Our Guest Bedroom

Since it is such a beautiful, spring morning, I went in to the guest bedroom, and opened the windows to let in fresh air. It is especially pretty in the mornings, as it gets Eastern light. The curtains are auburgene, and completely block the light, but the valences (which need to be adjusted in this photo), are trimmed with crystal beads, that act as prisms, bouncing light all over the room...like fireflies. I decided since the lighting was so good, to photograph it and share it... Here's my secret confession....my husband uses this room more than our bedroom (we snore), but we do start out together, as reading in bed is our favorite way to go to sleep. Usually, one of us bales right after the snoring commences.....The "puff" at the end of the bed is for when the nights get chilly...it's about time to store it away. I had it covered with a duvet cover, but it made it too heavy, as the duvet under it is covered already.

Many of you know that in another life, I was a photographer...I specialized in hand-painted, black-and-white photography...literally painted them with special oil paints. The photograph is "porch feet", as I was photographing a lovely, young girl, and was drawn to the position of her feet, along with the dress draping so well (and, no, I do not have a foot fetish..shoe fetish, yes)..

I love the doors in our home...it was a spec house, not even halfway finished, but I could tell that the builder was "upgrading"..no hollow-core doors here, and I loved the way he framed them...I was in time to select my hardware, which is oil-rubbed bronze, and I do love the curve of the levers..(so does our Gussie, who is able to open them-she also can open pocket doors)...

The angel on the bedside table was the infamous musical angel that belonged to our dear, departed, Aunt Lily...she reaches out to us through it (really). Today is our 27th anniversary, and when I walked into the room, it begain to play...the only other time was the night before her funeral...it plays "sleep in heavenly peace" from Silent Night. Thank you, dear, sweet Lily.

We have "pillowtops" over the mattress, which gives it a bit of a "lumpy, dippy" feeling in the photo, but snuggling into it is heavenly. I made the pillows, along with the duvet cover. I found the fabric years ago at a shop that was going out of business. I had no idea when I bought it (along with the stripe) what I would do with it, but the fern pattern is so lovely-and it was on sale at $10 a yard...I bought all that she had!

Double-click on the bird pillow, and you will see that I sewed crystals on it...notice the one in it's beak...You don't have to be obsessive-compulsive to be a designer, but it helps..

I found this mirror at a garage sale...$40.....my husband thought I should sand it and refinish it, but I love the patina of age.....it give such character...I often wonder what it has reflected over the years....

This is my in-laws wedding portrait...circa 1944........

This is a detail of the doorchest, topped with photos..They are of my mother-in-law, who came from such a beautiful family. That's her wedding portrait...she was a high-fashion modle in New York City, and married my father-in-law on Park Avenue...He was a hair dresser in a very "chi-chi salon"...The man is my late brother-in-law...he looks so happy in this photo, but was a tortured soul..poor man.

This side is my husband's grandmother, "Marm", and his grandparents are in the round photo..the smaller photo is of his parents..on their first date...taken in Central Park...The little carving is of kangaroos,...when you take the top of, there are little, teeny,tiny boxing gloves inside..I gave it to my husband for our anniversary...thought it was funny.

I do rotate photos in the house, but these are a permanent display..they just belong to the room.

This table was from go old "TJ Maxx", and I (again) love the aged patina. The space on that side of the bed is small, so this is fine...I have a standing, antique lamp (when my husband looked at these photos, he commented that the lamps seemed to small, but I like the standing one.)..The little chest I tucked in contains baubles and trims I've collected over the years. I truly believe our homes reflect who we are, and I've done dozens of client's bedrooms that are opulent, "over the top", but we prefer quiet, soothing, simple, and charming...I think it is..it's one of the loveliest rooms in which to awaken on a sunny morning..lying there, watching the "fireflies"