Hi, everyone! I’m back for week 3 of the One Room Challenge.
If you’re finding me through the One Room Challenge, welcome to my home on the internet! I’m Avery and I live in rural Iowa with my husband. You can learn more about me here, and see some of my previous design work in my kitchen. My design style is cozy, whimsical, and collected. I’ll be sharing my One Room Challenge progress on my Holland Avenue Home Instagram. Thanks for following along!
Here’s a recap of my posts for the One Room Challenge so far.
Week 1: Cozy Eclectic Master Bedroom Design Plan
Week 2: Moody Accent Wall
And here’s a reminder of my vision for our colorful, cozy, eclectic Master Bedroom Update.
This is what the view looked like after I painted a moody accent wall . (Paint color details can be found in my Week 2 post!)

I said last week that the accent wall made such a difference that I would be happy to stop there and call it good. But I am so glad I kept going, because the new pillows and artwork add so much personality and warmth!
Here’s what our bedroom looks like after the addition of some custom throw pillows and special vintage artwork.

The colorful fabric on the pillows makes everything feel so warm!

The indigo throw at the end of the bed is from the Chelsea Flea Market in New York City. I picked it up on my trip to New York a few weeks ago for the Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker Celebration. (My recap post is still coming. I’ve been busy!)

The Pillows and Indigo
When I saw the berry colored floral bird fabric at Mood, I knew instantly that it needed to be in my house. It is my “spirit fabric”. It’s like a spirit animal, but fabric. If I were a pillow, I would be this floral bird pillow. I decided I needed to find Ben’s “spirit fabric” since it’s his bed, too, so I found this green plaid flannel that I knew he would love. Now we have both of our “spirit fabrics” as pillows for our bed, and I’m pretty giddy about it. I already had the navy euro pillows from Ikea.
My original plan was to sew standard shams from the bird fabric to place in front of the euro pillows, but after doing some research about proper bed making I decided that it would be better to sew two 20×20 pillow covers. The advantage to this decision is that if I ever get tired of them on my bed (which I don’t foresee), I could always put them on my couch. I couldn’t put two standard shams on my couch. (Well… I guess I can do whatever I want… but in the design world, that might be silly!) I bought the lumbar pillow form from Hobby Lobby, and I already had the two 20×20 pillow inserts for the bird fabric.
I’m absolutely in love with how everything came together, and the warm colors and faded indigo throw are a match made in heaven. I’ve recently been attracted to darker, moodier colors, and this new bedding fits right in with those changing preferences.
The Artwork
When Courtney from Dandy Roll reached out about partnering together, it only took one glimpse at their Instagram page for me to say “YES YES YES!”
I met Courtney in Joplin when we both had paper companies and sold greeting cards and art prints at craft fairs. She now owns a boutique in Rogers, Arkansas, with her husband. Dandy Roll has a wide selection of curated vintage prints. Whether you’re looking for botanical prints, vintage maps, or my favorite, vintage bird prints, she has it all.
Here are a few of my favorites that she has available online right now.

No. 1 | Vintage birds

No. 2| Pigeon print

I’ve also had my eye on this Oak Stopper Carafe.
I love everything that Courtney has curated for Dandy Roll, but the prints she sent me have a special significance for me and Ben.
I asked if she had any vintage maps of Iowa, and she did! That got my wheels turning, and I had the idea to frame a series of maps that represent the places that Ben and I have immediate family. She happened to have three maps (all from the same series) that I could frame as a set! From left to right, the maps are Turkey (where Ben’s parents live), Iowa (where Ben’s sister and her family, Ben’s brother, and we live), and Kentucky (where my parents and sister live). This personal touch is very special to us. I love vintage maps of all sorts, but it is very cool to have a visual representation of the places that are dear to us.
They are the perfect addition to this moody green accent wall, and I love the vintage warmth and personality that they add to this view.
Thank you, Courtney, for adding such a special treasure to our home!

After a few inquiries on Instagram, I said I would share a tutorial for the pillow covers I made. I don’t have time to include them in this evening’s post, but I will share that tutorial with some photos as soon as I can!
I originally planned to stain our Ikea nighstands this week, but after seeing them against the moody accent wall, we decided to leave them. We were going to stain them so there would be more contrast, but after adding the darker paint color we liked the look of the lighter wood. (Especially because the lamp legs, headboard, doors, and trim are all darker wood). Yes, it is one less change for the update, but I wasn’t going to do something just for the sake of blogging about it. We like them just the way they are, so I’m calling it good!
This week I will start on my updates for the sunroom (which is just on the other side of that door in the photo above). I’ll be clearing it out, finishing the white paint, and starting my mural that is inspired by the floral bird fabric! Aside from styling the rest of our bedroom, the sunroom will be the majority of the next three weeks of the challenge. I know that the hand-painted mural will be time consuming, but I find painting to be very therapeutic. Ben will be volunteering to run sound for the local high school’s theater production, so I’ll have quite a few evenings home by myself to paint paint paint (and paint some more.)
That’s all for this week! If you’re looking for a CHEAP and high-impact way to make a big change in your bedroom, new pillow covers are the way to go. You don’t need to buy all new bedding or new pillows. Just recover pillows you already have! I have white sheets and duvets on all of our beds so that I can easily switch out pillow covers when I want a style change.
I’ll be back next Thursday with more progress on my Cozy Eclectic Master Bedroom Update. Be sure to check out all of the other Guest Participants in the One Room Challenge to follow along with their progress!
I’ll share behind the scenes sneak peeks on my Instagram Stories this week, so follow along there if you want the inside scoop on mural painting before next Thursday! If you’d like to be reminded when new posts go live, enter your email in the “Brighten my Inbox” tab on the right side of your screen.
Thanks for following along with me here on Holland Avenue Home, and don’t forget to follow along with the rest of the One Room Challenge Blog to see all of the Featured and Guest Designers!


(UPDATE: Don’t miss the last three posts for this six-week challenge!)
Hand-Painted Modern Chinoiserie Mural: One Room Challenge Week 4
Ikea Dresser Makeover: One Room Challenge Week 5
Cozy Eclectic Master Bedroom Before & After: One Room Challenge Week 6