Canopy of Dreams

 

As I've been writing about previously, I've been working on a design installation for a little girl's new big bedroom. Yesterday was the final installation for all the big items and I wanted to share a little sneak peak about the bed and what inspired my design.  We'd selected the Anthropologie Campaign Bed which I just love. I love it for its clean lines and the fact that it's not the first choice one might make for a five year old. Regardless of budget, I feel strongly that children's decorating should take them into the future, not ground them in the past.  This is a bed she will have for years if she wants it. It could be used in a guest room, or vacation home. This is a good investment piece and worth the price tag. It can be dressed up (as you will see) or left bare. So many options - I love that!

To accommodate her age, I designed padded inserts to be affixed with velcro to the ends of the bed. The original design above showed the ends in a bright fuchsia, however I ended up going with a teal blue in a very sturdy fabric.  I had them fabricated by my upholsterer Heller Furniture. They used a hard rubber with padding and added three button tufts for a little extra detail.

Below is a fleshed out sketch of the bedding. I also had two 6" bolster pillows made in the same teal fabric as the end inserts. The bed draping is Anna French's "Eden". The bed skirt is from Pine Cone Hill.

But, before I went even this far, I took inspiration from some of the following amazing projects:

 First and foremost is this Vicente Wolf project that first appeared on the cover of Elle Decor. I've had this is my clipping file for years and am just completely in love with the simplicity and modern traditional appeal. This was the inspiration to make Sabrina's bed a traditional day bed and include a small table in front of the bed. 

Jacques Grange (via Trouvais) is always the epitome of style. While silk is not particularly practical for a child, the draping and bows are just gorgeous!

Miles Redd's exposed canopy bed shows us that the simple architecture of these types of bed can be beautiful all on its own. 

This image from World of Interiors (via Trouvais) just took my breath away. 

This Charlotte Moss design, which appeared in Veranda, is a calm beauty and I particularly love the detail of the tassel ties being inside the bed, not on the outside. 

This image via Domino Magazine was one of the first designs using the Anthro Campaign bed, to my knowledge. Very pretty in a Little Bo Peep sort of way. 

My friend Joni Webb's beautiful design for her daughter's bedroom was a big inspiration for me. It was great to have a trusted friend to ask about the bed, what it's like IRL (in real life), etc.

Did you notice that all of these designs are in various shades of blue? I thought that was interesting.

The final inspiration image came from a favorite movie of my client, Princess Charlotte's bedroom in "The Princess and the Frog".  How perfect little girl fantasy is that?? 

And so, mix up all the inspirations and combine with a room that is in a late 1800's townhouse in Boston with original wood floors, tall ceiling and a fireplace, we get this: 

Here is a close up of the pillows I made for the bed and the custom upholstered insert.

I must give a shout out to the artist who did the custom embroidery. I wanted to do a monogram pillow as a gift to my client (it's her birthday this week) and didn't know a good embroidery place. I searched Etsy and came to LJO Custom Embroidery & Design. I loved her aesthetic and knew she would "get" what I wanted.  Unfortunately, she's in California and time was short by the time I got around to it. But I sent her the fabric I wanted to embroider and we exchanged several emails as we came up with the design. I loved the classic laurel wreath design and it had to have a princess crown, of course. And I liked the mix of the classic motifs with the more modern, youthful font. Linda at LJO received the fabric last Friday and had it finished and back in the mail on Monday. I had it by Thursday (one day delay due to the blizzard we had) and it was sitting on my client's bed on Friday afternoon. Whew! I can't recommend Linda enough! I incorporated the embroidered piece with part of the print from the drapery fabric to tie it in. The faux "mink" pillow is envelop style with a "gemstone" button and behind that is a simple square pillow with the drapery fabric on one side and a fuzzy pink fabric on the other side. The bed also has the two 6" round bolster pillows and several pillows in Pine Cone Hill's Edelweiss Crewel fabric.  The coverlet is PCH's Scramble Fuchsia matelasse coverlet. Btw - the window treatments are also in the Edelweiss Crewel fabric, which PCH sells by the yard.

So, from inspiration to decoration! The room still has a few small details - new custom built doors are being made for the two closets and a rug is still needed. When that is done, I will be having the room professionally photographed. I'm excited - I want to sleep in this room!

I can help you make your project beautiful and livable. Please get in touch and email me. Thanks!

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