The Queen Mom's Bedroom

 

 

As I have promised (and promised), I'll continue my tour of our home.  This is a photo-heavy post so get a glass of wine and settle in.  We have an unusual bedroom layout, and this is the only second floor bedroom.  Because my mother prefers to stay in this room, Mr. Pressed Pants calls it the "Queen Mom's Room".  It is serene and comfortable.  The walls are the only ones that we didn't paint when we moved in.  I don't know the name of the color, but it is a warm, very light coffee-color.

The previous owners had their two little boys in this room.  They were only here for five months, poor things, so, as you can see, they didn't even have pictures hung.

Here's another shot of this room when they put it on the market.  Those green things at the windows are the underside of the canopies that were hung outside, not an interior curtain.  You can be sure that those are history!

 

The focal point of the room is, as usual in a bedroom, the bed.  It is a cherry four-poster queen-size that we've had for some time. 

 

In the center is this wonderful old world landscape.  It is actually painted on paper, not canvas, and it has a small rip in the upper left hand corner.  I'm ok with that, though.

 

On either side of the art, I placed two brown and white oriental subjected plates.

Here's the mark from them.

These linens look a little washed out here.  The sheets are a pale celadon green, but not as pale as they show here.  Then I had two European-sized shams covered in a linen envelope and trimmed with a copper-colored flat trim.  Then I placed two Peacock Alley quilted shams and a fern themed needlepoint pillow which doesn't show here.  I don't starch these linens when I iron them, but I do use a spray fabric sizing on them. Guests often comment on the sheets, so I guess they appreciate it! The matelassé coverlet is a simple diamond-patterned off white. 

 

Folded at the foot of the bed is this quilted throw that we brought home from France.  It is in a wonderful café au lait color.

Here's the tag.  We bought it at a street market in Isle Sur Le Sorgue.

 

On one side of the bed is this end table with a few handy things for guests.

Here's a better picture of the table.  It is an old piece with great patina and a very pretty little back apron, or gallery that you can't see here.

I love to find an interesting finial for a lamp.  This one just wouldn't be the same with the little round brass ball that it came with.  The shade is silk.

On a tole hand-painted tray, I always put some bottled water.

Here you can see the corner of a bleached bird's eye maple framed clock.  It apparently ticks too loudly, because I have found it hidden under the throw pillows when guests leave. Beside it is a chalk-ware candle stick.  I wish I had more of this.  I'm always on the lookout for it at Scott's.

I put some turquoise stones in this lid-less stone-ware tureen.

 

The other side has a cherry end-table with a black candlestick lamp.

I always leave a little reading material for our guests here.  I also have a cord-less phone, but I am thinking of taking it out, as everyone has a cell phone these days.  With this in mind, I could probably take the ticking alarm clock out of here too, and let the guests set the alarm on their phone.

This is the other end of the room.  You can see the sitting area here and the window.

 

If I were really good, I would photoshop the outlet from here, and lighten it, but this is real life at our house!

This is the embroidery on the natural linen Roman shades from France.  I'm very attached to these and I brought them from our last home.

Here's a close-up of the valance made of linen and twigs.  Yep!  These are just straight twigs with a bit of lichen on them that I found in our woods.  I glued them on then I embellished with a few pinecones that are also hot-glued onto the valance.  I can't count the number of photos that have been taken of this.

The chandelier is a carved and gilded five-armed wood piece.  Soooooo much better than a ceiling fan, don't you think? 

 

Sitting in the corner is a lovely chair that I found in an attic of a home we bought.  I have re-covered it quite a few times.  The needlepoint pillow was a gift from a lovely guest. I forgot to take a photo of the other chair on the other side of the table.  It is bamboo-carved and covered in the same fabric.  There is a coffee-colored cashmere throw on the arm.

If ANYONE has any of this fabric they would like to sell, please let me know.  I found it years ago at Calico Corner and it was made for Martha Stewart.  I have used it for several projects and had this table covered in my office in our last home. 

This is a close-up of the lamp base on this table.  It came from Boxwoods several years ago and I am crazy about it.  It's very appropriate for this house, as we are surrounded by deer.  Too many, in my opinion, but I do admit to being so charmed by the doe and her twin fawns this spring.

Here's another example of improving a lamp with the perfect finial!

You all know my love for faux bois and here's a really cool piece of it.  It's a metal watering can that I filled with some of our dried hydrangeas.

Over the table is a small collection of more brown and white transferware, topped by an old carved wooden remnant.

 

This needlepoint runner is from a rug dealer at Scott's.  I can't remember what his name is, but he's been at the same space for years and I could walk right to it any month.

I love the colors here.  A dark blue/green, celadon, salmon, and blue.

 

This is a terrible picture, but I'm too lazy to re-shoot this birch and twig covered footstool.

 

So, what do you think?  Would you like to make a reservation?

 

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The Ya Ya Room

When our youngest two grandsons visited a couple of weeks ago, I posted about finding a certain little boy's shorts hanging from the chandelier in this bedroom.  See it here.  When this was posted, I got a number of comments and emails asking to see the rest of this room, and the rest of the house.  I've been  a bit reluctant to show our home in great detail, but when I started getting phone calls asking for it, I decided to start featuring a room at a time.  So I'm starting with this guest room that I designed for a non-existent granddaughter.  We call it the Ya-Ya room. 

This was how the previous owners used it.

Deep colors, and heavy mahogany furniture.  I hate, hate, hate the look of overhead fans, even though they are necessary and wonderful in their practicality.  Out it went.  I put it in the potting shed.  You can see it here.

You can see that not only did we get rid of the popcorn ceiling, paint the whole room, replace the carpet, we also replaced the polished brass hardware with oil rubbed bronze.  We did this with the whole house, including the hinges on all of the doors.  I think this style of brass hardware really dated the house.  It was really good quality, but it had to go.

Here's my very favorite part of the room....this pink and white crystal chandelier.  Even the bulb has a cute little beaded cover.  I love this soooo much.  Listen.....it says "Ya-Ya"!!!!!!

I put twin beds in here.  It's always nice to have the option of twin beds for guests.  If you have a crowd, you can put compatible people in the same room, when you might not want to if they had to share a bed.  The carpet is an olefin that looks so much like sisal, that people can't believe it isn't sisal.  I couldn't go with real, since this is on the terrace level of the house, and has a cement subfloor.  The possible moisture problem is minimized with this product.  I've used in in several houses.

The sheets and shams are Yves De Lorme.  It is such great stuff!  Yes, I DO iron it, though.  When you do, it is so heavenly.  Soft but crisp.  Guests are worth it.  The beds are a tailored style of cherry and mahogany with just a tiny bit of gilt.  Very understated. 

The matelesse is a cute white polka-dot by Malabar.  I just keep hoping that guests won't put their suitcases on it.  Trust me, I always point out the luggage rack!  At the foot of each bed is a mohair throw that is so cuddly and soft.

Over each bed is an oil painting of a bunny in a deep burnished gold frame.  The plate is by Luneville, a French company.

In between the beds is this nightstand.  I found this white ironstone lamp years ago at a consignment shop in Indianapolis and put a white silk shade on it.  Every  guest room still needs an alarm clock, even though most people set their own cell phone alarms these days. The candle is lilly of the valley scented and is on a small green and white china butter pat, ans the little piece of lace was my grandmother's. 

On the floor under this nightstand is one of the few silk flower arrangements you'll find in our house.   I think these are exceptional quality and they are in a white porcelain urn from our older daughter's beautiful wedding.

Going around the room, next is this Victorian chest and mirror that I painted white and antiqued green.  It holds extra bedding and pillows and the drawers are lined with beautiful paper. 

This is actually three random pieces that I put together and unified with paint.  The top with the two small drawers, little shelves, and this great keysone was made to have a mirror hang off of it and tilt.  That mirror was missing, but I found one that is just hung on the wall.  These green hobnail lamps are from Martha Stewart's old mail order company and I replaced the paper shades with silk.  The porcelain dresser set is an antique.  I always have water in a guest room, too.  Oh, look here......it's another silk plant!  I guess I don't have as few as I thought.  This one is lilly of the valley.

Beside the dresser is this chaise lounge that has been in our family for years and years.  Between my mother and I, this has been recovered so many times that I can't count.  I have a great upholsterer that made these cute little flowers under the buttons.  I love this needlepoint pillow.  The one behind it has a bee skeep on it.

It matches some Osbourne and Little fabric that I used in our last house.

This pair of etchings are from Williamsburg and are hand colored.  They each represent the month of the birth of our daughters. 

This round table holds some very sentimental photos, a Limoges box, an antique plate, a metal candlestick, a paper mache rabbit and a lamp with a dimmer switch.  These sheer curtains are just off of the rack.  I'm still contemplating what I want to do.  I may just leave these plain, because I don't want any fabric to fight with this...........

beautiful organza overlay.  It is pretty great, isn't it?  The plaid is a pink and white silk.

The tub chair is another piece that has been recovered several times. 

The green and white pillow is hand painted and the needlepoint one is from a dear friend.

I'm sort of over this plaid, so I'm going to recover it in this fun fabric.  I think it will make this room look a little fresher.

The closet space is great on this room.  I use one side  for out of season clothing storage, and the other one is simply for guests.

I love this metal sconce and this photo of our family at the beach on Sanibel Island.

Don't you hate it when you're visiting someone and there's no trash can?  There's always those airline labels from your luggage at the very least.  I'm always surprised how much trash is in here from guests.  This is a good look at the carpet in this room.

Another special gift.  I have it hang on the doorknob.

Here's the inside of the closet.  Luggage rack, towels, ironing board, iron, padded hangers, and a plastic bag for dirty clothes.  I always bring these home from hotels so that our company can take their clothes home in them.  I also have a one-size-fits-all terry cloth robe and some washable slippers.  Another thing that I have in here and I'm surprised by how often it is used it this little fan.  Several people say they like the white noise of a fan.  Who knew?  At our house, you'll need it to drown out the noise of the crickets.

On a small wall over by the entrance are these two small antique French cartouches.  They are hand colored and matted in a gilt edged oval.

Isn't this exquisite?

And here's the other one, although a bit blurry.

Lastly, this hangs on the doorknob.  It tells me when this room is NOT ready for coffee.

The very, very best part of this room is the people who stay here.  We have moved so many times and have no family in town, so we miss so many people in our lives.  Nothing makes us happier than to fill this room with guests and spoil them a bit.  Would you like to make a reservation?

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http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/