Anthropologie bedding

I love mixing it up in the bedroom (that sounds a bit personal!). What I mean is, I love to change out my bedding from time to time. And I can't resist a good sale. Anthropologie had this fantastic sale after Christmas where they were discounting sale goods by an extra 40%. That's when I snapped up the tufted Emilie armchair for the music room, and some new bedding and throw pillows for the bedroom. That sale unfortunately ended, but they've just announced another sale with an extra 25% discount using code EXTRAEXTRA.

You can pick up the duvet cover here.  The little throw pillow is here.  And the sheets are here.

And my marble countertop for my kitchen island just arrived.  And it is so beautiful.  Can't wait to show you.

Not another bedroom duvet: you really do get what you pay for!

Yes, another post about my house.  Sorry, I really will try and mix it up more.  And I really must start on all of those DIY projects that I've been neglecting so that I can have something other than "look what I bought today" posts.  I promise I'll try harder.  Having said that, here's another one of those posts!

I don't know about you, but my inbox is bombarded with emails about current sales.  And as many of you will know, I can't resist picking up a bargain.  Last week Urban Outfitters had an extra 30% off sale items.  I've not bought much from there before, but what I have bought has been for my bedroom. A few years ago I bought a patterned quilt and a blue rug from them.

Do I need another duvet?  Absolutely not, but I do like to have options.  Also, I wanted to see the difference in quality between the UO bedding and the more expensive Anthropologie bedding.

Urban Outfitters is owned by the same people as Anthropologie, but caters to a much more youthful crowd (not that I'm not youthful still, but you know what I mean).  As such the goods are generally lower priced and, as you guessed it, not as well made as the pieces from Anthro.  I was really surprised though that I could get a duvet and 2 shams in a style that is very similar to my DwellStudio bedding for less than $50. As a point of reference, the DwellStudio set retails for $350 and used to be carried by Anthropologie.

So how do they compare?  They look similar, very similar.  In fact I think if you mixed the DwellStudio Chinoiserie set with the DwellStudio Peacock set you'd get the Urban Outfitters set!  Quality wise, though, that's where the similarity ends.  Surprisingly the cheaper UO set has ties inside to hold the corners, which the more expensive DwellStudio set doesn't.  But the opening where you stuff the duvet in on the cheaper set only has 3 buttons and so that duvet gaps out a bit at the bottom.  It's also very, very stiff.  The fabric is not at all smooth or silky like higher end bedding.  It's almost like sleeping under a painters cloth.

But I do love the pink bird!

See if you can spot the difference between the photos below.

Yep, I can mix and match the pillows with my old set!

And if you want to see how my bed looks with my different duvets go here, here, and here.

Client room with a view

Just had this awesome wall mural installed in my client's son's bedroom. This room is in the basement and gets very little light. The mural has helped to add some interest and brightened up the space. My clients are avid skiers and outdoorsy types, so I thought that having a mural of a mountain was very appropriate. The bunk beds were already there, I added the mural and the bedding (ikea).

This photo doesn't do it justice, and it really doesn't look like the bad murals from the 1970's that everyone used to have.  I'll try and get some better photos soon.  In the mean time, here's how the room looked when I started.

The mural is on the wall where the bed is above.  We moved the bed to the other wall.  The changing table/chest of drawers has been sold.  Curtains have been hung and a simple cherry desk that was being used elsewhere has been positioned under the window.  Again, huge impact for a small amount of investment.

Client Project Update - Transforming a guest bedroom for less than $500

It's not high design.  It's slightly run of the mill.  But it is a huge improvement over what was there before.  My clients initially decided to not do the guest room makeover due to budget constraints.  But when I assured them that they could get a lot of bang for their buck, and convinced them that they could totally transform their lack luster guest room into a calm and soothing oasis for their guests for less than $500, they saw the light.

Here's the before:

Sorry for the dark photo, but it is in the basement, off the family room.  The good news was that they had some terrific faux bamboo furniture (which I'm still trying to convince them to spray paint a glossy white).  As someone described it to me, it looks like a motel.  I say it looks like granny from Florida.  Anyway, the bed set is staying as is.  The wall color, carpet and window blind also had to stay the same.  So I decided to choose a white and navy colour scheme with a pop of colour in a contrasting pillow. 

Here's the after:

I added the large bed pillow to add some plumpness and colour to the bed.  What I would really love to see is a slightly smaller lumbar pillow in chiang mai dragon fabric.  

But at almost $100 a pillow, I don't think I could convince my clients of the value.  Maybe down the road.

Here's the breakdown of the budget for the project:

Lamps & Mirror - T J Maxx - $181.62

Curtains - West Elm - $83.34

Comforter & bed pillow & cover - Target - $53.39

Sheets & white coverlet & shams- Smiths Marketplace - $89.72

Curtain rod - Country Curtains - $57.95

Grand Total - $466.02!

If you'd like me to help you transform a room in your house or just want to bounce some ideas around, just give me a call.

Have a great week-end!

Symmetry at last

The knock-off saarinen tulip side table arrived from Overstock, and overall I'm pleased to have some symmetry back in the bedroom.

What I don't like, however, is the fact that you can see the lamp and radio cords.  I think if I tape them down the table base it will disguise them somewhat, but you'll still see them at the bottom.

Anyhow, it got me to thinking.  How about if I had sconces attached to the walls.  That would solve the  cord dilemma, and create more room on the nightstands for other stuff.

It would also make the room look less whimsical and more sophisticated.

I remember being fascinated by the sconces in the house on the show "American Horror Story".  Now that's a gorgeously designed house.  Here's a picture below.

Maybe I should do something like that with my bedroom.  The sconces would however have to be beside the headboard and not above due to the fact that I have a sloping ceiling.

These beauties are currently on sale at Anthropologie.

Too spidery or alien looking?  Not sure.  But they would bring a touch of masculinity to the place.

Here's some other options that might work.

You can find all of the links here.

It's probably not going to happen, because the current lamps are perfectly fine, but it's fun to dream.

Same Bedding, Different Home

Just stumbled upon a house tour that is featured today on Design Sponge that shares one or two similarities with my own.  The home belongs to Interior Decorator Jessica McKay from Birdhouse Interior Design.  The first similarity that I noticed was that she converted her attic space into a master bedroom, just like we did.  Not only that, but the bedding she has chosen for her bed and her guest bed is the same DwellStudio bedding that I chose.  It's interesting to see how different it looks in her home.  I like how she has layered it with blankets.  Take a look.

here 

here

She also had the rooms recently featured in Small Room Decorating Magazine.  Here is how they look in the magazine that you can see on her blog.

Notice the angles of the master bedroom.  Looks similar, no?

And finally, we had to say goodbye to this little cutie today.  He reached the grand old age of 17 3/4.

Ringo, we love you.  You were the best cat ever : ( .  May you be chasing birds in kitty heaven.

Shameless Plea to Vote for Me!

Yes, you know I can't resist a good competition.  No it's not the time of the year for Apartment Therapy's Room for Color, but it is another Apartment Therapy competition.  This time it's solely based on bedrooms.  And seeing as I just did a mini-makeover of mine, I thought I'd enter.

I'm playing major catch-up because the competition has been going for over 2 weeks and my room just got uploaded yesterday.  Nevertheless, I'm doing surprisingly well with over 200 votes and 8th position.  I need to get into the top 4 to win any prize and let me tell you the competition is tough.  I think all of the top 4 deserve to win.  Competition ends April 1st, I think.  So if you could throw a vote my way I'd be ever so grateful ;)

*VOTE FOR MY ROOM here*

P.S  You do have to sign in to vote but Apartment Therapy won't sell your email or spam you, I promise.  You can sign in 3 ways, either with your email, Facebook, or twitter.  Thankyou!!!!

Chic Chinoiserie

More new bedding!  Yep, the other duvet set from DwellStudio arrived.  And I love it just as much as the peacock one.  It's brightened the room up even more.

I think it photographs better than the peacock bedding because it's less busy.  They both look really pretty in person though.

And if it wasn't hard enough making a decision which duvet I like best, now I have to decide on which side table I like.

The side table above is from Target.  It has that chinoiserie vibe to it.  But it is crappily made and maybe a little boxy.

The tulip table I borrowed from the bathroom.

I'm leaning towards getting another tulip table.  I like that the shape offsets all of the square angles of the other pieces.

*UPDATE*  I've entered my bedroom in Apartment Therapy's Bedroom Retreat Contest.  If you like it, please throw a vote my way, thanks!!

New Dwell Studio Peacock Bedding

One of the duvet sets that I ordered from Layla Grace has arrived.  And I have to admit it, I love it.  It's really changed the look and feel of the room.  I do feel a bit disloyal, because I loved my old duvet so much and it did help me win a design competition.  But the new duvet is so fresh and clean looking.

I decided to see what it would look like with the old throw pillows that went so well with the old duvet.

Guess what?  They don't work.  Even though there's a teeny bit of orange in the pattern of the duvet, it just wasn't enough to tie them together.  Another thing that the throw pillows had in common with the old duvet was a similar pattern.

Here it is with layered with the quilt on top.  Nope, definitely not working.  Before it created a cozy bohemian vibe, this just looks disjointed and messy.

Let's try some different throw pillows.  These are the same design as the other duvet that I ordered by dwell studio.

Much better!  The pillows share lots of design elements with the duvet without it looking matchy matchy.

Spot the difference in the two pictures above.  The one on the right uses my old sheeting which is a light blue moroccan tile design.  The one on the left is much more graphic and punchy.

Here's a picture taken from the same angle with the old bedding, and old bed (obviously).

See what I mean about the patterns of the old duvet matching both patterns in the throw pillows.  Even the shade shares something in common with the flowers on the pillow.

Yep, that confirms it.  I really do like the new bedding better!  It's definitely a lot more sophisticated.  Like I said earlier, I do feel a little sad.  What I had before was definitely more bohemian, and that's what I truly aspire to, but the after is far more serene and sophisticated.  Am I being true to myself, I wonder?  I even removed the blue zigzag rug.

I did manage to recycle the orange bolster, which looks remarkably good on the love seat.  That zig zag is too much though.  Might have to have another go at reupholstering it.  Stay tuned!

What doesn't work as well with the new bedding are the lamp shades.  Their tone is definitely darker than the colors in the duvet.  The darker birds on the throw pillows help somewhat, but not quite.

I ordered this pillow from Anthropologie.  Maybe it will do the trick of tying the shades to the rest of the scheme.  Sometimes you've just got to try things out to see.

What do you think?  (I know the love seat is a little silly there, but I don't have anywhere else to put it.  Maybe I should sell it.)