Monday, March 31, 2008

It's time for a Grand tour...

Today I thought we might take a tour of my room. It's my favorite room in the house - my haven. I can go in and close the door. Maybe even lock it to keep out the restless natives. I have even been known to post a sign on the door that says "do not even knock unless you are on fire."

We moved into our house in May of last year -- and really the only changes we made to the house was to paint. We painted our room a rich, brownish color. I LOVE the names that paint companies make up to describe the colors of their paints. Our room is painted "llama." Our bathroom is "China Rain." We got some new furniture...a new quilt...some "old" furniture - meaning that it was in our house, just not in our bedroom...new electronics, and a whole new look.

This is the view of the master bedroom from the door.

The above photo must have been taken on a Thursday. The day the housekeeper comes. Because this is what my bed usually looks like (mom...just look away now!)

Above my bed are these really cool prints that my grandmother brought back from a trip to Thailand:

I sleep on the right side - the side closest to the window. We bought these night stands when we moved into the house. We needed them because our bed is so high...that our old night stands were 1/2 a foot below the bed. Makes it challenging to see the time. Or to hit the snooze bar. I have a huge pile of books on my nightstand and a very cute picture of the girls.Next to the night stand is my glider that I got when I was pregnant with Katie. It is a really comfortable chair - and it's nice to sit there and read. Above the glider is a framed ivory fan that my grandmother brought home from Japan. My grandfather was in the airforce and was stationed there - so my mom was there for about 4 years in the 50's. We have a lot of things in our house that are either from there or are Asian inspired. My mom said that my grandmother had the fan framed when they got back to the states (their next assignment was Oxford, Mississippi)...but that she was not happy with the job. She didn't like the way they arranged the tassel. She wanted it to hang down, not be tacked to the side.

Here is the view of the other side of the room from in front of the window:

To the right of the window are my Ikea bookshelves. I love the way we managed to have them come around the corner of the room. I am not one to hold onto books. If I like it, I usually pass it on. Most of my shelves are filled with photo albums, pictures, Longaberger baskets, and really smutty books that no one is willing to admit that they would like to read. Oh, and there are CDs.

Because we ran out of room on the other CD shelf: See all those boxes? We have lived here for almost a year. Do you think they'll ever get unpacked or moved out of the room??! Definitely taken on a Thursday -- look at the vacuum cleaner marks.

At the foot of the bed is my dresser. I would really have liked a nice mirror above my dresser. But, no, I have a ginormous flat screen tv.

My husband has this uncanny ability to enter online contests. And win. But usually it's second prize. Or something. He has won two grand prizes (I think): this TV and the stainless steel grill that's on our deck along with a year of free steaks from Omaha steaks. Yum! He has also won: a smaller flat screen tv (that one is in our basement), luggage, a hammock, gift cards, at least 3 cars (uhhh...that would be toy cars...matchbox types), a plethora of t-shirts, hats, backpacks and chip clips. Lots of things that get donated to Goodwill.

Another view of the dresser with the ginormous tv:
And a close up of the picture of the kiss (aren't we adorable?!):

And last on our tour: the master bath. This is a very narrow area. If I was making this house, I would have done pocket doors -- would have made things a lot more accessible. But no one asked me.

Below is my side of the bathroom. See all those spots on the wall? Just to the right and under the window?
Here is a closer view.

Know what it is? Hair dye. I am not sure how it got there. I don't shake my head or anything. I just have this natural ability to get the dye EVERYWHERE. Just needs a little touch up paint. Sometime. Maybe.

And here is one of my favorite parts of my bathroom - the view outside of my window.
I usually keep the blinds up. One morning I even saw a mother deer with her fawn...fawns...three of them! I would have missed it if I cared about privacy. You can see the creek and paths that I blogged about the other day.

And that brings us to the end of our tour. Maybe we'll do my other favorite room next time: the kitchen! (I can see you will be waiting with bated breath for that one.)

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13 comments:

GBK Gwyneth said...

Love the Billy bookshelves! We've got tons too.

Re: cousins
This is the first time the cousins (from MA) have come south to visit, so it was a great treat. Chloe is just having a great time with her built in best friend!

A Year Without "Made in China" took me just a couple of hours to read. It was cute, but I wanted more in depth research or something more like "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"... oh well. It was a fun read...

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Oh, I am sure that there are more in depth reads on goods from China...or what they are doing to our economy. But it was fun...and a light read...and I enjoy "experimental" memoirs - like hers and AJ Jacob's books (Year of living Biblically).

Rhea said...

I love the tour of the bedroom! I'm jealous of your view and your ginormous TV. I'm impressed with your husband's ability to win contests. I NEVER win.

The picture of the girls next to the bed is a great picture!! Very nice. I like your bookshelves a lot also. Your bed looks nice and comfy.

Thanks for sharing your space with us! That was cool!

ukxzekam (This is the doozy I had to type for word verification to post this commment. lol)

Rhea said...

I forgot to add...we have lived in our house now for nine months, and we still have boxes to unpack and decorating to do.

Skeller said...

hehe. I don't make my bed, either. Funny, cause Mom trained me to daily make my bed as I was growing up. I'm sure she's probably befuddled by my wayward bed ways. Btw, Fab view!!!!

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Susan--My mom lives with us - and of course she makes her bed daily. We just wait for the housekeeper to do it. And to change our sheets. Mom is having none of that - she does her own sheets, too :-) She gets really annoyed that we don't all make our beds. I wonder if when the kids grow up, they'll make thier beds daily in rebellion for their slovenly ways growing up...

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Rhea--Don't be jealous of the contests. I don't know how he does it. But trust me, the amount of junk we get far exceedes the good stuff. By A LOT!

The picture of the girls was taken by my photographer friend - she does great work. When we eventually move on our tour to my hallway, you can see the gallery of photos she has taken.

And yes...those verification "words" are horrible. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to try again because I cannot make out the letters.

Anonymous said...

The view outside of your bedroom is totally amazing!

I'm jealous you have a housekeeper...on the other hand, I'm too anal to let anyone else do my chores for me. ;D What I actually need is a chauffeur.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Having a housekeeper means sanity. I will gladly eat ramen noodles if that is what I have to do to afford her! Now, what would be great is a pool boy. Not that we have a pool :-)

DebMc said...

Thanks for the tour of your space. Very nicely done. I had to chuckle over the sign you put on your door about not knocking unless you are on fire. My version used to say Do not knock unless you are bleeding, barfing, or burning. LOL
A friend found a sign that simply says 'the Queen is not accepting an audience today.' Much more elegant....and easily ignored.

Firefly Mom said...

Kat,

Well I hope your happy (she types stearnly with hands-on-hips)! After seeing your great bedroom I re-arranged mine, moving (with hubby and son's help) some furniture out and other furniture in. I've also placed an order with my hubby for a new headboard that I found in a Christopher Lowell book.

He says that if I keep finding work for him to do by reading your blog, he's cuttin' off the broadband ;)

Unknown said...

Oh, I love your bedroom, it looks so.. restful ... and if I had'nt decided that I was going to have a go at beating HTL and Rhea, I probably might not have seen it !!!

Love that view ...glorious...

Tiffany said...

Wow, I never win contests. Does he enter tons of them? And I LOVE your view from the bathroom window. Gorgeous!