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…
… during…
… and after…
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…
… 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:
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…
… 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.
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).
Thankfully we had no mattress casualties and each post came down after around five minutes of careful cutting.
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.
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.
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.
Then we just did some sanding to get everything smooth…
… 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.
Check out the top right post after cutting, sanding, and painting…
… and the top left post after the same rigmarole.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
And it’s so much nicer to walk into this view, instead of stepping three steps in the door and hitting the bed.
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)…
… and this shape is reflected on the rug:
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…
Ayisha says
I really like the new arrangement. I’m jealous of the light you get in your windows. I live on the wrong side of the street to get any good light in my master bedroom. Over the weekend I saw an upholstered bed in JCPenny. I am researching to build it myself for half of the asking price ($1000) I love the idea of the bed in a luxe velvet upholstery fabric but its going to be costly but worth it to be able to choose the color and texture and not be limited to what is offered at the store.
MandyP says
This looks amazing! I NEVER would have though of cutting the posts off. LOVE what you’ve done!
Bob says
It’s as if I can see into the future! I tell you what… for $150/hr, I’ll come into your house, make a list of all the things that need to be changed, and then you can make those changes now instead of waiting. Because you will eventually make all of the changes I suggest anyway.
PS – The huge lamp shade in front of the framed whatever-it-is looks bad. Unless, of course, it’s only blocking text. Then it looks super pretty. Or not.
Katie says
I’m totally an amateur when it comes to decor, but this makes me feel smarter than I am! I’ve been thinking for a while that it would look better without those posts. :) I love what you’re doing with the room!
Nikki says
Oh thank gawd you finally did that! I didn’t want to say how awful the posts were! Haha, it looks twenty times better now.
Holly says
I don’t really like foot-boards for some reason (weird, I know), and headboards can be really expensive, so we opted to use a room divider for a headboard–we found one made of bamboo that we liked: http://bluelikethat.drakeink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/bed2.jpg
YoungHouseLove says
Such a fun idea!
xo,
s
threadbndr says
I LOVE the new layout and the lack of posts. That dresser makes perfect sense of the weird little nook.
I think a new headboard will be wonderful. How about a curved one that echoes the ogee shape from the mirror and rug?
YoungHouseLove says
Always a possibility! Not sure what shape we’ll go with but we’ll keep you posted!
xo,
s
Kathy says
I absolutely LOVE the bed in it’s new location, and with the posts cut off! Your room looks sooooo much more open! GREAT job guys!
Kristina says
Love the new layout of the bedroom and Ed’s “post-cut”. But I have to say, you’ll probably find that when you put in your headboard you won’t want to put that mirror in anymore. I think it’ll just be way too high and close to the ceiling and the hanging lamp will probably just interfere. If you look at the bed straight on, the top of the mirror frame is already “touching” the light. Obviously, I could be totally wrong but you should think about it and I’m sure you’ll try it out. What would probably be really nice would be to make the headboard big and curvy, maybe a similar shape to the rug and window. (LOVE that happy accident with the shadow BTW.)
Stacey says
Wow! That really is a big impovement. I liked the furniture move from the post the other day but did think a little something was needed but that was it!!! But, then again thats why you two are good at what you do! Also, i love the non matching bedside table/dresser combo… nothing paines me more than the phrase “bedroom suite” and i have nightmares about oversized, to big for a room, matching bedroom furniture. I think it stems from my parents HUGE dressers and headboard that had a million shelves on the top part and I had the chore of dusting as a kid.
Dawn says
I am in love with that rug! We have the ugliest carpeting in our bedroom and would love to continue our brazilian cherry floors in the room with an area rug. We are planning a diamond tufted headboard for our room – hopefully this summer. I’m thinking off white tone-on-tone textured fabric. Looking for the fabric now and have a couple of great on-line tutorials to use to make it. Good luck with your headboard!
Amy@healthy grits says
Seriously. Love. The Changes!
Robyn says
Wow–absolutely LOVE the new look of the bedroom. It looks so natural. I’ve always felt like the bed can only go one way in our room too, but I’m going to revisit this TODAY!
Carla says
Vast improvement. Nicely done. I’m not sure, though, that having the round mirror lined up with the round hanging fixture is the best option. I think you guys tend to get stuck on too much symmetry and sameness. For balance consider placing the mirror on the wall where that awesome bureau was. And move the bureau back there. The recessed cutout on the right of the bed feels unhealthy. You need something there that anchors the room more and makes it feel as if the wall behind the bed continues across that section. A built in with some open shelving would be awesome. Also, I would go ahead and remove the bench at the end of the bed and the free standing mirror. It feels to confining, even if the bench is meant to be a placeholder.
JessE @ LoveLifeFromScratch says
We moved our bedroom around last weekend too! Got a new bed frame – drawers instead of large head and foot boards. And without the added height from the headboard, we were able to center it under a window on another wall. The bedroom feels SO much more open :) Looking forward to your headboard post as we could use one of those as well.
rashmi says
Love the new layout and the changes to Ed. I loved Ed before though.. but the Haircut works better for the new setup.
A small suggestion for the headboard. Before you guys jump into the whole upholstered headboard idea.. have you considered using starched fabric behind Ed? It would give a good temporary solution and add color and texture to the headboard. The best thing is.. if you decide to move the bed around again.. the fabric would peel off and the remainder of the starch if any be wiped with a damp cloth.
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.in/2008/07/starched-fabric-decal-experiment.html
http://sugarnspiceinthelandofballsnsticks.blogspot.in/2011/01/fabric-wallpaper.html
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes we love that! I think we’d love something plush to lean back on (like a real true headboard) but you never know where we’ll end up!
xo,
s
Erin says
Fabulous!
Melanie says
I actually really like the current color of your floors and your dresser, seems to have more character that way!
Melody Strayer says
This looks SO good!!!!
Alison says
I must admit I was never a huge fan of the poles so awesome that you could change that. And I love the new room arrangement. I always heard that you should come into a bedroom and see the foot of the bed. Who knows if that’s true but I think it makes your big room much more homey!
Mandy says
Please, please, please DO NOT stain the dresser! The medium hue of the wood really adds warmth and shows the age… in furniture, that’s a good thing! I mean, obviously its your bedroom, do what you want, but I’d like it to be known that someone out there wants you to leave it just as it is!
YoungHouseLove says
We promise to think long and hard before we do anything! Maybe once we stain the floors we’ll love the warmer tone!
xo,
s
Luke says
I really like this bed placement. Have you thought about bringing back the patterned curtains and doing something a bit more neutral for the fabric headboard?
YoungHouseLove says
Always a possibility, we’ll have to see where we end up!
xo,
s
Paula Bartlett says
Bingo! Removing the posts took it from cluttered to sleek! Well done!
kismet says
Do you not have a bedside clock? Wow.
We have one on each side of the bed and a projection clock on the ceiling! But then I truly am a little clock happy. :)
YoungHouseLove says
We just use our cell phones, which are usually on our night stands. Clara’s our little alarm clock for the most part. Haha.
xo,
s
Morgan says
Much, much better!
Laura says
It looks so much better like that! Just this weekend I’m planning on taking an old bunk bed and taking down the top and making it a daybed and making a headboard.
Jordan says
LOVE! IT! I have always secretly been confused by the big posts on that bed, in your bedroom. So, my humble self is loving the change and lack of random vertical lines in the room now!
Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says
The bed looks awesome! I can’t believe how much it opens up the room. Quick question – you mentioned organic mattress, do you have a post on that? I have never heard about an organic mattress – did you guys make that or buy it? Sorry if that is a silly question but too curious not to ask. :-)
YoungHouseLove says
We bought it from Savvy Rest a few years ago after saving our pennies. I think if you search Savvy Rest organic mattress on our sidebar search those posts will come up.
xo,
s
raeann says
omg, i was so hoping you were going to get rid of those. not that it’s my house or anything, but they felt so funny to me when you moved the bed.
it looks fantastic!!
Suzy says
Love the bed…..Can’t believe it was that easy to do.
The bedroom does look more open and warm. Funny how moving
furniture around creates a whole new room. I too love that rug. Wish we had more outlets here as you guys score the best deals!
Susi says
I always had a huge crush on your bedroom (even choose the exact same color for my guest bedroom redo), but now with the new layout, I’m in loooove and obsessed. So pretty and perfectly imperfect. Aaahhh drool.
Heather says
I DIYed my own upholstered headboard out of the third option fabric you have shown. LOVE it! I did our bedroom in shades of gray and white. My mom loved it so much, she copied it.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds so pretty!
xo,
s
JEN C says
I’m loving Ed with a haircut. The posts never really felt right in your room. It looks great now!
Amy E. says
we built our bedframe and headboard from scratch.
we have 2 cats that we didn’t want hiding under the bed, so we designed it to be closed off from the cats but still have storage space for plastic bins. we also designed it to be taken apart for easy moving (it’s a king-sized bed, so the frame comes apart into two twin-sized frames).
after we built the frame, we made a simple upholstered headboard (blogged 2 years ago). we’re actually planning on making another headboard for our guest bedroom the same way, since that bed is just sitting on a cheap-o metal frame with no headboard at all! gasp!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh sounds awesome!
xo,
s
Lindsey says
I rarely comment – I like to read and run, but this post deserved a thumbs up! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new layout of the room, and LOVE how Ed’s haircut turned out. Everything flows now and I really think it looks fantastic. I wasn’t crazy about the rug before, and now it all just makes sense. It’s awesome!! Nicely done!
BFunk says
Don’t touch that dresser! It is beautiful as it is!
:)
Denise says
Okay, how did I miss the post where you changed your room around? It’s amazing how different it looks, I love it and even better that you can put them back on in the future if that’s what you want.
Kelsey says
I like the asymmetry of the dressers and the whole setup looks more evolved. Love. Love. Great job, y’all!
Nora says
The shot down the hallway says it all. It looks so much bigger and what a great focal point. Art work over the dresser is perfect.
Can we vote on the headboard option.?…#2 pop ‘o color.
Ciao
ps The deck, man, bummer. I am soooo anticipating the cuteness of the deck.
Chanraney says
Omg! I seen you guys at Toys R Us yesterday!!! I so wish I said hi lol. My sister and I were walking in while you guys were heading out! :) I love your blog and all the projects you both do. It really inspires me.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man we wish you said hi! We were picking something up for Will Bower who we’ll see this weekend!
xo,
s
Michelle says
Wow, so many comments! Nothing brings out strong opinions like new moves in the bedroom. ;) I love the flow of the room with all the changes you’ve made. I find that when you’re living in a space every day, it can be hard to come at things with a fresh eye. I’m super impressed!
I just love the warmth that your dresser & lovely pine floors bring to this otherwise cool room. I know you’re itching to bring on the mocha stain, but I just can’t help loving natural pine floors.
Your bedroom is such a lovely, airy space, in all its iterations. You’re so lucky. Enjoy it!
Sarah says
I love the haircut!! Not overly sure about the new layout though. Perhaps it’s because it looks awfully unbalanced to me. I mean you have a TON of awesome light on one side with the white side table, window and mirror to reflect light then you have the dark table in the dark sunken corner. But it does kinda have that dark masculine look on one side then the light, bright girly look on the other. Just something I noticed, but it isn’t my home so it doesn’t really matter :P
Natalie @ Queen of Whirled says
OH YEAH! I LOVE IT!
I like the idea of darkening the dressesr, but I actually really love the bed sans headboard. I don’t usually like no headboard, but I do here.
Heather says
Hey – are you going to add reading lamps to the headboard? It would drive me crazy to have the lamps so far from the bedside…
YoungHouseLove says
We can reach them actually! Our old side tables were low so now we just reach over instead of down, but it works for us.
xo,
s
Casey @ Beauty 101 says
LOVE it!! I didn’t mind Ed’s long hair before but I think his haircut looks amazing and does wonders for the room. Good choice!!
DJ says
The bed I have in my parent’s home has posts and I couldn’t bare to part with them, but the room here is so much more open without them. It looks good! I would take the posts down at home…if it were my home :)
Ashlie says
I don’t think I’ve been so excited for an upcoming post…. DIY Headboard? YES PLEASE! We just moved in to a newer/bigger house and I have one guest bedroom that currently has a mattress on the floor. I just got a metal bed fame and have been looking on pinterest…. But now I’m totally waiting until you guys do your headboard. I’d HATE to do my own first then see your post and have to start over/steal your fancy headboard idea!
So…. when are you guys going to get on that? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hopefully this coming week! Stay tuned!
xo,
s
Heather says
You should totally do the upholstered headboard. It is one of the 1st things I did in our house when we moved in and it was not hard at all. I even cheaped out on the batting and just lined it with an old comforter! And don’t forget a covered button kit (think I got mine a Walmart?) to make matching buttons to cover screw holes (if you make any). Just do it!
Laura Jane says
Wow, I love the difference! This is probably one of my favorite things that you’ve done.
Mara says
Saw this linked on pinterest and thought of Ed the Bed : http://www.bhg.com/rooms/bedroom/makeovers/romantic-bedroom-makeover/#page=3
two doors and crown molding as a headboard? genius
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we love that! Just want something plush to lean back on- so upholstered is probably where we’ll end up- but so cool for adding architecture!
xo,
s