Red Poppies For Remembrance/Main Bedroom For Summer

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are well.

We have a Pottery Barn Outlet a few miles down the road. It is a hit or miss situation but sometimes there is something good. A few months ago, I found a few pillow shams in the bins. They all had a summery feel and I knew they would be fun on our summer beds. The bins are huge cardboard boxes filled with returns. There can be 10 or 12 bins at any given time. Everything in the bins is 70% off. Digging through is a lot of fun for a bargain hunter. 

I often tell Bill that if he can't find me, "Check the bins at Pottery Barn." It feels like you can fall in and never get out. 

One of the shams was the Poppy Organic Sham. 

Clearly, the poppy is not in the most prominent location on this sham which is why it may have been returned. 

I will often use a standard size pillow as a large pillow in the center of the bed. 

I love a lot of pillows on the bed but one larger one in the center does simplify the bed for summer. 

 

There are several fun motifs in the sham but I was drawn to the red poppy for two reasons.  

I had a few silk poppies from a summer wreath and I've never really decorated with them before. A new theme is always fun for me. Red is a fun accent color in the summer. 

The internet yielded some vintage poppy graphics and red glass was brought up from the dish closet. 

Poppies came across my radar in Normandy. I seem to recall, little paper poppies in a gift shop or something. Red poppies sprang up in the battles ravaged fields during WWI so they became a symbol of remembrance for those fallen in the war. Across the world, red poppies are worn on Armistice Day which is November 11th. I don't know how common it is these days, but poppies were worn on Memorial Day here in the States. Growing poppies in Texas must be a bit of a challenge because I've never seen them around here. 

An antique postcard was an eBay find. It's not the most inspiring message but it is dated February 15th, 1910. Five years before poppies sprang up during the war. 

Vintage flower frogs make great holders for old ephemera. 

Painting the bed was such a worthwhile project. It's completely satisfied my desire for a new bed. 

I love the cottage look that it has now. 

That is all for now. 

Have you ever decorated with poppies? 

Have a wonderful day. 

Katie 

Our Bedroom For Christmas 2021

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. 

There have been a few changes in our bedroom so I thought I'd share our room with a few Christmas touches.  

A month or so ago, Bill started to notice that his chair in the garden room was uncomfortable. 

We brought his recliner down from the game room to give that a try. Because that chair is electric, it was hard to get out of it for coffee refills and various pet interruptions in the evening. I don't know if you have one of those but it is like getting up in slow motion.  "Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." After just a few days, he realized that the recliner was not going to work.

 We took it back up the stairs and picked up a new chair and ottoman from IKEA. I wish you could have seen us trying to get that recliner up and down the stairs without scratching the floors. If our children knew what we get into, they would put us in a home. 

The new chair is the same Stradmon Chair but it is in a different color. You will get to see that next time I do a garden room post. 

Rather than give the gray Stradmon chair away, I wanted to keep it. 

Wing back chairs are classic. I gave two away in the 90s and I've regretted it several times. 

The fact that the cushions on this one are a little worn out isn't an issue because it isn't going to get used often. It's going to hold pillows at night. 

I really like it in here, which is funny because I didn't really care for it in the garden room. 

The latest bedding ensemble, was prompted by the gray chair. 

We have had the gray quilt for a few years. I found it at Tuesday Morning. It is a Ballard Design's dupe. Light quilts or coverlets are a must in Texas. the heat is on one day and the next day we might need the air conditioner. It was 80º last week. Our fans run all year except on cold nights. 

The black grainsack style pillow was a Target clearance item a while back. The throw is Pottery Barn. I love the plaid.  The needlepoint pillow is vintage. 

Painting the bed has given it new life. 

Here is photo of the gray bedding on the bed before it was painted. 

The walls and ceiling have also been painted since then. 

A floral painting over the mantel is one of my favorite pieces of art. 

It came to me from my step-nana. 

The mantel was freshened up this year too. I used Snowbound by Sherwin Williams. 

A garland with fairy lights brings sparkle. Simple and sweet cottages are dotted across the garland.

A darling antique metal car pulls up the wee village. 

When we got the mantel, we had to move the dresser. I'm not sure that I've ever showed you where I put it. Double doors from our room open to the game room. It's a room that doesn't get used very often anymore but you can imagine what it was like when we had teenagers. 

A red Dept 56 house was painted black a few years ago. It goes with our scheme so much better. 

Our little skinny tree was from Hobby Lobby. They have these every year. I love waking up to the cozy glow. 

Here are some kitty cat antics. 

That's it for now. It's so nice to have our room freshened up and sprinkled with a few Christmas touches.  

Blessings,

Katie 

The Bed In The Main Bedroom/My Dilemma

Hello, Friends, 

How are you? I hope you are doing well. 

I've wanted a new look for my bedroom for a while. I've been over the look of the bed. 

Are people supposed to buy furniture that lasts a lifetime? What is wrong with me that I like change so much? 

Are we flooded with media images that cause a need for new? 

Here are some photos of our bedroom over the years. 

We bought this bed in 2009. Craftsman Style was popular at the time. A lodge look was popular as well. The flyer that came with it had it photographed in a log home. 

It's never really looked like that in our home. I was attracted to it because it had a slight Victorian flare. Dark and heavy beds were very popular. It sort of reminded me of the one from my childhood which was made by my great grandfather. 

I liked our new bed but it was never love. Our room is weird with the window to the side because it always looks slightly off center. The dark and heaviness of it highlights this feature. 

We purchased the matching nightstands but the quality was terrible. 

My veneer top bubbled horribly after setting a glass on it three times. 

We got rid of them a couple of years ago. 

The quality of this isn't great and it has a painted stain effect instead of just stain.

In January, I painted the walls and the ceiling in our room. I'd scraped the popcorn a long time ago, but I'd never painted the ceiling. It was overdue for a paint job. Painting the room cleaned everything up but the big, brown bed was still bothering me.

 That oversized look is out and beds have since shrunk back down to appropriate proportions. 

I expressed to Bill that I desired to change it. I'd normally just go out and buy a new but we just bought the new house. 

This is our third bed.   

Our first bed belonged to my parents. It was in an early American style that was popular in the 50s and 60s. We bought our next door neighbor's blond four poster bed shortly after we bought this house. 

I'd always wished it was mahogany or cherry.

 Light furniture was out of style and dark furniture was still in when we bought this one in 2009. 

This bed was supposed to last us the rest of our lives. 

Bill thought we should just sell it but he didn't really understand my need for something different.  

A few weeks ago, we had dinner with some friends. 

They bought their oversized, dark bed about the same time that we bought this one. As we caught up, they told us about their bedroom redecoration. They'd pulled up the carpet and had done wood-look tile. They took the theirs apart to do the floor and decided it wasn't going back into the room. 

They wanted a new look. 

When I saw that they had a new one, I pointed it out to Bill. 

He was open to the idea of getting something new. 

 I've surfed Facebook Marketplace. I've shopped my thrift store. I've looked at hundreds of images on Pinterest trying to find a something that I like. The beds in my favorite images are a light color or they are white. Most of the painted examples have more ornate carving than ours. Ours has farmhouse lines so I have looked at every one that looks remotely farmhouse. 

I've shopped for new. I'd like something metal but I think that look may already be someone dated and the reviews for the one I liked weren't that great.  Upholstered varieties are very popular but I didn't see any that I loved. 

I did find one that I love. It is the Beauvier King in French Blue. 

It is $3299.00. 

That is not happening. 

For the last couple of days, I have mulled over all the options. 

I think I need to pull out a can of paint and just go for it. 

What do I have to lose? 

If we don't like it, we are back to square one. I think, however, that I will like it. 

I hope Bill does. 

The first coat is always so scary. 

I'll be back with the reveal and Bill's reaction.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Katie