Decorating has always been an interest of mine since I was young. I don’t think I realized it then, but looking back now I can see where it came through, specifically with my bedroom. My parents let me stencil an ivy border around my room, and for the age I was – maybe between 13 and 15 – it turned out pretty well. I remember taking so much precision in my work, carefully going around my room stenciling out the ivy in green paint hoping not to disappoint my parents with the outcome.
On a school field trip to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., I bought two oil painting reproductions by Pierre-Auguste Renoir – this one and this one – from the gift shop. My mom took me to get the pictures matted and framed – one with a blue velvet-material matte with a detailed silver frame, and the other with a green velvet-material matte with a detailed gold frame.
It seems like such an odd thing for a child to want and focus on so intently, but I think that was just a glimpse into my creativity and always striving to get the details right. Funny how traits can be realized so early on in one’s life.
Fast forward 20 years and I now have my own home that I love to decorate and style. Oddly enough, my guest bedroom has become one of my favorite rooms in my house. Partly because it doesn’t get touched often, so it stays neat and clutter free on the regular! But, also because of its “cheery” presence and the meaningful pieces that sit in it.
The antique metal spindle bed was my Grandmother’s. I think my love for old homes and antiques definitely came from her influence. She lived in an early 1900’s Brick American Foursquare Home with beautiful hardwood floors, five panel doors with transoms windows above, glass door knobs – I could go on. There were so many great details in the house that you don’t often see today.
Pictured below was the bed when it resided in her home. After my Grandmother’s passing, before the house was sold, I went around with my camera and took pictures of every room. I wanted to remember what a great home it was and all its beautiful details.
In addition to the bed, I also have a few other items of my Grandmother’s including a rocking chair and a few antique glass jars and jugs. The rocking chair sits in the corner of my guest room and one of her glass jugs sits on the night stand filled with some dried yellow flowers.
I added a few “contemporary” and traditional pieces to round out the room, including the abstract painting that hangs above the bed and the white night stand that I absolutely love – a recent purchase from Wayfair.
All in all I’m pretty happy with how the room turned out, and I think my Grandmother would be happy to see that some of her pieces have made a new home.
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