Transforming our Primary Bedroom with a Little Paint & the Help of Annie Selke

This blog was sponsored by Annie Selke and contains affiliate links, from which I make a small commission if a purchase is made through them.

Some rooms take months to transform. Others, just a weekend. We were really lucky to team up with Annie Selke on our primary bedroom makeover. I’ve always said the perfect space combines high and low, new and old. Annie Selke brought all the high and new to mix with our thrifted pieces, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic with the result.

I am often asked how I start a room. If I am to be completely honest, it’s never in the same way, but always with the same method. I find a piece that I love, and I use that piece as the jumping off point for the rest of the space. In this case, it was the Anatolia Linen Duvet Cover from Pine Cone Hill (a sister company of Annie Selke). I’ve always been drawn to the texture of kilim, and more recently have found myself drawn to deep, earthy colors. The Anatolia Linen Duvet Cover really nailed that perfect mix of the two and I was immediately smitten.

The next step was choosing the rug. I wanted to play around with pattern, but in a way that didn’t feel too predictable. I also needed a large rug for this space (this one is 10 x 14 feet). Knowing that a rug of that scale is quite an investment, I wanted to be certain the rug would be versatile and work with a large range of bedding and paint colors that I may find myself wanting to play around with down the road. OK, who am I kidding? I KNOW I’ll want to play around with those things down the road.

The Kuba Black Woven rug turned out to be exactly what I had in mind, and the way it plays with the Anatolia bedding couldn’t be more perfect. It feels amazing underfoot (something I didn’t entirely expect given it is made of jute), and the dotted pattern is so fun, yet sophisticated. This is a rug that is just absolutely classic, but without feeling boring. An absolute Dash & Albert masterpiece (another sister company of Annie Selke).

Next, I went back to the bedding. I wanted the rest of the set to work with the Kuba rug. I usually like to play around with bedding that a company offers, rather than just take the exact mix they have on display on their website. And though I feel very lame that I did exactly that, I just couldn’t get that mix out of my head. It just worked SO perfectly with the Kuba Black Woven rug. While I do very much value originality, this time I just couldn’t find a superior mix to the one that Annie Selke already had on display. And the older I get, the less I am willing to cut my nose to spite my face (even in the name of originality). So, I put the Anatolia Linen Shams, the Kerala Spice Matelassé Coverlet, Kerala Spice Matelassé Shams, and the Lush Linen Natural Sheet Set in my cart and didn’t give it a second thought.

The next thing I turned to was the window treatments in the space. I originally ordered the Anatolia Linen Curtain Panels with the intention of hanging them on my windows. Then, when they arrived, my mind started shifting. I had two problems, actually. The first problem was that my room is rounded. Unless I was willing to pay a very pretty penny for a custom bent curtain rod, these panels were simply not going to be able to be hung on my windows. I have been using a specific system to hang drapery (find it here) in these rounded rooms, and it is unfortunately only compatible with French Pleat-style drapery (something I hand’t realized at the time I put in the order). The other problem was that I was beginning to feel like I didn’t want the drapery to match the bedding.

So, my solution was the add some interest behind the bed with the Anatolia Linen Curtain Panels. I love how it really pulls the eye towards that gorgeous bedding. It feels maximalist, without feeling over-the-top, and the thing I love most about it is that it feels ME. I went neutral with the drapery on the windows instead, and used the reversible Anatolia Linen Throw on my desk (I’m ALWAYS cold) to pull the room together. I also threw in the Sheepy Fleece 2.0 Robe in White for good measure. And that robe has proven to be my savior to get me through my first Chicago winter. I’ve been wearing it nearly all day long, every day.

Some may find it odd that the very LAST thing I decided on was paint color. To be honest, it is almost always the last thing I decide on. Why? Well, because there are approximately one zillion paint colors out there, so I find it to be the easiest last piece to the puzzle. I went with Farrow & Ball’s London Clay. My initial intention was to cover the entire room in it, but decided against that idea when we decided to add crown molding to the space. I used the Modern Emulsion on the moldings, and the Estate Emulsion on the walls.

The crown molding was the last part of the room to be completed. We had to special order it in a flexible material so that it could be installed in the rounded part of the room. We ordered the MM712 molding from Trimster. It was easy, but awkward to install. It required two of us to get the job done as it is quite heavy and floppy, but overall it was an easy job and much to my delight only required a SINGLE coat of Farrow & Ball paint (in other words, a damn miracle).

I must admit that the last two pieces to this Primary Bedroom puzzle have not arrived as of yet. Supply chain issues are still quite real, but I am hoping this room will be truly finalized within the next week or so. I’ll be revealing it in its FINAL phase via Instagram Reel, so be sure to follow along!