

Bedroom Pillows Lamps1

And it’s so much nicer to walk into this view, instead of stepping three steps in the door and hitting the bed.

Cuttinglegs14

So that’s the latest bedroom tweak, but we’re probably a good dozen tweaks from being done in here. Haha, you know us. Inching along. But you know we’ll keep you posted when we tackle other things, like dealing with the bare wall across from the bed, making a giant fabric headboard and moving the mirror up, etc. Should be fun…

Oh and how funny is this? Every morning around 10am the sun shines through the window above the sink (this pic is from before Ed’s move and subsequent haircut)…

Templates10

… and this shape is reflected on the rug:

Funny Shadow

Yup, the elongated shadow is pretty much exactly the same shape that’s on the rug itself. The weirdest thing is that when we fell in love with this rug and snatched it up at a local outlet, we made absolutely no connection that it had a similar shape to the mirror above the sink. Hooray for happy accidents.

What are you guys up to in the bedroom (decor wise, I mean – let’s not get saucy). Has anyone else altered their bed to make it work better for their room? Or straight up built one from scratch? Anyone else planning to make a headboard in the next few weeks? I can’t wait to go fabric shopping…

Comments

  1. Casey says

    I reeeeeally like the new layout, and especially the bed changes… nice. I’m sorry to say I wasn’t a huge fan of Ed the bed, but it looks great now and with the headboard I think the whole room will be SO much cozier. And the little nook looks seriously perfect with the dresser and art!

    When I got married in 2004 we had saved up all this money and bought the ENTIRE Valencia (sleigh bed) suite from Pottery Barn (with an employee discount). Fast forward a few years and not only was I totally over the matchy-matchy-ness, but that sleigh bed did NOT fit in the room of the house we ended up buying a year after the wedding. I really wanted to switch to an iron bed, and found an almost exact knock-off of my favorite one from PB on Overstock for $250. I cannot believe the change it made in our room, or how much I continue to love it every time I walk in there, even a year after replacing it. Sometimes it’s the little things. :)

    Reply

  4. Ginny @ goofymonkeys says

    I must have missed a few things lately, but I love the look of the bed without the posts. I loved the posts, but it really does take a big box out of the open feeling in the room (does that make sense?)

    And shifting the bed to the other wall is absolutely the right choice. I definitely prefer bedrooms where you walk in and face the bed rather than the side of it.

    Reply

  5. Allison says

    These two changes absolutely make the room for me. I liked it before, liked it even more with the furniture shift, and love it now without the poles. It always amazes me how small changes can change the whole look of one of your rooms. Kudos!

    Reply

  7. Sarah says

    Oh thank goodness! I wasn’t sold on the whole rearranging this morning and couldn’t pinpoint what bothered me. Turns out it was Ed’s posts. Love everything about this room now. Plus I’m sure you’ll find some clever way to reuse those posts.

    Reply

  8. DawnSC says

    WOW, I love it without the posts, good call! And your first photoshopped option is fantastic, I can’t wait to see the end result! I so need to test out ideas that way more.
    I made a headboard out of a bifold door from one I removed from a closet. I like how it looks although I can see a ton of mistakes – which for some reason I then proceed to point out to everyone who comments on how nice it looks. :-P My next step is to build a storage/platform bedframe for our bed so we have more storage and my husband can move all of his stuff into our room from out of the nursery closet, as we need the space for the stuff our <1 year old son is constantly receiving from doting family. I hope to get the bed made by the end of the year, but I'm still figuring out this working mama time mgmt thing…

    Reply

  9. Victoria says

    You guys have inspired me to try and tackle my bedroom (finally)! It’s small and my bedroom furniture is HUGE – I had it before I moved in – and I just haven’t known what to do with the space, so everything has just been sitting there for almost 2 years. I’m going to try moving everything around and seeing if I can finally get my bedroom to look how I want it to. Weekend project! :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s just a blank wall with an off centered window. So we need something for that wall and then would love to turn that window into a french door that leads to our future deck someday!

      xo,
      s

  11. Frida says

    Whohoooo…YES…big thumbs up to all the changes! Love that you aren’t slaves to symmetry anymore. It looks much cozier and a lot more “lived in”. I’m secretly still hoping for a more dramatic wall colour…but you clearly just doing fine with your own ideas ;-)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      John is still on the new wall color train! I’m trying to hang onto this color since I remember how looong it took us to paint this big room. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  12. Kelly says

    I’m going to go against the grain and say that i love love love the color of the floors now. I get a sort of a coral and blue vibe from it because of how the orangey floor plays off the cool walls and the dresser, it matches perfectly. It looks Swedish and modern and beachy and casual all at the same time. Does it look different in person?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The floors need some help whether we keep this color or not (there are faded spots, stained areas, giant scratches, and they’re all unsealed at this point) so they definitely need some love! We won’t settle on a finish until we’re sure though- don’t want to rush into things that aren’t so easy to reverse!

      xo,
      s

  13. Chelsea says

    Yay i love that you guys did a video of this project- I hope you do videos of house projects more often! (even though i love all the ones of Clara too!)

    Reply

  14. Eileen says

    I’m so excited about these changes! Everything looks lovely and cozy – just what you want in a bedroom! I apologize for saying it, but I never loved the posts – I jumped up from my chair when I saw the “ed gets a haircut” title – congratulations on a great arrangement!

    Reply

  16. Sam @ The Junk House says

    An upholstered headboard is my “June Project” and I haven’t even started yet! Umm, 11 more days left in the month…I just can’t decide on a fabric. There’s so many great choices!

    Reply

  17. Rebecca @This Nest is Best says

    This is seriously too weird – we rearranged our bedroom this weekend and now I’m thinking of making an upholstered headboard as well! Our bed was also right as you walked in the door and now we have it in front of a dormer window (yes, it’s a bit weird and my husband was DEFINITELY skeptical) but it’s opened up the room SO MUCH. And I think we’ll make the headboard fairly high and pretty much forget that little dormer even exists. Will share photos when I post them!

    Reply

  18. Krystle Clark says

    This looks soo much better! I would have been scared to death to tackle this but so glad you guys did! BTW – I LOVE the last photoshop headboard — It looks great with the decor you already have in the room :-)

    Reply

  19. tara says

    WOW. just WOW. I love the new layout and Ed’s trim. It really looks so much cozier and open! Plus that rendering with the dark stained floors and dresser…oh man is that going to be beautiful one day. I can’t wait for you guys to take on the re-doing the floors project :)

    Reply

  21. Jen@The Decor Scene says

    OhMyGod!!! GORGEOUS!!! I love your room this way. It just looks right now. KWIM? I really really love it this way. Way to go guys!!! And I think Ed looks much better with his hair cut. Can’t wait to see your new headboard. This inspires me to do more with our bedroom to “finish” things off. Thanks for sharing. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, thankfully it’s perfectly centered on the bed (hard to tell from the angled pics, but clear in person). If the bed had been a king or the nook had been wider it never would have worked, so we’re so grateful!

      xo,
      s

  24. Jenny says

    Oh my gosh, I almost laughed out loud- you’ve done what I’ve been wanting to do to my Ed the bed for so long! When I bought it it was called Hemnes and only came in a yellow stain, so after my dad painted it chocolate brown I did a super sloppy job of painting it white 2 years later. I liked it much better, but I’m dying to remove the posts and make the headboard bigger and upholster it. Everyone thinks I’m crazy, but now I can finally show them that it can be done :D

    Reply

  25. foo says

    The room looks amazing. I liked it before, but this is so much better. Plus, I can’t remember where, but I’ve always heard that the bed should be facing the door when you come in.

    One thought on the headboard. I know you’ve had fabric made before from Miss Clara’s artwork, so that made me think about your blogs background making a nice fabric pattern. Subtle pattern from a distance, but also personal. =)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re definitely planning to raid all the fabric scraps we have and see if anything works (I think I’ll end up at the fabric store too, just because I love it there – haha).

      xo,
      s

  26. Jessica says

    I never really liked the posts on Ed before (sorry!). Your room looks so beautiful now. And I like that the dressers are sort of a light and airy “hers” and a dark and masculine “his”.

    Reply

  27. Andrea says

    Ah – back when you posted about the rug I thought “I bet the next thing to change is the bed posts”. I missed the bed move post, but I love its new location too. Room looks great!

    Reply

    • mribaro says

      What have you done with the black leather chair? I see a new (suede?) beige armchair in your bedroom corner that I don’t remember from before.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The black leather chair has been living in the corner of the office for the last 6-ish months. Remember we moved it in this post? The armchair that’s in that bedroom corner is about 6 months old from Overstock.
      xo,
      s

  29. Melanie says

    Great improvement! The new placement makes the whole wall a focal point and I really like the bed without the posts. The room looks great!

    Reply

  30. Cheryl says

    Love it! How about a stencil on that wall behind the bed? You could echo the design in the rug/mirror ?? This room is really coming together!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Always another possibility! It’s a big room, so I think I’m craving more softness/textiles so that’s why I’m leaning towards fabric, but you never know where we’ll end up!

      xo,
      s

  32. stephie2cool says

    Egads!!! (I love using that word) Seriously though the new setup looks awesome. I was iffy on the rug before nad the room seemed really odd looking and smashed in, but now it seeems much warmer and roomier and much more open. It’s amazing what a change in floorplan can do. I really like the removed legs too. It looks fabulous!!

    Reply

  33. Jen @ This Hollywood Life says

    We just finished a headboard for our new King bed. I love the look of the classic slipcovered headboard but the actual headboards are so expensive and as much as I knew I could make a slipcover I just never found the time.
    I ended up ordering this slipcover from Ballard designs (http://www.ballarddesigns.com/camden-headboard-slipcover/14473?defattrib=&defattribvalue=&listIndex=2) for $69 and we made a base for it out of a $14 sheet of plywood, some leftover 2×4’s and a $9 twin sized foam mattress pad. We got the exact same look that would have been $329 for less than $100. :)

    Reply

  34. gesikah says

    At first I was like “NOOOO!” (I blame my inner little girl that always wanted a four-post bed), but after scrolling down…genius. Shocking how much it opens it up.

    Reply

  35. Sara B says

    So much better! I saw the post this morning and wanted to love it, but the posts were throwing me off. This really takes it up a notch!

    Reply

  36. Amanda says

    My husband’s nightstand and mine don’t match, and it looks, to me, as if we collected the pieces rather than buying everything off the furniture store floor. More gathered and loved than shopped and dropped. And, come to think of it, our two guest rooms don’t have matching nightstands either. You both are always so careful in your method of attacking projects, so I’m voting you wait to stain the chest of drawers until after you do the floors – only to discover you like it just the way it is. I LOVE the wood tone it is now. Thought that when you first moved it into your room “way back when …”

    Reply

  37. kismet says

    PERFECT!
    I have felt from the very first pic in this house that those poles would look better….gone :)

    That is just what the room needed. Great eye.

    Reply

  38. Bethindc says

    Good changes all around. (tho I’d vote against a floor to ceiling headboard. Guess I’m just more traditional) BUT: I suddenly had an idea you might already have considered: Giving a bit of separation between bedroom and sink area with simple french doors, maybe with sand-blasted glass (that gets a kind of green tint like your new tiles…) for just a bit of privacy. It would make that whole area sort of a dressing/showering/hairfixing spot….

    Reply

  40. Melissa says

    Excellent transformation! And now the headboard comment from the earlier post makes much more sense.

    Reply

  42. Maureen says

    I wasn’t liking the new bed placement, but now that you have removed the poles I think it looks fantastic! I especially love how the dresser fits perfectly in that nook. Great job!

    Reply

  43. Kristina says

    I never comment, but I’ve been waiting for this since the day you put up the chandelier….the posts and the light fixture never worked together in my opinion. An easy fix for sure, but once of your best projects to date :)

    Looking forward to the dark stained floors and dresser….

    Reply

  44. Liliana says

    I love how the bedroom looks, I think you guys made a great decision to switch things around and cut the poles.

    Quick question. Can you give me some advice on how to determine an area rug size?

    Many thanks!
    ~ L.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I would tape things off on the floor and see what looks best! That’s how we can tell if we’ll like the size of something before ordering it!

      xo,
      s

  46. Ivy says

    Love Eds new haircut. Goes to show some people, um things look better with short hair/legs/whatever. The room looks so cozy and warm now.

    Reply

  48. sallie says

    love it! now you can take a running start and jump onto the bed without worrying about running into a pole. (i had a mini trampoline at the foot of me bed as a kid) plus it looks great! would have never thought of that furniture arrangement but it’s perfect.

    Reply

  49. Mary says

    I love the new layout and Ed’s haircut. Way to Ikea Hack! We also have a weird bedroom layout that is challenge, and we have a King sized bed, so that really does limit where it can go. Husband is working on a design in photoshop for a wood wall mounted headboard, with floating side tables and lighting. Inspiration comes from a hotel we stayed at in Niagara Falls. It’s been a slow process, but we’re working on it!

    Reply

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