Cozy Cottage Makeover – Bedroom Retreat with Fireplace

I have a fireplace! In my bedroom. I know! And if you read every one of my “I knows!” in the voice of Monica from Friends, then you are doing it right. Each newly refreshed space always feels like the most exciting… but this one, it’s been a long time coming. I don’t know about you, but I tend to put my bedroom last. I’ve done some mini spruce-ups over the years but it’s never gotten this kind of attention. And it needed it. 

Cozy Cottage Makeover – Bedroom Retreat with Fireplace

Today I’m sharing how we took a really modest budget and made some important changes and additions to our bedroom to make it feel like a real retreat! The biggest new addition was adding a TV console that has an electric fireplace in it. The biggest new DIY of the project was installing a shiplap wall. And I’m going to share everything in-between! You’ll be able to find all the sources at the bottom of my post if you want details & costs. Now, let’s check out our new bedroom “retreat” — which by the way doesn’t have to equate to cost or grandeur, but more to a feeling your space evokes. Whew, good thing, because while our room is far from fancy, it truly feels retreat like now. 

RETREAT: to withdraw to a quiet or secluded place.

Many of my long time readers know that we bought this house for two main reasons — One, we were downsizing. And two, we wanted a safe place for my mother-in-law to live. When we toured this home, it didn’t have much going for it. At all. But what it did have, was The Little Cottage. And that is what sold us on it. I knew I could make due without an en-suite, walk-in-closet, and lots of etc’s… in order for her to have a really safe place to live. And it was a blessing beyond measure. Austin grew up with his grandma in his backyard, and after losing her last year, I more than ever don’t regret a single thing about our move. 

That being said, our bedroom wasn’t feeling very cozy, and it definitely offers a few challenges. It’s a walk out basement, with set of French doors at one end, low ceilings, poured in place concrete walls, a long narrow footprint, and my wall-to-wall closet at the other end. We actually created my closet on a really tight budget [you can see inside it and how we did it, in this post [click here].

And here is the new shiplap accent wall. Thank you Jimmy!!

I knew the new fireplace media console was deserving of a pretty backdrop, and I’m going to say it again… lucky me!! Jim made this happen, and we used the same (basic) method & material as the Shiplap Fireplace install [click here]. But there was a twist. I’m going to write a separate post about that. You guys are going to die when you see what this wall looked like. I’m a little bit embarrassed to even show you, but I’m going to. In the spirit of full disclosure. 

UPDATE: I did it, I shared the “before” and how we installed shiplap over our poured in place concrete wall [to read that post, click here].

For being such an odd layout our room is actually pretty big, especially for a little cottage bungalow. I’m able to have a chair, to take advantage of the TV and my fireplace. I know! 

I also know… I really should have gotten the curtain panels steamed. I washed and re-hung them… and that was as far as I got. Life, ya know? 

[twenty20 img1=”23137″ img2=”23138″ offset=”0.5″]

Not only does the fireplace feature offer loads of ambiance, with three different flame settings… it’s a heater too! You can have the flame alone, or click on the heater too. All with the handy remote control. Perhaps right from bed, without getting up. Ahh… feels like pure luxury. Especially on a cold, damp, stormy Winter night! The first night I used it I was instantly spoiled. 

There is a quite a bit of storage, though right now I’m just using the baskets I added to hold my kindle, charging cord and remotes. I can see re-locating some of my books behind the tempered glass shelves, since this will be a perfect spot to read! 

We added this new vertical storage to the room as well, and it is just such a perfect fit for the narrow bit of wall between the window and closet. It’s completely finished outside and in so you can use the shelves without the storage cubes. Or, mix with & without storage cubes. If you look at them online, there are several finishes and you can use them horizontally as well. They are just a cool piece that’s so versatile! 

Aside from functional storage, and a cozy spot to sit and watch TV and warm up by the fire… the bed is of course the most important element to any bedroom!

I love layers and softness (and no surprise here, lots of PILLOWS). You might think that gray cable knit pillow looks familiar… it’s just like the deep green I used for the holidays. I thought they were so nice, I ordered the gray as well to use at some point in the future. 

Everything on the bed is 100% cotton and the raw edge ruffle duvet set is the newest piece I added to my beds wardrobe. It’s very soft, and has a sort of linen quality weight and feel to it. I actually picked this up many, many months ago and squirreled it away, as I tend to do. You may notice a few other things in the room that I shared with you a long time ago, that finally landed here.

Now that we’ve done these wonderful things to our room, it encourages me to find something for our ceiling light needs, besides those dreaded boob lights. I just ignored them before, but now they certainly need to be replaced!

UPDATE—we got these new ceiling lights [click here] and I’m in love!

I also need to paint the new closet doors, but we are re-trimming them so I’ll wait until later to do that. Oh, and I did have the perfect curtain on our French door but I’m replacing it and didn’t want to drill into my pretty fresh paint job when I know the new hardware will be different. No biggie, we are empty nesters. wink wink.  

Because a bedroom is such a personal space, I feel like this is the most “for me” and not just for the house makeover I may have ever done. Between the pretty new wall and the cozy additions, I about darn near feel like a princess! I always love hearing your thoughts on my projects and I can’t wait to hear what you think about this one. As always, thanks for hanging out with me. xo Shannon

I’m thrilled to be kicking-off another year sharing the Better Homes & Gardens line from Walmart with you as a brand partner. It’s important to me that this line fits most of our budgets and we can all feel inspired by the great design and affordable prices. Some of the courtesy shopping links to the products and items I use and share below are affiliate links. That mean I may make a very small commission to help offset the costs of running my site if you choose to buy something, but you’ll never pay a penny more for it.

I hope you enjoyed today’s project! What we did made such a huge difference for both form & function. I was tasked this month by Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart to make a change involving furniture for under $300 — I am happy to report that the media fireplace was $215 and the storage cube was $59.97 so I came in at $274.97 for TWO pieces of furniture.

Sources:

• Better Homes & Gardens Fireplace Media Console  [click here]

• Better Homes & Gardens 5 Cube Storage Organizer  [click here]

• Better Homes & Gardens Cube Storage Bins  [click here]

• Better Homes & Gardens Walnut & Brass Touch Lamp  [click here]

• Better Homes & Gardens Diamond Shag Rug [click here]

Unfortunately, out of stock:

Better Homes & Gardens Stripe Blanket

Better Homes & Gardens Ruffle Quilt

Better Homes & Gardens Cable Knit Feather Pillow, Gray 

Better Homes & Gardens Ivory Fringe Flower Pillow

Better Homes & Gardens Gel Memory Foam Mattress, King

Better Homes & Gardens 100% Cotton Sheets

Better Homes & Gardens 100% Cotton Raw Edge Ruffle Duvet Set, White

Better Homes & Gardens Flora Ceramic Lamp Base

— If an item isn’t listed above, please inquire in the comments or message me at foxhollowcottage@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible! 

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