Bedclothes

Image:  Serena & Lily, Hero bed with Wyeth duvet

Blogger friend Carol Beck and I took a ride up to Zimman's Fabrics in Lynn last weekend.  She's working on a new project that I'll tell you more about later and I wanted to find some fabric to make the "suit" to slipcover my bed.  I've heard people rave about Zimman's for years and it didn't disappoint.

There were plenty of really gorgeous fabrics that would have fit the bill--in fact, a little overwhelming--but unsure I'm going to be able to pull this off, I was a little hesitant to spend the $40 to $80 a yard. 

I did a little searching on ebay and found this herringbone plaid for only $8 a yard and there's a few extra yards that I can remake something if I mess it up.

Here it is draped over the headboard next to the new drapes and a white

pillow cover just for reference.

I think it will be perfect.

So I'm disassembling the old cover so I can cut similar pieces

that I'll pin together on the piece before sewing it.

It's this end piece that has a slight curve to it that will be the biggest challenge I think.

If I sew this label in to my piece, will it give it more credibility?

I had hoped to have this done by Thanksgiving but a terrible ear infection has left

me feeling like I should be kicking back a little bit.

I should be on the mend soon.

A Perfect Gray Floor

Just a quick note to let you know I haven't forgotten about you.

I've just been really, really busy.

 

  I did get a few coats of paint on the bedroom floor and I'm really happy with

how it turned out. I used Allflor paint tinted to Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl.

I had wanted to use oil paint to get a really

high-gloss finish but I didn't want to deal with the smell, the mess

or the few days' drying time so I went with latex.

I have to admit, I love the duller finish.

It's like the patina is built in.

 

You may also notice a new chest. I've always wanted a

Gustavian piece and when I saw one at Darby Road,

I knew it was coming home with me.

 

I have to thank Google for this piece.

I've been saving up my Adsense checks to use for splurges

and this is my first one.  Since I've added this Gustavian piece you

might anticipate which direction the room is going in but I hope you're wrong.

 

I hope to shake it up a little bit by mixing in some modern and some industrial pieces. 

Black and White

Sculpture, Mike Wright

First, I'd like to thank everyone who read my post on the New England Home Magazine design blog.  I tried to respond personally to everyone for which I had an e-mail address but for those I couldn't, I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment on the post.  The guest post "gig" is a two-post deal, so I have another one coming up soon that that will be art focused.

Second, my apologies both for the lack of posts and for getting behind on my blog reading.  I've been trying to achieve more balance in my life and, although it worked for a while, it just hasn't been possible lately.  Work has been occupying a great deal of my time.  I've had a lot of early mornings and late nights that just haven't left time (or energy) for much else.  

I haven't made much progress on the bedroom; in fact, I had a big mishap today...

When I rolled out the seagrass rug, I used a can of water-based polyurethane to weight down the corner and then immediately tripped over it.

The rug is ruined but my feet are really, really glossy...and, I'll bet, waterproof.

Since many of you seemed intrigued by the artwork teaser in my last bedroom post, I thought I would do a post on black and white artwork.  I like to collect artwork.  I buy it even when I don't have a place to hang it.  It's a problem, I'll admit.  I've even limited myself to artists who lived in Provincetown as way of controlling myself.  I've always wanted to have a big gallery wall of black and white artwork so I pick up pieces and just file them away.  Here are some of the black and white pieces for my someday gallery wall.

"Wreckage" by Tracey Anderson done as part of a series

in response to Hurricane Katrina.

Tracey is an artist I read an article about several years ago.  I found her so interesting I reached out to her to get to know her.  She's very outspoken about art that's purely decorative:  pretty for the sake of being pretty isn't art to her.  Her work is filled with icons and symbols that are characters of her own language, often what I perceive to be steampunk-type objects that listen to and watch us.   I find her and her work very interesting.

Sculpture by Mike Wright.  I'd love to incorporate sculpture into a gallery wall to give it more dimension.  To have this sitting on a little floating shelf would be really neat.

Peter Busa, ca. 1950s

Tracey Anderson, 2006

Fritz Bultman, 1961

You've seen this piece before in my living room.

Mike Wright, wood construction

Tracey Anderson

Paul Bowen, monoprint, 2010

A drawing by Peter Busa from his time at the Yaddo artists' community in 1942.

You've seen the piece before in my dining room.

Tracey Anderson, 2005

Suzanne Harding, mixed media

This is the piece, also by Tracey Anderson, that I framed to go over the bed.

It's kind of a harsh piece but I thought framing it in the ornate frame would give it a whimsical quality that would lighten it up.  

And I really wanted something that would be a nice textural contrast against the headboard.  It may be a piece that a lot of people dislike, or even hate, but that's okay.  I like art that makes people ask questions and I think the overall effect once the room is done will be good.  

I'm off to buy a new rug.

I'm Getting There

The backplates on my bathroom door weren't as exciting as the knobs.  Even though they're not fancy and they're a little corroded, I kind of like their distressed look.  I still haven't been able to take the door outside to strip it but that should happen within the next few weeks.

I have at least one coat of paint on every surface of the bedroom.  The dark taupe wall just wasn't working for me.  It just sucked the life out of the room.

So that wall is now a mid-value gray called Herbal Escape.  It's one of those complex colors that looks a little different at different times of the day.  The floor is a darker slightly browner gray.  I just need to get a second coat on everything and clean up my edges.  Getting sharp edges in an old house is such a pain.  Can I get a witness?

And here's a sneak peak of a piece of artwork I just had framed to go above the bed.  I might lose a  bunch of people with this one but I love it.  I think it'll go above the headboard.

Hopefully by next weekend I can start putting everything back together.

I'm also working on a guest post for another blog -- more details on that soon -- and I need a few photos so why don't you tag along on a walk over to Harvard Square with me.  

This Greek Revival adjacent to Harvard University was new to me.  An enormous wisteria lines the entablature of the porch.  I'll have to come back in a few weeks to see this in its full glory.  The gothic doors on this double house are quite unusual.

I always love to poke around old New England cemeteries.  You never know what famous person you'll run in to.  This cemetery dating back to 1635 is right in Harvard Square.

Memento Mori = Remember your mortality.

The detailed carvings are always amazing...

Here lyes ye body of Dorothy Burre, wife to Samuel Burre, aged 30 years,

died ye 20 of February 1702.

Again Memento Mori and Fugit Hora meaning "the hour flies."

Comparing this headstone to the previous one makes me wonder if the image at the top of two carved columns flanking the stone...

...is a likeness of the deceased.  This was a two-year-old child.

On the corner of the cemetery is a 1734 mile marker stating Boston is 8 miles away.  At the time, the trip to Boston would take the better part of a day by horse.  A bridge built from East Cambridge to Boston in 1793 reduced the trip to just over 3 miles, or just four subway stops from Harvard Square.

The ceiling of the portico of Memorial Church at Harvard.

Detail of ceiling.

The Holden Chapel at Harvard, built 1744, has the most amazing carving on the pediment.

Massachusetts Hall on the right is the oldest existing building

at Harvard having been built in 1720.

I think I have all the photos I need but can't wait to get back and see these wisteria.

Bedroom Update

I had to call an end to the plastering and sanding.  I could really obsess about how perfect things need to be.  I was pretty sure thigns were in pretty good shape but there's nothing better than a coat of primer on the walls to see what things really look like.

Plaster dust makes a pretty good hair product really.  Just add a little water and you can shape it any way you want; kind of like Play-do hair.  I'm sporting a faux-hawk today.   

See how the turquoise floor color bounces color up on the ceiling and ceiling fan?  It's really throwing all the color off.

My manager was on the lookout for holes and cracks.

The reason the wallpaper failed in here is the old (pink) paint surface actually split when the wallpaper paste dried so I had these gaps every 22 inches around the room.  (In the front bedroom, I painted the walls before I decided to put up wallpaper and that layer of latex paint seemed to have prevented that problem.)

I got most of these cracks filled but this is one I couldn't see until everything was primed.

My new ivory leather tufted headboard (from West Elm) is my "Barcelona chair" from the inspiration photos.  

Even though I had the intention this room would be very light...

... I thought it would be nice to see a dark value behind the headboard to highlight it.  This is the BM Fairview Taupe that I used on beadboard in the dining room bookshelves.  I'm not sure about it.

The draperies will be Pottery Barn Peyton linen in oatmeal and I'll be using a bamboo roman blind underneath.  I'm stealing them from the living room.  Not sure what I'll do in there.

Here's the headboard up against the taupe wall with the light fixture I bought.  I decided the fixture needed to be something old.  This will be a little "brooch" for the ceiling.  I like it all together but might have to live with it for a little bit.  I also need to get a coat of white paint on the floor because the turquoise floor is affecting the color of everything.

I've also been working on getting the door hardware and hinges off so I can strip everything. 

I chipped away at the paint to get at the screws.

I can't even begin to guess how many layers of paint on this.

And when I popped the plate off...

This was underneath and fell on the floor.  Is it a fishing fly?

I'm going to strip the hardware but wanted to make sure the door knob wasn't wood before I soak it for a few days.  I'm pretty sure it's porcelain or glass.  Hopefully it will be a nice surprise.