When I started my recent bedroom makeover, I had an overall plan (see previous post for the big picture view). But I find that its often the details that make a space your own...and that sometimes, happy coincidences turn out in your favor...
First example...a couple of weeks ago, I bought this great bag from Kimberly at Faded Elegance...I had a plan to reinforce the bottom and add leather straps so it could be my everyday bag...
but the burlap of the bag picked up the detail of the burlap bed skirt...
and the bold black type reinforced the bold black metal shelves...
so I just had to turn it into a pillow!
I removed the stitching from the bottom so that the bag lay flat...ironed out the seams...took off the velcro closure...cut the straps in half...inserted a down pillow form...folded over the top...tied the cut straps into square knots...
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Behind the overstuffed chair, I kept my rusted refrigerator coil (the history of the coil can be found here)...but needed artwork that worked better with the new space...a vintage pen & ink drawing of a french market (gleaned from goodwill years ago) was my first pick.
Wanting to repeat the leaf motif in the curtains, I pulled together a simple multi-media collage...old beat up white painted frame ($1 at a flea market two summers ago), a piece of cardboard with white paint and a portion of an old dictionary page glued on and then partially torn off (free), one large maple leaf (free) attached with linen bookbinding tape (from my supply stash)
and finished off with one of my favorite Thoreau quotes, typed with the help of my vintage Royal typewriter (the best $10 I ever spent at St Vinnie's!)
On my side of the bed, I displayed one of my Audubon bird prints...again, the leaves in the print mimicked the pattern in the curtains...and the subtle blue/green tones tied in with the overstuffed chair...
a simple vignette of vintage silver along with a photo of my parents on their wedding day adds a personal memento...
it was important to me to have a lot of texture in this space so that it didn't feel weighted
down with the black and the gray...
the wood slat blinds...which repeats the pattern of the refrigerator coil...
the basket for Calvin's toys, which complements the tones of the baskets on the shelves...
the best coincidence was the area rug...with the old cranberry pattern rug gone, we needed something on the floor to help dampen sound and provide a little softness on bare feet...while standing up to Calvin, our golden retriever...the cream wool shag I saw at IKEA would last about a week...I really wasn't finding anything that would work...until I travelled down to the basement...and found the large size flat weave rug I bought two summers ago when it was the end of the summer season...its one of those indoor/outdoor sisal-type rugs...and though its not the perfect solution...it works for now...
I still have a few details to work out...but all in all, we're happy and comfortable with the new bedroom look...
and that's the most important detail...
