Bedtime Stories

It's very likely that we will be moving soon.  Blake is supposed to wrap up his schooling late this summer (fingers crossed) and then we will head into the great unknown.  So before that happens I want to get my house all dolled up and photographed to remember how much fun I had with it.

Today I will show you our bedroom.

It started out manly and ended up rich and stately.









Blake was really attached to the idea of red for the bedroom.  And I wanted to make him happy with our room, so I tried to find a red that would go with the bed set we were given for our wedding, but there was no red on earth that didn't do weird things to our gold coverlet.



So he kindly accepted this deep peacock blue with a hint of forest green instead. And I am sooo glad that he did.
 I   L O V E this color.
It changes as the day changes, more blue in the morning, more green in the afternoon, and at night it becomes this deep and soothing mixture as we crawl into bed.
Anytime we have gone away and come back home I delight in it.
I've never painted a room such a dark color so it should have been scary (my mom tried to talk me out of it because it was so intense), but I couldn't turn away.

(If you are painting a room for yourself, don't do something just because it looks acceptable, do something because you adore it.  If you do that, every time you come home you will be welcomed by the gorgeousness that makes your specific heart sing.)

Even though I loved this color with ferocity, I knew I would need something bright and energizing to contrast it --- I figured if I woke up to this deep soothing color that I would never get up.  So I thought a sweet creamy yellow would do the trick.  The wall across from my pillows is covered in a paintable wallpaper.  (I learned on HGTV the fancy name for it is anaglypta --- I sound waaaaay more designer if I tell you my walls are covered in anaglypta.) Which, of course, I painted this sweet yellow --- its name was laughter --- mmm!

This room is not really as astonishing in terms of Budget Breaking Deals as our Bathroom was.  But it didn't cost us much either, which was kinda just based on how blessed we were.
     The bed linens were all given to us for our wedding but the cute little "bed scarf" at the end of the bed was something I picked up later.  I was walking through Macy's one day and saw a bed with something like that on it --- I'd never seen anything like it.  I loved it.  So one day when I ran across a table runner on clearance that matched our set perfectly, I couldn't pass it up.
     The dresser was Blake's already.  Initially I was set on refinishing it dark to match the bed.  And I'm not sure if I just got used to it over time but I like it the way it is now, even if we have dark brown wood on the bed, light brown wood in the floor, and black painted side tables --- what can I say, I've never liked to match stuff too much.
     The side tables were mine.  They are both old sewing tables painted black.  I LOVE sewing tables for decorating.  I think they are the perfect height for bedside tables and end tables.  They are classy.  They usually have some timeless appeal.  They are awesome.  If you find one at a thrift store it is a good buy.
      The bed we bought new.  It was our first purchase together, we picked it out and ordered it when we were engaged and it arrived when had been married for about a month or so.  We got it at Ashley furniture for about $500.  And in our limited shopping experience it was by far our favorite for the least amount of money --- win/win.
     The curtains were sewn by my mom!!  (Thanks, Mom!)  I had still not quite entered the realm of do-it-yourself at that point, but she was there and made it happen.  (Definitely an inspiring moment.)  We hung them higher than the window and draped to the floor --- they look so much grander that way.
     And the rest was just careful placement of what we already had or had gotten for our wedding.



I love the repeating circles on this wall.
We had to have a fan because Blake needed the noise to sleep (and after few years I've gotten the same way as well) so I got us a cute one --- because I need function to be cute and cute to function --- it's just the way I am.


This guy:
He has a story



When Blake and I first met at Joliet Jr College back in 2003 we were both lamenting the lack of care packages in our lives (I had just moved home, so there was no need for them, Blake had never gotten one ever.)  So this, of course, lead to the natural conclusion that if we wanted care packages, we would need to send them to each other.  He made me amazing brownies, the taste of which I still remember to this day (getting hungry!).  And I sent him probably some food (I forget what now) and a bunch of silly things from the dollar store --- including this Jesus night light.
Soon after, we started dating. (However, I did not send a care package with such intentions, even if he thought I did --- but I'm glad it worked this way, anyway.)  We dated for a year and a half and then needed to go our separate ways.  It was the nicest break up I can think of.  We were just in different places.
Well two years later it dawned on us that, actually, we were perfect for each other.
 So we got married about 6 months after that.  We knew now.  It was it.
 Sooo...back to Jesus-Night-Light, there he was two years later, still night-lighting Blake's life, when I came down to see him on our "get-back-together day."  Blake claims he kept it because it was pragmatic, and it probably was, but I know deep down it was more than that.  We kept each other.  He kept the light.  It's the most romantic thing in our room, even if it is pragmatic.  I love that we have it.

And that's our bedroom.