5.05.2009

Dare to Dream: Sweet Dreams

For those of you wondering where I've been, my apologies.  This weekend Adam and I had a rather unpleasant encounter with the ugly side of living in a large city.  I came out of this incident completely unscathed, though fairly unnerved.  Adam ended up with nine stitches, a broken nose, severe bruising, and several days of intense pain- and he was very lucky that his injuries weren't much worse.  Of course, we also got to share the most expensive night on the town we've ever had- a six block ambulance ride and eight hours in the ER. The thugs who did this?  They won't even spend a night in jail.

The irony is that this all happened on "The Ave" in the University District- one of my favorite places to shop and explore, and also the subject of the post that I intended to publish this weekend.  Needless to say, I've fallen out of love with my city this week- and I won't be advertising for a neighborhood where random acts of violence are now so frequent that nobody can walk along the street safely.  

Now, three days later, I'm so angry and agitated about the whole thing that I still haven't had a full night's sleep. Between trying to care for my boyfriend (who is probably about ready to punch me), and bizarre nightmares about knife-fighting with gang members... I am exhausted.  

Today, my ultimate fantasy is 10 hours of peace.  If only my bedroom were as lovely as any of these...

My all-time favorite AT House Tour, Summer & Josh's Pumped Up Traditional.

I love how Summer has made the ceilings seem almost impossibly high with huge panels of gold wallpaper and tall bedside lamps.  She's created a sense of grandeur with metallic gold theme- but the crisp white feels clean and inviting.  A truly perfect bedroom.

Feminine and modern, and so very tasteful.  (Photo By Eric Striffler)

So much shine in this bedroom, from the acrylic bed posts to the shimmery drapes.  It's all a little more modern than I would usually prefer, but the variance in textures and shades help this room stay soft and sweet.  And, as you might have guessed, I am crazy about that mossy green velvet headboard.

Neutral... and gender neutral.

This is my color scheme, my eclectic style, my love of antiques... all in one bedroom!  I love the subtleties of so many neutrals, with dashes of soft purple, mossy green, crisp black, distressed wood and antiqued metal.  The overall impression is mellow and relaxed, but there are plenty of angular elements to keep it sophisticated and neat.  To me, this room is Matilda-colored!  

Anyway, Adam is incredibly resilient- and he should be back to his old self in no time (though we'll need a little help with his nose...).  I'll resume steady posting soon.  Just after a nice long nap.

5 Have Spoken.:

Anonymous said...

I love the light in these rooms. Soft, bright and sunny. I prefer sheer gauzey curtains at the most, but because sleeping during the day requires nearly total darkness.
Besides the very tacky foil I currently have over my windows, do you have a suggestion? I
think I'd like the looks of white shutters...But the expense is a deterrent.

Lori W

Elizabeth said...

That's an interesting dilemma. I think there are a couple ways to handle that problem, but it depends on how often you want to actually have light coming in through the windows!

If you're not planning on looking out the window anytime soon, it might be interesting to look into "frosted glass" contact paper. It's totally removable, but obscures the view and diffuses light really well. It would let a nice, soft glow come through the window- but it might be neat to pair this with a set of thin curtains. Basically, you'd get double coverage, but the look would stay really light and airy.

Another idea would be be a roman shade. Pretty simple and clean looking.

As far as shutters go- that would be really cute. It's also definitely worth measuring your windows and checking Craig's List periodically. I was on the hunt a while back for a pair of shutters to use as a bulletin board (thank you Martha Stewart), and I found sets in every shape and size.

Jess said...

I'm sorry to hear about what happened...that must have been really terrifying.

I've been using google sketchup to arrange and rearrange my room...we're going to cram ourselves into one bedroom (as opposed to the bedroom + office we currently use) in a few months, because we're getting a roommate...but the logistics are a bit tricky. So I've been modeling it....its pretty fun, and often makes me think of you. :)

Elizabeth said...

Jess...

It was scary- mostly because I wasn't immediately sure that Adam was okay. Weirdly, the thing I remember most is being completely enraged. If I hadn't had to take care of Adam, I might have done something really foolish and I would have been the one in the stretcher :)

Anyway. That sounds tricky! I have Sketch-Up, but I am... not quite there yet. I really ought to practice (because it would make me much more useful at my actual job), but it still feels counter-intuitive to me. So, way to go! Good luck fitting everything in- I'm sure you'll find a creative solution. Lofted bed?

Jess said...

Lofted bed would be cool...but isn't in the budget (since we already have a decent bedframe.) I think that we're going to somewhat block the closet with the bed, and get rid of our dresser (underbed boxes, hopefully, will suffice). We'll see how it goes! I'm mostly excited because we're gonna have a desk at the end of the bed, and we can turn the computer around to watch movies!