Bedroom Tour

The view, as you stand in the doorway.

Everyone needs a sanctuary within their own home. I think the week that we finally felt at home in our new house was the week we finished the painting and cleaning in our bedroom. We moved our mattress out of a spare room, off the floor and onto a bedframe, and we started sleeping in our master bedroom. And it was wonderful.

The ceilings had hideous popcorn texture, which Mr. Wetzel scraped off with a crew of friends. We spray-textured and painted the ceilings, and painted the walls, using Acro-Pure paint from the Miller line. Acro-Pure is an environmentally friendly paint with no VOCs.

Another angle.

It was important to us to make our bedroom a soothing, romantic place…a respite for Mr. Wetzel and me. One of our favorite “romantic items” in the room is this lamp from IKEA. Laying underneath it at night, it feels like a wreath of stars, and gives off as much illumination as candlelight.

GLÄNSA Pendant Lamp, from IKEA

My side of the bed: co-sleeper, artwork and necklaces.

In preparation for baby Wetzel, we have our co-sleeper in the master bedroom. We plan on sleeping close to our baby, either in the same bed (bedsharing) or within range of touch, sight and/or sound (co-sleeping) by having our baby in this attached “bassinet.”  I anticipate we’ll switch between these two based on the needs of the moment.

Mr. Wetzel and I believe co-sleeping will help reduce stress for us and our baby.  By being close enough to anticipate needs before our baby is crying out from another room, we can help meet those needs sooner and soothe our baby easier. I’m looking forward to nursing in bed, and I hope to be lucky enough to be able to fall asleep while nursing.

In these pictures, the co-sleeper is storing our baby blankets, and the quilt that is on the mattress is actually a quilt I made many years ago for my niece as a shower gift. My niece is now 8 years old, and my sister-in-law re-gifted it to me at my baby shower a few weeks ago. I accepted it gleefully, since this is the only quilt I’ve ever made, and I’m neither a patient nor experienced seamstress.

The picture on the wall is a poster of part of a Klimt painting. I hang my necklaces on the wall on small nails to keep them from getting tangled…and to show them off. (When the co-sleeper is in position, attached to the bed, these necklaces will not be within reach).

Our bedframe has a handy shelf in the headboard.

Our headboard + lamps + paraphanalia

Here’s a peak at what lies behind the pillows: secret storage! (The headboard is the “Double Decker Bed” from CB2).

Hidden Shelf!

Switch & "Door Handle"

Our house was dirty when we moved in. With old dirt. And all the fixtures were old. Possibly as old as the house itself. The switches were yellowed and icky. So, Mr. Wetzel changed them all out for new ones: bright, white, new outlets and switches. It’s amazing how much of a difference they make!

We also bought a blown glass door handle for the master bedroom, but haven’t yet installed it (or found the proper hardware to do so). In the meantime, our door handle is a piece of string. Our door is rarely closed, because the cat moves in and out, so we barely notice our macgyvered solution.

Lowes and Home Depot often have the best buy on window hardware. Fred Meyer is another great place to shop. This fancy curtain rod was inexpensive, and came from Lowes.

Brass Mesh Curtain Rod

Our lovely curtains are from IKEA (Hedda Blad). I love lying in bed in the morning and following the design of the simple outlines of the flowers. (This picture is taken from Mr. Wetzel’s side of the bed.

Hedda Blad IKEA Curtains

We splurged on wooden blinds for the window in this room, in part because the neighbors have a very bright backyard light that shines all night, right into our eyes as we try to sleep. The blinds are particularly nice on bright mornings when we want to sleep in.

Wooden Blinds

When lying in bed, this is our view of the closet wall.

Closet Wall

Mr. Wetzel and I share this set of drawers. I found this piece of furniture for free on craigslist. While Danish Modern styles rarely pop up in the free section, this find is less surprising given the water stains on the top of the drawers. The dresser used to be owned by an teenage boy who did not take care of it, but I didn’t care. I loved its clean lines and core structure. And I imagine someday I might refinish it. (Maybe??)

Danish Modern Dresser

One of the drawers was missing its original drawer pull, and I was having trouble finding an exact match, so instead I bought a pretty, green drawer pull from Cost Plus World Market as a replacement.

Detail: Drawer Pull

Above the dresser hangs a collection of photos that are from significant times in my relationship with Mr. Wetzel: the day we started dating; our wedding; our honeymoon; a birthday and an anniversary. i look forward to adding more photos to this collection: including one with our little baby that’s on the way!

Photo Installation

Also included are a pair of antique birds that we bought at a shop in Montana during a road trip last summer. I like to think of these birds as turtle doves, the symbol of friendship, and a symbol of how our 2 week road-trip brought us closer not only as lovers and partners, but as friends as well.

Antique "Friendship" Birds

These are boxes from when I lived in Bulgaria as a pre-teen. The orange one typically contains rings or loose buttons. The larger one is for hair ties, hair clips, and my sparse make-up.

Traditional Bulgarian Boxes

Also on our dresser drawers: an old alarm clock, propped up on some vintage books. A figurine of Morpheous (from “The Matrix” movie). Candles.

A few little things.

One last detail: next to the closet is a hook from World Market. This is where I hang my bathrobe: out of site whenever the door is open. I love the detail working on the knob.

Clothes hook from World Market.

Our house was built in 1971, and like many houses of its time, it has tiny closets.

Our Spartan Closet

To open up the room, we removed the old, clunky closet doors and painted the inside of the closet the same color as the walls of the room.  Inside the closet was a big, metallic air duct, the main line that connects the forced air heating in our house. We simply painted this metal duct the same color as the walls, and you can’t even tell the difference.

My clothes are on the right and Mr. Wetzel’s are on the left. We try to arrange them in rainbow order, but the dark articles often overwhelm the rest. The IKEA baskets are handy for once-worn items or smaller scarves and belts. The simple basket on the floor is our hamper.

In parting, I’ll give you one last view of the room: with Scooter sleepily lounging on our bed.

This is Scooter's bed. She is gracious enough to let us sleep in it, at times.

By ekwetzel
2011-03-27