Where Bloggers Live: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes? Every month a group of seven bloggers share their workspaces, homes, towns, and more!
This month’s theme is “Where I Lay Me Down,” which could be your bedroom, sofa, tent in the backyard…wherever you settle in for the night to sleep.
I’m boring and like to sleep in the bedroom. In a bed. A soft bed. With puffy fluffy blankets. I used to have a feather bed mattress cover and that was a dream…but the cat’s claws made holes in it and the little downy feathers were escaping…and now I just can’t do down. Maybe someday I’ll find a good substitute, but for now I’m roughing it 🙂
Anyway, I thought I’d give myself a little challenge for this post since my bedroom is no great shakes (I’m just really not feeling this space…maybe cuz it’s too open? I’m not sure) and show a before-and-after overhaul. Because apparently, I am living like a crazy person. Things pile up and I just stop seeing it. So I vowed to get it sorted out in time to post this. The “overhaul” sort of ends at the “clean slate” phase…but that’s a whole lot better than where it was, so…
Please do not be alarmed. I’m really not mentally unstable. I just have more things than places to PUT things. Especially all these clothes that need to be sold. Piles of clothes are the bane of my existence. Correction: PILES are the bane of my existence. I was raised with piles. They are my comfort zone. But not my Happy Place. So.
Oh gosh this is embarassing.
Phew. Okay. So…I got a lot of the mess cleared away (which really means it got moved somewhere else til the fairies come during the night to take it away). And now I have more of a clean slate (relatively speaking) to work with.
Janey’s spot.
This pair of 1930s cut glass lamps need to be rewired and then I can finally have lamps on my dresser. It’s the whole reason I GOT a wide dresser! The 1940s lucite purse was my mother’s and also holds a lot of her vintage rhinestone jewelry and accessories. 
I painted turquoise Buddha years ago and he holds my most commonly worn jewelry. I still love my scented oil diffuser. Tonight I have green tea + lemon for a clean, fresh scent.
Guess I could have cleaned the mirror. I think that’s actually candle wax on there. I used to use it as a tray for a collection of vintage crystal candlesticks and they’d drip on it and I’ve just never taken the time to scrape it off.
I’m so happy I broke down and got a bed skirt. It covers up the metal legs of the cheap bed frame and hides the boxes stored under the bed. Makes a big difference.
Not sure what will go on this dresser (besides the lamps)…for now I’m just happy to not have all that mess there!
Sometime soon I’ll pull pictures from some nicer bedrooms I’ve had in the past. This one just never feels right to me.
It’s amazing how we can live in less than ideal conditions for so long…and we just get used to it…and really it only took a short time to get this area cleared out and it feels SO much better now.
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever AfterÂ
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris
WOW, proud of you for the cleaned out bedroom. I’m sure it makes you feel better.I LOVE your dresser.
I was also raised with piles. My mother always had way more stuff than places to put it. It drove me crazy. I didn’t become a neat freak by any stretch as I have way too much stuff also, but no piles for me.
Thanks for sharing your sleeping space. Janey looks pretty comfty.
Grace & Peace, Iris
http://www.IrisOriginalsRamblings.com
jodie filogomo
It does feel good to clean things up like that. I have learned that we accommodate to whatever we have very well…..most of us are SO adaptable. I go through phases of piles and then not.
I used to love a bed skirt…always had them. Until the drawers under the frame.
Loved this idea for the group, Bettye!! You are always so creative.
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
bettyewp
I’m always amazed at what we can tolerate/get used to. And I think when we see/experience something every day…we stop “seeing it.” And hopefully something comes along that makes you see it as if through someone else’s eyes (like OH CRAP I HAVE TO DO A BLOG POST ABOUT MY BEDROOM?!? HA HA) and you make a change.
em
Nice job on the re-org! And for sharing what is real life for many of us. I am a piler, too, as is my mom. Every season she completely reorganizes her piles upstairs in my old room. I tend to pile in corners and have favorite corners in the dining room, office and in my closet…like if it’s in a corner, no one will see it. I’ve passed that along to my daughter as well, who is currently piling things for poshmark.
It’s really comforting for me to see kindred spirits. One of my closest friends is also in our tribe and moves piles around when I visit…and she’s the most welcoming person I know.
Your lamps are beautiful, btw…is the one on your nightstand marble? It’s lovely, too. I can see from this and your other spaces that you have a great eye for special pieces and collections and, especially, vignettes.
Thanks for the share!
bettyewp
I’m the master at pile moving. Boxes and piles. I can shuffle them from here to there and no one ever knows. I[ve been doing it for SO LONG. I’d kinda like to be done. Wanna come help me?? 🙂
Yes, bedside table lamp is vintage marble. I have several like that from estate sale days. I have a teeny tiny one that is super charming but I’ve never found the right spot for. And I think one is wrapped up in bubble wrap out in the car (for like, years), waiting to be dropped at the re-wirer for rewiring. I definitely have a thing for old lamps. And chairs. And dishes. And mirrors. And pottery. And books.
Daenel
That lucite bag is perfect. I really like that you use it to hold your mom’s jewelry pieces. And the lamps… When my son was about 5 he used some “found” money to buy me a lamp at our Neighbor’s yard sale. The lamp was busted and he was proud. I retried it and it has been in every living room for twenty years.
bettyewp
Aww, love the lamp story…and glad you still have it. When I was 10 I saved up $8 and bought my mother a bathroom scale. Ha ha, rude! But…she had that same scale til the day she died (20 years later), so…
Beverly the Inspired
I love seeing houses & rooms that aren’t “staged to perfection”. Especially older houses with all of their unique charm & quirkiness! Was busy ooooogling all of the beautiful natural woodwork goodness in your pictures… also enjoying all of the lovely vintage pieces & Miss Janey looking quite comfy.
bettyewp
Ha ha, certainly no one can ever accuse me of being “staged to perfection.” From time to time I wind up with a small appealing vignette somewhere and that makes me happy…but some places just seem better suited to that…I’m not exactly sure why.
Thanks for visiting, Beverly!
Leslie Susan Clingan
Aren’t these posts amazing for making magic happen? I had to do some purging and cleaning and reorganizing = hiding for this post, and especially the one of my closet. I still need to go back in that closet and wave a wand. Seems all this time I’ve been waiting for the fairies to come and they never make it as far west as El Paso.
That dresser is lovely. I like that it is a simple piece of furniture. When we bought our bedroom furniture, I was taken with curly cues. But now I wish our furniture was simpler and cleaner looking. My curly cue days are behind me, I think.
Love the Buddha, the diffuser, the soft lighting. The bed skirt makes a big difference. And you can get these little things to put under the legs of the bed frame that raise it a bit higher so you can use the space underneath for more storage. They are very affordable and very helpful!!
Your chair is lovely. Does the kitty ever curl up there? It looks like the perfect spot for a cat nap. Or the perfect chair for a pretty vanity.
Thank you for sharing with us. So glad to be doing these posts with you.
bettyewp
Ha, yes, if I didn’t give myself deadlines or challenges I would never get anything done. I’m proud to say the bedroom is still pristine, even after 4 (whole) days. The closet, from last month’s post, is not. Ha. It’s not BAD, it’s just got a pile (PILESPILESPILESPILES) of clothes on top of that baookcase. That’s not so hard to sort out. Maybe I’ll do it today.
I got that dresser off the curb from the house across the street of my last apartment. I’ve been looking for the Wide Dresser for YEARS but then never wanted to spend the $$ on ones that I found and getting them home was always a challenge. The Dresser Neighbor saw my trying to lug it and came out and helped me carry it all the way into my apartment! He was grateful to have it go to a home and not the dump as it had sentimental value to his wife. It had been her father’s and when he passed they took too much furniture from the house and just didn’t have room. So. Now it lives with me and from time to time I think of old apartment’s across the street neighbor’s dead father fondly.
I feel like no cat has ever desired the green chair. For one thing it usually has stuff on it, even if just that foxglove needlepoint pillow.
I’m glad you’re doing the posts with us, too, Leslie!
Karen
My husband is a “piler” and I never knew it was a thing. !!! Everything on his piles actually has a place, he just waits forever to put them there. I’m not going to tell him he’s part of a tribe. You guys are awesome, but I just want to throw away piles when I see them. I love this post. xo karen
bettyewp
PILERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!!
“You guys are awesome, but I just want to throw away piles when I see them.” Haha, Karen, you say this like it’s an apology! YOU’RE doing it RIGHT!
PS: EVERYTHING is a thing 🙂
Andrea Kenner
Hi Bettye,
I tried watching Marie Kondo, but her show did nothing for me. But I gotta tell you, when I watched The Home Edit on Netflix, I got all kinds of organizational ideas. They do try to sell you stuff (they’re associated with The Container Store), but the show is colorful and inspiring and fun. I’m not associated with the show in any way, other than being a fan. Anyway, here’s a link to the trailer.
https://youtu.be/XPg_BE6EA94
Enjoy!
bettyewp
Ooh, I have not watched The Home Edit, sounds good! Thanks for the recommendation!