How To Dress a Bed

I told you guys on Saturday that I would show the redo of my old clients' friends' bed.

Connie and Chris are a big reason I bought a house down here in Flerida.

I had done their home in Vermont.

Then they bought a new winter home in Florida.

Connie thought it would be a good idea to use a local Florida decorator.

This way she wouldn't have to pay for my traveling expenses.

Well.......

FAKE OUT ON HER!!!!!!!

I make it look easy, but decorating is hard!!!!

The local designer made a whole bunch of boo boos, and I had to come to the rescue and redo a large part of the job.

Sooooooo......

She had to pay me to travel after all!!!!!

But then she encouraged me to buy my own house down here!!!!!

This way there were no more traveling expenses!!!!!

So, now I live in Flerida in the winter too.

Only, now I've retired, and she and I have become true friends.....

Soooooo.....

When she needs some shopping help, she gets it for free.....

(but I did make her buy me lunch)

Although, let it be noted, that for anything involving formal ordering.....

I CHARGE!!!!!

Soooooo.....

Back to Chris's bed.

I never helped with the bedding, other than the boxspring cover.

Connie and the previous decorator chose all the bedding.

Connie wasn't happy with it.

Here's how it looked when I was finished......

This is what I started with.

Connie doesn't like the look of wrinkled pillow cases, so she hides them behind the pillow shams.

I don't think it looks so great.

Chris likes using 4 pillows, so it can be somewhat of a challenge in making the bed look pretty.

I didn't have a problem with this, but she wanted more of a

 "Betsy"

 finished look.

Sooooooo......

We went to Pottery Barn and bought out the store!!!!!

We lucked out with the nicest sales lady.

She knew her stuff, and kept the whole process moving right along.

I'm not a good retail customer.

I get impatient and bored.

I like the look of a blanket cover,

 so I used the duvet cover without a duvet to act as a blanket cover, supplying a jolt of pattern and color

 that worked off of the tribal feel of the lamps and artwork.

I tucked in the blanket cover but left the sheet loose for a more casual feel.

I like this better than having the sheet tucked in.

Here's a view with it tucked in. Each room is different, so it depends on the feel I'm going for.

Yes, I am actually this obsessive about details.

The store had just gotten in these wonderful diamond quilted natural linen quilts and shams.

They worked beautifully with the tones of the terracotta paisley and striped pillow.

I chose a fabric that worked with the feeling of the lamps.

So let me explain to you the theory that I used when choosing what went where.

I wanted pattern on the main part of the bed,

 as there was no other pattern in the room.

But I didn't want the shams right on top of the blanket cover,

 I wanted to break the pattern up, 

so as it wouldn't all bleed together.

So I chose cream colored sheets (also from Potter Barn) 

to complement the cream tones of the other fabrics,

 and set the pillow cases against the shams.

I folded the quilt at the foot of the bed for a nice 

block of textured cream

and repeated it in the European shams behind the paisley shams.

This creates a 

rhythm of repeating color and texture.

Then it was all pulled together with the awning stripe pillow in front

 (also from Potter Barn)

At this point, I was very happy with it.....

Connie didn't like the four pillows piled up, 

so we hid two of them,

 scrunched up behind the Euro shams.

She has a problem with wrinkles in sheets.....

She's worried the wrinkles will bother her.

I should thank the stars every morning when I wake up that

 I don't care about that stuff!!!!!

My pillow cases are all wrinkled on my bed, and 

I don't see them.....

so they don't exist!!!!!

Just as a little taste for the rest of their house.....

Here's the view from the balcony off Chris's bedroom!!!!!

(I will be showing the rest of Connie and Chris's house in my posts

 after I'm done with my guest room.)

So......

HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU GUYS!!!!

Later, Gator

Partying at: