Thank you all so much for your girl reading list recommendations! I am compiling a list of all of them and will post it soon.
(gnome lamp from Urban Outfitters, a clay dish made by Emma, felted rocks, me)
Things have changed enough around our bedroom since the last time I showed pictures, I thought I'd update with some new photos. I know I really love seeing other's homes who embrace the DIY spirit as we do here at my house. What started out as our complete lack of decorating budget has really become a way of life for Peter and I. Home is sanctuary for us, it needs it to feel calming, inviting, and special, because we spend plenty of time living and working here. These days, we are trying to embrace the "if you don't love it, why keep it/buy it" and its making us look at things in a very different way. So, with all that, here are some pictures of our newly freshened bedroom. Done on a shoestring. Less than a shoestring. Little did I know when I tore out and tucked away this inspiration photo from Elle Decoration UK February 2007, that it would in fact become inspiration for our bedroom.
Hi!
We started with a fresh coat of paint, Benjamin Moore's "Paperwhite". (Because of our consulting business, we own a bazillion Ben Moore color fans, which is good and bad when you're trying to find that one perfect shade). See the beige in the before shots here and here. Peter was skeptical he would like it, but now I think he does as much as I do. Its calming, definitely cool casted, but that works in this room with its southern facing windows. The mirror above the bed used to be black, but I gave it a coat of high gloss gray/blue to compliment the walls (I also painted the side table by the chair the same color, top photo). Our "curtains" are actually bed coverlets from Urban Outfitters. I love love love using their coverlets for curtains, they have big beautiful patterns. (Just be sure to prewash before you hem and hang, they shrink quite a bit). Wait for them to go on sale, these were $30 each.
The bed quilt, as many long time readers may already know, is my pride and joy. The pattern is What a Bunch of Squares from Denyse Schmidt's book (favorite sewing book of all time by the way) and I love it every bit as much as the day my tired little fingers finished hand quilting it. We only use it in Spring and Summer, its just not heavy enough unfortunately (which I sometimes think is a good excuse to make a heavier one, but then a slap myself back to reality). Our Fall/Winter duvet cover is a simple yellow ticking, so it will work well. The wall art is from 3191, and you can see even from this perspective how the top two are from 3191 Mornings and the bottom two are from 3191 evenings, just because of the natural light in the photographs, which I really love. And on the top, is one of Steph's branches.
Our bedside tables are small (we've had them for ages, I don't remember where we got them), so random bits end up on my windowsill. A photo of Peter rowing in college, a photo of a heart shaped rock Ian found at a local beach, and a coupon book from the kid's (a mother's day gift).
I think our style is a combination of so many different things...traditional, modern, funny (is that a style?), serious, preppy, you name it, its a lot of the 'can-do' with a little bit of the 'that's the way its was done when I was growing up'. Peter and I don't have our best decorating collaborations when we try to stick to just one period style, we are better pulling from everywhere to form an inspired thought, and we always like it better in the end.
The other side of the room is storage and seating. When we were shopping for a house back when we bought this one 7 years ago, one important criteria was that the master bedroom was actually sized as a master bedroom (in the last house we lived in, our bedroom was so tiny that you had to turn sideways to squeeze between the bed and the dresser). That chair is really comfy and well made, and has been with us for years (from the High Point, NC Furniture Market). I'm gathering the courage to slipcover it, I actually think I can do it. I am thinking this fabric in the wheat color. The yellow wool blanket I've shown before it's a family favorite (Peter still swears its the best thrift store purchase I ever made). We do have a tv in our room (left side of photo), you found us out. While we are very picky about what and when the kids watch, Peter and I love nothing better than settling in with good (or bad) TV or a movie. It sits on a mid century dresser we bought on Craigslist a while ago for a steal.
An orchid from a friend that I swear is going to bloom again one day. The tiny owls, gifts from friends.
Butterflies. The tray on the bottom is from Mexico, from my mom, the ones on top are from Anthropologie several years ago.
Pillows in the chair. The quilted one was made by Daria (as is the orange one on the bed), I love it so much. The one behind I made right after we painted the room. A recycled velvet pillow cover in a steely blue from Crate and Barrel, felted sweaters of yellow, blue, and gray cut into the flower shapes and appliqued on, a project from Betz's book Sewing Green. Again, nothing makes me happier than using up my stash on things like this.
The embroidered pillow was made as a Valentine gift for Peter a few years ago, inspired by a project in Marie Claire Idees magazine.
A fabric wrapped horseshoe on the door. For luck. An idea I've had in my head for ages. I have plans to make some more of these.
The flickr set has a few more pictures.
That's basically it. My father-in-law once remarked to me that he liked things around the house that tell a story, and has meaning. I've never forgotten that, especially when we are putting things around our space that we will see every day. Things that don't have some meaning often just feel like stuff. We found when we culled down and cleared out this room, then started putting things back in, being selective made each little thing just sing. Oh! And the reason none of the knick knacks or collections are Peter's is that if he had his way, there would be nothing in this room that wasn't absolutely necessary. But as his wife, I don't think he would be happy with that in the end.
We've somehow met in the middle, which is the way we work best.
