spring in the master bedroom

I spent some time decluttering the bedroom the other day, and thought I would make the most of the clean room, and take a couple photos. I don't even remember the last time I've shown this room, if ever fully.

On my list of things to still do in here are the following:

- replace shades with similar neutral ones.

- make a bed skirt

- set up a small desk where the rocking chair is, once I'm finished using it for late night or early evening feedings with George.

This antique four poster bed was a Kijiji (like Craigslist) find years ago. I paid $100 for it. It was already painted white, otherwise I would have left it wood, but I don't mind it. 

Given the white room, with white bedding, it's nice to have pieces like this side table and the baskets to add warmth.

The basket corrals what's on the night table, and keeps things to a minimum.

For perspective, the master bedroom is one top half of the original stone home. So it has four windows - one facing East, two Southern-facing, and this one facing West.

We love the old radiator in this room - it's huge with pretty details.

This is the view when walking in the door to the bedroom. One day, we will expose the stone on this little section of this wall, and the other bit of this wall that's to the left of the closet.

Also, I've wanted to add a rug to this room for a while, but just don't want to spend the money on what I want yet. In the mean time, this little $25 jute runner from Ikea adds some texture at a next to nothing cost. Adding texture to a room is equally as important to me as adding warmth. The natural rug and hamper, the aged pot, the antique gilt frames, the woven throw with fringe, the lace-trimmed pillow covers, the reed baskets and worn wood - they all add texture. Even the aged and worn floors and wavy plaster walls and imperfect glass in the old windows add texture. It just all adds character.

This is the doorway to the hall, which allows in so much light and warmth, as it gets all the afternoon sun. The little blue plate was a souvenir I took home from our trip to Nantucket last year. I paid so much more than I would normally have, but I loved it. I thought about it for the couple days we were there, and when we were passing it in town, on our way back to the ferry, I popped in to Flowers on Chestnut and picked it up. I didn't regret it. (As we drove further out the cape, I found another matching blue platter and the price was so good, together the little plate seemed more reasonable!)

Behind this door is our closet, which we both share. Originally a chimney ran up through here from the room below. The trunk under the other window (which is darker because the shade strings have broken), is a family heirloom. My mother in law recently re-did her bedroom and gave it to us. I believe it's what Ryan's grandparents used to bring belongings over from Holland when they immigrated. She stripped it to look like this. It reads a tad orange in the photo, but it's such a beautiful piece with so much character. And again, it adds so much to the white room. It's also a great piece to store extra blankets and off-season linens in. I also have an antique oval mirror to hang on the open space of that wall, but hanging anything that heavy on these plaster walls requires my husband, and that means it will have to wait a while.

And finally our wardrobe, which we also share. It was an antique piece I had as a wardrobe when I was little. It was originally used to transport bolts of fabric on a boat from Europe. The back has interesting stamps and printing on it. My dad added shelves to it for clothing.

Our bedroom is one of five, now that we've opened the apartment to the main house. Us and the two little ones are upstairs (they share the nursery), the two older boys have a room downstairs by the family room, another is being used as a playroom, and the last one is being used for storage, and will one day be set up as a guest room.

The Master Bedroom

Today's task was to tidy up the master bedroom.

Not much has happened in here recently, except that we have hung curtains, and we purchased a new four poster bed from Kijiji. It was $100, and was already painted white. I actually would have preferred it to be unpainted, but I wasn't having any luck finding an antique frame in a queen size.

I'm still on the hunt for a night table. I have one that would work as a night table, but it's too large for this space. 

In need of some time out of the house, Hudson and I ventured to the grocery store today and picked up all of the Spring bulbs that they had. The Hyacinths were three bunches for $10!

We also picked up a chocolate croissant for with coffee. It was a much needed treat.

I put a few bunches on our night table. They will make the whole room smell beautiful.

The curtain panels were $29 from Ikea, and the rods were 20% off $14.99 at Target. We tried out the curtain hanging tip from Miss Mustard Seed, where you use a template and just switch it back and forth for each side of the window. It worked quite well.

I also picked up a few more pots of bulbs as my others were finished.

Daffodils are always so cheery.

And I always enjoy the look of Muscari.

And I managed to get a photo of this cheerful looking Cardinal. She's so fluffy and was chirping happily the entire time in the Lilac bushes outside of our bedroom window.

Hudson's Bedroom

The next room that I have been busy working through is Hudson's room. Originally, this was a guest room. It then became our nursery when Willen was born. When Hudson came along, Willen was moved into the second upstairs bedroom, formerly our office.

Half a year ago, on Hudson's second birthday, I purchased a pair of the beautiful four poster single beds. I wanted them to match because I loved the look of matching beds in a shared room.

When Hudson graduated out of our crib, we moved the boys into the same room. This allowed for a smooth transition into a proper bed, and it also freed up the second room for a play room for toys.

Now that Hudson is settled in his "big boy bed" though, we felt it was time to move him back. Willen has many little toys that are a little small for Hudson to play gently with. And at times, Willen would prefer to read a bit before bed and that doesn't make for the smoothest of bedtimes for Hudson.

So, this week the rooms were once again rearranged, and this is the result.

This trunk is a family heirloom that's quite special to us, if one can be more special than another. This was the boys' great grandfather's trunk (Ryan's Papa). It's stamped with his address on it because it was what his entire life travelled in as he toured around during the second World War. I can't imagine the places this trunk and been and how precious all of it's contents must have been at that time.

This old buffet has been used as a change table for both boys and now houses baskets with toys. It's very worn, but I have a hard time parting with it. I found it before we were married and kept it in my parent's garage. It was the first piece of furniture that I hauled home, abandoned at the side of the road by a neighbor.

Not much changed with the room other than some rearranging and cleaning, but here is what the room looked like the first time we did it.

It was a chartreuse green colour and it had carpet. After countless times of trying to carpet clean these carpets (we actually have one!), and seeing how disgusting the water was every time, we ripped it all out.

The Arrival of Spring

First, and most importantly:

Happy First Day of Spring!

I think, though I'm ever so hesitant to even speak the words, that it's finally arrived.

Despite the lingering snow and unusually cold winds, you can hear that it's upon us. There is the continual trickle of melting snow, which has made the landscape mucky; the earth thawing out, smelling deep and rich. The geese have begun migrating back home, and soon the pair of swans in the park will make their way back to their familiar pond. The Crocuses have yet to push their way through the ground, but the Forsythia and Lilac bushes have ever-growing buds appearing on their bare branches. Even the birds seem to be busy around the yard, their song a little lighter and sweeter.

All in all, we are more than ready for the changing of the seasons.

Spring, for us, is a time of renewal. It brings with it a sense of rejuvenation.

This has taken on a much more practical feel for us lately. On Monday, the 'For Sale' sign went out on our front yard. To be honest, we aren't entirely sure what the next few months will look like for our family. We've found an old home in a neighboring city that suits us, and if we are able to find a buyer for our home, we will be happy to make the new start. However, at the same time, we are in love with our home. For now, we are patiently (for the most part) waiting for God to lead.

In the meantime, my house has never felt so clean and put together. We've had eleven viewings in the past 3 days. It's encouraging, but at the same time, it takes a lot of work to keep your house in a state of perfection for viewers. It's actually quite exhausting, especially with two little boys. However, it's also been a wonderful source of motivation. I was reminded recently of a William Morris quote:

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

Last week, I think I made a trip to our local thrift shop every single day. I also donated bags of baby clothes, sold a few good things on Kijiji, and whatever was left, that wasn't going to be needed for a while, was boxed up and stored away.

It feels so wonderful.

I also recently found this cream quilt set from Home Sense. It's actually a King size. I prefer the larger size so that it drapes nicely over the sides. It was on clearance for $70. It's lighter and better suited for when the warmer weather arrives.

And so now, we simply wait.

A New Painting and Our Master Bedroom

 

I finally received a purchase in the mail the other day.

 

Rather, finally bundled the boys, braved the cold, climbed in a frigid car and went to pick up the post that had been waiting for quite some time.

 

Luckily the post man knows me quite well and is very understanding.

 

I purchased this beautiful little antique watercolour painting from Giorgios Alexandridis' shop Retro-Deco Shop on Etsy. It came all the way from Greece.

 

I think it's so charming. It's very small, and fits the corner space between a window and closet in our master bedroom perfectly. It's a painting of a simple, little white house near a lake at sunset.

 

It's the perfect addition to my collection. I also loved the gesso frame. It compliments our mirror and stands out beautifully on the white walls.

 

 

 

 

I can't actually read the back with the exception of the date 1967.

 

 

I realized I've never really shown our bedroom. It's very simple.

When we bought the house it was red. Like red, red. I lived with it for 2 years before painting it. There were more important painting projects for me to do before I could get to this room.

 

It was a wonderful day when the red was gone.

 

Ryan had purchased this bedroom set before we were married and though I would love a beautiful antique bed frame, this one is in perfectly good condition. It's nice and high and is quite comfortable. I have a habit of mentioning how much I love my bed before I fall asleep, particularly after a long day.

The window to the right of this picture faces the woods in the back, and the window to the left, on the side wall faces our neighbors. Their house is white and there are no windows on that side of the house so it isn't so bad. Plus, in the Spring, that entire side of the house is mature Lilac bushes in bloom, smelling beautifully, and full of chirping birds. It was actually a selling feature of the house for us! They were in bloom when we toured the house and the owner had the window open. We just kept saying how wonderful it would be to wake up to birds chirping and the smell of lilacs right outside your window.

 

I recently purchased these white Euro covers for $1.47 at the Superstore! It's the only place that you can pick up pillow covers and groceries at the same time.

 

The wreath was something I picked up at Christmas from Vermeers (a local garden center) for $14.

 

I also found this little clock radio for $4.99. I'm still on the look out for an antique clock for on our night stand, as well as an antique light fixture, but I just haven't found anything I love yet. In the mean time, these are functional and simple.

 

Fresh Hydrangeas are lovely to wake up to. The whole room smell like Spring.

 

And then there's this beautiful little baby boy who snuggled so peacefully while I snapped some pictures. It's a nice change of pace as he's really grown up a lot in this past week! He's managed to start crawling, has got his third tooth in (top front) and can balance himself to sit up and play and then fall over softly.