My Brooklyn bedroom was very much a work in progress. It changed quite a lot over time, or perhaps a more honest statement would be that I struggled to get the components “right” on my first or second… okay, maybe third try.
This 1970’s Lelli light was actually purchased for the dining room but it found a home over our bed after the initial purchase failed. The ceiling was repainted to match the walls months after we moved in, in an attempt to make the room feel more cohesive. And I changed the crown molding (yup, after I redid the ceiling) because the initial profile that was spec’d was far too diminutive.
The French 40’s bench was reupholstered twice—a very expensive mishap. And the stripe pillows and terracotta sculptures were a last-minute addition to integrate the tone of the new velvet bench in an otherwise neutral space. Anyway, my point is that design is an amalgamation of so many things, and mistakes, to get it “right”—it’s never as easy as it seems.
The takeaway? We are a work in progress, always!
My advice when approaching the design of a bedroom is to allow color and texture to speak for you, designating places of calm, and highlighting ecstatic moments. My bedroom envelops you in serenity with its neutral palette. In contrast, I strategically introduced a duo of vibrant colors—the warm mustard hue from the chair and the wine-red bench—to focus your attention.
A torn charcoal drawing found at a yard sale. An extra piece of tattered fabric draped from a nail. An Etsy rattan shade on a French ceramic lamp. Design is what you make of it and beauty can be found in the most unassuming of places. It is also so highly personal—I just love how particular each of our eyes imagine and execute a composition.
I love to trace inspiration—the initial spark that influences a design journey. In my bedroom, the grand double doors, mimicking old-world Parisian architecture, were the impetus for the entire layout of my bedroom floor—all necessary functions and rooms were built around these very doors. They were my starting point, a mere idea that sent me on my way. I am fascinated by that process of being led piece by piece, choice by choice, until a design dialog reveals itself.
What’s your starting point in creative endeavors?
