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January 3, 2011

My Bedroom

My New Year's Resolution is to take care of things that are annoying me.  Boy, have I started out on the right track. Finally, after 3 years of living in what I still think of as our new house, my bedroom feels like it's mine.  I put the hutch I won from the auction on the big wall, did some rearranging and suddenly... it all came together.
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I feel I need to give a little background here.  When I was growing up, my grandparents had separate bedrooms.  As a teenager, I found that incredibly sad.  It felt wrong.  Now, I totally get it.  My grandparents adored each other.  There was never any question about that.  But my grandfather got up very early before he retired - as in 3am early.  So, separate rooms were logical unless my grandmother wanted to get up that early, too.

I now have another clue why they may have enjoyed separate bedrooms.  Menopause.  Up until around age 40 or so, I had no trouble whatsoever sleeping.  I could sleep and sleep and sleep.  Weekends were the best just because I could sleep a little later.  I heard others, a little older than me, say they had trouble sleeping, but I was certain it would never happen to me.  Ha.

Menopause changed that.  Six hours straight is a marvelous night!  I awaken easily and get restless.  When hot flashes come on, I fling covers everywhere.  I would disturb my poor hubby all night long and if he moved around, he'd wake me up. Four or five years ago, I broke my ankle.  I had to sleep in the guest room for a while just because it was so hard to set up the bed to sleep with a cast.  During the six weeks the cast was on, my hubby discovered how wonderful it was to sleep without me.  And I discovered I could sleep much longer without him.  So now, we're in love, but like kings and queens of days gone by, we have separate quarters.  If you are of a certain age and finding good sleep to be harder to come by, I highly recommend you try this. I do admit to missing the snuggling and funny things like putting my cold feet on him. 

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My bedroom is fairly small.  My hubby has the large one because the dogs pile up around the floor in his room.  Up til now, my little room has felt strangely cold and without personality.  You'd think a room that small would automatically feel cozy.  Not so.  But it does, now thanks to the hutch.

I'm thinking of painting the walls a robin's egg blue - wouldn't that look nice?

I have always know that this wall needed a large piece of furniture and here it is.  The only problem with the hutch is that it doesn't photograph well.  When I saw it on the online auction listing I thought it should be painted.  You are probably thinking the same thing looking at my photos.  I promise, in person, it looks much better.  The splotchy, distressed paint works.  It was a real eye catcher at the auction, too.  I watched quite a few people change their path and go over to it after it caught their eye.

The shelves are pretty bare right now. I've just begun to look for things that will look nice on it.  I know I'll have fun changing this around on a regular basis.  A number of items on the shelf now are things I picked up at the auction - the glass bird eggs (which I adore!), the bird statues, and the French shoe all came from there.  I am really into birds these days.

I put my silver candelabra on top of the hutch.  I recently bought some bird ornaments from Cynthia, who also has a booth at Rockin' B.  She had these marked half price in her after-Christmas bin.   They now have a home perched on the arms of the candelabra (which will probably never hold candles since I keep thinking of so many fun things to put there).

The two bird pictures on either side of the hutch also came from the auction.  One is a needlepoint, the other an oil painting.  I fell for those at first sight.  I also love that they are different colors and not too match-y.

The room has lots of blues, like the quilts below, but the color palette is not limited.  I am realizing that I don't feel quite right when I try to stick to a limited number of colors.  I see plenty of rooms in magazines and in blogs where the rooms have one or two dominant colors and an accent color and everything matches and they really look wonderful.  But, I change my mind too often.  People with decorating ADD shouldn't even try to stick to a plan.  
This vintage bow-tie quilt came from a yard sale!
I changed both bedside tables.  I had been using two small pieces.  One was painted cream, the other light blue.  They took up space, but didn't have enough presence. I moved the oak chest, which had been on the wall where the hutch is, to one side of the bed.  I am still amazed that it fit.  


I pulled an oak washstand (which I had planned to paint and sell) down from the attic to the other side of the bed.  


The bed immediately looked cozier and it's not cramped at all. *** By the way, the lump in the bed is one of my cats.  She crawled up under the covers and looked so cozy that I didn't have the heart to disturb her for my photo shoot.

There are so many favorite things scattered around the room. I have a morning glory/hummingbird painting that came from my grandmother. I love the toile bedskirt - anything toile catches my eye.  The touches of red in things like the sewing stool and vintage pillow keep the room from feeling too calm.

 There are still things that I know will be changed down the road.  * The curtains are temporary.  I haven't come across panels or fabric that I love.  I know I will one day, so I'm being patient. * The rug is OK (and incredibly soft and squishy) but not quite right. It has more of a mauve color rather than the faded reds I like.  Plus, I need a larger rug.  I need to measure the area again so I can be watching for it when I'm out thrifting. *  I need to get something better for the geranium to sit on or in. 

Meanwhile, I'm really enjoying the change.  I'm also marveling at how fast it went together once I was on the right track.  Once again, I see that when it's right, it's easy, when it's wrong, it's a struggle.


Be sure to check out the latest RE- Party!
We RE-do, RE-decorate, RE-organize, RE-pair,  RE-upholster,  
RE-member, RE-finish, RE-purpose, and of course, we love to RE-lax!   
This party celebrates ALL the RE-'s in our lives!  

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