bedroom retreat

While Darren and Dani toured colleges for a week, I got down to the dirty task of renovating our bedroom.

Originally, my plan was just to clean and declutter it. For 4 years, it's been the catch-all for junk that has no where else to go, and there was junk piled here, there and everywhere; we both hated being in there. I'd never even decorated it, though I'd been collecting a bunch of stuff over the years for that purpose. Here it is, before:

Darren is working from home more than ever now, and he struggles to find a spot that's quiet and peaceful - a place where he can concentrate. That was my main motivation for redoing our bedroom - to create that space for him.

It took me 2 days to sort, trash, box, store and otherwise dejunk the room. While doing that, I decided that the room HAD to be painted. It's the only room I haven't put my touch on since we bought the house, and it was time. I'd always envisioned a blue room - a soothing, calming, dusky blue. But that was for me. With Darren in mind, I decided to go with something he'd like better, and ended up choosing a golden honey color. I already had sheets, a rug, and a few other items in that color (I always thought it'd be the accent color to my blue). Then I decided to add stripes. I bought paint in two close shades - in fact, they were side by side on the paint chip. First, I painted the whole room the lighter color, and then Cara helped me measure and tape off 10-inch stripes, which we painted the darker color. The curtains are simply panels of fabric that I haven't sewn yet, and the chair was a serendipitous find. I wasn't even chair shopping when I discovered this at the fabric store - marked down from $550 to $190. I couldn't resist it! Well, I DID resist it for a day, but I went right back and got it the next afternoon. :)

(Click photos to enlarge)

I've painted more quotes on more walls in more buildings than I care to remember. This time, I cheated and used a computerized die cut machine to cut the letters out of self-adhesive vinyl. :)

This is the view from our bed. We have bookcases all over the house, but our room houses the books that are most special to us for whatever reason. Before the redo, this case was jam-packed with books. I made myself cull and purge, and then added trinkets - from here and there in forgotten corners and random cubby holes - that are special to Darren. The blue geode is from Pitkin, Colorado, where we've spent our past two summer vacations. The cross is made of peat, and came from our Ireland trip. The brass globe was a gift that my brother David gave Darren for Christmas when we were newly married. It has a secret compartment inside it, and David spent hours cleaning and shining it to like-new condition after finding it in a junk store. Darren has always loved it. The toile boxes are my "happy files" and contain letters, cards and notes from years past. The case on top houses Darren's clarinet, which he pulls out and plays every once in a while. I organized all of his sheet music and it's now stored in the ottoman by his chair.

We love our room. We spend HOURS in there now. I love to sit in the chair and read next to the window. Darren's sitting there working right now. I make the bed every day (ME!!) and keep the room pristine. It's a retreat within our own house. The kids know it's special, and think it's kinda cool that they're no longer allowed to bring toys in there, or sit on our bed, or sit in the chair, EVER, unless it's in one of our laps.

oh - and one more photo, especially for my neice Brittani. She gave this Eiffel Tower print to me for Christmas a few years ago, to commemorate Darren and my trip to Paris in 2002. I finally hung it! It makes me happy to think of Brit and then Paris first thing every morning. :)

It was a ton of work, but it's been GLORIOUS to have a space that's all our own. I did it for Darren, but I'm reaping the benefits as much as he is. :)