Redecorating the Bedroom

All this month I’m going to be talking about bedroom redecorating. I’ll also have lots of other useful tips for around the house, including 2 great design dilemmas. But I’m just finishing a much needed spruce-up of my own bedroom and thought it might be fun to focus on the room we spend so much of our time. The bed, below is from Portuguese company, Jet Class.

I’m asking all my readers to help me out. What questions do you have about decorating bedrooms? Trendy and soothing color palettes? Storage? Small spaces? How to add a little romance? Let me know what’s on your mind and all questions will be answered. Here’s what you can look forward to:

• An interview with SFerra, a premier linen company. Their sheets are a dream to sleep on.
• My take on decorating for teen and children’s rooms.
• How to dress the bed.
• Color and lighting to add softness and drama
• And lots and lots of bedroom photos to inspire you.

Take a moment to think about your own bedroom. Is there room for improvement? Are there products you’re searching for? Or, is your bedroom design perfection? Send me a photo or a bedroom design dilemma . Ask me a question. Let’s make August what it ought to be -¬† a restful and relaxing month.

Suzani love times three

As many of you know, I adore suzani prints. I’m working on an art project using them and have been surfing around looking for unusual versions. My research revealed one particular style that’s especially popular. Here’s how three different magazines used the same suzani coverlet to style a room.

This bedroom, from Domino Magazine, features the suzani used as a coverlet, with another blanket folded at the end of the bed. A variety of pillowcases give the room a Bohemian look.

The same suzani is used as a tablecloth in this dining room from Elle Decor. I love the mix of color and pattern – green on the windows, Chinese wallpaper on the wall, leopard print on the chairs and suzani on the table. Would you have thought to add blue and pink to this room? I think the stylist brought it along.

I think this room is also from Elle Decor. It’s been in my image file for a while. This time, the suzani is a bedspread, teamed with Moroccan details.

After a little more searching, I found the resource for this particular suzani. Circa Trade offers it in various sizes, along with a wide variety of other vintage suzanis.

I think my favorite of these three is the first. Which one is yours?

image: Sam Simon Upton

Decorating your bedroom: Restoration Hardware v SFERRA & Scandia Down

I’ve got an interesting story to share. Comfy? My story starts last week when I went to Restoration Hardware to purchase their Italian sheets, which were 20% off. (I’m in their designer program, so I get 20% off all the time, except for sale items.)

Restoration Hardware’s Italian Sheets

I knew that SFERRA was also having a sale offering 10% off (same trade discount deal there). Even so, SFERRA is better quality, therefore I assumed their prices would be higher. Since Scandia Down is just across the street (the mall street), I figured it was worth a quick jaunt to check. I was glad I did.

Will someone wait on me please?

First, the saleswomen at Scandia Down are salespeople – not clerks. They know their products. And they sell a lot of different brands, so that’s saying something. They once helped me pull a difficult look together. It took a considerable amount of time to do. But they were happy to do it, and, in fact, had fun trying different things. This time was no different. Knowing that price was important, the saleswoman suggested SFERRA’s Grande Hotel sheets (details to come) and pulled out the samples. Having the color I wanted in hand, she took me and the sample back to Restoration for a comparison. Which brings me to Point A.

SFERRA’s Grande Hotel Sheets

I really don’t like shopping at Restoration because, if you can actually get someone to wait on you, they behave as if they’d rather not. They only thing they seem to know is the location of objects in the store. Help me mix and match things to create a look? FAIL.

The quality face-off

On to Point B – the quality and price comparison. Both brands were soft, but the stiching on the SFERRA sheets was superior. And the embroidered edging was fuller and more even. SFERRA wins on quality. Restoration’s sheets are sold as a set with pillowcases. I never use those, so I also buy shams ($79 each). Since SFERRA’s sheets are sold separately, they were the winner here as well – the prices were actually just about the same, but I’m not stuck with 2 pillowcases I’ll never use.

This is the end of my story. The moral is don’t make assumptions on price. And, be a salesperson, not a clerk.

Thoughts?

Clarissa Hulse’s jewel-toned fabrics and wallpapers

A happy surprise at ICFF was discovering the work of Clarissa Hulse. Her interior design products are sold in shops throughout the world as well as her own shop Online.

Clarissa began creating fabrics from her home base in the UK in 1992. Her line is now extensive and includes wallpapers, bedding, and pillows.

I love her jewel-toned fabrics and wallpapers which are hand-screened onto linen and silk. Her fabrics come in upholstery and “soft home” weight (that means a lighter weight for curtains, pillows, etc.) and are sold by the meter.

One of my favorite fabrics is Virginia Creeper (above). It comes in four colorways. Briar (below) comes in six. Love that one, too.

These chairs are awesome! I’m also showing a peek at her bedding line and gifts, like notebooks.

Something else that’s cool about Clarissa is that she’s a Hulse, which is my maiden name. I don’t often run across it. I guess that makes us cousins, doesn’t it?

One King’s Lane

One Kings Lane is a new site dedicated to selling only the finest merchandise at prices that are up to 70% off.

Many of their items are on sale for only one day and sell out fast.

One annoyance is that you have to register before you can shop. But they will give you a $25 gift certificate for getting your friends to sign up.

That’s a pretty nice deal.

via: NY Times