Pillow Talk

A friend of mine came to me with a question about her Master Bedroom;

She is not yet ready to completely re-do the space, but wants to do a few little things to spruce it up and make it feel more hers.

She recently ordered this awesome bedding from Kohls which is super chic.

In trying to add a little somethin something, she ordered this fabulous pillow from Etsy, which I love. I think it will really pop in the room and with the bedding.

She asked me about this other Etsy pillow in lumbar shape, and I had to be honest; it wasn’t my favorite. And she agreed.

It’s a great pillow, just not right for what she is looking to accomplish.

Since it has been my mecca for pillows, I pointed her in the direction of West Elm, as all of their pillows ship for free.

I found a few that I thought could work for her.

JC Penny’s Jonathan Adler Happy Chic is doing a whole story right now on Aqua, so I thought she might find something there.

I don’t mind mixing shades of aqua and gray, there are some nice sales.

Finally, I checked out CB2, Crate and Barrel’s more modern (and affordable) line, where I have found some awesome throws for more modern spaces.

I found some pillows that were awesome, but a little out there:

My friend told me she wants a beachy-type feel, without it being “sea-shell-like”, which I totally get. To me, that means, tranquil and soothing, almost spa-like. Happy place-like.

Which is why this last pillow is my favorite. I’d put the one she bought from Etsy in the middle and have one of these on either side, making it super crisp and clean. A calm oasis for two busy parents with two busy kids.

I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.

 

 

 

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Gasp!

Tonight, my husband uttered words that I never thought would come out of his mouth:
“Do you want to get new bedding?”
Now, we all know how I obsess about things; I obsess about color I obsess about crystals…
but no single thing has been obsessed about in my time more than bedding. In fact, we have been in our house for nearly a year and a half and we have had the same bedding, which I think is a record. And, to tell you the truth, I really love this bedding. Our duvet is Pottery Barn and was discontinued so I had to hunt it down on ebay. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent online, or on the top floor of Bloomingdales.
But tonight, when my husband said those words to me, something else happened that was equally as shocking:
I said no. I didn’t say “No, absolutely not!” but I said “I don’t really think we need new bedding, and I’d rather wait until we build our master to get fabulous new bedding.”
Holy Holy.
But…
a few hours later I did find myself perusing West Elm and Pottery Barn. Just for a peek.
And while I was surfing the net I found this:

So whereas last night I got a little lost, tonight I found exactly what I want for my master addition.
That will not be happening for years. And will never include a two thousand and some dollar bench.
But if you’re asking me for the aesthetic I’m going for? That. That is it.
That will be all now.

A (mini-ish) Master.

As I have mentioned before, the moment I walked into this house, I thought that it was meant to be. However, there was one room that would require us to “trade down” in a sense; the master bedroom. This old house is not equipped with a true master suite of sorts. And so, before we even put in an offer we had our contractor in and plans drawn up for a future addition over the garage. The plans showed a huge bedroom, updated bathroom, big walk in closet…and we have high hopes that this will take place in the future. Truly, like years down the road. But, in the meantime, we had to accept that we would be inhabiting a small bedroom. This notion never bothered me much, as I don’t see a need for a huge master, but for my husband it was his greatest source of stress pre-move. He thought we would feel claustrophobic and confined. He truly worried that our king bed wouldn’t fit. But with a some luck and creativity we found the pieces we needed to make our room not just livable, but lovable.

There is no before photo of this room, as it was used as an office and no advertised, once again, on the website when selling the house. It had white walls. It was not offensive, it was just a nothing. A throwaway. And now it is this:

It is small, but I prefer cozy. And I find it be a space that is both a little zen (with the sparseness and the buddha) and a little romantic (with the fabrics and the big candlesticks on the sill behind our bed).

So the bedding for this room is the result of major obsessing. While our structural work was being done to the house, we lived with my parents for a month, during which time my mom and I would sit on the Ipad and look at bedding for hours at a time. I ended up finding much of it on Ebay, after falling in love with many discontinued prints and products. During that period of type I probably typed the words “Euro Sham” more than any other human in history. Ever. 

Our Duvet is Pottery Barn, but found on Ebay; the throw is Missoni for  Target; The velvet shams are Ikea; the delicate scalloped Euro Shams are Martha Stewart, also found on Ebay (they are on my old bed at my parents’ house and I just had to have them. I told you. I was obsessed.)

We have discussed This piece before and it’s now my husband’s night table/the home for my clothing items like undies and pjs. Now we’re getting pretty intimate here. I hope you appreciate this! We kept the amount of “stuff” pretty limited here, as we both wanted our bedroom to be a peaceful space; Because in a bedroom you are supposed to sleep. Stuff=mental stuff. Less stuff=peace, perhaps. In any case, his night table houses a framed photo of the two of us, some fresh flowers, a lamp from his grandmother, a relic from my parents’ trip to Israel and a bird house painted by our daughter. 

My night table had a lot of pressure to perform; When my former dressing room became my son’s nursery I lost space for a true vanity. So here was my solution: a very cool old table that was given to me by my aunt, but was originally my grandparents’. The mirror was bought at the same little antique shop in Hammondsport, NY where we first bought our Queen Esther piece. The stool is from Material Culture. Framed above my vanity are some my favorite portraits from our wedding; now that we’re in our sixth year of marriage I am conscious that our house can no longer be filled with wedding photos. But our bedroom seems like the perfect place to highlight a special few. 

I also joke that my night table is Twin central; My Twinny dear got married in August, so my table was constantly covered in things like her shower invitations and menu ideas from her mom. Now it just holds a framed photo of us, my beautiful bride and me as an 8 month pregnant Matron of Honor. Next to the frame is the beautiful sculpture that she gave us for our wedding. A very special place for me. You can also spot the special shell box that my husband used to propose while on our family trip to St. John almost 8 years ago. 

Here is our chandelier, that replaced a dusty old wooden ceiling fan. It was purchased at the same antique lighting spot in Adamstown where we bought the fixture for our daughter’s nursery. I find it romantic and glamorous and I love it to pieces.

Across from our bed is a gallery wall with pieces from all over; paintings that belonged to my grandparents; botanicals from my parents; pieces we have picked up along the way. It has been fun to watch it grow. 

This dresser is a great story. Because of the size of the room we needed something narrow to house my husband’s clothing. We scored big time at the same place where we ultimately also found our gold dresser, resellers consignment gallery. 

It is beautiful, carved ornate solid wood. It was on sale. We got it for 39 dollars. We could not have done better. Finally, my husband’s parents gave us this beautiful rug to round out the room. It is woven wool and reversible and ties everything together while maintaining the color scheme that is important to me (of course).

So our bedroom is small, but I’d say small and mighty. And I really like it. And even my husband, doubter of all doubters, agrees. How about you?

Sunroom

From the exposed stone arches, French doors, peg board wood floor, huge windows and skylight, this room was love at first sight. Even Before. Take a look at the previous owners’ sunroom:

But for us, we needed this room to function as more than just a(n albeit bright and sunny) throwaway. We wanted a family room. A cozy nook of a space in which we could cuddle up and watch TV or read, and, more importantly, where our daughter would have a space on the first floor to play. In our old house, we had much less room, and so each area, inevitably, had scattered toys and crafts. And I couldn’t stand the clutter. I wanted my kid(s) to have a space that was comfortable and informal and inviting; a room in which my daughter could sit and draw for hours or snuggle up under a blanket to a movie. And so, this is our ever evolving after:

I spy with my little eye something Lola. This is Lola’s spot too. She’s always loved the sunny spot.

Here’s Lola’s nook. Cozy, right? She seems to think so. She loves this room.

And you can see that we had blinds installed that enhanced the richness and privacy of the room while simultaneously not compromising any brightness or lightness. We used the incredible Blinds 4 U and could not have had a better experience. In fact, the owner, who is a family friend, encouraged me to choose this color (when I was leaning towards white) and boy was he right. 

This little area is a blast from my past, as both the wood sign and wooden shelf were in the basement of my parents’ house. Like everything else they’re no longer sure about, I adopted these pieces. The fabric letters are from Anthropologie and yet another perk of having children who share the same first initial. Since the main goal for this room was coziness and informality, we chose to go with this rich leather couch from Raymour and Flannigan and topped it with an assortment of pillows from a small specialty boutique and West Elm. The throw was actually a poncho I bought while pregnant at Deconstructed Living, and now has it’s second life as a blanket.

The chest at the side of the couch is also an inherited piece from my sister’s childhood bedroom, and it is filled with baby toys, and the lamp is from Pottery Barn.

Don’t you just want to bury your head into that furry softness? Or perhaps you’re more of a delicate, rest your cheek on silk type of person. It’s ok. I’ve got it all for ya. 

Here is my daughter’s spot. She has her easel from Ikea. She has her drawing table and chairs from Pottery Barn Kids  (plus a mini replica behind it for her dollies). And most importantly, she has neatly organized bins of crayons, paint, markers, stickers, toy figures, art kits, puzzles….and they are not all over my house, wreaking havoc. This makes the mess freak in me very happy. ‘Both windowsills in this room are filled with framed photos of our families and loved ones. The photos, hands down, are my favorite part of the room. I love my peeps. 80% of the frames are Ikea, with a peppering of Home Goods in there for good measure.

I also filled the shelves with little things like antique books, mercury glass candles and dried flower vases. It’s always evolving. 

This shelf was an example of where I had to get creative. I wanted to stay in the blue/turquoise family with most of the “art” on here (you know how I am about color), but my budget didn’t allow me to make pricey purchases. So my solution was to look through catalogues and magazines, cut out photos that I found pleasing to the eye in the right color scheme and frame them. I think it works.

This shelf also houses some of our favorite books (Hemingway for me, Palahniuk for my guy) and some special heirlooms and  things we have purchased together. On the top right shelf sits a framed playbill from a play called “Queen Esther”. This is the first thing my husband and I ever bought together, in a tiny antique shop in Hammondsport, NY.  We were not yet engaged, nor were we living together, but it was a sign of commitment. You wouldn’t want to have to chop that thing in half. The Namaste sign was purchased in our happy place, St. John, so I will cherish it forever. The trunk up elephant, a sign of good luck, was a really good TJ Maxx find and the silver pieces on the bottom shelf are from my grandfather, featuring our family monogram. Good day, sunroom. We love you so.

And as in the rest of our home, all shelves, trim and doors were painted in Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White.