Thursday, April 2, 2009

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

I have a love-hate relationship with my bedroom. It's too small. There's just enough room for our king-size bed, a couple of dressers and nightstands. Other houses on the street have similar layouts to ours, but the bedrooms are larger. I wish we had one of them. My parents live up the street and their master bedroom is much bigger. They also have an en suite bathroom. (Boy, would I like that!)

When we were house hunting one of the bedrooms we saw had a bump out with a loveseat and a floor lamp, making it a perfect reading nook. (If we'd bought that house, we would've still been close to relatives, because my brother bought the house right across the street.)

My father made most of the furniture in my bedroom. The headboard, the seven-day lingerie dresser, and the nightstands. Bedroom shelf He also made a HUGE, oak double shelf for over the bed. The problem is . . . I've never quite known what to put up there. It looks a bit odd with all that space and not much on it. My side has the books on it -- Hubby doesn't really collect anything. I just have a few odds and end on there now. I don't want to put anything too heavy up there--just in case it should fall. (Not likely, but we're paranoid.) I had thought about collecting ceramic swans (like the white planter already up there), but they aren't as available as I would've hoped.

Meanwhile, the top of the lingerie dresser looks okay to me. Dresser Top
BTW, that isn't our real wedding photo. We were at the State Fair and went to one of those old time photography places. I didn't want to be a showgirl, so I choose bride. I'm surprised my boyfriend (now hubby) wasn't scared off, as we didn't get married for another four years. My mother made the wall hanging, and Hubby gave me the Stafforshire dog one Christmas. The little Occupied Japan what-not jar may be a butter keeper (I'm not sure), which a friend of my mother's gave to me. The little fake ivy (and why would I like that?) came from a home decorating store. (Wish I bought more of them.) The doily was a wedding gift from my dad's cousin in Scotland.

Yeah, I like my dresser top. Any ideas on what to put on my long wooden shelf?