A look back-collections of bedroom pictures!

I am traveling down a winding road that seems to have no end.

as I look back and see my defeats

I wonder where I've been.

Every road has curves and bends 

and a chuckhole now and then

but victory lies just ahead

for those who want to win.

***

I have no idea who wrote that poem, but when I was a kid, I decided to memorize a poem from my Granny's poetry book.  I dunno why I decided this, and I have NO idea if the poem I remember is actually the poem I memorized.  My granny has since passed, and all I remember about the book was it was brown, with gold lettering and when I opened it-it crackled.  It still shocks me that I remember the poem. 

Well, when I uploaded the "new bedroom" pictures into my "bedroom" file on my computer, I saw the old pictures and decided to browse through em.  Even though our bedroom is faar from finished.  We still need shelves, crown molding, all my pictures/paintings to be hung, bed skirt, an entire make over on the nasty bathroom.  *ugh*

I  really appreciate it even more given what we once called our, 'bedroom.'  

So as I was uploading the pictures, this childhood poem came flooded back, so it might not make sense to you, but to me it makes perfect sense.  

It's hard to appreciate the light without the dark.  

You don't truly appreciate the good times, without the bad.

The yin/yang perspective of life.

I love our bedroom make-over even more.

And to add a little bit more appreciation onto the before pictures.  I took these pictures when we got the new/vintage furniture.  Prior to their arrival we were living with a hodge-podge collection of my bedroom furniture I had as a child.

A look back on the making of our bedroom

I love fabric, and I had (a little too much) fun picking the colors and patterns.  I wanted to create a space that reflected a masculine and feminine feel.  I knew going into this project how I wanted it to make me feel.  Every room I decorated in this house, I have asked myself, "what's the purpose of this room?" and "How do I want this room to make me feel?"  Sounds silly, I know, but I study people's behavior for a living, and I realized through design you can prompt those behaviors. I mean, if Vegas can do it, a small house in the 'burds can too.  

I wanted the den to make you feel wrapped up and hugged in warmth, I wanted this space to make me feel small(that is why I painted the ceiling.)  The livingroom, I wanted it to feel light, tall breezy, and a space with no end (by having the 13inch white boarder wrapping around the room it gives the eye an optical illusion b/c you think the ceiling begins with the crown molding-I can't describe it exactly, but I stare at the corners all the time, and its like...the ceiling has NO end and reaches up to the heavens forever).  I wanted it make take the stress off your shoulders when you walked in the door. 

The hallway I wanted it to make you feel like you were living in a swimming pool (and with the 5pm sun, winding its way through the windows-it does just that) 

The kitchen is the heart of the house, and I wanted it to talk softly, but carry a big stick. 

The mud/laundry room, well I wanted  cool. calm under control in happiness....to deflect its constant state of chaos, so for me that color equates to lavender.

 

So for our bedroom I needed a space that made me feel spoiled, protected, elegant, romantic, whimsical, loved, and strong.

The manly feel is represented in the warm browns of the furniture, bold pattern/color of the headboard, the grid pattern of the curtain swags, the geometrical pattern of the curtains, the color/texture of the heavy tweed fabric on the rocking chair.

The girly-ness of the room comes through in the dainty fabric of the curtains/swag, floral print of the yellow chair, vanity bench and bed spread and the sweet color on the walls.  The romantic feeling is obtained by NOT HAVING A TELEVISION IN THE BEDROOM(best advice my mother EVER gave me.)  For one thing, that is not the purpose of a bedroom, and for 2 at night before going to sleep, the husband and I either sit up and talk, or we just lay next to each other and read.  It truly is the highlight of my day.  When I got home from the hospital, he would lay next to me and read my book outloud to me, or as apart of my lung therapy-I would read out loud to him.  Once, I was pretty upset about life, and he reached over grabbed my book and read it.  Moments like that are lost with a television int the room. (sorry, I will get off my soap box now)

Here are the fabrics:

 

(swag fabric NOT pictured)