The Challenge
No matter how many shades of paint she tried, Wendi
Berman, a 37-year-old writer, couldn't disguise the fact that her
bedroom gets only a few hours of direct sunlight each day. Instead
of leaving the walls white,
Real Simple introduced silvery gray
paint and crisp white linens to give the once somber bedroom a
lift.
The Fixes
1. Reflect the light. The mirror enlarges and brightens the room; so
does Reflecting Pool, a dove gray paint with a blue undertone.
Ultra Pure White on the ceiling and door frames in a semigloss
finish reflects light, too. Gardner mirror, $49,
www.lowes.com.
Behr paint, about $22 a gallon,
www.homedepot.com for store
locations.
2. Cover up. Pillows camouflage the dark wooden headboard, which had
been a gloomy focal point in the room, and a mix of all-white
bedding creates an airy oasis. Lands' End Diamond Matelasse
bedspread, $145 for queen,
www.landsend.com. Pottery Bam Grand
duvet cover with three white embroidered stripes, $99; Chloe Euro
sham in white, $39; Classic standard pillowcases, $28 for two; PB
Classic bed skirt in white, $89:
www.potterybarn.com.
3. Add lamps and remove clutter. Wendi reads a lot in bed, and she
needs lamps that will illuminate the page as well as the room.
Glass lamps look sleek on simple white metal bedside tables. Lands'
End glass accent lamps, $140 each,
www.landsend.com.
4. Make it white — and washable. Yes, the new rug is white, but Wendi
can have it cleaned — an important consideration in a home with two
German shepherds. (The old sisal rug was harder to care for.)
Swedish striped rug, 9 by 12 feet, $385, Pine Cone Hill,
413-496-9700 for store locations.
5. Simplify the process. Instead of undertaking the arduous task of
sanding the varnished doors and moldings to create a surface that's
rough enough for paint to adhere to, Real Simple used a
fast-acting, paint-ready liquid sander that dries in 10 minutes.
Jasco Chemical Paint Etch liquid sander and deglosser, $3.50 for 20
ounces, Ace Hardware, 866-290-5334 for stores.
6. Vary the heights. Two imposing armoires plus an unpainted door
created a hulking wooden triptych. One armoire found a new home in
the living room; the other got a coat of white paint, which helped
it blend in to the background. Wendi's books emerged from their
hiding place under the bed to stand proudly on a new low bookcase.
This opened up some wall space, while providing surfaces for
displaying photographs and other objects. Hold Everything Otero
bookcase, $199,
www.holdeverything.com.
