When a room just doesn’t “click”
By Christa TerryI’m home a lot recently, which means I spend an awful lot of time looking around my abode with a vague sense of dissatisfaction. We moved in around October 1, and I’m still not altogether satisfied with the feel of the house. I’ve spent many an hour moving furniture and accent pieces from one room to another and back again. When I get dismayed, I just think, “Hey! It’s exercise, right?”
Lately, the focal point of my efforts has been the bedroom. Yesterday, I moved one of the kitchen table chairs into the bedroom. There’s only two of us, which means there’s no reason I shouldn’t spread the chair wealth. Then I went crazy hanging plates, mirrors, and quilts. The dang room still doesn’t feel right.
I’m beginning to suspect that what my bedroom needs is a new bed. A bed that isn’t partly held together with a metal reinforcement bar. A bed that isn’t a thousand years old. My bed is serviceable, but it’s not in keeping with my current tastes. It was once The Beard’s, which could be part of the problem.
A new piece of furniture can re-vitalize a space, provided you can afford the right piece of furniture. In my case, I’ll be spending another day schlepping stuff into and out of the bedroom…
January 10th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
One of the problems of being young and married or, ahem, “shaking up” is that by and large the couple does not have the money to get themselves a new bedroom set (or “suit” as they say around here) and must suffer through using either hand-me-downs or used or whatever. And usually what happens next is that when the less-young couple gets some money, they tend to buy furniture for the public areas of the home…not their bedroom. I’m still living with hand-me-down chests of drawers from my great aunt, bought in the 1920s: heavy, carved and dark. Which would be all right except my taste runs to Scandinavian: light, plain, and natural. But when one is young, one does not want to look a gift horse in the teeth, particularly when the gift horse has just passed on and you can’t argue.
But when it came time for us to spend money on the bedroom, I decided to let my back make the case for a new bed and new box spring and mattress rather than new chests – I don’t sleep in that and don’t have to get up every morning with my back protesting against the old spring and lumpy mattress. And we took some advice from my dad (always full of good, pithy advice, he was) which was: “Always buy the very best you can afford – put most of the money in the mattress and the box spring — beds are like shoes; it never pays to buy cheaply.”
January 10th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I know what you mean, NtB. My house is rather bare (maybe in revolt from growing up in a houseful of clutter). I’ve decided what it needs is more art. I’m planning to get prints of some American Impressionist art, such as “Summer” by Benson.
January 10th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Great advice, Toby. We’ll likely be getting a new mattress before we get a new bed for those very same reasons.
I think it’s different for everyone, Lori. For you it’s the art. For me, it’s the furniture. Where we agree is on the clutter revolt!
January 13th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I hated my bedroom until I bought 7-inch lifts for the bed (we don’t have a frame, just the rails). It’s amazing what a little height can do as far as drama… and all the clutter has LOTS of room to hide if you get a nice long bedskirt.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Great idea, Denise. I’ve always thought that taller beds are much more attractive than their shorter counterparts.