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Saturday, March 1, 2008

Designer Challenge~ The Bedroom

Angela is crying out for help with her bedroom. She specifically wanted me to respond. This is where it gets tricky. Does she want to know what she should do, or what I might do with an endless budget? Grin. There are so many possibilities, but I am going to attempt to give the beginnings of two ideas. I may offer a second post with additional accessorizing ideas later on.





The very first thing I would suggest is to remove all accessories and start with a clean slate. The very next thing is to add color on the walls. I like to work with themes, so I am offering two today: #1~travel and #2~organic.

#1. TRAVEL
Let's add some paint first. Go with April Mist or Southern Breeze. (They are actually a tad bit greener than they scanned in...)
Add bedding. I like the red. (From Pottery Barn)
Make a statement above the bed. Find a large (and I mean large) vintage travel poster or hang 3 together. Frame them in wood tones to match furniture. These are from art.com:
You could also enlarge your favorite travel photos, frame them, and hang them (3 wide) above the bed.

On the bare wall between the dormers, hang three clocks (close to the ceiling line). Go to a sign company and have them make vinyl lettering for you, naming your favorite 3 cities. Adhere the lettering to the wall below the clocks and set the clocks for the correct times for each city. This picture is from an older Pottery Barn catalog, but I don't think they are available any longer:
In one dormer window, make a stack of vintage suitcases:
These are available at Pottery Barn:
In the other window, create a window seat using a storage bench similar to this (preferably in a similar finish as the other furniture) (photo from Pottery Barn):
The baskets in the storage bench add great texture! I think bamboo blinds would look lovely on the windows.

In the small wall space between the closet doors, frame 3 vintage postcards or luggage stickers and hang the grouping vertically. Make sure there is a little wall space on the sides of the frames.

On the long hallway wall, mount strips of moulding to create photo shelving. Buy frames all in the same finish (match furniture or lamps, multiple sizes are just fine), insert your favorite travel photos, and display. You could also frame a few maps or sections of maps to add to the photos.
I'll be thinking about accessories over the next few days.

#2~ ORGANIC
Paint the walls Asparagus (again, a tad bit brighter than they scanned in):
Add the bedding. Go with a simple natural (in the collection above) and accessorize with botanical themed pillows and throws (photos from Pottery Barn, again):Get a vinyl stick on monogram from Pottery Barn or go to a sign shop and have them create a custom one for you. White or chocolate colored would look wonderful.
Hang a trio of botanical prints vertically between the two closet doors or horizontally just below the ceiling line on the wall between the dormers. (Guess where I found this photo...)
In the dormers, place window seat benches as above (in the travel theme) or a comfy wicker chair like this one. Again, bamboo blinds would work well.

On the large blank hallway wall, paint (or have someone paint) a large tree shape like this or this (yep, Pottery Barn) (I would go with white or chocolate to match the monogram above the bed):
Turn it into a family tree by making leaf-shaped tags with the names of family members and use poster putty to adhere to tree.

Again, I'll work on accessories over the next few days... But there is a start!

12 comments:

Jen Rouse said...

I love both those themes! Here are just a couple tips to add:

If you're looking for vintage travel postcards, check out this eBay seller: phenomenon1859. She (or he, I don't know which) sells digital downloads of vintage images. For $1.50, I bought some very cool digital images of vintage French travel postcards, printed them out on cardstock, and have them hanging up in my kitchen.

An idea for the big tree picture on the wall would be to get a vinyl wall decal. Go to etsy.com and search for "vinyl wall" and all sorts of sellers who specialize in these decals will come up in your results. I have seen some really neat tree silhouette ones, as well as other really neat images.
They're like a big sticker that you apply to your wall, and you can peel it off with the wall undamaged when you are tired of it.

Lacy said...

I just wanted to say "I LOVE YOUR BLOG." I love the ideas you gave for the bedrooms...I was shaking my head yes each time I scrolled down to another picture! I love your style and can wait to see what is next.
Lacy In Texas

Heidi said...

Jen~ Thank you so much for those suggestions! It is hard for me to make recommendations sometimes because I know where to get things locally, but not online. I had no idea you could get the vinyl decals on etsy! I appreciate the tips.

Lacy~ Thanks for stopping by and commenting! It is always nice to hear from readers.

Unknown said...

Wonderful suggestions, Heidi! I was thinking of a colour similar to the first colour you suggested. All of us can take these tips and use them in our home, so though you were only addressing one person specifically, you've blessed others as well.

Angela said...

Designer Heidi,

Thank you so much!!!! I love the ideas. This is exactly what I needed, someone to come in and inspire. You are so multi-dimensional and talented - I appreciate you taking the time to work on a strangers room (Are blogging friends really strangers? We perhaps know more than we need to too??)

First, you have to know that I have travelled all over the world (I grew up in the travel business- so I naturally love the travel theme and the vintage posters/clocks and colors.

But then I was torn, because I love the calmness of #2/botanical- I especially love the tree idea, since our family history dates back to the 900's in Europe. That would be a great thing to do and have for the children. ( It might encourage me to recyclee...like you West coast people...tee hee...)

Now can I just fly you out to help get the job done????

Thanks Heidi- I really do appreciate it!

Angela said...

Oooopss...I need to proofread!

Anonymous said...

Here are some great ideas for wall decor from the Picturewall Company. They sell an all in one kit that creates the entire gallery (including frames) in 15 minutes. GREAT IDEA. http://www.thepicturewallcompany.com/product.html

Dreams of a Country Girl said...

any ideas on how to get vintage suitcases cheap...either real vintage or knockoffs....i do not care....

pottery barn is too steep of a price for me

Heidi said...

Angela~ I'm very glad you like the ideas! Do you have another room you could use the 2nd idea in? I think the family tree would great for a family room or even a large entry...

Jen Rouse~ You are in soooooooo much trouble. I should *never* have looked at the vinyl wall stuff on etsy! There are currently 3 things in my shopping cart and I haven't even begun. So much for the budget, LOL!

Caralyn~ I was hoping those ideas would help others as well! That is the fun part of posting things on the internet. :)

Anonymous~ I'm off to check out the site... Thanks!

Country Girl~ I just checked on ebay (searching 'vintage suitcases') and there seemed to be endless, reasonably priced choices. Steep isn't in my budget either. :)

Kim -today's creative blog said...

Great ideas and so do-able!
I need to spruce up my bedroom too. So many decisions.

You know you can add your blinkie to your side bar, right? But, maybe you don't want it there.....not trying to be pushy. :)

Heidi said...

Kim~ Thanks so much for reminding me about the blinkie. I meant to add that and forgot! You aren't pushy. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Beverly said...

You are incredibly talented! I loved the ideas for Angela's bedroom. The only problem now is making a choice, although you suggested she use the botanical theme in another room which is a terrific idea, too.