Home design ideas: Creating a dreamy guest bedroom in the attic

Having dismantled the guest bedroom in the basement for a pandemic-era home gym, Michelle Freibaum created a more appealing place to put up friends and family: under the eaves of her Newton Colonial. A serial reuser and crafter, the Embellish Design principal chose a favorite color palette — pink, yellow, and black — then gathered items she had previously cast aside. The new aerie is adored by all, especially her 10-year-old daughter. “She and her girlfriends love having sleepovers up there,” the designer says. “I make a big deal out of it so it feels special.”

1 Before she relocated the nightstands from the basement guest room, Freibaum painted the drawer fronts black. After searching far and wide for 1980s-style lamps, she found these online.

2 Freibaum painted the walls, eaves, and brick chimney Benjamin Moore Tippy Toes, a dreamy shade of light pink. She used a darker shade of pink, Benjamin Moore Tara, for the trim.

3 The headboard, upholstered in mustard-colored velvet, is a hand-me-down from the designer’s in-laws. “The headboard draws the eye back and then up, making the room feel spacious,” Freibaum says.

4 Freibaum trimmed the ceiling fixture shade with ribbon, found in her art studio, that she spray-painted black. “I don’t believe in waste,” she says. “I give everything a second life.”

5 The optic designs on the Schumacher pillows and West Elm duvet cover play off the lines of the headboard. The lumbar pillow’s abstract animal print and the Calhoun & Co. banana blanket are playful counterpoints.

6 When the designer found storage ottomans in a corner on the third floor, she quickly reappropriated them. “I planned to re-cover them at some point,” she says, “but the color and pattern mesh perfectly here.”


Marni Elyse Katz is a regular contributor to the Globe Magazine. Send comments to [email protected].

Next Post

Design, Style, Planting And Maintenance

Wed Oct 6 , 2021
Looking for garden border ideas? Read our back-to-basics guide on how to create the perfect garden border for your space. It includes design, soil type, sun and shade, planting style and choice, colour, height, wildlife and maintenance. Borders are gardens’ high-season horticultural extravaganza; a triumphant carnival of colour and expression, […]
Design, Style, Planting And Maintenance

You May Like