I have been lusting after the Iris quilt from Anthropologie for quite some time now…years in fact.
Anthropologie
You think I’m joking, but I’m really not! I saw it in an Anthropologie store a few years ago, and I found it absolutely breathtaking, and it is soft as a whisper on the skin. I am really in love with it, but I’m not sure if it’s something I love enough to commit to and live with every day. The drawbacks I see are: it is very bright and bold, and it’s expensive. If it will last and I will love it forever, the expensive thing doesn’t bother me so much, except that we don’t have the money right now. Bright and bold…hmm. I am a bright and bold kind of person, so that’s not really a problem, but I’m wondering if I could live with something this bold in the bedroom, where we are supposed to relax and go to sleep. I know it would make me extremely happy to see this after a long day of work, and to turn on my bedside lamp and have this beautiful creation greet me each morning.
I’ve decided that before I get settled on one thing, I need to see what all the options are out there. Here’s the look I’m going for in a few words: bohemian, floral, colorful, bold, graphic, comfortable, inviting, warm, cozy, and friendly. I want either a bold, graphic quilt with a more subtle patterned duvet, or a bold duvet with a subtle patterned quilt. I want to have layers on our bed to make it easier to go from a warm night to a cool one, since the weather changes a lot here in between seasons. I want fancy, delicious sheets, art on the walls, and a great set of curtains in each window (sheers and curtains with fabulous curtain rods.) Aaaaaaannd…I’m pretty thrifty, so I try not to buy anything at full price unless I just can’t live without it. But here’s my dilemma: I can’t buy curtains, new sheets, or anything else without knowing which direction I’m headed style-wise. So I’m trying to figure it out here.
Here is another image from my inspiration file, this one is a quilt from Pottery Barn’s fall 2008 collection, which I don’t believe they carry any longer.
Pottery Barn
What I love about this photo is the fact that it looks like they’re inviting you to come have a nap. It looks warm and cozy for sure, but also fulfills my need for something graphic with the bold orange above the headboard. Isn’t this canopy bed and wall-mounted reading lamp combination to die for? I would love to do this in my room. Sadly, I searched and could not find it for sale anywhere online. The closest thing I can find is this:
Pottery Barn
I like that it is a bit calmer, but the abundance of pastels doesn’t really appeal to me. It’s a possibility, but not quite as good as the one from fall of last year.
One place I love to look for inspiration is LivingEtc’s galleries. They are a British home magazine, and they have the most amazing bold designs. You can flip through them yourself, you’ll be blown away. Here are a few of the ones I’ve found on their site:
LivingEtc
I love the shape of the headboard above, and I love how they varied the scale of the stripes to make an amazing statement. The sheer curtain at right is not to shabby, either.
Living Etc
This one is actually a dressing room, but I can’t resist…isn’t it amazing? I love the bold mirror with neon! Tutus are a favorite of mine, as well. And we all know my favorite color is hot pink, so this one has me totally won over. Ahh…that I had the space to make my very own dressing room. I would love it! Anyway, back to bedrooms.
PBteen
I have always been drawn to the bold, girly aesthetic of PBteen’s catalog. I love this zigzag pattern on the quilt, and I really think I could make this work for us. Here is an overall look from PBteen that I love:
PBteen
I am not a huge fan of the flower-power style duvet, but I love how the bold print combines with the other elements in the room to make it all totally fabulous.
Country Living
I love how this room combines lots of bold fabrics, a warm wall color, and that wonderful star to make something very cozy and inviting. Here’s another one from Country Living that I love, but it’s not my style:
Country Living Bedroom 2
Like I said, this one is not my style, but I could see myself doing something similar. The brick gives the room enough pattern that you don’t need another bold print, it might get too busy in that case. I love how elegant this room is, and I love an all-white bed, but I’ll definitely go with something bolder for me.
I’m not entirely sure that going through inspiration files helped. I think it made me more indecisive because I realized there’s way more options out there than I was originally considering.
What about you? Are you having trouble deciding which direction to go in your bedroom? Do you prefer cozy, elegant, bold, simple, or something totally different? Please share…it might help me get over this hump I’m stuck on!
