Bold walls

I am helping a neighbor with their master bedroom decor and the walls are this completely saturated turquoise. The color is heading towards navy but has tons of green to it. 

They have hardwood floors and white plantation shutters also.

I am going to suggest a richly colored rug and white curtains with a trim on the leading edge.

 

I have even started a Pinterest board for them to help visualize my suggestions.

How would you work with this wall color?

Big and bigger

I have mattresses on my mind lately. I am wishing I had a more comfortable one on my king size bed and I am shopping for one for my son's first apartment. Did I mention I have to put it in my car next week for the four hour drive to school?

I double checked the twin length and we are a go for shoving it in my minivan but it got me thinking about the Wyoming and Alaska King beds.

Where do you get such a thing? Sheets? Won't most staircases be a problem? Um, doorways too?

I recall master bedrooms during our house search that were too cramped for our regular King size and it really made me wonder how a 9 foot by 9 foot bed would work in a space. Photos were hard to come by.

I found this photo that made me laugh. The decor was funny but isn't there some reality show about my three wives? Maybe that is why they were invented.

Is it bed overkill?

Room of the week

I am so glad to get back to my weekly Wednesday feature, room of the week. So here are my two cents.

I am not big on monochromatic decor but I do like serene bedrooms so I understand these choices although I find this a bit one note. The thing I am intrigued with is the enormous art above the bed. I love the statement it makes in a way that does not interrupt the calm of the space.

If I did not have a high four poster with a headboard that leaves about three feet between it and the ceiling, I would be stretching a huge canvas for my room instead of typing this.

So...who wants a huge painting in their room? Raise your hand!

ORC linking party-Teen room refresh

I am sure you know this event well, but if not it is hosted by the lovely Linda from Calling it Home.

Yesterday the official One Room Challenge began and today the rest of us get to throw our hats in.

I will be doing my 16 year-old daughter's room, although she will turn 17 before its over provided she relinquishes control to me.

I hemmed and hawed about doing her room because a.) she has opinions b.) she did not get the design gene and c.) she is fickle. So fickle that sunburst mirrors hung at the right height have been replaced by paintings dangling far too high from the floor among other bizarre changes.

It goes like this, I find a solution for her room, she approves, I purchase and a week later it is in the closet in favor some goofy mock-up. All of this does not sit so well with me, so call me mean but, going forward she will be consulted minorly and forbidden to change things.

We need a desk and chair situation here and for goodness sakes less crap everywhere!

These desks are my inspiration.

I need a storage solution here. Ugh!

I am not entirely awful as I am planning a gallery wall that includes some framed "permanent" pieces and and some that are easy to change out on a whim.

Right now she hangs her own watercolors from her Etsy shop along with sweet little pictures made by her little sister in this spot.

Her color scheme so far has been gray, yellow black, greige and red. Yup, I said red so you can see why an intervention of the strongest sort is in order.

Here is the plan:

• Desk and chair situation resolved
• Implement new color scheme
• Find storage for records
• Find storage for cosmetics
• Create gallery wall
• Accessorize within new color scheme

Head on over to Calling it Home to see what the other participants are up to and come back next week to see my progress.

Frozen

I woke up yesterday to 5 fresh inches of snow and a sore throat and stuffy nose. I think that means that I am officially sick of Winter.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I ordered the movie "Frozen" and should have it today. For those of you with young daughters, I don't need to tell you about this,. You have heard "Let it go. Let it goooooh." for weeks. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie but I am most likely going to have a Princess Elsa breakdown in the near future where I will be heard shrieking, "No!! I don't want to build a #%$$* snowman!!!"

I decided to do a "Frozen" inspired bedroom on Polyvore to warm up to the idea (pun intended).

My four year-old chose the chandelier herself.

So " For the first time in forever" I have designed a themed bedroom. Sort of.

If you want to know what on Earth I am talking about look HERE.

Snug as a bug

As a child I was very drawn towards alcove beds. They were kind of a legitimatization of the pillow fort.

Now I think of them as rather cozy looking although impractical for the bedmaker-in-chief.

Properly making that upper bunk would be a pain and probably reserved for special occasions in my house, like never.

I still can't help but want to curl up in their three-sided coziness.

They are often combined with clever storage but I prefer the simply romantic, curtained cocoons.

Would you want one of these in your house?

Waffling

Every so often something catches my eye on Pinterest, I pin it, and feel compelled to take a trip down pin memory lane to see what else made it onto a particular board.

My board for bedroom ideas for my youngest seems to underscore my original vision and tells me that I am on the right track as no waffling has occurred.

We have matching antique twin beds that, alas, cannot be on the same wall.

 The walls  and ceiling are a soft, barely there, pink. The bedding is a similar pink with white matelasse coverlets.

The majority of beds pinned on this board have a coronet, something I have not given up on.

a bit much

Just about everything in this room is done except for those pesky coronets and curtains. Therein lies my waffling. I have decided once and for all on her curtains countless times. I was leaning towards more pink but her favorite color is green and unlike my other children she has never waffled.

I thought the white linen from Ikea, trimmed with lime green pom-pom fringe was the answer but I used them in my son's room (sans fringe) instead.

I have been considering these floral curtains from Ikea for the window and coronets. I like the '80s chintz/English country house look...at least for today.

Do you waffle on decorating, doing nothing for months or years?

P.S. its my 4 year blogiversary

Room of the week

Today I decided to find a remarkable bedroom and, well, remark.

I love bedrooms with calm colors but if there is nothing interesting, I just can't get into it.

This room has the architectural canopy with pleated fabric that reads (to me) as very traditional and a little fussy. It continues the solid fabric in rather modern panels serving as a headboard. On that is a wee antique portrait. It works so well.

I love the juxtaposition of clean lines, ornately carved pieces and textural fabrics. That Greek key bed skirt doesn't  hurt either.

Do you prefer bright, bold bedrooms or or neutral and serene?

OK guys. I have a question for you

I need a man's opinion and my husband will just say, "Whatever you want, Honey." He is a smart one!

I am making some headway in my son's room redo. By headway I mean filling up garbage bags with stuff that should NOT have been in his closet and staring at mystery stains on the carpet.

I have also made a few purchases that I am delighted with.

 The walls will be a deep,smoky navy. SW Naval 6642 to be exact and the bed will have charcoal, silver and navy fabrics. The bed is a dark wood and I have a midcentury dresser that is also fairly dark.

Unlike my indecisiveness with my kitchen chairs, I've got this one figured out.

I want it to be a masculine, moody space with a hint of Bohemian vibe. Enough Boho to be interesting not questionable.

Here are a few of my inspiration images.

So here is the only part that I am unsure about.

The office chair on wheels has to go but I will need a chair in the room. I can raid the furniture graveyard basement for a chair and recover it. My mind jumped immediately to my Escher pagoda fabric...

But is Chinoiserie too feminine?

 Ladies, please weigh in too.

Sleepy spaces

I thought I would show you all some of my favorite bedrooms and talk about the perfect bed today because that is where I would like to be. A recent bout of insomnia is making for some tired, less-productive days.

One of the few places that I choose muted colors over vibrant is in bedrooms. I tend to go with very traditional furnishings too.

I am cool with decorative throw pillows but my sheets and pillow cases must be white and 100% cotton. I have even turned my husband into a bedding snob. Last year, in a classic non-label reading- Kerry-move, I accidentally bought sheets that were 50% poly. My husband was shocked and appalled. I tried really hard to pretend that I did not mind them at all and I meant to buy them. They pilled near our feet and were hot and uncomfortable. I finally pulled them off and threw them in with our pile of painting drop cloths in the basement.

Are you picky about your pillow or blankets? I used to sleep with a down comforter but its just overkill. I now have two thin cotton quilts and an electric foot warmer for the winter.

Is your bedroom dark and cave-like or light and bright? Mine is light and bright which is great when you are not trying to sleep but it stinks at 8 am on Saturday morning when the sun aligns perfectly with the space between the blinds and my left eye.

That's enough pillow talk for today. I think its almost nap time. Yay!

Between the sheets

D.C. Design House 2013

In a recent dinner table conversation, I commented on how a few people I know think it is crazy to fold fitted sheets. My kids confessed that they had no idea how to do it. Its my mission to teach them how this summer.

Its easy. Here's how in case you don't already know.

I like to fold them on a bed so that the sheets can be fully spread out and smoothed as I go.

First, lay the sheet flat with the sleeping side down and those pesky gathers up. Using the corner seams as a guide, flatten the gathered sides to make a sort of picture frame. That is the hard part. The neater this is the better the whole thing will go.

Next, I fold 1/4 of the sheet over to the center line, smoothing as I go.

Next I do the same with the other end and smooth and flatten as much as possible.

In half again creating a rectangle.

From here I either fold it in thirds or quarters depending on the sheet.

folded fitted sheet

I like to fold the flat sheet the same size but truth be told, sometimes I just don't have the time or patience.

Do you fold you fitted sheets?

I am oddly particular about sheets. They must be 100% cotton, white if I am sleeping on them and I really love 1000 thread count sheets.

 I found 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets for King size beds at Tuesday Morning for $80. I thought it was a deal.

I am new to shopping there but I am liking there luxury bedding selection.