Saturday, May 24, 2008

A Tale Of Two Bedrooms



Mine is the top photo. I fabric covered the wall to hide a connecting door to another room in this shotgun style house. The fabric is burlap, as cheap as you can get. I love the natural fiber, and the earthy feeling, and the contrast of something rough with my French antiques.
The headboard is hung high, to give the impression of a southern style Tester bed. It is a French antique, Directoire (1700's), day bed that lost it rails long ago. One day I might use it as a daybed again, space permitting.
I use mid century (20th) lamps (found in the trash) with Pottery Barn lampshades. The painting is also mid century, done by kitsch painter Carlo of Hollywood. I got it after Katrina in depression driven eBay shopping blow-out. The subject evoked the feelings I had, and still have about that experience. The little coronet is a nod to classic French bedroom decor. It's mid 20th century too, and I hooked it onto an upside down metal shelf from Pier One that I spray painted gold to match the coronet. I used to have it tricked out with flowing blue and white toile fabric, but got sick of it after several years.
The bedding is pared down for the summer, and I had a lucky match with the color of the blanket. The black and white curtain is off the rack, and way too short for the ginormous windows in rooms with 12 foot high ceilings. I hung an "underskirt" of a canvas drop cloth to add length.
The chandy is a 2oth mid century knock off of French style, with fringe shades from TJ Maxx.
The bench is just a cheap thing, with a slip cover I had made. Cholo loves it, and it's great to whip off the slipcover and give it a regular washing,
There are stripe sisal rugs on each side of the bed, and repro French country nightstands. The room is large, so there is also a shabby armoire for the TV, two painted pine bombe chests, each with a different very large mirror above it. There is also a sweet vintage arm chair done in a French style.
Even though the room is inspired by a book called The French Woman's Bedroom, I think it is not too girly for the hubs.
The second photo is interesting, because the same elements - bed, night stands, lamps, large horizontal piece over the bed - are in evidence. Yet the interpretation is vastly different.
Both spaces are currently on Rate My Space.

2 comments:

h. m. settoon said...

While I liked the French look, I think I like this better, but mainly because I love upholstered walls and burlap. I made my living room curtains in offwhite burlap because I needed 5 panels and the linen I wanted was too expensive. 2.99 vs. 10.00/yd

Visual Vamp said...

You are so right! I like the French thing too, but I wanted to have the padded wall to hide a connecting door. Plus I got to really showcase the Carlo painting. Even if I had mo' money, I would still use burlap. Have you been to Bush Antiques? They use burlap for curtains & it's very pretty, so I am sure yours are even nicer.