I hear the secrets that you keep when you're talking in your sleep...

A couple of weeks ago we finally got a new bed frame to go with our new mattress set. Since there were already so many wood pieces in the bedroom (dressers, bedside table, lacquered desk), I really wanted something metal to balance it all out. We also wanted to move away from a bedskirt for so many reasons: dust, cat hair, clearing things out visually, etc., so a metal bedframe seemed to make sense.

There were a lot of more ornate options out there (think Restoration Hardware et al) but I went for the Min Bed at Design Within Reach. There was no footboard, and the simple modern design balances out more of the kooky eclectic elements of our bedroom.

 

The result? With our mattress and box spring on the frame, our bed is now a ridiculously high 30 inches! It's kind of fun climbing (literally) into bed, but I think our poor cat needs some steps now to get up. (FYI - most beds these days are low, but since our bedside tables were around 29-30 inches, I consciously went with a higher bed so we didn't have to reach up to get to alarm clocks, books, glasses of water, etc.)

Here's what it looks like all assembled:

The best part is how supported the bed now feels. The rickety old metal frame we had before wasn't doing anything good for our new mattress set. Now the bedroom feels complete, and we're sleeping in as much as possible!

24 Hour Party People

At the start of this year I was feeling kind of swamped--a lot going on at Ye Olde Dayjobbe, post-holiday recovery, and a couple of Retrograde projects in various stages of completion. So it was a surprise to get an email out of blue asking if I could help someone new.

O. is a busy doctor who just purchased a garden flat in Hayes Valley and asked if I could come by and take a look at his new place. He had just gotten rid of almost all his possessions, so it was truly a fresh start (all he had was an old sofa and a recliner.) At first I was wary--I didn't think I'd have enough time to do anything else--but then I came to our inital meeting with a crazy proposition:  What if I just helped him shop (in person) over the course of two nonstop weekends to get his place completely furnished?

It was a deal!

I had never really done this kind of speed decorating before--there's usually so much back and forth between myself and my clients. But O. and I seemed to be on the same page, and his artist/illustrator girlfriend also helped with inspiration and direction. The last owner of his flat was a high-powered female executive who had moved to the city after a big breakup. I admired the fact that she outfitted the flat her way, but unfortunately a lot of those touches didn't suit O. (like the polished brass fixtures everywhere and the clear diamond-shaped doorknobs...)

The BEFORE pictures are her staged selling shots--definitely VERY feminine:

And here's our AFTER--definitely more masculine:

It was amazing to see how much we could accomplish in less than 24 hours total (granted, O. and his girlfriend did a lot of additional shopping on their own.) And it was interesting to see how the surrounding garden took on a whole new persona after we redecorated the inside. Before, it was a sunny backdrop for a very pretty, European-country residence. Now it feels like an airy Zen retreat around an intimate, cozy pad. (Nothing wrong with either iteration--they're just two very different homes for two very different people!)

Like another doctor I worked with, O. left feeling inspired and excited to continue working on his home on his own. Sometimes I feel like I'm here to merely start the process, and let it take you on a crazy, wonderful, exciting journey!