Trees, Turkeys, & Twin-size Sheets

Yesterday we hosted the whole family for Thanksgiving dinner. As most anyone who has ever hosted the meal of the year will tell you, there's a ton of prep work required before the first dish hits the table. Chief among the list of to-do's is cleaning. I keep my home fairly clean every day. But when it comes to special occasions, I always want to make things sparkle.

So before we fried three turkeys, baked two dishes of cornbread dressing, and one giant pan of homemade mac & cheese to go with all the other fixings, my husband and I cleaned the house from top to bottom. Steaming carpets, wiping baseboards, washing windows; we had enough stuff on our list to keep us busy for five full days. Despite our long list of chores, with less than 24 hours to Turkey Time, I decided to give our bedroom a mini-makeover.

I'm really terrible about remembering to take "Before" pictures of my own stuff. I always remember when we work with clients, but when it comes to my own projects I regularly drop the ball. Such is the case with my latest project. I had to wade through some really old photos to give you an idea what things looked like before we made changes on Wednesday.

Biggest Bradford pear trees ever!

The first "Before" picture shows the real impetus for this project. You see those giant Bradford pear trees? I had a hate-love relationship with those trees for many years. I hated the way they blocked the view of our home. And I hated the way that no matter how often we pruned them, whenever the slightest wind blew, a branch would usually fall off. Eventually strong winds relieved us of the hassle of regular prunings by taking them both completely down. That's when I discovered that I actually loved those trees because whenever the moon was full, they kept the piercing 3 AM moonlight from shining right into my eyes.

So let's take a look at my bedroom -- or at least what my bedroom looked like a few years ago.

BEFORE - celery green walls, ornate bedding, sad little chair.

A year or so after the previous picture was made, we upgraded to a king-sized bed which required a new headboard, bedding, etc. I showed a glimpse of the new bed when I discussed how to properly make a bed. Here's how it looked just a few days ago . . .

King size bed w/dark frame & microfiber upholstered headboard

Now to the "AFTER" photos . . . Before you take a look, I need to reiterate that this is a mini-makeover. There is still plenty of changes to come like new lamps, art, and more. For now though, here's a look at phase one -- all accomplished on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.

Bedroom AFTER (Phase I)

First, we got rid of those celery green walls (Okay, I didn't do this step on Wednesday. That was done a few months ago). Next we painted, glazed, and distressed the headboard. Then we reupholstered it with a simple grey on white plaid fabric.

After upholstering the headboard, I had a little bit of fabric left. In fact, it was just enough to cover that sad little bedside chair. Looks a lot better now, huh?

Then the obvious change of adding simple, white bedding. So simple, but so impactful.

Then we attacked the primary problem of my bedroom -- covering that arched window that lets the full moon blind us on a monthly basis. Our ceilings are pretty tall (10 ft), so we needed extra long curtains. With the crown molding, we needed 110" panels to be exact. The problem though is that with less than 24 hours, finding ready-made 110" panels is next to impossible. So we opted for a pair of XL Twin-size flat bed sheets hung from cafe clips. And when the moon is full, you can bet we'll slide those bad boys across that arch and sleep like babies for the first time since the trees fell.

I'm really thankful that Grady approves of the changes. Nothing is worse than a grumpy schnauzer during the holidays!