Welcome back to the cottage series makeover where I take outdated drab spaces, and infuse them with light and colour using paint! Watch as I turn this dull space into a vibrant fun HBC room with pops of colour throughout. This is a bold makeover and one of my favourites to date! 

This bedroom was your typical-looking cottage room. It had some very large chunky, overside furniture jammed in. I wanted to start fresh with a new look. I decided to remove all of the furniture to open the space and allow the inspiration to flow! 

There are so many design styles and colours that inspire me. Since each room of the cottage is its own theme, I wanted something different!  I was looking for something iconic and traditional. For me, growing up in Canada, the Hudson’s Bay stripes are just that. Red, indigo, yellow and green stripes signal nostalgia. This bright, cheerful palette of colours matches our Fusion mineral paint colours perfectly! 

I’m really excited about this room makeover, and best of all, it’s really simple with just a bit of paint! 

The Feature Wall

The walls in this cottage are mainly constructed with shiplap. Shiplap are wooden boards running horizontally. This inspired me to paint each of them a colour from the Hudsons Bay stripes! It was really the perfect setup for this design. To create this look, first I painted all of the walls with a coat of Casement, our brightest white.

Then I matched the 4 Hudson’s Bay Colours. The Red matched our Fort York Red perfectly. The Yellow was really close to Prairie Sunset. I just tweaked it a bit by adding a little bit of Mustard to create a custom colour. The Blue was spot on to our Midnight Blue and the green was identical to our Park Bench They couldn’t have matched any more perfectly! 

Painting the stripes was really easy. After the Casement walls dried, I taped off a wood plank from one end to the other. I left 1 white wood plank between each colour so as not to overwhelm the senses when looking in the room! I painted each colour in the order of the stripes on the HBC items. To get the full tutorial on how I painted the stripes and my tips for perfect lines, check out this video here. 

Cottage bedroom makeover HBC themed

And just like that with a bit of paint, these basic wood planks have now become a theme and art piece all at once. 

The Rest of the Room

Thinking about how to balance out the rest of the room while still bringing in the theme took some thinking. I knew that I needed to bring in just the right decor to not overwhelm the space. I chose striped bedding and throw pillows and outdoor elements for the decor.

The ceiling already had the existing millwork and was painted white. This really helped the space feel larger and open.

Flooring

The floors were brown and not very nice looking. I decided to paint them white to really brighten up the space. For painting the floors all you have to do is clean them with TSP Alternative, then apply two coats of paint. Fusion is incredibly durable on floors however you can apply a top coat if you wish for added durability. See the full floor tutorial here!

How to paint your floors with Fusion Mineral Paint

Natural Wood Elements

I opted to showcase natural wood for the side tables, dresser and bed frame. I feel this really brought in a rustic element of the outdoors inside. To keep these looking fresh you can maintain them with a coat of Hemp Oil to richen the wood or one of our furniture waxes. 

Lighting

Lighting is crucial to add ambiance to the space. Wall sconces are discreet and by using the plug-in ones I avoided having to run wiring through the walls. This was a super inexpensive lighting option and the white and gold accents work perfectly in this room. 

For the overhead light of the room, I chose a decor light that paired well with the white yet had a rustic look overall. This really brings the feel of the room together. 

Cottage Decor

To bring in that cottage vibe, I found an amazing art piece of a Canoe. It features the great lakes in Ontario. Canoes are a big part of our heritage and I wanted to include that piece of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

I removed the old drapes and instead installed discreet-looking blinds that didn’t distract from the overall bright space. I absolutely love the way the sunlight comes inside and hits the bed in the afternoon.

A pair of striped pillows on the bed from Hudson’s Bay brings together all of the colours and iconic patterns in this classic HBC room.

Other painted elements in this HBC room are the painted paddle which was an easy afternoon DIY. As well as the homemade DIY blanket ladder, milk painted and distressed, perfect for our rustic decor. 

Attention to detail when you are preparing or redoing a bedroom makes such a big difference. It can even be as simple as a small bouquet of country flowers. Guests that visit this bedroom will appreciate the character and ambience of our HBC room. It will feel as cosy and welcoming as the original blankets were meant to convey.

See the other post from the cottage series here:

• Introducing the cottage series
• The nautical-themed bedroom
• The Roots-themed bedroom
• The kids room makeover
• Stay tuned for the Laundry room makeover and the Bathroom makeover!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fusion Mineral Paint (@fusionmineralpaint)

Let us know what you think of this makeover, and leave us a comment below