Inside Shawn Johnson’s & Nastia Liukin’s Bedroom Makeovers

It’s been more than eight years since Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin shared a room at the Olympic Athlete’s Village in Beijing. And while they’ve since moved on to new careers and much larger digs—Johnson to a home in Nashville with husband Andrew East, Liukin to house just outside of Boston with fiancé Matt Lombardi—some things haven’t changed. The former roommates are still as close as ever, and as our Style Director just discovered, still share similar tastes in decor. Case in point: During their recent bedroom makeovers, the two unwittingly selected identical bedroom sets. “When we both showed each other our boards, we started laughing, because of all the beds on Joss & Main, of course we picked the same one,” says Liukin. But even so, their redesigned rooms aren’t without their differences: Liukin’s leans glam, while Johnson’s skews country. Take a look.

At the start of this makeover, you each unknowingly selected the same bedroom set. Fluke, or are your tastes always so similar?
Shawn Johnson: Not a fluke at all. Our tastes are almost identical! From sports, to guys, to decor, you name it. We pretty much share the same interests with everything.
Nastia Liukin: To be honest, I’m not surprised we picked the exact same one. We definitely have very similar style in not only home decor, but our lives in general.
  
Tell us about the inspiration behind each of your bedrooms. Are the end results similar to what you’d imagined? Totally different?
SJ: Living in Nashville, I wanted to go for that mix-matched, almost farmhouse feel, and I think it turned out perfectly. It’s bright and has a lot of detail, yet it still has a crazy mixture textures, patterns, and styles.
NL: I’m so happy with the end results. It actually came out better than we had ever envisioned or could have done ourselves.  

Was there anything your bedrooms just had to have?
SJ: I think my husband and I would disagree on this part, but I wanted to have a sitting chair. He thought it wasn’t necessary, but I spend so much time in our bedroom reading and sitting on the computer, so the chair was a must.
NL: I would say the little touches that make it our own. This is our first home together, so we really wanted to create something special. Something we can look back on 10-20 years from now and remember how special our first home together was.

When it came to design decisions, who did you seek advice from more: each other or your significant others?
SJ: Definitely each other. I feel like our guys had some input, but at the end of the day, we would ask each other.
NL: I think a little bit of both! Matt and I went to visit Shawn and Andrew last summer and that’s when we really got house fever. We loved their home, and began talking about the possibility of looking at homes in the Boston area. In the fall, Shawn and I were on the road together touring, so we spent countless hours on the bus scrolling through the Joss & Main app and website, asking each other if we liked this or that. Of course, I ran most of it by Matt—it is our bedroom—but he was on board with everything.  

Tell us about your favorite pieces. If you had to give just one a symbolic “gold medal,” which would it be?
SJ: My favorite pieces are the little details. I’m obsessed with our new light fixture and the “you are loved” print, and our new bedside tables. Actually, can I just name everything? Because I love it all.
  
Nastia, you and Matt just recently moved. Can you tell us about your new house and how you ended up there?
NL: Matt is from the Boston area, and went to Boston College. I was living in NYC, finishing school at NYU when we met. We did the long distance thing for a little bit, but as soon as I finished school, I moved here. We lived downtown for a bit until we both realized we wanted more space, and a nice backyard for our dog, Kira. While I was away on a work trip, Matt found this house and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the one, even though just the framework was completed. I loved the area and the layout and we were able to design the entire interior, from the wood floors to the cabinetry to the paint colors.  

And what has been your design strategy for your new place? Are you the types who plan your entire space ahead of time, or fill it in as you go?
NL: I’m normally a do-it-all-at-once kind of person. But with this house, I’ve definitely learned to have some patience. We’re now filling it in as we go.
 
Shawn, you and Andrew recently tied the knot in April—any advice for Nastia on her upcoming nuptials?
SJ: Make sure to breathe and have fun—you get to marry your best friend! I feel like weddings can get overwhelming and chaotic and you can start wishing for it to be over with, but it’s your big day to celebrate with one another, so laugh off the little stuff and just take it all in.