Remember when you were little and for punishment you got sent to your room? If that was still true for grownups, I would be stirring up trouble all day long because one of my favorite places on earth to be is my bedroom. I absolutely love my bedroom. I like the way it looks. And I like the way I feel when I start and end my day there. It’s my oasis.
Far too often, when we decorate our homes, our bedrooms are last on the list. We invest our creative energy and budget on the more public spaces in our home, rationalizing that since we are the only ones who see our bedrooms, they are not as important. But I would argue that your bedroom is every bit as important as your living room or your kitchen. It’s the place you wind down, reflect and refill every single day. So when we bought our little lake home and plunged in on our whole-house renovation, I made sure the bedroom didn’t get short-changed.
The only thing that’s original to our little lake home is our two stone fireplaces. We knocked out walls, lifted the ceilings, changed out windows, inserted doors, all with the goal of maximizing every square inch of the home’s small footprint. Since we moved from a very old home – over 140 years old – I wanted to add touches that made our new construction look like it had been there generations. In my bedroom, that meant accentuating the crest of the vaulted ceiling with a wooden beam and installing a window seat by the big window that faces the front yard.
Originally, our plan was to only use the lake cottage as a place to crash when we were working at our Nell Hill’s Briarcliff location in Kansas City, so we didn’t have to drive back and forth to Atchison every day. We told ourselves that we couldn’t imagine selling our Greek Revival in Atchison, our home of 25 years. I laugh when I look back, because we were in complete and utter denial. The minute we signed the papers for our new little nugget of a house, we were gonners. We had fallen out of love with our grand old home without knowing it, and were completely smitten by this snug cottage and its promise of a simpler lifestyle.
As soon as the drywall dust settled and the floor varnish dried, I began to move a few pieces of furniture from our home in Atchison. First, it was just a bed and dresser. Then, I started shopping in every room of the house for furniture I could use in the bedroom. I snatched a table that had been in my entry and used it as a night stand. A marble-topped chest of drawers that stood under the windows in my dining room was requisitioned to be the other night stand. Then I pilfered chairs. The fact is, I am a girl who likes to have her things around her, and once I moved, it all had to come too.
Finally, after furniture kept disappearing from our Atchison home and ending up in our lake cottage, Dan and I faced the facts: The only thing keeping us from selling our home in Atchison was a deep and profound dread of cleaning out our garage and basement, which had acquired 25 years’ worth of stuff.
Since the bedroom was going to be filled with the antiques we’d had for years, I knew I had to be deliberate about keeping my palette light, so the space didn’t feel dreary and dated. I love traditional furnishings, but I want my home to be fresh and fun, not staid and stale. So I washed the walls and woodwork in Garrity Cream, one of my very favorite colors from my Mary Carol Artisan Paint line. On this rich creamy backdrop, I could add in fabrics and furnishings that would make the space special.
You would think that since I own home furnishings stores, I would be changing up my furniture all the time. In some rooms, I do. But not in my bedroom. Here is where my favorites come, and stay. My bed frame grabbed my heart the first time I saw it, and hasn’t let go since. It’s a truly unique piece, an iron bed fashioned to look like bamboo. I’ve never seen one like it since.
At Nell Hill’s I’m surrounded by lots and lots of color and pattern all day long. I love it! But when I come home, I need to let my retinas rest. So I’ve selected a palette that is very neutral, especially in my bedroom. My bedding tells its story through subtle textures and muted patterns, with tone-on-tone accents like the monogram on my duvet and pillow shams.
When you downsize as much as Dan and I did, you have to do some soul searching. Which pieces do you love so much that you have to have them in your house, no matter what? And which are you willing to let go of because you absolutely cannot cram them in? For me, a non-negotiable was my artwork.
Even the gigantic religious paintings that dominated the spacious living room in our Atchison home had to come. Dan was convinced these dark, dramatic paintings would not work in the cottage – too big, too serious, too formal and grand. But I was determined and squeezed them into the bedroom. I love how the moody art looks on the crisp cream walls, and the idea of mixing formal and informal pieces together in my home, which is the heart of the Nell Hill’s look.
I adored the wall-to-wall hardwood flooring in our old home. So at the cottage, we covered all our floors in wood. In the winter, I unroll an odd assortment of vintage area rugs to warm up the bedroom. In the summer, I like the floors bare.
Since the room is so soothing and neutral, I decided to add a bit of pattern in my window coverings. Buffalo check is another one of my lifelong passions, so I made simple panels from a 4-inch black and cream check. The windows are covered in simple matchstick blinds.
I prefer small desks, tables and short chests of drawers as bedside tables because they give you lots of surface area to work with. Then I fill them up with necessary stuff, like a lamp, and treasures that are precious to me. For example, on the desk to the left of my bed I have a 1902 King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra royal coronation cup I pinched off my grandma Nell (for whom Nell Hill’s is named). When I was in my 20s and living in Wichita, I was only a few hours’ drive from Grandma Nell’s, so I would go visit her often. I always managed to sweet talk her out of a little treasure. None of it’s worth much, but it’s priceless to me.
Thanks for joining me at Innisfree for a tour of my snugly bedroom! I hope it inspires you to also turn your room into an oasis.
Next Week … What will be 2016’s hottest looks in interior design? Come find out!
Fall Shop Tour
Pretty and Painted: A New Way to Look at Wood Furniture
Stunning Summer Bedding 2022
Finding the Perfect Upholstered Piece
Julie @ Creating This Life says
January 4, 2016 at 8:32 amAbsolutely stunning. I love every detail. Your use of artwork has really inspired me to get more adventurous in my home. Looking forward to revisiting these pictures for future inspiration!
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:39 pmJulie, so excited you are going to go for it with your artwork! I think artwork “finishes” a room more than any other element, making it truly “yours.” Send pix!
Brenda says
January 4, 2016 at 10:28 amAfter visiting your old home three times and photographing every detail, I was curious what had become of some of your beautiful art. I had not seen it in the earlier photos of your cottage. I am happy to see them in your bedroom where you can enjoy them each day. I see now where your collection of snuff boxes landed also.
I have needed new drapes for our bedroom since we moved into this house in 2007, now I know what I want after seeing the black and white plaid in your bedroom, and I love the bamboo shades too! After seeing your photos, I also plan to rescue a marble top chest from my mother-in-law’s home and use it as a bedside table, a great idea.
You always inspire. Thanks.
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:38 pmSo wonderful, Brenda! Send us pictures of your room when you are done!
franki says
January 4, 2016 at 1:35 pmYup…right down to the “pheasant pillows” to the “bamboo shades” to the “large art work”…just purchased a “b/w buffalo plaid” throw…. I can hardly wait for your next posting…franki
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:35 pmFranki, I think we are twins separated at birth!
Brandon Hartford says
January 4, 2016 at 2:20 pmI love this! So simple and yet so very luxurious. The colour palette is so very pleasing to the eyes and to the soul! I am especially delighted to see the painting of Christ and the Virgin Mary as well as the wooden Christ above the drapes!
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:35 pmThanks!
Marilyn says
January 4, 2016 at 3:11 pmYour bedroom is very pretty and I can see how it would be a respite for you after a long day at work. I was shocked when I first read you had sold you beautiful old historic house but the cottage seems to be just as wonderful.
I love looking at pictures of all your rooms!
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:34 pmMarilyn, we are having so much fun with our Welcome to Innisfree series for the blog! Thanks for you kind comments!
Laura says
January 4, 2016 at 4:33 pmBeautiful, cozy, and inspiring!!
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:33 pmThanks, Laura!
Terry A. says
January 4, 2016 at 6:58 pmLovely.
I’m glad to see that large religious painting that used to be in the Atchison living room found a place in your new bedroom. That was my FAVORITE piece in your entire previous home!! I often think of it. Seriously, if you ever decide it no longer works, and you consider parting with it, keep me in mind. 🙂
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:33 pmI know – I love that painting too! I knew I had to shoehorn it in somewhere in the cottage!
Jerry Ballard says
January 4, 2016 at 8:22 pmJust love your bedroom, and how fun to see things I remember in your Atchison home, used in other ways! The iron/bamboo bed is spectacular!
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:32 pmThanks, Jerry!
Elaine Gitzel says
January 4, 2016 at 10:57 pmMary Carol, I am so curious as to the actual square footage of your little cottage. That info would help in visualizing my own space in comparison to yours. I am a collector too and am always trying to squeeze in a little more but always struggle with knowing when enough is enough. Love your bed!
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:32 pmElaine, it is hard to know how much is enough, or too much, isn’t it? I like things lushly layered, then I go back and edit, edit, edit so it’s not overwhelming.
Lisa Mercado-Fernandez says
January 5, 2016 at 7:42 pmI am swept away looking at your bedroom. I love all your things. I almost felt giddy when I read about you shopping in all your rooms for the right pieces for your lake house. I’m always doing that in my house. Shopping from one room to another. Love to swap stuff. I have friends who come over and haven’t been over in a while and say “hey wasn’t that in your dinning room?” I love changing stuff a bit. But I would have loved to shop at your lovely home. Haha. I hope your doing a book on this lake house Mary Carol. Love all the posts about your lake house.
xoxo
Lisa
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:31 pmRe-purposing things all around is so much fun, isn’t it?
BARBARA says
January 6, 2016 at 3:12 amabsolutely magnificent and welcoming. I enjoy every decoration yours.Thank you for sharing
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:30 pmThanks so much!
Linda L says
January 7, 2016 at 6:05 pmMary Carol you are a very good shopper! And so good at pulling a room together. Your bedroom is gorgeous! I can see why you love it. All of your antiques, artwork and collectibles are so richly layered and work beautifully together. I am in awe! The huge religious painting is right at home in your bedroom! Genius! I’m so glad it made the cut. I really like the simplicity of your bedding and how it allows your wonderful bed frame to be the star! Was the monogramming on your pillows done at your KC store? The calligraphy is simple but yet so elegant. Thank you so much for allowing us a glimpse into your private world. This has given me a lot of inspiration and ideas for my own bedroom. I’ll be back to visit this post many times for ideas and to swoon!
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 7, 2016 at 6:29 pmSo glad to hear we’ve inspired you to make your bedroom lovely!
Marti Bodine says
January 18, 2016 at 1:19 pmI love the use of neutral colors along with the beautiful plaid drapes. I have searched for drapes like those for a newly remodeled family room and I would love to know how to purchase those same drapes. I have 94 inch drapes now and that is the size I would need to replace those. Thanks for all your decorating tips. Love your blog !
Mary Carol Garrity says
January 21, 2016 at 3:02 pmHi Marti, Just give us a call at 816-746-4320, and ask for the fabrics department. They will be thrilled to help you out!
Beverly Cook says
August 30, 2019 at 7:04 amMary Carol, I’m writing this in September 2019. Just wanted you to know how much I miss your posts, your incredible sense of style, and the elegance I always enjoyed in both your home and your store. I hope you are doing well and are happy in your retirement. God bless.