Rug

Rug

dresser1

Dresser with the planter

Our daughter moved out this summer to attend medical school. While we’re so lucky that she has remained in the same area, we miss her terribly. But that hasn’t stopped me from doing cartwheels about all the added space in my house (in the pantry! In the bathroom! In the fridge! In the coat closet!) and from having fun decorating her old room. She took her furniture with her. Fortunately, I’ve been ready for this for years:) When my grandmother passed away, I inherited the bedroom set that was hers when she got married in the early 1930s. When I was a kid, this set was in her spare room and was the room I slept in when I stayed with her (which was often). I took not only the bedroom set, but the coverlet and the bedside lamp. It’s all been waiting.

Lamp with the new shade and the Spode vases

Lamp with the new shade and the Spode vases

After the big move happened, I spent three days painting the room (goodbye pink, green, and sparkly white stripes) and crying the entire time. I think my tears mixed with the paint. But it was therapeutic. We cleaned out the closet (she had left behind a few things) and then my husband and son moved the furniture in. It was like meeting an old friend. When I pulled open one of the drawers, I recognized the smell and it made me feel connected to my grandmother. My husband then moved his desk into one corner of the room (and out of our bedroom which freed up a whole corner in there for me to go nuts with – I might have bought a curio cabinet to go there) but the rest of the room was mine for the decorating. I was giddy. It has been years since I

Vanity with chamber pot

Vanity with chamber pot

decorated a room from the ground up, so to speak.

The furniture completely shaped my plans – whatever I did needed to look good with it. I decided to start with a rug and happened upon this cute (and very modern) rug at HomeGoods. This gave me my color palette – pale blue and white. I found some beautiful sheers at HomeGoods also for the windows and used the existing curtain rods my daughter had picked out in her princess stage. I had the bedside lamp, but I had forgotten it was a converted milk glass oil lamp. I love the milk glass but was not a fan of the glass chimney or the ancient shade with pom poms on it. I took them both off and after much searching, found a plain little shade that clipped onto the bulb. The lamp was transformed into something cute.

I also bought an Oriental lamp at Marshall’s that were marked down (you can see the red clearance tag is still on it in this photo!). This is where I got stuck though. I said goodbye the old matelasse coverlet that was in the room when I was a girl (it was now old and threadbare). I needed new bedding, but the rug really limited my choices. After ordering, chasing down, and buying 5 different bedding sets, I finally settled on this set from Bed Bath and Beyond which was nicely priced. I stumbled on a round throw pillow that was exactly the right color then I added a white throw pillow.

Bed and bedding

Bed and bedding

Accessorizing was easy. I did some in-home shopping. I brought in a blue Oriental planter that was my mother-in-law’s, a chamber pot that was also hers, added a couple plants, some photos and dug out a set of Spode vases my mother-in-law had gifted me with once. It was all the right colors. I had one challenge left. I love the sheers, but I like to have some kind of window topper. Finding a valance was not working – the blue color is so hard to match. Then I had a moment of pure genius. I pulled out the stack of linen embroidered handkerchiefs that belonged to my two grandmothers and my mother-in-law and draped them over the top. I had exactly enough for both windows and it was fast, easy, and cheap. And I think it looks pretty cute. My daughter is calling this the old lady room, but even though the furniture is very old, I think I spiffed it up with some modern accessories and linens.

Handkerchief valance

Handkerchief valance (taken before I ironed them!)

And I’m already starting to slowly take over the dresser drawers and closet space….

Our daughter moved out this summer to attend medical school. While we’re so lucky that she has remained in the same area, we miss her terribly. But that hasn’t stopped me from doing cartwheels about all the added space in my house (in the pantry! In the bathroom! In the fridge! In the coat closet!) … Read more

no