I’m packing up my office this week, and feeling quite sentimental about the space. I’m also realizing, however, that everything special to me in this space is something I brought with me. Nothing in the space is intrinsically magical, but it’s what I bring and what I feel in the space that makes it magical. So whether you’re downsizing, or moving on from a special space or job or relationship, just know that the magic is in you.
This episode, I answer questions about…
[7:53] Where to shop for a twin bed (Ranae)
Question:
Hi Betsy! I promise to fix the curtains in this room. But first another issue somehow snuck up on us. Where would you shop for a twin bed that will last until this guy is 18?
Answer:
First of all, the curtains are not horrible. They’re a little bit masked, and I would put curtains on both windows. This little boy in the picture is obviously ready for his twin bed because he is climbing out of his crib and he looks very mobile.
Now that I have a nine-year-old and a ten-year-old, both in twin beds, I know for sure that there are some beds that hold up better than others. Personally, though, I do not feel that any twin bed is going to be ideal for my children (or anyone’s children) until they are eighteen. My son is five foot five, and I already feel like we need to get him at least a full bed. My daughter is four foot ten, and she fits just fine. With all of her stuffies and toys, and when I want to cuddle with her too, it’s getting a bit too tight in the twin bed. I foresee upgrading both of them to a queen or a full one as soon as we have a larger house, because right now the rooms just couldn’t take it.
With that said, let’s talk about a tale of two beds. When we moved from Brooklyn, I upgraded both of my babies to twin beds. I bought my son’s bed from Pottery Barn. I think it was Pottery Barn Kids and not Pottery Barn Teen, but I do love both of those sites. It’s a cute, simple, navy wooden bed with slats. For my daughter, I wanted something upholstered. She is a girly girl, so I wanted something soft with a princessy vibe. She was also more active and rough-and-tumble than my son was, so I wanted to make sure she didn’t hit her head. Since she was younger, and more likely to tumble out of bed, I wanted something lower to the ground for her as well. I bought her bed from Wayfair.
My son’s bed has lasted for six years and looks amazing. No creaking, no squeaking, no issues ever. There would be no reason to get rid of this bed except for the fact that he is outgrowing it. My daughter’s bed’s slats broke within a year or two from my husband or I cuddling with her. So I got her another bed from Wayfair – just as cute, and hot pink. It was fine, but not great. Then I got her a bunk bed from Ikea and that held up fine, but again not great. I circled back and got her a daybed with a trundle for sleepovers at that point, but that is four affordable beds that I’ve gotten for my daughter while I got my son one moderately expensive Pottery Barn Kids bed. Sometimes quality trumps cuteness and style.
I’ve really enjoyed being able to swap out my daughter’s bed because I’m a designer and I love having an excuse to buy something new. That being said, it’s a chore and it gets expensive – not only to purchase a new piece but also to have it assembled. It’s a lot of upheaval to move a huge piece of furniture in and out of a room time and time again. In hindsight, I would have done PB Teen or PB Kids for both of them and just been happy with that until they are thirteen.
[14:02] Colors to compliment existing artwork while freshening a space (Tiffany)
Question:
I would love you to cast your eye over my husband’s and my bedroom. We have based the room and its colours around the Jack Vettriano print that we love called ‘Dance Me Til the End of Love’, which as you can see, is quite a moody artwork, with greys, whites and blues. We’ve painted the walls quite a deep grey colour (the room has three windows, so is nice and bright) and have a mid timber bedroom setting and wardrobes and window treatments.
I would really like to update my doona cover and possibly repaint the walls, so my question to you is, which colours would you recommend to complement our artwork, but also freshen up the space?
Answer:
Tiffany’s pictures really illuminate the situation and make it quite clear to me what is going on. Just as I did with Ranae’s question, I’m going to share a story from my own life to illustrate my advice here.
My husband and I moved into our house over six years ago. Every room in my house is super colorful, mid-century modern, fun, and playful, except my bedroom. I wanted that room to be transitional, subdued, and chic. My husband and I both adore Paris. It is a very special place for us and we have been there together many times. For years, I had my eye on an amazing piece of art from Ballard Designs: a 36 x 36 square photograph of the rooftops of Paris. If you’re familiar with Paris, you know that the rooftops are kind of this slate navy color, and the architecture is kind of an off-white. There is a lot of gray as well, much like Tiffany’s artwork.
I decided to base the entire color palette for the room on this amazing piece of art that would be centered above our king size bed. I picked a gray bed, navy drapes, a navy velvet quilt, and sheets with a really cool gray pattern. I painted the walls an icy blue.
As you may or may not know, I love feng shui. So after a few years in our home, a colleague of mine who was also really into feng shui offered to come to the house for a free assessment. When she came into the bedroom she said, “Well, can I ask you a personal question?” I said she could and she asked, “How are things going intimately?” Not the most comfortable discussion to have with a colleague, but I shared that I thought he would like a little more fire as things were subdued at the time. She said, “Of course they are. You have only cool colors and neutral colors in this room.” Every other room had a balance of warm and cool, vibrant and subdued. Our bedroom was only subdued, and advised me to bring some fire and some life into the room. That night I went online to Wayfair and purchased a 9 x 12 rug that had hot pink in it. The rug also featured navy and gray, so it still went with the core elements of the room, but the primary tone was hot pink and it brought the fire. I hired the handyman to come over and put the rug under the bed, and I got a lumbar pillow that had pops of pink.
Immediately, the room felt more balanced and I felt more inspired to be warmer with my husband, if you catch my drift. I also brought some bamboo stalks into the room, because they can survive despite the room not getting a lot of natural light. If you look online, you can Google what a number of Bamboo stalks mean. I got just the right number to inspire romance and connection and put them in a vase. They were thriving, and so was my marriage.
Tiffany’s inspiration picture is an image of a couple looking away, and the cold, icy color palette is not going to be ideal to inspire fire and connection. I would recommend choosing an inspiration piece that has both warm and cool colors. That doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of this artwork. I still have the 36 x 36 picture of the Paris rooftops above our bed. It means, however, that the inspiration piece is no longer the artwork. Instead, the inspiration piece from which I’m deriving the color palette is that lovely 60% hot pink rug.
I would encourage you to find a different piece – whether it’s drapes, a rug, a duvet (or doona) cover. Find something that has some of those warmer colors to infuse this space not only with balance, but with romance.
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