June 5, 2003

•  

  
  

  And the work continues on the Bedroom Project.

  
  

  Finally, the sun came out. Everything in the house feels damp again, and my bedroom walls are drying very slowly. The glaze medium considerably slows the drying time of the paint, but it has been nearly 24 hours and it is still quite tacky. It is drying to a deeper color, as promised, but I don’t know if it will be completely dry and cured in the 48 hours that the manufacturer claims. So I didn’t paint the baseboard or touch up the top of the walls yet. I am waiting until it is completely dry to do the touch up, just because I don’t want to accidentally lean on a tacky wall. No big deal, I can even do that after the furniture is in the room. And since the baseboard is going to be plain paint, not glaze, it will dry quickly once I do it.

  
  

  I have a migraine today anyway, so I wasn’t really in the mood for painting. I used the day instead to clean up some of the painting stuff, sweep floors, and gather up the furnishings for this room from their various locations in the house. I am taking a sort of inventory of what I have and what needs to be done with it, and what I still need to find, make or buy. And I also took pictures of everything. I am really enjoying chronicling the process here. I am grateful for the encouragement and input I have gotten from everyone’s comments, too. Please, keep ‘em coming!

  
  

  More on the design process and my personal journey

  
  

  As promised, I will explain a little bit about how I came up with my “vision” for this room. I wrote earlier about my quest to incorporate the things that we love and that make us feel good, or inspire us, in our living environment. It is just a logical outgrowth of my quest to integrate the creative and the spiritual (which in my life are pretty much the same thing) into all aspects of my life.

  
  

  I have been focusing for years on “conscious” living – living my life with a conscious understanding and acknowledgement of every decision and every action I make and its impact on my life, the environment, and everyone/everything I interact with. I am striving to become as attuned to the rhythms of life and the interconnectedness of all things so that I can not only realize my own fullest potential, but also possibly make a bit of a difference in the world. This quest is also leading me on a journey inward, as I peel off the un essentials and discover my authentic self. It is really quite an eye opening ongoing journey!

  
  

  And along the way I realized that the importance of surroundings and environment is possibly even more well honed in me than it is in many people. I was born with what I call an “artist’s eye”, the thing that separates those of us that many people call “talented” – in my estimation, a non-existent concept. I don’t think of myself as talented, just more observant. This eye can be developed with practice, but some of us just sort of get that way for whatever reason. I think in my case it had a lot to do with the circumstances of my growing up…but that’s not what I am here to talk about today. My point is because I am so aware of everything around me, I am much more sensitive to my surroundings and they can really influence my state of mind, motivation, emotions, energy level – you name it.

  
  

  Deciding exactly what I want this room to do for me…

  
  

  So it makes sense to me that I focus my creative energies on my surroundings, to make them more agreeable will allow me to open up and be more productive, more harmonious, just plain happier in all aspects of my life. My bedroom is especially important because it is my private sanctuary, the place I go to rest and recharge, and to dream and make plans. I want to make a space that will relax and refresh me…

  
  

  I also hope to use my bedroom as a place to do some creative thinking, reading, and writing. I am allowing for a space in the bedroom where I will be able to sequester myself with a laptop computer (as soon as I get one) or a book. I want to make a space that will inspire me…

  
  

  It is also a place where I can focus on things that pamper and nurture me. I admit to being very nonchalant about my personal appearance, as I tend to put that aspect of my life at the bottom of my priority list. But a part of me craves the “girly pleasures” of the beauty routine. Although I very rarely wear makeup or jewelry, I own a lot of it, and enjoy all the pretty colors and sparkly stuff. I admit to be a bit of a cosmetic junkie, I just like to have the stuff around, and would like to be able to incorporate it into my daily life more…not a thing I have been able to do for years since I have not really had a space I could call my own and all the “pretty girly stuff” has been stored away in boxes, drawers, and the back of closets. So I need to be able to make all my lotions and potions, sparkly things and pretty paints accessible. I want to make a space that will pamper me…

  
  

  Special considerations 

  
  

  I guess I should mention first that cost is always a consideration. I have very little to spend on this project, and many other things begging for funds and attention. I am really big on reusing and recycling, so I want to try to incorporate salvaged materials as much as possible, as well as things I already have that may be adapted. I have also got a lot of things that I like and that have meaning to me, so I want to use them rather than just starting out with new stuff, just to create a “look”. Although the look is important, it really isn’t what it is all about to me, there is so much more to it…

  
  

  Of course the dogs are a consideration, I need to make the space friendly to them. I wrote the other day about my plans to build a padded bench/step for them so they can have a place of their own to lie on, and also have access to my bed (and a soft spot to land if they accidentally roll out) They are already conditioned to stay only on one side of me, so I know that they aren’t going to fall out of the other side of the bed. And when I choose a bed, I want one with a head board and a foot board, so I don’t have to worry about accidentally knocking them off at the foot. Some people think it is disruptive to sleep with dogs, but I find their presence very comforting. Like sleeping with teddy bears, only warmer (and one snores)

  
  

  I have one other major consideration in designing this room, and it is a rather challenging one. I need to make the room easy to keep clean. It has to be allergy friendly. Any fabric items must be easily washable. The same thing for rugs. The “dust catchers” in the room need to be kept to a minimum. And I want to incorporate a HEPA filter air cleaner into the design. As of today, I have decided to opt against an air conditioner, at least for now. I have asked Bernie to contact his friend the electrician about installing a ceiling fan over my bed instead. With the windows on 3 sides of the room, and considering the fact that I like to be warm to sleep, I think I may not need an air conditioner at all. I will decide by how it is this summer in there, and if it gets too hot, I will think about an air conditioner next year. But I have an air cleaner, and it is going in the room right away.

  
  

  Furnishings – starting to shape up…

  
  

  Here are the things I have rounded up from various places in the house, that will end up coming together to create a coherent final effect (I hope) in this room. Some of my initial inspiration came from these pieces:

  
  

   

  
  

  This is the vanity and dresser that had belonged to my grandmother on my mom’s side. She gave me the vanity when I was in college, and wanted a vanity, and she told me I could have the dresser to go with it whenever I wanted it. I ended up bringing the dresser home after my grandmom passed away, when my aunt was about to sell her house. They were used when grandmom got them, and they are not in the greatest condition. The veneer has come off in a few places, and the surfaces aren’t that great. But although they are antique (we figure about 1930′s) they aren’t really worth restoring. I like them just the way they are, but I will probably put a coat of polyurethane on the top of the vanity before putting it in the bedroom. (It will give me a chance to break in the new sander I got for Christmas, too…)

  
  

     

  
  

  The little stand came from Bernie’s mom’s house. It will be a nightstand next to the bed. It will also be getting a coat of polyurethane on its top. The small lamp was also in my old bedroom in the basement (along with the stand, dresser, and vanity) it is nothing special, just a new lamp I bought at a discount store a couple of years ago, but has a pretty Victorian look.

  
  

  The torchiere lamp used to be in a corner of my shop. I bought it at a yard sale. It will illuminate the glittery ceiling really nicely. The gold tassel was part of the giftwrapping on a wedding gift, I found it in the the spare bedroom I am using for storage and wanted to remember to take it with me so I hung it on the lamp I was carrying out of the room. Then I decided it looked really nice hanging there, so it will stay! The glass shade is a gorgeous iridescent coated milk glass, with a gold edge. The bronze color parts are very ornate (doesn’t show in the picture)

  
  

  

  
  

  The antique birdcage was given to me by a friends mother after I helped move stuff out of her grandmothers house when it was being sold. The cage was in the basement, I liked it, so she gave it to me, to thank me for helping out. It has been spray painted once, an ivory color. I used it for decoration in the back room of my shop and it has just been sitting in the garage since then. I think it will look gorgeous with an arrangement of (silk) ivy and miniature roses spilling out of it. Haven’t decided what I am going to do about painting it yet… I think antique bronze… with a darker accent…

  
  

  The cheval mirror was a hand me down from my cousin. She used to have a bridal shop and this was in the dressing room. Then it was in her house. One leg had been broken and patched with a metal plate. last time I helped her move, she gave me the mirror (see a pattern here?) I am not sure I will be leaving it in it’s natural oak, or painting it…

  
  

  the chest  and rocker:

  
  

   entered the house when I was born.

  
  

  My mom got the used chest to furnish my bedroom, it was a discard destined for the trash, I think from one of the sorority houses at the college where she taught. It has had more incarnations than you could imagine. It was the place where the hand me down clothes from my cousins were kept until I grew into them. About 3 times a year my mom would pull things out of it and have me try them on. It was later a toy box, and then a place where the “play dress-ups” clothes were kept. It was at various times upholstered, covered, skirted and left bare. It went with me for the brief period of time when I moved out of this house and in with my psycho ex. It was one of the few things that survived that period to come back home with me. And then it was part of the furnishings of my shop. Which actually moved to 4 different locations in the 12 years it was open. Then it was in the living room, and later in Bernie’s room.

  
  

  Right now, it is at the foot of his bed (which accounts for the odd photo angle) I plan on topping it with a thick foam cushion (cut up from an old foam mattress I have in my living room) upholstered with this fabric:

  
  

  

  
  

  (brocade upholstery fabric remnant from WalMart - pattern is more subtle than it looks in the photo):

  
  

  And a pile of assorted pillows will go on the chest, too.and most likely a few of the bears from my teddy bear collection… This is also the fabric that will be covering the cushion (also recycled from the same mattress) on the dogs’ step/bench that will go next to the bed.

  
  

  The rocker has many stories, too. I was a sickly kid, and suffered from bad ear infections beginning as an infant, barely 6 months old. My mom would rock me to sleep when I wasn’t feeling well. She asked my dad for a rocker, and he bought a high back Boston rocker…which was really uncomfortable to my mom, so they returned it to the store and got this little platform rocker. It became known as “my chair” from that time on. It was in my room until I reached school age, and then it was moved to the living room. It is truly one of my personal treasures. There are so many more stories it figures into…including one about how it came to have so much of the paint off of the arms (my doing, too) and the hand crocheted covers on the little knobby things…which my grandmom made to keep the paint from rubbing off when the chair would get too close to the wall.

  
  

  It needs to be refinished (someday, not now) and recovered, and the cushions should really be replaced (they are not too comfy anymore, just flat and hard) I am thinking perhaps a cheerful floral. Something to lighten up the dark blues. Maybe chintz..I love chintz… And I would really like to buy or make an ottoman so I can sit in the chair and put my feet up…probably cover that in the same fabric too… And a little table to put next to it under the window is a must, but it looks like I will have to buy one…I would like to find something that would double as storage but right now I may just go with one of those inexpensive “decorator rounds” with a tablecloth and a lacy scarf on it.

  
  

  This sorry looking thing:

  
  

  

  
  

  was my mom’s sewing machine seat. I am glad I didn’t throw it out when I wanted to, because I have decided with a little upholstery it will be a good vanity seat. I plan on using the same fabric on this as on the rocker. And it has plenty of storage room inside (for my cosmetic collection or whatever)

  
  

  

  
  

  This is the last piece of furniture I have for the room. It is a mahogany plant shelf that my grandfather (on my mom’s side) made for my grandmother (on my dad’s side) but it wasn’t what my grandmother wanted, so it ended up here in my room, without being finished. It is windowsill-height and still unfinished (after all these years) I want to stain it to bring out the natural sheen of the mahogany, but not too dark. It is going into the southwest window, and will hold my plants when I bring them in for the winter, and a fan in the summer. My air cleaner will go on the bottom shelf.

  
  

  some small “icons” that inspired me for this room:

  
  

  

  
  

  Ceramic “Cinderella coach” is an old TV lamp my aunt was selling at a yard sale. It needs to be rewired, have new curtains in the windows and a coat of paint on the metal. The “seat” holds silk flowers (more roses and ivy)

  
  

  In case you haven’t noticed by now, I love roses. They are one of my favorite things in nature. I grow roses, and I am incorporating roses into this bedroom in many ways. Also Ivy. The upholstery fabric has a stylized ivy leaf and even my art prints have roses and ivy on them. I purchased a rose and ivy motif stencil to decorate the bench/step thingy, in metallic paint on the dark blue background.

  
  

    

  
  

  Silk roses in 2 of my favorite vases…cobalt blue glass and Lenox china, “Ballad Rose” pattern (matches my mom’s china set that I have inherited)

  
  

  More Fabric:

  
  

   

  
  

  Soft, cuddly, Icelandic wool throw I bought on sale years ago at Landau’s in Princeton (“the Icelandic Wool specialists”) and cabbage rose patterned comforter for the bed (this was on my waterbed in the basement bedroom – the background is navy blue) I am trying to keep the floral fabrics from overpowering the room, so I will be balancing the comforter with some more subtle linens and pillows.

  
  

  Art

  
  

         

  
  

  Proserpine (left) by Rosetti, is one of my all-time favorite paintings. This print and another Pre-Raphaelite The Soul of the Rose (right) by Waterhouse, are personal treasures with lots of meaning – I brought them home with me from the Tate Gallery on my last trip to London. (one of my favorite places) Now I need to get them matted and framed…

  
  

  

  
  

  This small framed print belonged to my grandmother (on my dad’s side) It didn’t scan well but you get the idea. It matches a pair of decorative jars and a fancy face-powder tine with a built in music box, that also came from the same grandmom’s bedroom. They have similar pictures set into their lids.

  
  

  I need a nice piece of art for over the bed. I am considering one of these (also pre-Raphaelites)

  
  

  

  
  

  Night and her Train of Stars (I am leaning toward this one, mainly because I know where there is a copy of the print on sale right now)

  
  

  

  
  

  La Belle Dame Sans Merci (also beautiful, but I probably have to order it…)

  
  

  I plan on turning an old jewelry showcase that used to be in my shop into a hanging shadowbox to display my collection of occupied Japan miniature vases in the bedroom, because they are now in the basement, more or less hidden. I want to eventually get one more piece of art, for over my dresser. No idea what, yet…

  
  

  I also want to figure out either small shelves or a pair of candle sconces over the bed. Some candles behind the bed are really an essential for adding a touch of romance. I guess it will all depend on what the bed looks like, whether I use shelves or sconces. A reading light over the bed and at my chair, and maybe a good lamp for the vanity (for the rare times I want to put on makeup) is about all that is left to shop for, beside the rugs, curtains and bed linens…and of course, tons of pillows (those I will probably make)

  
  

  So that’s the plan. Should be a really luscious Victorian inspired retreat when I am done…

  
  

   

  • 7:58 pm
  • 10 Comments