Sleeping!

As you know, I am a very lazy and tired person. Sleeping is my number one hobby and my best friend and gosh I just love it, so you can imagine that where I sleep is really important to me.  

Like almost everything in our apartment, I didn't really plan for our bedroom to come together like this, but I'm happy that it did. It's covered in gifts from friends and sentimental bits and pieces from my past, and feels lived in yet warmly spare. Is that a thing? Warmly spare? Let's make it a thing. 

Unlike other rooms in my life, where I love layers and layers of objects and controlled craziness and personality, I need my bedroom to strike a balance between cozy and minimal. Avoiding high contrast colors, shiny things, and big statement pieces focuses the room on its function: sleeping. Also, when you have a partner who has hypnogogic hallucinations, believe me, less is more.

So here is our room thus far. Can I take a nap now?

Client Bedroom Sneak Peek!

I am so close to being able to show you this whole room! Until then, let's just look at this right here and breathe a little deeper.

Best. Email. Ever.

As you know, I have my first clients. And they have a tassel problem. 

When we first started working together the idea was to do their living room and parlor this summer so that when they get back from their Maine summer retreat they'd walk into a new first floor. Within a week the project included their bedroom and bath, to be done over the holiday break when they'd be in London (they sound so fancy, huh?).

I myself was going away for three weeks at the same time so we lined everything up beforehand and when we all got back the painting was done! The drapes were done! The new fan was installed! The bedding was on the bed! And best of all, my clients were really happy.

We are still waiting for the bedside lighting to be installed and for rug samples to arrive and I haven't moved any of their art back in, so I'm just going to give you a peek.

Even though it's incomplete Lady Client emailed me this last week:

I know it's just curtains and a bed spread, but even without anything else, going to bed tonight feels happier. Lighter. Easier. Do you know what you did? You changed our space and changed our lives. 

Craftsman home doesn't have to mean Craftsman everything.Big Ass Fan Co.

So much wrong. So much better.

Jesus.Hallelujah.

Um. Words fail. That lamp isn't staying!

Moving In

Our apartment in Oakland gets amazing light, something we've not had in years. Having been starved for it like we have, I knew I wanted to keep the bedroom light, airy, white, and simple, so I did.

We need a bed frame. We need a rug probably. But then I'm going to stop. And I'm going to rest. And I'm going to enjoy the sunlight.

One of my favorite things about moving, and there haven't been many, has been discovering just how many of the things we chose to bring with us (a carload and 15 boxes) were gifts from dear friends.

The emroidered cloth was from Neil & Faf for my birthday one year. The Dream Jar next to my bed was from Léa on the occasion of my nightmares. The books on the subjects of baseball and homes were from my mom and stepfather. Also, I get all squirmy about those bedside tables when I remember that they were beat up and black and TV trays in a Salvation Army for $2.99 each.

We are on a serious budget having bled money for the last 6 months trying to get out to Oakland, so Ikea is a necessity. The trick to shopping Ikea is making sure you don't have more than 2 pieces in any one room. If you do, it looks like you live in an Ikea showroom. Which maybe you want to. That's fine. I don't. The bureau is something I would love in any store and the fact that it's made out of real wood (not particle board) makes it even more loveable. The mirror is shockingly simple, spare, and solid, and for $50 can't be beat.

Those boots? One of the first gifts Matthew ever gave me. He's from Texas, did you know that?

That little fridge lived in the dollhouse my father built me when I was little. As an adult I used it as a communication system with my own son, tapping on the floor with it (his ceiling) as he fell asleep (twice for "I love you", three times for "I'm thinking about you", and four times for "I'm really going to bed now." The drawing is a gorgeous pencil thing my friend Jamie gave me years ago after I saw it in a coffee shop and fell in love with it. I still love it terribly. The fern I got recently when my friend Melanie was visiting from Massachusetts, so I think of her when I look at it, and that makes me happy.

The wood box I've had for forever and in it is every single ticket stub for every single musical, theatrical, and sports show I've ever been to in my entire life. Every single one. The Local cigar box is just pretty and highlights the green of the pretty fern to its left. The brass lamp is the cutest little lamp I've ever found, made especially awesome by its $5 price tag. The photo is of me, eating a rose when I was a baby. Stop and eat the roses is what I always say, don't you? I love the color quality of the photo, and the pop of the red.

I have two of these and when I find the right shades for them they are going to tie the whole room together. Trust me.

The Bedroom I Want To Wake Up In

Is sadly not the one I wake up in (which is nice and all but). It's this one: