Upgrading InThe Bedroom - The Big Girl Drapes!

Alberto (the hubs) wants to know if I ever will be "done" with decorating our home, or rather will I ever be satisfied and just leave things alone. What do you think ?
You can click on images for larger unstyled snap shot style I'm in a hurry to show you this photos.


I am having my 60th birthday July 21. I tell you this so I can own it ha ha, and to let you know I have had a life long love affair with decorating each and every home I have ever inhabited. I have never had the luxury of a big budget. I am very resourceful and often make do and make it look fabulous too.



Working at Perch has afforded me the ability to get a couple of really nice things. Custom made drapes. Big Girl Drapes. No drop cloths drapes, no hand sewn pieces of fabric by me, no off-the- rack curtains masquerading as drapes, but really beautifully made drapes. The rooms that got the Big Girl Drapes are my office, our bedroom, and the guest bedroom for now.


My fabric of choice is Dupioni silk without a slub. The color is the same for both bedrooms, as is the size, to afford me the flexibility of using them as a pair in another room if I choose to do so sometime along the line. The color is called: Rain.
Jack Mayberry the head designer of Perch, and Eva Spencer our head seamstress advised me (and have been teaching me how to measure, order the fabric, and choose the finishes, etc. for our custom drapery clients).


I chose thermo suede lining, a heavy cotton lining encasing the thermo suede, and the finished silk top sewn with seven inch French pleats. There is a small puddle at the bottom. It's like getting luxury insulation for the house! Not a drop of air or light penetrates this beauty!


The rod is the return rod, meaning the ends return to the wall. Perch makes a hefty, made to measure return rod, with a custom hand painted finish that is gorgeous. A local artist who works in many mediums including metal, makes them. Even with an employee's benefits, this rod is a little pricey for me, and I wanted to have the flexibility of an adjustable rod, always keeping in mind how I move things around. I found the perfect rod at the perfect price from Country Curtains on line HERE.
Jack from Perch, painted the rings for me, in his signature color he always uses for Perch clients.

I also upgraded a couple of accessories in the bedroom. I love these metal antlers, which also look like a branch, placed on top of the old cabinet that houses the television. I like the simplicity of one unique object, as opposed to the fussy vignette I had before. The old wood lyre is a piece of found folk art.

The new metal antlers from Perch
I think it adds a "wow" factor to the old armoire

"Before" a sweet little vignette on the armoire that I found too fussy

I also painted the dark brown wood nightstands a pale turquoise (and added a cut-to-size piece of 1/4 inch thick mirror for the top). It's the same color I used to paint the accent wall in the kitchen. I like to carry at least one color from another room to the next. I also have been taking color cues from the painting over the bed. As always I combine antique, vintage, and contemporary things with touchstones of French furniture.


There's a different painting in a little nook by the door that combines the new and the old.


I also upgraded the lamps that are on the dressers. I use one lamp on each dresser. Two would be too much. I got these lamps on HSN (Home Shopping Network) HERE, from the Nate Berkus line there. They are mercury glass, and very good looking. They cost $129. each and came with the nice linen shade. I think they are great quality at any price.

Almost sold out at HSN! Go HERE to get yours now

While I'm at it I'm thinking of upgrading our bedspread. Right now it's all white with a deep 28 inch drop ruffle, and I love the look. This was another bargain basement make-do. I found two twin spreads on line at a pretty pedestrian site called Brylane Homes. I had my local seamstress sew them together to make a king size bedspread..
After a couple of washes, the cheap poly fill shifted and bunched up, so I slit a small but large enough opening in one end, and pulled all the stuffing out. Now the spread looks like it's made of vintage handkerchief fabric, and lays much better. The stitched trellis effect has grown on me, even though I prefer a plain and pattern free look.
All is well, except that there are a couple of ink blots (made by a black Sharpie) on the spread (hidden by toss pillows at the top), because my lovable school boy Alberto likes to do Sudoku in bed, and sometimes falls asleep with pen in hand. He promised me a new spread of my choice.

I like the deep drop ruffle ones from Horchow.


They are made of twill, a heavier fabric, and they look very nice. I like both colors, the white or the tan.


I also love these contemporary sets from Dwell Studio at Target.
This beige-y one is the most conservative one, and would pick up on the fabric covered wall behind the headboard, and play off the white accents throughout the room.

This shade of green is one of my favorite colors, and I use throughout the house as an accent color. If I got this spread, it would bring this color into our bedroom, thus fulfilling my philosophy of having a little color from another room travel into the next. Somehow this allows the eye to see the house as a total picture.

This turquoise blue bed covering would play back nicely to the colors in the painting over the bed.



So which do you like best? Remember I change out the bedding from summer to winter. I have a black and white contemporary duvet cover now that looks pretty good for winter.

The winter look of the bedroom with the black and white duvet
So much has changed!
The stripe rugs are gone replaced by mountain grass (a beautiful cousin of sea grass)
The nightstands have been painted
The pink lamps are now faux finished to look like alabaster

PS Stay tuned for photos of the Big Girl Drapes in guest bedroom and my office, and the kitchen where other small upgrades have happened.