Tag Archives: bedroom

Bedtime Stories: Conquering Your Fears

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Being a kid is both awesome and awesomely horrific. From an adult perspective, we recognize the wonderful liberation children have from work, bills, stress. But on the flip side, being a kid is rough. For one thing, relatively minor, if not downright harmless things can be terrifying; darkness, spooky stories, chestnuts. So here are two books about confronting childhood fears and overcoming them.

Willoughby and the Moon by Greg Foley.

Young Willoughby relies on the moon to illuminate his bedroom at night. Inexplicably, the moon seems to be getting smaller by the day. Suddenly, the moon disappears completely. When Willoughby opens his closet door, he discovers he is on the moon and in the company of a giant silvery snail looking for his ball. Willoughby is scared of the dark, the snail is scared of everything else. Somehow between the two they learn that none of that stuff is really worth getting worked up over.

The Scariest Thing of All by Deb Gliori.

This little rabbit is scared of everything, from reasonable things like these trolls which, in this book, are totally real, to chestnut pods which are also real but an unreasonable thing to fear. Through a dubious leap of logic, the rabbit realized that he is the scariest thing in the world and all these monsters are afraid of him. I don’t like this book; it’s too cutesy and moronic. My kid makes me read it nearly every day. Maybe you will have the same fortune.

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Things We Like: Eclectic Bedroom Design


Post by Kyle St. Romain.

Last week we distinguished modern and contemporary design. While the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they convey two distinct meanings: modern design refers to a specific era of design (1920-1970) and many of the more popular pieces from this time are dubbed “20th Century Classics,” while contemporary design refers to a blend of design that embodies a more transient style characterized by what’s popular today. The two can often look similar, but rest assured they are quite different. The devil’s in the details.

Today, I want to discuss my favorite design style: eclectic design. I’ve been told before that you have to be rich to be eclectic; otherwise you’re just weird, though I like to think that’s not the case. Eclectic design is really hard to pin down, but you’ll know it when you see it.

Eclectic design is really a combination of all design styles that just works. Indeed, eclectic is defined as: “deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources. To achieve an eclectic design, people often use traditional furniture pieces and accent them with bold colors and a variety of decorative pieces. I find that a warehouse style loft condo is the best canvas to turn eclectic, since the exposed ceilings and ductwork offers a strong contrast to just about anything you put in the space.


What draws me the most to eclectic design is that it allows you to completely personalize your living space. Rather than being stuck to a particular theme or style, you’re free to do just about whatever makes you happy. That said, you do need to have an overall plan in mind for your space even if it doesn’t come together all at once. Basic design principles like rhythm and balance are very important when designing with an eclectic palette since you won’t be able to rely as much on uniformity in your furnishings like you would if you stuck to a more conventional style of design. For example, the visual weight of traditional furniture may be harder to balance with modern accent pieces; whereas, if you used all traditional or all modern furnishings they would more easily balance right out of the box.

The best way to perfect an eclectic design in your bedroom, or throughout your home, is to experiment with various furnishings, colors, and decorations to find out what works best in your space. As always, a low risk way to get a feel for eclectic design is to comb over photos of how others have done it, successfully, before. Houzz has a great gallery for eclectic bedrooms, which you can view here.

What style of design speaks to you the most? Let us know in the comments below.

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Bedroom Design: Quick Change: A Tale of Two Lampshades

Post by Erin Sears.

In looking for ways to take my own bedroom design advice and begin again, I started assessing the contents of my bedroom. What do I love? What feels not-so-much? After taking a visual tour of the space, my eye kept getting stuck on my bedside lamps. The base of each lamp is fabulous (I am not humble about my own good taste), but one of the lampshades felt particularly ho-hum.

Here’s the story and what I did about it:

The first lampshade: Ordinary. Hard to clean and rapidly yellowing (gross). Similar to the one pictured below.

Source: lightingforum.com

Here’s the thing:  Many lamps that you buy in mid-range home furnishing stores or from catalog outlets are great design choices, but they usually come with plain lampshades so that they can be easily integrated into the scheme of any room.  But you don’t live in just ANY room, do you?  Certainly not!  You LIVE in YOUR rooms.  Time to switch things up! (pun intended)

While I was back in the Midwest for the holidays, I took a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth, also known as Target, with my dear mother.  Target has a new line of home goods called Threshold and I was instantly enamored with the look and quality of many of the products.  In the lighting section, I stumbled across this beauty:

The second lampshade: Ombre glory. Sea and sand magic.

Source: target.com

Knowing it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase I put my ownership ambitions on hold and hoped that the lampshade could also be found at my local store.  When I arrived it was in stock and for a cool 23 bucks it became MINE.  And you know what?  This little change has made all the difference.  It easily took my bedroom design up a notch.

Here are some other gorgeous options for lampshades that really light me up:

Source: hillarythomas.com

Emily Wagner Handpainted Lampshade  $99

Source: target.com

Threshold Blue Ikat Print Lampshade  $22.99

Source: target.com

Threshold Mix and Match Trellis Shade  $14.99

Source: Anthropologie.com

The Myriad Horizons Lampshade  $98-$118

When in doubt, try a new lampshade! Really. Setting my sights on subtle bedroom design upgrades has proven to be transformative and oh-so-very pleasing. What can you switch up?

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Movies in Bed: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Post by Josh Zinn.

Hello, dear readers! While being under the weather and incapacitated this past week has taught me an enormous amount about life, the immune system, and my undying love of apple crisp, perhaps nothing has resonated more with me than this revelation:

Though I am by all means a homebody, I am by no means a housewife.

I realized this specific distinction whilst watching an 8-hour marathon of Bravo TV’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” this past weekend. There, in that gilded cage known as reality television, Botoxed women with breasts, Birkin bags, and bucks a’plenty show little regard for sanity, sobriety, or civility as they compete amongst themselves for the adoration of a tweeting fan base. As I unceasingly observed them from the comfort of my bed/infirmary, their tantrums over issues such as petty gossip, suicide, book deals, and the loss of one’s husband to Leann Rimes began to really hit home with me, disrobing me of the veil of judgment I was all too happy to wear in their honor.

Now, mind you, I have never lost a lover to a country chanteuse. For that matter, I’ve never been to rehab, had a former career as a dancer on Club MTV, nor have I willingly injected anything into my face—unless you count that time in 1988 when I made my Mom take me to Claire’s Boutique to get my ears pierced because I wanted to look like George Michael. What I do know all too well, however, is the unyielding pressure of scandal, sass, and scintillation that accompanies a personality too big—too glamorous, really—for everyday life to contain on its own.

Instead, it must be documented for the world to see!!

Therefore, I decided to attempt to become a housewife for a day. Here’s how it went:

7:30AM – Wake up. No one is waiting for me with a bathrobe. I have to make my own coffee. It’s too cold. Have to microwave it. Now it tastes like the Tikka Masala leftovers we had a couple of days ago.
9:00AM – Thought about exercising. That was fun. Watched a cooking show instead.
10:00AM – Gonna get into the shower now. Oh, wait… The View is on.
11:00AM – I still haven’t talked to anyone today. My better half is STILL asleep. I’m still thinking about exercising, but now it seems like a chore and I’ve already unloaded the dishwasher, so that’s more than enough for the day.
1:00PM – I ate an apple. Because I was feeling naughty, I had it with peanut butter. Thank goodness all my blinds are closed or the paparazzi might see me awkwardly slumping here on my couch.
2:00PM – Finally left the house to buy toilet paper, deodorant, and groceries and noticed that there are an inordinate amount of children out on the streets. Oh god, it’s a holiday. That’s it. I’m going back home. The hummus can wait.
4:30PM – Wish I had bought that hummus.
6:00PM – Just watched a documentary on North Korea and followed that with one on Bigfoot. Two mysterious entities no one knows much about. I’m already in my pajamas.
8:00PM – Maybe I’ll call my editor. He’s not answering. I leave a message that makes me sound morose when, in fact, I’m really just bored.
9:00PM – I love my DVR, but I’ve seen all of these episodes of Four Weddings already. I have a moment of hating myself for allowing this to actually be a problem, but the angst is extinguished by my decision to watch that DVD of My Super Sweet 16 I procured from my parents’ house.
11:00PM – I can’t believe how stuck up and lazy all those girls are! Maybe I’ll not move for another half hour and watch another episode…
11:30PM – I just opened a bag of chocolate chips and ate a handful because we have nothing sweet in the house.
11:35PM – I eat another handful, but try to put too many in my mouth at once and a bunch of chocolate chips fall onto the floor. I’ll sweep them up tomorrow.
12:00AM – I guess I should go to bed. All this glamour has tuckered me out. Dangit, I forgot to make the bed and the sheet is somehow twisted in a knot and on the floor. Life is so hard!
12:15AM – The walls of my apartment are thin and the reclusive neighbor next to me snores really loudly. It’s like he’s reaching out for a friend, but deep down I know he isn’t.
12:30AM – Maybe my coffee will taste like coffee tomorrow. Good night.

As you can see, dear readers, while this day was action-packed, it nonetheless lacks that certain “something” that makes a housewife a HOUSEWIFE. Thank goodness, then, for Bravo’s bevy of beauties and their critical role as spokeswomen for the secret stars in all of us. In-between all those times I was vomiting into a paper bag, they made this weekend a real winner.

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Bedroom Design:We ♥ Valentine Pillows

Post by Stephanie Noble.

The first rule of any design show makeover of a bedroom is more pillows! Not just the pillows you rest your head on while you sleep, but ambiance pillows of varying shapes, textures and patterns.

I’ll admit to being a reformed pillow fanatic. I wanted my bedroom to look like a hotel room every time I walked in. But, with a long commute, a full time job, a 19 month old son and a never ending stream of laundry to fold; my husband and I are lucky if the bed gets made. There is simply no time for complex pillow schemes. So we’ve streamlined our cushion display to three sleeping pillows each and a turquoise satin embroidered pillow. My great grandmother started the pillow in the 1920s. My grandmother worked on it at some point during the 1960s and my aunt finished it in the 1990s.  This family treasure is the only decorative pillow in our cushion lineup.

That’s not to say I do not notice other pillows. I do, all the time. They are such a quick and easy way to freshen up a room. They’re also an easy nod to a holiday without going overboard.  Although, I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day, I’ll admit to being attracted to Valentine pillows. Here are a few of my favorites.

These Scrabble-inspired pillows are all over Etsy.

 


This personalized tree initials pillow cover is available in five colors from Red Envelope.

 


This love postcard pillow cover is available online only from Pottery Barn.

It’s not too late to add a Valentine flair to your room.

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