A Sophisticated Bedroom for a College Student Who Comes Home
Layers of white, blue and lavender create a restful retreat for a daughter who has grown up but returns home for summer
Bed frame. Price chose a light oatmeal-colored velvet bed frame to create a tone-on-tone look against the bright white bedding and warm white walls. The various layered whites add depth but also keep the room feeling open, Price says.
Blue accents. Price had the lumbar pillow seen here custom-made with fabric from Madeline Weinrib. She had seen square pillows in the fabric and worked with the showroom, through its program for those in the design trade, to get the customized pillow.
Bed: Orient Express Furniture; blanket: Williams Sonoma Home; find blue blankets and throws
Blue accents. Price had the lumbar pillow seen here custom-made with fabric from Madeline Weinrib. She had seen square pillows in the fabric and worked with the showroom, through its program for those in the design trade, to get the customized pillow.
Bed: Orient Express Furniture; blanket: Williams Sonoma Home; find blue blankets and throws
Art. The two framed drawings are prints from Minted. One depicts the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the other a building in Bodie, California, a gold-mining ghost town. Cella has visited both locations.
Texting nook. Price selected a chair and side table to tuck into the window area, which is recessed about a foot. Cella thought she might use the seat to talk on the phone, read or text, and she does sometimes. But it turns out that she sits mostly on her bed “because it’s really comfortable,” she says.
Chair: Nathan Anthony; side table: Arteriors; find more round side tables
Chair: Nathan Anthony; side table: Arteriors; find more round side tables
Chandelier. Price added the chandelier to give the relatively understated room some subtle bling.
Rug. Price fell in love with the lavender Madeline Weinrib flat-weave rug and chose the blue pillow, chair and blanket to complement the rug in a sophisticated way. “To me the blue was the best accent color,” she says.
Chandelier: Robert Abbey
Rug. Price fell in love with the lavender Madeline Weinrib flat-weave rug and chose the blue pillow, chair and blanket to complement the rug in a sophisticated way. “To me the blue was the best accent color,” she says.
Chandelier: Robert Abbey
Nightstands. The white side tables for the bed as well as the dresser (on the opposite side of the room) are made from lacquered grasscloth.
Side tables and lamps: Bungalow 5
Side tables and lamps: Bungalow 5
Price points out that the furniture pieces are classics, and the neutral white color scheme is not tied to a specific time period. “If she ever gets sick of those pillows, those are easily replaced,” Price says.
Dresser: Bungalow 5
Dresser: Bungalow 5
The room makeover has given Cella a head start on her eventual first apartment. “When she does eventually move out, she can take [the furniture ] to her postcollege life and have a really beautiful bedroom,” Price says.
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More
College-Bound: 5 Decorating Ideas to Get a Dorm Room Ready
Decorating 101: How to Start a Decorating Project
Find an interior designer to help with your own bedroom makeover
Browse bedroom furniture and accessories
Bedroom at a Glance
Who lives here: Sarah Cella, a 20-year-old college sophomore, when she is home
Location: Moraga, California
Size: 144 square feet (13 square meters)
Designer: Leslie Price of Price Style and Design
This room belongs to Sarah Cella, a California woman who just finished her freshman year of college at Tulane University. It’s in her parents’ home, ready for her to use when she comes home for holidays and summer breaks. While she is away, her parents can use it as a guest room.
When Cella left for college last fall, her bedroom contained the little-girl furniture and decor that she had grown up with, including a white trundle bed, One Direction posters on the walls, a Smurf lava lamp and track and cross-country awards scattered around the room. “It was pretty embarrassing, honestly,” Cella says. “It looked like a 12-year-old took control.”
Cella wanted the room to look more grown-up and be a relaxing space for her visits home. “I just kind of wanted a bigger bed and something that looked more sophisticated,” she says. She requested all-white bedding, white walls and add a few pops of color but explicitly requested that designer Leslie Price not use pink. Price, who has worked with the family for years, made over the space during Cella’s Thanksgiving break, adding a new paint color, rug and furniture.
Wall paint: Mascarpone, Benjamin Moore