To sleep, perchance to dream

You know when you can’t sleep for a night, and then it turns into two nights, and then all of a sudden a week’s gone by and you haven’t had a good night’s sleep?  And all you can think about is sleep and beds?

That’s kind of where my head is this morning (which is problematic because I’ve got some major studying to do).  But I decided that the only way to clear my head was to just go with it for a little while.

So I put together this inspiration board for my dream bedroom!  No, still no house or money, but it’s starting to look like one day we’ll actually be able to afford a real house of our own.  And that, my friends, is a good feeling.  Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to pull this file from my folders and go shopping!  I do have to start off by saying that, like its name implies, this is really just an inspiration board, and I feel no particular attachment to any particular piece.  However, I do like the style of each piece, and I’m hoping to eventually be able to cobble this room together through thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales.

But enough chatting – time for the bedroom!

For the color, I’d like to use Lookout Point by Benjamin Moore with some clean white trim.  I like how calm and serene it is, plus (and I’d experiment with this first) I bet it would look great either covered with sun or lit by just a few candles.

The trunk is from Pier1.  I’d place it at the foot of the bed for seating and storage.  I just love the idea of an entire trunk full of fluffy, warm, comfy blankets just waiting to be delved into!

On the top right is a chair from Ethan Allen.  I like its very traditional style – it looks so soft and cushy, but the straight lines in the legs mimic the lines in the bed.

The chandelier is from Bellacor.  It’s got a nice, spindly-yet-sturdy look to it.  And although I’m not usually a huge fan of the Early American style, this one definitely caught my eye.  For my own house, I definitely prefer chandeliers with shades because I find naked bulbs too bright, even on dimmer switches.  But this would surely look just as pretty without any shades.  I am a little worried about introducing a single dark element, especially on the ceiling, but I’ll cross that bridge when we come to burn it down (Jimmy Buffett song, sorry).

In the middle is the piece de resistance – the bed!  This Ikea bed seems like the perfect clean country bed.  It was really hard to find a white four poster canopy bed, and there were definitely other contenders, but I really think that this bed epitomizes best what I was looking for.  You can throw some sheer fabric over the top for summer, or drape a quilt over the back for winter.  Plus, like most other little girls, I’ve always wanted a canopy bed!

For the floors, I really like this floor from iFloor because it’s got a great mixture of grey and brown.  Plus I like that it looks so smooth and worn.  I would actually use this floor throughout an entire house if given the opportunity (iFloor would definitely love me!).

And on top of the floor, partially under the bed, would be this snappy little rug from Dash & Albert.  I’ve seen more and more people raving about them recently, and, let’s face it, I do love a good bandwagon once in a while.   I wanted to bring a little color and pattern into the room (I’d do this with throws, blankets, and pillows too – but this would be on a different level), and this seemed like the perfect way to do it.

Because nightstands are a must, I’d probably grab two of these little beauties from Ikea.  I’d probably change the knobs out, just for a little more snaz, but all in all I like them.  You could put a couple books on the bottom shelf, and some water, a lamp, and some flowers on top.  And really, what more does a nightstand need to do?  Simple, clean, efficient, what’s not to love?

For the windows, I think I’d steal the window treatment idea that the cute couple over at Young House Love prefer: bamboo shades with floor length white sheers.  It’s simple, it protects privacy, blocks light when it’s unwanted, and lets it come pouring through when all you want is sunshine.  Sounds pretty darn perfect, eh?

Finally, because we’re hoping to one day own (and fix up) a historical home, we’ll definitely need some storage.  Old homes are famous for having very little closet space.  But that’s not a problem with an armoire as pretty as this one from Pottery Barn, or a dresser like this one, also from Pottery Barn.  As long as there was an attic to store out-of-season clothes, those two pieces might actually be enough.  But if not, we could always grab another dresser.  I think mis-matched dressers look really cute, as long as they’re similar enough in style.

Well, that’s all for my dream bedroom.  What about you, do you have any bedroom fantasies (not the dirty kind – minds out of the gutter please)?  Is there anything that you require in a bedroom, or a thing that’s not allowed to be there?