Wabi-Sabi Bedroom Makeover With Custom Ikea Pax Wardrobes

Hello guys, welcome back to my channel. I'm Alexandra and today I'm renovating the

bedroom

that belongs to someone very special. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. We just hit 500,000 subscribers. Can I get a confetti James? Do you know what you can? Listen carefully, if you haven't subscribed yet, join our family. We do tons of small space

makeover

s and this one is really special. Let's go abroad with Wendy. I'm sure you all know and love her Channel Pockets, obviously her volume, obviously her husband. Dan and his baby Marla just moved into this beautiful new house in downtown Toronto and they hired me to renovate the

bedroom

.

I'm going to call Wendy to see the space, discover her hopes and dreams about it. Hi Wendy, Hi, I haven't talked to you in a while, how are you doing? Yeah, I know I just did a little introduction that was like, oh, if you remember from our previous apartment and then I was like, Wow! that was our last

makeover

before covid, remember now you didn't even have a cat? I don't think so, our cat is a copycat, yes it's crazy, congratulations on your move since then, thank you, congratulations on your new home. I'm so excited and honored to be able to finish it.

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Let's start with space in general. What works for you. What doesn't work for you. I noticed that you don't have side tables, you have a desk. the bedroom, I know you just moved in, I mean, functionally it does everything we want a bedroom to do, we can sleep in it and it works there in the bay window and it will probably stay that way because there's really nowhere else for it. to work and he is only home part of the week, we don't have side tables, so I have this system of hiding all my accessories under the pillow while I sleep.

I think no, it's not Wendy, no, oh, it's so embarrassing. to tell you these things, but literally our Pack's closet doesn't even have drilled handles on the doors because I was like, "Okay, I have this DIY planned, so I don't want to drill holes in these new pieces of wood just yet." we literally use our toe to push the door, grab it to open it and then stick our toes in and open the door. We have one window, it's a large roller blind and the other is literally a blanket attached to a tension rod. I feel like your style is also neutral and calming, very much like

wabi

-

sabi

, strangely because this is my most permanent home now, maybe being a mother has done this to me too.

I felt a little more like, oh, I want to think culturally. aspect of different design styles, for example, the bathroom attached to this room, I did my best, but I chose finishes that reminded me of a Chinese tea house because I hope that that is a place that for me is really serene and then I said, "Okay, well, I'm going to choose that for the bathroom, then I want to choose something in the bedroom that sits geographically in a similar area, yeah. The hallway sobs reflects a more worn-out feel. We should definitely go in that direction with your bedroom because I know you wanted to make a DIY wardrobe that we can totally take on.

I'm really excited about that, but what were you envisioning for that side of the room? We want a wardrobe that looks like a big wall feature because the fact is ours. The bedroom doesn't have built-in closets, so this closet has to exist somehow. Is there anything else you'd like to add that you haven't already covered? Much of the rest of the house is very light and airy, and this bedroom has no built-in closets. It's like a really, overall, bright room. I felt like it was a good place to have a little more earthy accents or like a film or a wall treatment or something, it all makes sense to me.

Thank you so much. This is the inspo Wendy presented a lot of texture, neutral, very organic, it is very in line with the

wabi

-

sabi

style. Wabi-sabi is a traditional Japanese aesthetic and it's all about a type of imperfection, so relaxed casual textiles, organic shapes and styles and in this space particularly I really want to lean into mixing and matching a lot of wood tones for an accent wall. I want to do a lime wash. I sure feel like limewash really encompasses that organic kind of natural aesthetic feel that we're looking for. I want to try and find. a lime wash that matches the existing color on your walls, which is a kind of beige or brown color.

I don't necessarily want to add color, just texture and visual interest on the back wall. I want to make a header using these article panels. I want to create one that spans the entire back wall and makes this queen bed feel much larger than it actually is for the desk space. I want to choose something that is really elevated and doesn't feel like a work from home dorm room. I want it to feel more like a boutique hotel desk, but still be comfortable and functional for Dan to work on. I want to bring in a lot of texture, beautiful linen materials, wools, contrasting colors in the cushions and blankets, but overall just giving this.

Eclectic, neutral wabi-sabi vibe Moody, the biggest transformation happening in this room is the Pax wardrobe, so we wanted to use wood on the interior, something that felt a little more modern and leaned into that Moody style. Buckle up and this closet transformation is going to be epic and I can't wait to show you how we're taking these standard wardrobe packages and literally turning them into integrated units. Welcome to Wendy's bedroom. It's Monday and today is, of course, preparation day. This is Wendy's bedroom. These are the closet doors we are replacing. I can't wait to show you what we're going to do with these.

This is her beautiful bathroom, also known as Amanda's office for today and this desk setup fits perfectly here. We're upgrading it a little bit, but this is what it looks like now, so the first thing we're going to do is replace the closet doors and we're actually going to take the doors all the way up to the ceiling so it looks like a built-in thing and that's all it takes. we will do today. To make these cabinets come to life, I worked with this company called New Cabinet Doors. They are a Canadian company and they very generously gave Wendy this entire kit to transform these closets.

The really cool thing about New Wardrobe Doors is that they sell

custom

wardrobe doors to replace Pax units and many other Ikea lines, meaning you can have existing

wardrobes

with the existing body type of your cabinets and you can make them feel elevated and

custom

with these doors that provide, oh yes, it's so beautiful to work with new. It was a great experience because it took something that was challenging and he made it really easy. They were with us every step of the way and said they really take pride in helping clients create these custom projects from scratch. you can email them and send them a message and someone, a real human being, will guide you in making your project come to life, which is really cool.

We are working on Old House Toronto, so the floor is not level and the ceiling is not level, but we want to make sure. Having the cabinet level will make it look more finished and cleaner, so we used a combination of basically small shims and shims to level it. What a difference that makes, honestly, I'm like, wow, we don't know how doors work. and it looks better, we are also going to anchor the cabinets to the wall, level them and secure them to the wall, so it really feels integrated and secure, all things we like, so let's go with this beautiful style of wooden cabinet, but new cabinets.

It has many different colors and styles, so you can choose something elegant without molding like what we are going to use today or you can choose something that looks more rustic with the molding in the center. There are tons of colors and tons of options to choose from. So what I was planning because we're going to take it to the top. I wanted it to look like one continuous piece of wood. I didn't want the grain to go astray. I had the option of putting the grain horizontally, but like the grain on the doors it is vertical.

I just wanted it to look like one long piece, basically, so they sent them out and labeled them and we're just trying to figure out how to make this look as aligned as possible based on the new cuts. the cabinets are made and they are Legend they hire them looking we are having fun figuring it out so the baseball diamonds on the right and then this is infinity and Corona the name so infinity and Corona are double doors hence the two stars Oh, the two stars. I mean they go together, oh yeah, the green lines are up, yeah, and so here, it's probably diagonal work, totally nice, everyone solving the puzzle, sorry, oh my god, what's going on, stripping, jumping , it's that moment when Alexandra drills and does something wrong, you got it.

I think that's good, I can see the screws from here. Yeah, oh, that was a little strategy that Graham just did. We are starting by replacing the door on the far right. Graham and I wanted to do this first because we wanted to make sure that the door is actually going to work. open we wanted to make sure that the patch cabinets were placed correctly and that there didn't need to be more space on the right side, so we're just doing a little test here to see if my friends are kind now that we're putting in all the doors.

These doors are so beautiful. I love the rustic nature of them, I'm really leaning towards that inspiration that Wendy presented and if you're just changing the closet doors on your Pack, this is a really easy DIY. In fact, you can reuse the Ikea hinges you got for your

wardrobes

. just click to remove them, put the new doors in place, on that note, this is an easy project, we are not making it easy for us because we like to go the extra, extra, extra, extra effort, you can do anything, just change the doors or do it. a custom build like we are doing and each option will look amazing so the next thing we will do is measure from the top of the cabinet to the ceiling and this is where the filler pieces will go so they sent us new cabinet doors . more than we needed and that's why I mentioned that this is more of a DIY project because you need tools like a table saw to be able to cut the panels to the right size.

The popcorn flies up, so the ceiling is not level, which means Graham has to cut this top panel at some sort of angle. There are places on this panel that are still too high, so Graham is just going to go back and trim it so it's perfect and it slides right in there when you're making a built-in system like this and you're using filler pieces like this, you're obviously losing that space overhead storage in my room. We've put up storage boxes that we can only use a ladder to get to, so it's things like our winter jackets, ski gear. things we don't use every season in Wendy's case she had told me she really wanted that built in look she didn't need the storage on top so this works for her but keep in mind if you are doing this at home you're losing valuable storage space if you need it, so we cut our pieces and we're going to put brackets on each piece and then we're going to put the bracket on top of the cabinet, this is convenient. very comfortable and now we will do it for the next two and Bob is your uncle, you have a built in Pax wardrobe, well that makes it even better.

Good job, Graham, guys. I wish I was recording because we're all going. Wow, wow, these wardrobes look amazing, we'll finish them tomorrow, but this is what they look like now and I'll see them tomorrow. Good morning everyone, it's Tuesday morning, the second day of this three-day makeover, so Graham is leaving. To finish the closet DIY and Elena and I are going to start on the wall behind me, we are going to wash it with lime this color like beige linen. I think it's called old linen, but we'll specifically use lime wash to get that really textured feel.

We're going to get the bed out of here, we take everything out, we put a sheet on it and we start painting strange paint. You want it to have a consistency more like latex paint. You'll notice it's very thick, so I'm going to pour it. here and I'm going to add water until it becomes more of a latex paint because you don't want something super watery. It's really just kind of trial and error. This is a five inch brush, so you want to use something. that's pretty wide like this and then you want to make little crosses like these little but this seems like great consistency to me.

I have decided to apply a coat of lime wash. It really depends on the style you're going for in Marissa's bedroom. We did three coats because we really wanted the lime wash to be that deep and beautiful.green color in the Wendy's space. She wanted this to add more texture than she wanted the lime wash to add color. The really cool thing about lime wash is that you can build it up like makeup until you get the desired finish you're looking for. Lime wash will always dry differently than when placed on the wall, so you will see that the left side is still wet, of course this is cloudier because it is dry, trust the process, let it dry, continue, Don't be scared, you know what?

Smart tip when I was in fourth grade and I had a history project and I used a tea bag to give the paper a vintage look and then I burned the edges, see? No, okay, this is a lot more sophisticated than my grade 4 history project, but since the vibe is there, this is a lot more sophisticated and we're not going to set it on fire, right, well, Atlanta and I are painting. Graham is busy trimming the final pieces of the unit down to the size that's really going to make it sit. incorporated, we didn't want to remove any molding in the Wendy's space.

This is an old house. I didn't want to start removing baseboards. So Graham is actually using a scribe and basically cutting the panels to fit the molding and molding. He looks so amazing and really looks like he's integrated into this wall. Wow, good job. Graham. Wow, now we have to clean up, but it seems like it really. I built it, it's very built in. I thought we'd have to remove the side of the pack's wardrobe. The nice thing is that this Gable piece actually sits on top of that side piece, you don't have to take your wardrobe apart, it's just adding that side panel and it screws on from the inside so no screws are visible and it looks seamless.

The last piece to complete this entire wardrobe is the toe and this is like the final piece, it is an embellishment piece that goes to hide any imperfections and again make this wardrobe look built-in. Can I get a clap per gram with cabinets? Take a bow. The wall is now dry. I'm going to come in with a different brush. The bristles on this one are more similar. it spreads and gives it a kind of faint finish, you can almost see the lines of the brush and the paint. I'm going to apply that and I'm going to create shapes in certain areas of the wall just to make it feel. a little more texture, give it a little more dimension.

I love how certain areas have these cloud-like patterns, that's what the lime wash does, it's so beautiful, but I want to emphasize that in certain areas, I'm glad I waited for it to dry so I could like it. I really see it all together, so I don't do a second layer, but kind of a second layer in certain places, you're an artist, oh hi, come here, she says sorry, but where's the bed? oh my god, oh god, here we go oh hello anyway, last one. What we're going to do today is build this beautiful desk from Lane and Co, another tone of wood.

Wendy really made it clear to me that Dan only works here a couple days a week, he doesn't use the standing desk and I think in this particular room, a desk that matches the rest of the decor makes sense, but if you live In it, you know an apartment and the only place to put your ergonomic desk is next to your bed, which also works and you can make it look like it fits in. with the rest of your space, but if you have the opportunity, having a piece that matches the rest of the environment is really key to making it feel elegant but functional at the same time tomorrow we are going to put together the space we are in.

I'm going to reveal it to you. Wendy and Dan, what a great day guys, hey guys, it's finally reveal day. I can't wait to reveal the space to Wendy and Dan. This wall turned out amazing. Let's remove the painter's tape. Yes, for the header we are making. something really cool so there are already supports on the walls that we installed yesterday because the really cool thing about this headboard is that it comes in panels you can get a queen size which is three panels, a king size which is four and then you can buy more panels if you want, which is what we did, so we're covering this whole wall with a headboard look at this green stomach you just have to press it you just have to press it press it just press it you have to press it wow this is Luxury People Lux I love this plaid rug , is neutral but still feels like a bold piece because of all the texture it brings.

I love a good Point Blank wool rug. Next, we'll build Wendy and Dan's existing bed, which we're not getting rid of. I think it works very well here so we have a problem. This is a wrong way to put a rug under the bed. It seems too small. It makes the room feel crowded. The rug should be at least two-thirds under the bed. It's like covering the entire length of the bed, the reason for this is because there is a vent and we can't cover it, so I'm going to do something that's going to be hugely controversial.

I know this because it's controversial even to myself, but it seems like the only option is to cut a hole in the carpet to make room for the bed. I really don't know what the other option is because this seems silly to me and it also doesn't give us space to put the side. The tables we have here without them being like half on the rug and half off the rug, that's the craziest idea I've ever had for doing this job, let me know, but be kind, sometimes when I'm trying to figure out where it should end up. a carpet. or beginning.

I'm looking for lines in a room, so in this case it's like a little entrance to the bedroom, which is where I want the rug to start. I find similar lines, especially with rugs in a room, really create a division if I leave this on. the blank space, the room becomes kind of unused, it's like what's wrong with this empty space and often when people write or text me and ask me why my living room feels so empty , it is because the mat is not big enough. I'm cutting out sections in a room that could be used to add comfort, warmth, or functionality.

I want to incorporate all the other elements in this room to make sure I have the perfect rug and placement because I tend to change things and move them around, so that's going to be something at the end of the day. I'm bringing in more texture with these faux marble side tables that do something a little different and unexpected, but they're really beautiful. These are from HomeSense. Good find and really economical. The idea for these panels was to bring them far enough along the wall so that the side tables would sit in front of them and also create a built-in bed look.

You know, this screams bougie Boutique Hotel, so my friends at Knowlton and company sent over these gorgeous pendant lights. These are meant to be trimmed, so we're definitely going to trim the bottoms. You're probably wondering, but how are they going to produce light? So I'll hack them. This is wiring. Ikea pendant light cord. These are really inexpensive. I'll put it at the top here. I'm going to use a Puck Light that's remote controlled, it's amazing, and then I'm going to Velcro this inside the light, but so it can be seen. super cute and consistent. I'm going to spray paint this whole thing black, so when you do this hack you need to make sure you can still access the batteries in your Puck Light, so how we're going to hack this is us.

I'm going to use this little thing, you can get it at most hardware stores or on Amazon. I'll link them below. I wanted to wear this for so long and it screws right into the pendant. We are going to glue it to the bottom. the puck light and that way this can still be removed so you can unscrew it, open the puck light, change the batteries, it's amazing, bright, I know, so we're going to install this the same way we would if We would be wiring the light just to skip that step. we are not wiring it because there is nothing to wire well thanks guys this looks so good you can see my light look Madeline you can see these lights were too long for this particular space so I love that we have the option to cut. it actually says that on the product listing, unless they need to be trimmed to the desired length, which is funny, this feels weird, but I know you're still looking at that guy, let's just take a few inches off him.

Is this a breakup haircut? I don't think they want bangs. What's the strategy here? What I'm feeling though, it looks cute, it's funny, well guys, I haven't cut the other side, oh my gosh, everyone's being so dramatic, okay? This is a side bang, it sure is like an emo haircut, yes it is, yes this is my last resort. Okay, yeah, okay. I went slow, let's go in and cut it again. I continue to trim these lights to my liking. length that sounds so weird like I'm clipping highlights, but I'm really going for that wabi-sabi style. Wabi-sabi is all about the imperfect, which is hard for us here on the Ag Team, but we're leaning towards them being able to light them up. by pressing the Puck light or so, you can use this to make them brighter, it's dimmer, medium dim, with them on the timer, turn them off.

I wanted to point out that these are just additional lights for Wendy and Dan, they didn't have night lights to begin with. We are adding another light in the space that will be much more functional for them, but I wouldn't recommend using the Puck lights as the only light source, they're just not bright enough, but they're really good, it's like a nightstand. Turn on a reading light or just to add some ambience Now it's time to make the bed. This is the pillow combination I keep coming back to. I think it looks really beautiful, there aren't a ton of pillows but it still looks cozy and since you just want to jump into bed, the color of the duvet is cocoa, it's actually leaning towards pinkish beige but in life It's actually more of a light cocoa brown.

Atlanta was very interested in getting a very accurate color and I think it really works in this space I went to Tonic living for pillows. I love their cushions, they are very comfortable and comfortable and I love, love these colors. Now it's time to set up this little office corner. I will shout this from the rooftops continually, but curtains make a big difference, you can see it here, what a difference these curtains make in this little corner. I love that one, the curtains totally hide the roller blind, but also these curtain clips make this room feel relaxed and polished. with the curtains but relaxed and casual with the curtain clips.

I say it in every video, but curtains just make a room feel so much more sophisticated. Actually, we would always steam the curtains, but I feel like the Wabi sob of space is like asking for wrinkled curtains. I'm trying everything in me not to vaporize them, but I love the look we're giving this beautiful desk that fits perfectly here and now we're bringing in a chair, so of course we kept Dan's ergonomic chair, obviously this does not. It doesn't work in your space if you have to work from your room every day from nine to five, but it really makes a good vanity space.

This beautiful light is from Ikea and I wanted to show you such a cool little studio and me. I'm alive I wanted to show you a tip to hide quartz, don't laugh, don't laugh Carla, we have to work, I'm not going to look at you, it's okay, I'm okay, can I do it? I have to do it all over again. and I'm hiding and I'm hiding the rope okay and I'm hiding the horse no, we have two it doesn't get up I can't really I can't I say it without laughing guys I'm hiding the rope behind the curtains and it looks much better hidden that's beautiful it's so cool it's so beautiful foreigner and then we're nice oh actually it worked well Personally I have no idea what happened and then what do you do with the rope?

What happened there really didn't. I really wish I could tell you what exactly this mirror trick is. I'm going to follow up with Graham in a future video to ask him to really explain this to everything I know and everything I can tell you. is that he used a piece of rope to find the screw, we'll move on though TBD, maybe this is a five minute hack on IG, follow me on Instagram if you haven't already, the mirror is up, this is from one one of our favorite places to get mirrors called Mirror home decor art on Etsy, they sell really cool irregular shaped mirrors and this looks so good here that we actually downloaded this artwork online, it was twenty dollars and the poster Jack had it printed on canvas.

I love this trick because it makes an inexpensive piece of art look like a very expensive painting. I decided to hang this horizontally and the reason is that right across the room we have the mirror which is placed vertically so I wanted to play with different heights. I was stuck on what to place. What to do with this window because curtains would not have worked with this headboard. I don't love using short curtains. I just don't think they look good. I think they make a room look smaller, so yesterday I asked Graham if we could blow. put this window up completely and put up some drywall, paint the wallbasically like getting rid of the window.

He said yes, we actually found this paper screen. He cost nine dollars at the hardware store. You can cut it to any size, not always. I have to make fancy textiles, sometimes something like this is functional and also looks cute, if Wendy wants to put them up, they come with these little clips, you just clip them like this, now it's time for the finishing touches, no, no, no let's cut this rug, so I was going back and forth about this. I thought: are we really cutting a rug right now? It seems to be the only solution and what we have on our side is that Wendy is a professional seamstress.

Well, you all know it. she has a YouTube channel, she will be able to patch this rug and sew it again if she wants to move it to another room, but I don't know, maybe today we will start a trend, maybe everyone will make holes. on her reds, am I right? I do one of two ways: you can remove the whole piece, yes, and then Wendy can store it somewhere or we can just cut the material so it bends. I like that idea so we confirmed that the mat is not going to block anything it's not going to impede airflow and it's safe I dare say this really looks amazing.

I'm like looking around the room dare I say it I dared and I did it and I think it was worth it. Cool and I wonder if that's what innovation is like because you think it's a weird idea but it's actually that cool? You know other people may love this or tell us we're wrong, but now it's time for the finishing touches. I'm adding these beautiful black handles to the closet doors. Two poops at the end of the bed. You can also make a bench, but I love having something at the end of the bed to make it feel complete.

I also add a blanket to the bed. this faux olive tree in the corner decorating the nightstands with this beautiful vase and some dried grass a stack of books and a candle and then of course adding some books to the desk area it's time to bring in Wendy Dan and the baby Marla for the reveal. I had major butterflies revealing a bedroom makeover with Wendy Next Level nerves, let's bring them in and walk me through what your space looks like before. Well, we brought our bed, our desk, we built a closet. and then we thought we were going to decorate it and do it all night and then we just didn't have time with a baby and I don't know when we would find enough time to do it like we hoped so yeah, I was. meeting our needs but I needed some assistant okay on camera three I want you to open your eyes okay oh my god one two three oh my god oh my god that's a lot of fame please I hope it's like acting and it's like oh my god thank you so cute, oh oh my god guys, everything is crazy, so cute, it's amazing, thank you so much.

WoW alien alien I'm ecstatic with how this room turned out if you love this makeover be sure to check it out. subscribe button and as always I will see you next time bye bye this beautiful life is from Ikea this beautiful lamp is from my children and I'm just unplugging the cable and I'm just putting the cable behind the curtains this beautiful lamp is for my feet oh what I'm sorry, I can't, I can't, it's beautiful