Getting our bedroom to a point where we could move our things in and start sleeping in the space seemed to take forever. However, once the walls were painted we were able to haul our bed into the room and finally stop sleeping on the floor. This was an immediate solution to the stress I was feeling our first few weeks in the house. It took some time to start arranging things in the room, but initially just the color we chose for the walls was relaxing enough to create a refuge.
I have always like Tiffany Box Blue as a color for walls– it is bright, cheery, and it really makes white pop against it. I began a crazy hunt to figure out how to get my hands on some Tiffany Box Blue paint. This is a tough task, because Tiffany’s has the rights over that specific color. This means that no one can sell a true Tiffany Box Blue– even the Pantone color (called Tiffany Blue) is unavailable, which seems nuts, but is true. I spent some time in several different paint aisles searching the blues. The nearest match I found was Benjamin Moore’s color Scuba Green. Yes, it has green in the name, but it is as close to Tiffany Box Blue and I could get. This color is luminescent on the walls and at just the right time in the late afternoon our entire room seems to glow. We love it.
The room is not finished, but I am going to show you where we are in the process of pulling it together so far.
After we painted the walls, we decided that the brassy wall sconce fixtures in the room were a bit too, well, brassy. Silver and white look so nice with our Scuba Green walls and we found two discounted, brushed silver sconces on sale at our local hardware store. It was quick and easy to swap these out and the silver looks much better.
I found a $35 dresser on Craigslist that looks good now and can be switched out later if I find something I prefer. In our never-ending garage sale quest we scored a lovely, antique round mirror for $10. I pulled these things into the room first and went from there.
Because white looks so nice against the Scuba Green walls, I grabbed a painting from our collection that we love by Merrliee Challis. It looked great on the wall near the window and I was attracted to way the touch of red in this painting stood out in contrast to the wall color. Below the painting I hung this small collection of metal box frames I picked up in Mexico years ago. I lined the inside of them with red velvet and stitched some little milagros charms inside.
With this small arrangement on the wall I had suddenly decided on a vague color scheme for the room– white and Scuba Green with touches of red.
At another garage sale we picked up a $5 shelf that I hauled home and painted white, it fit nicely in the corner beneath the painting, etc.
Because the small metal box frames worked so well beneath Merrilee’s painting I decided to hang my collection of Mexican tin mirrors on another wall. The bright silver stands out on the walls and reflects natural light from the window, which really helps to brighten up the room.
Looking at Merrilee’s painting and all the vein-y lines reminded me that Garth and I had picked up a couple of faux coral wall hooks and matching drawer pulls at a flea market last year (in anticipation of the home we knew we would be decorating). I dug these out of a box and liked their vein-y quality hanging close to the painting. They seemed like a perfect decorative way to organize some of my jewelry. I screwed the two hooks on either side of the round mirror and mounted the small drawer pulls on an oval piece of wood (you can pick these up at most craft stores– though mine came from the thrift store) that I painted white. Once all these things were up on the wall, everything felt like it was made to go in the space.
At this point I turned my attention to the window treatments. Initially the windows had very long, sheer curtains that ended in lace. We enjoyed the light filtered through the sheer curtains but weren’t found of the way the length disguised the interesting shape of our window. I pulled these down and shortened them. I also used this pattern to create a draped window with red trim.
For now, this is what has been achieved in the bedroom. Now for the bigger problem, which is what I am still hoping to tackle in the room.
I am sure you have been wondering about the completely bizarre, round, beige carpeted bed that sits in our room. The bed was part of Garth’s dowry when we were married. He acquired it in college when he was a swinging independent record store owner in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a charming asset when we first met, and though all of his old friends seem to expect his wife to give it the old heave-ho, I like the bed. It is quirky and weird and Elvis has one in Graceland. Above the mirrored section is a stereo and eight track player. Hidden in the hood there used to be a t.v. set with a tiny, tiny screen that Garth has since replaced with a small flat screen (at the moment none of this technology is hooked up because neither one of us can stay awake to watch television when lying down).
I love the bed, but can’t stand the bedside tables that came with it– one is conveniently covered in mirror (the height of [sniffffffffffff] function in the 70’s), the other is just a small cylinder covered in matching beige carpet. We need to locate two night stands that have storage to hold our bedside books, alarm and radio. I have yet to stumble upon the right nightstand solution.
The next problem is that the bed HAS GOT to be reupholstered. I have always liked the bed and hated the upholstery. I haven’t settled on the right fabric yet (nor have I actually finished an upholstery job). Here is where you can all help me out– you’ve seen our room and decorations, is there a great source for upholstery fabric somewhere that I haven’t found? Do you have good suggestions for the bed overhaul? Fabric choices? Upholstery advice? This is going to be a big job, but I think I can handle it after I have found a good source for fabric. I would also love to hear any helpful tips or be pointed to good upholstery internet resources. Thanks in advance for your help and sweet dreams!
I vote white leather for the clamshell bed. Everything’s looking fantastic. I love following along with your work!
Maybe a crushed red or royal blue velvet(een) on the inside of the clamshell and something neutral and dark on the outside?
I like how you personalized your bedroom. It’s great when you can have fun with color and create such a feeling and unique personality just for you two. It’s warm and happy and it sure brings a chuckle – so it’s clear you guys have a sense of humor.
Aqua Chiffon A58-3 by Olympic. Too late now, but for anyone else looking for a Tiffany Blue close match.
Obviously, please stay away from patterned, or heavily patterned, fabric for the inside. Even the outside!
Hi, I LOVE that bed too, it’s awesome!! I’ve never seen one like it. I do however really like the bedside table with the mirrored top. (Sorry.) If you want new bedside tables, JC Penney had french deco-ish mirrored bedroom pieces. Sorry I’m ignorant to your location but here is a fabric store suggestion, Fishmans Fabrics on the south side of Chicago. They have all kinds of wonderful fabrics and a large upholstery section. I just hope they are still there. They might do mail order? They will cut swatches for you and tell you fabric content etc. Just don’t drive there well after dark, it’s not the best area.
I reread your comment and you asked for a fabric website, so here is another suggestion. Vogue is across the street from Fishman’s in Chicago, if for some reason you wanted to have a road trip for fabric.
http://www.voguefabricsstore.com
Their prices are more what you’d expect than Fishman’s but doesn’t have the specialty fabrics of the prior.
Here is another suggestion for color, what about a brownish/grey/blue similar to the color of a Weimaraner dog in a cotton velveteen?
everything looks fabulous! I love the color of the room… your metal art and other details are very fun and personal. Perhaps Santa Claus will bring you something else from Mexico! Keep up the great work. I am anxious for you to start on my room.
Take a road trip to A MAJOR city, like San Fran or LA. In LA there is a huge fabric district with sooooo many fabric shops your eyes might explode. And fabric district shops are usually half the price or less than JoAnn’s. But if you want to stay closer to home. Use the 40% off coupon and special order some from JoAnn’s.
Try having your curtains and the upholstery as the same fabric. Maybe a white and red gingham? Or barkcloth with a floral?
That color looks really beautiful, especially with the red accents. I also love Tiffany blue, and here is a secret to how I had Lowe’s mix the color: I took in a sample and had them match it. It’s not the color that a paint place would have an objection to, on an individual basis…it’s the name. Lowe’s didn’t identify that color for me, they just matched my sample. Anyway, the color you found looks very close, and looks great. Nice work.
No ideas about fabric, but I think centering the bed on the wall and then finding a set of wall-mounted shelves instead of a traditional nightstand would be an interesting solution to the bedtime book/alarm clock storage issue. I’m thinking with your superior scavenging techniques you could find some great shelves to do the trick. Really enjoy getting to see the progress.
I would go for something light and neutral. Since the bed is so heavy, a light color would keep it from weighing down the room and something neutral is great if you’re neurotic like me and switch out your bedding seasonally. I love furniture that lets me play with accent colors. Our bedroom is a Tiffany-blue clone (Water 01 by Yolo Colorhouse) and we’re upholstering a gray headboard. I’m loving the tiffany/gray/organge combo.
They don’t have the best lines and selections, but if you’re willing to dig, nothing beats the price of Jo-Ann’s when you have that 40% off coupon, especially with the cost of home dec fabric.
Good luck! That bed is made of awesome, I can’t wait to see the finished product.
Well, since you have the vein and coral design… http://thibautdesign.com/Collection/patternDetailFab.aspx?pid=909&prdId=5196
Maybe this fabric would interest you with the inside of the bed…
I think reupholstering the bed in a charcoal grey velvety material would both make the bed pop and not have it seem like it’s overwhelming the space. I also vote for smaller side tables to balance out the bed and make everything on that wall feel a bit more symmetrical and grounded, like it’s always belonged there. As for bed linens, a pillowy white, with maybe some rich orange accents.
Leave the bed its retro and its something you will not find very often. I know someone who has one and its awesome.
If you change it you will not be able to make it look the same.
Just my opinion for what its worth.
Put the bed in the main part of the room so you can use both end tables on each side.
Good luck…..
The room would have looked cool in red too….
Give it more of a retro look or add in animal prints.
There is a gentleman in Curacao who lives by the ocean. His eyes are clear as the ocean waters and, like the ocean, he is strong-willed. his name is Bert Knubben.(64) He is on the beach of the BREEZES Holiday Resort and a craftsman of the exclusive “kings” black coral jewelry which he stubbornly insist must be written black “koral”. A solid touch, since the initials are his own and on Curacao, he is similar with this semiprecious gem which he painstakingly makes in his tiny store, the KORALART gallery, together with his pretty wife Fennie, on the palm sands of the Breezes Resort.