After 4 years of living in my flash back to the 70's bedroom, it finally got its redo!
I had however become accustomed to the stained wallpaper, the cigarette burns in the carpet (from the previous owner) and the painted to look like expensive wood closets. So when my husband said its time for our room to be done, I hesitated. I had planned what this room could look like from the day we moved in, and now it was about to become a reality, and I actually hesitated. This ugly room had become my sanctuary and now it would be gone forever, as it sat.
The first Friday of the month of February it was to be deconstructed. So in small steps I had to let go of my room.
I didn't like the closets anyway, they had to go, so not much of a heartache there. But as we removed them the walls became really damaged and we knew we had to drywall the whole thing. We weren't surprised by this, but now "good bye" would have to be said to the wallpaper as it was to be covered. There was something about that wallpaper that reminded me of my childhood and although it was never staying, there's a part of me that knows that it now lives on under the drywall,(you may roll eyes here) and that made everything better.
Sidenote-Normally I'm a stickler for keeping things as original to a home as possible, meaning I will keep plaster walls as long as they are in great shape. Which has happened in most of the other rooms.
I carefully took off the old trim work before we drywalled. Nothing bothers me more then when drywall is used to cover old plaster and they've left the trim on. The trim then appears to be buried in the wall. It looks silly. I also like to keep the nails from the trim. They fascinate me. Each one was probably hand made 130 years ago, and in my eyes worthy of being kept.
We then began rebuilding the room adding new built-ins with more storage, sanding and refinishing the floor, adding some new trim details. I no longer mourned the loss of my room as it began to take shape into what I had dreamed it could look like. I'm grateful that my husband is a licensed carpenter and that my wish becomes his command. He is pretty wonderful at what he can do, but likes to keep it a secret. Shhh. Don't tell anyone.
So without further ado...my new sanctuary!
My new window seat! All the doors and drawer fronts came from Habitat. Even the little door that is the front of my window seat is a Habitat find.
The headboard that the kids and I made.
The side tables(or little dressers) that my boys made.
My bit of glam.
My morning tea spot, or a place to watch a good storm come in.
She's my fav, that frog is!
That's my happily after photos and my new oasis. I think it's much better then the burnt carpet, or the peeling wallpaper. There is a few more things to up on the walls and other treasures still to find to add to the room, but thats the fun stuff. My bedroom will always be changing, depending on what I discover in my hunts and thus never boring. I think my frog needs a mate.
I would like to thank my daughter Amelia for taking the photographs. She is a budding photographer and has some remarkable pics to which I'm trying to convince her to share with the world.
