It's been nearly four months since my last "NYC Bedroom Update" post, so I thought it was time to share an update on the process. Although my bedroom is roughly 100 square feet and my adjoining bathroom barely allows one person to fit in it comfortably, I have been taking my time and really being methodical with the design. First of all, my entire lifestyle has changed and that has caused me to rethink and recalibrate how to best utilize my space. For instance, my closet is roughly 3' wide, which means it cannot hold a great deal of clothing, and especially can't hold anything I "might" wear "one day." There's only room for the essentials, and since it's winter I have 1 under-bed drawer full of my summer clothes. And even the "under the bed" space is sacred- I only have a full bed, after all! A progress post wouldn't be complete without a few sagas along the way. As you may recall, my acrylic desk chair arrived from Houston broken, and Fed Ex denied my claim because apparently I was supposed to save the life size box it came in until the claim process was complete. Total bummer. Thankfully, I found a restoration company in Long Island City who could repair it and re-glue it back together, so I had a good friend carry it out to their shop in a taxi on his day off. Again, it takes a village to decorate here. Once the restoration company fixed it, I had the seat reupholstered in Quadrille's Nomad Green on Tinted Linen. The result makes me so happy:
Saga #2: My headboard. I fell in love with Serena & Lily's Octavia headboard last year, and couldn't get the simplistic design out of my mind. I wanted one for my NYC bedroom, but the height would not work with my bed frame. I have risers on my bed (like we all did in our college dorm rooms), so the top of my mattress height is roughly 32". The headboard height is 55", so once I added my shams the headboard would've disappeared. Thankfully, I found Susie Marks on Etsy, and she built a custom full headboard for me at 72"H to work proportionately with my abnormally tall bed:
I am hesitant to even show you a picture of my bed linens at this point, because I feel they are such a random assortment thrown together. I couldn't part with my old sofa pillows upholstered in Schumacher Shock Wave, so for now they are mixed in with my Matouk Lorelei linens and hot pink mohair lumbars. Figuring out my bedding situation is still on the to-do list.
You might be asking yourself- what about the above headboard story is saga-worthy? Well, let me get to that. The first headboard Susie sent was damaged in transit, so she had to start over and make a new one. The wait was worth it, but the second issue was the delivery. The headboard alone weighs about 75 lbs, and I live in a fourth floor walk up with no elevator. I wouldn't mind helping the deliveryman get the headboard up four flights of stairs, but unfortunately he could only deliver during business hours, and I couldn't leave work to help. Fortuitously, next door to my apartment building is a laundry service where I drop off my clothes to be washed/folded/dry-cleaned weekly, and I've come to be friendly with the couple that owns the shop. I told the husband my headboard predicament, and simply asked if I could have the headboard delivered to their storefront and I could worry about getting it up the stairs after work. To my surprise, the husband ended up lugging the headboard up all the stairs and it was waiting outside my apartment door when I got home that evening. I love my village!
Next, I worked with Liven Up Design to design a shower curtain and cornice box for my tiny NY shower. The shower (as you can tell) was literally cut in to the wall with no moulding or tile border of any kind around the wall. It felt neglected and I wanted to do something to give it a little oomph. We used Quadrille's Nomad on Tinted Linen fabric for a fun, bright pop of color:
So what's left? Finishing my 2 windows with roman shades in white and lining them with a pink tape trim, adding a framed photograph from Stephanie Novas, adding my Coleen & Company fixture, finding a fun bedside table lamp, and waiting on my Sarah side table from Fabulous Things in Atlanta:
Next, I worked with Liven Up Design to design a shower curtain and cornice box for my tiny NY shower. The shower (as you can tell) was literally cut in to the wall with no moulding or tile border of any kind around the wall. It felt neglected and I wanted to do something to give it a little oomph. We used Quadrille's Nomad on Tinted Linen fabric for a fun, bright pop of color:
So what's left? Finishing my 2 windows with roman shades in white and lining them with a pink tape trim, adding a framed photograph from Stephanie Novas, adding my Coleen & Company fixture, finding a fun bedside table lamp, and waiting on my Sarah side table from Fabulous Things in Atlanta:
I'm adding a few Nest Studio knobs to my closet doors and one for the bedside table pull. They have such gorgeous hardware!
I'm hoping my next update post for you will be the room completed with lots of photos of the details in a few months. Obviously the room will never be completely done, but I'm looking forward to feeling a bit more settled. Thanks for following along on the process!
