Our New Master Bed Design

I (we) have a new master bed (and nightstands) and that room is starting to get exciting. Every single night I get into bed thinking,  this is the most comfortable, big, sprawling, grand bed in the world. We had it custom made and, while I learned a thing or two about designing furniture during this process, I still love it so very much.

When I first started shopping, I pinned the hell out of the internet. Remember my 32 beds I almost bought? I was racked with indecision. I kept coming back to this silhouette:

Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

I love how these are all wingback, but super squared off, simple and without a lot of bells and whistles. You feel enclosed and cozy and ready to snuggle, cuddle and never leave on Saturday mornings. But all of these had proportions that weren’t right for me or the room. The top left and bottom right are both Restoration Hardware, which I love, but they are really tall and they are skirted and I wanted a slightly lower and more modern base. Then the top right (Serena and Lily) is awesome but a lower profile than I wanted (we read to the kids a lot in bed so want to be able to lean fully on a soft surface). The bottom left is almost there but that floating base is too contemporary for me.

So I enlisted one of my very talented designers, Remi, to help me execute the perfect bed. I showed her the inspiration and she started some renderings:

All of that looks really boring, but what you have to realize is how much time it takes to perfect each dimension and joint. Remi did a great job of figuring everything out and really solidifying a proper design. Once we signed off on the construction, it was time to choose the fabric. I went back and forth between wanting something light (cream linen) to something dark (indigo). But then I was afraid that that would look too simple and boring for me because I don’t really want patterned bedding and I don’t like too many accessories in my bedroom. If I hadn’t cared as much about the photographs I may have gone with a more solid route, but once I saw this Rebecca Atwood fabric, I stopped and said, THIS. IS. IT.

I debated between the blue and the taupe and even instagrammed about it to help with the decision. I love the taupe because I knew that it would feel more quiet, less contrast, and a tad more sophisticated (taupe = you are an adult). But you guys voted OVERWHELMINGLY for the blue. I was like calm down, I got you. I thought about how happy that blue fabric made me (very) and how good it would look in photographs (extremely) and decided that that was it.

Our furniture dude started building the bed and I recieved some updated photos from his shop. It was looking really good.

Here she is – all big and grand and blue and a little nutty, but totally awesome:

What I love about it: the little wings make you feel super cozy and enclosed, but they aren’t so deep that you can’t turn on the lights. We still have these threshold lamps which I love, but now that we have those new dope leather nightstands I kinda want something that’s cream or white. Those nightstands are from Made Goods which is a wholesale furniture design company who have so many amazing pieces that I’m dying to own. It’s “to the trade only” but you can buy them at various online resources like Mecox and Candelabra for a higher retail price. We got them for a client and fell in LOVE with them so splurged on them myself (it helps to have a resale license at times because it’s a hefty discount). For sconces I’m thinking these – although they are very popular and backordered so I have to be patient. I love that they are swing-arm but still have a fabric shade (not metal) for better overall light.

Back to that bed.

I LOVE how big it feels when I’m in it. Because we did the side rails at 3″ it added a lot of width to the bed which is something that I both love and wish that I had done differently. When we were designing it, 3″ felt like a good scale for a king sized bed, but what I didn’t really calculate in was that the fabric and batting would be on top of that making it closer to 4″. then the joints with the wings add another 4″. Look here:

If I could go back in time I would do 2″ to reduce the overall scale of the bed. But again, when you are in it, the scale is so amazing. Both kids and us can wrestle, jump, cuddle, read and even put our drinks on the side rails. Its kinda a dream. A big, wild, nutty dream of a bed.

Clearly I’m not done with the room, and it’s not styled or anything. Here is what I have left:

1. Switch out the rug. This was our old rug in the living room and I love it but it’s too big as you can see – going pretty much wall to wall. It’s also a lot of blue so I just ordered a swatch of this rug to see if it would be better in there. In a perfect world it would be white but the entrance to the deck is in our room so there is a lot of toddler/tipsy-friend foot traffic out there.

2. Add sconces. Like I said, I’m leaning towards these because they have some black/gold white and I don’t have to wire them into the wall.

3. Add art. I originally bought the X and O embroidered pieces of art for this room but then they looked so sweet in Elliot’s Nursery that we left them there, but I may try them in here. If not, then I might just put that mobile back up as I love it and it will look so good with the blue in the bed.

4. Add some color in the bedding. I’m thinking blush or ochre – my two favorites that work with indigo. Brian and I are now officially obsessed with the quality of Parachute bedding. I knew it was pretty but after sleeping with it for months, I can say that their actual duvets and pillows (inserts) are so amazing. I love the percale covers and linens as well, but I never knew how much splurging on a insert would change my night-life.

5. Add a bench. It’s just so big that I need a really long bench and I don’t have an ideal one in mind. Nothing too boxy but also nothing too leggy. Not blue, probably not white and not leather, so I guess I’m down to wood. I may have to design it….stay tuned. While I love that bed and pattern, I feel like, especially in this shot, the footboard looks HUGE (which I know is also because it’s closest to camera) so I think adding a gray rug and a bench will help break up that sea of blue that is even too blue for me to handle (perhaps I should check this post).

Thoughts? Feelings? Feedback? I know it’s cuckoo, but once all those things above are fixed I feel confidant that you will love looking at it as much as I love being in it – which is A LOT. Speaking of WHY AM I WRITING THIS WHILE WATCHING THE BATCH INSTEAD OF LAYING IN THAT STUPIDLY COMFORTABLE BED?

Eh? Are you scared or excited?

To see more of our master bedroom progress check out: The Master Bedroom – Where We Are Now, The Master Bedroom Wallpaper, Our Master Bedroom Progress.