Today, I’m excited to show you a project in the works! Before embarking on a full-house overhaul, my client wanted to begin with the master bedroom so that she and her husband can have a retreat amidst the chaos that will soon envelop their home (an excellent strategy).
Project Sneak Peek: Feng Shui Master Suite
A professional musician and feng shui practitioner with a desire for serenity spiced with jewel tones and green plants, my client realized that her own home had grown into something that was anything but the harmonious surroundings she sought. Over the chaotic years of raising young kids, it had become cluttered with hand-me-downs and cast offs. It was, in her own words, “a grown-up dorm room.” She finally wanted to create an environment that actually represented her and her family with high quality, good value furnishings. She loves brown furniture. (Yippee for me!) She also prefers soft curves to hard angles, both in furniture and in fabric patterns.
Beginning with the bedroom, she had some very specific requests:
- Wood bed with no foot board
- Large dresser (most of the clothes will be in the newly decked-out and organized walk-in closet, but this will still be a major storage unit for the husband)
- Someplace to sit
- Increased lighting scheme, but no overhead light
- A drawer and shelf for books in the bedside tables
- A super soft rug with multiple colors that she could play on to switch out pillows, etc.
- A quilt that was not white and was washable (the dog sleeps on the bed, too)
- Soft, touchable fabrics
First, the floor plan. With four windows in the room and three doors, the room’s floor plan pretty much laid itself out. The real question was about seating. A bench at the foot of the bed? And a chair? Or a chair? Or two chairs?
The client decided she wanted more open floor than the bench option provided, but was also worried two chairs wouldn’t get used enough. She decided to go with a third option, thinking that a second chair could be added at any time.
Every room needs multiple options for lighting. Here we have a sconce by the door, a lamp for the dresser, a floor lamp by the chair, bedside lamps, and sconces over the bed for reading when the rest of the room is dim.
Next — the inspiration! Knowing her penchant for nature-leaning Zen, I found a rug pattern by Julie Dasher (read about her completely customizable rugs here), and colored it with pale grays, soft aquas and lavenders, and a bit of charcoal. This became the spring board for the rest of the room’s palette and feel.
The rug is hand-knotted in India and 100% wool, excepting the details. All those beautiful flowers will be custom rendered in a soft silk-like nylon that will shimmer, but also can’t be ruined by a spilled glass of water!
The rug doesn’t look like this on the website though. So if you want to do your own rendering, search for this puppy and then get to work.
Awww, I just now clicked on that link, and Julie has added in Home Glow’s Floral Trails creation to her website. Thanks, Julie! I love your work!
The bed was the next thing to find, and that was a toughy! Wood, curvy, no foot board. Man, did I search. Then I found this beauty by Harden Furniture which fit the bill to a T.
The headboard is burl maple and the rest is solid cherry. We chose the Dunhill finish, which just happens to be shown above. Sidenote: Harden Furniture is one of those old, respected American furniture companies that makes solid wood casegoods and top notch upholstery. In business since 1844 and located in McConnellsville, NY, Harden is very reasonable for American-made custom furniture. It doesn’t market quite as much or have any designer-licensed lines (think Barbara Barry for Baker and Mark D. Sikes for Henredon), and I think this may help keep the prices down. Just a hunch.
I also found this fabulous triple dresser from Harden, which will likewise be in the Dunhill finish when we’re done.
Curved? Check! I also liked that it had two columns of large drawers, rather than three columns of smaller drawers. Better storage for folded clothes.
I loved these lacquered raffia Ming side tables from Bungalow 5. Drawers for personal items and space for the books you’re currently reading.
For a smaller scale chair, we chose Charles Stewart’s Southport chair. The seat is still ample, but the arms are slimmer and will allow room for a second chair if the client desires.
Next for the color! The Julie Dasher rug’s palette served as the launchpad for the fabrics and accent pieces we then chose.
I wanted the walls and window treatments to be vey serene and blend together, like in this room by Bunny Williams.
So we chose to paint the walls Benajmin Moore’s Penthouse and found this wonderful, super reasonably priced cotton blend from Robert Allen close in color to our paint from which to create the drapes. The fabric is looks lighter in life, I just couldn’t get the lighting right in this picture because the light kept reflecting off the paint card!
When it comes to bedding, I generally prefer white. Just makes me think of a hotel oasis away from family home chaos. That wasn’t an option in this case, but I think we came up with something really nice in this washable crushed velvet quilt from Pine Cone Hill.
For our chair, I found this gorgeous, touchable, discontinued Beacon Hill fabric on Fabric Guru for $14.95 yd. (This used to be well over $100 yd wholesale!) We bought the whole lot in case we decide to have another chair made.
Those jewel tones my client craves will come in our art and these fabulous lamps, for the bedside tables and the dresser respectively, both by Currey & Co.
We may have to switch out the Aubergene’s shade for a white one. We’ll get some additional subtle pattern into the mix with a bolster bed pillow and a lumbar chair pillow.
Small details like the chair side table, floor lamp, and small etagere for the wall are being ironed out. Hopefully this baby will be ready to photograph before summer!
What do you think? Would you enjoy a bedroom like this?
What is your style? Anything you would like to see profiled/explained on the blog? Next week, I’m on hiatus to spend a little time with my handsome husband. I’ll be back in two weeks with an empty-nesters’ dream home like you’ve never seen before and won’t see anywhere else, so stay tuned. đŸ˜‰
-Amy
