My Bed, the Drama Queen!
It seems just like yesterday they placed him in my arms and we shared those first moments, his soft, bare cheek nuzzled up on my chest in the hospital bed... but it wasn't yesterday. It was 4 and a half years ago and kid- it is time to get in your own bed!!
My bed, a queen, should be a place of tranquility. A place to rest my aching body after a long day's work. A place to close my eyes and slip into a deep sleep, dreaming dreamy things. Almost like a reward for all the effort put into my daily responsibilities. But no, my queen, is a breeding ground for throat punches, kicks to the liver and fingernails to the retinas. What started off as an innocent opportunity to take advantage of a few extra cuddles has turned into a life sans sleep.
My queen is now full of drama... chaotic drama in the wee hours of the morning...instead of slipping into a deep sleep, I slip into some sort of choke hold by the toddler who is hogging my bed!
I tried reading books and singing lullabies. I threatened to take away toys. I tried putting a TV in his room (second child syndrome, I would have never allowed this with the first). I tried sticker charts and reward systems. I tried changing bedtime and took away naps. I stopped shaving my legs in hopes that crawling into bed with a cactus would redirect him back to his own room.
I realized, after performing some sort of Stone Cold Steve Austin act in an effort to regain access to my side of the bed, something had to give. I resorted to bribery. "Cage, do you want Mommy to redo your room?" "Cage, you can have any room you want, but you have to sleep in your own bed!" "Cage, we can go shopping for your bedroom, but you have to start sleeping in your own bed!" He bought it!!
"Mommy, can I have a shark room?"
Seriously, a shark room? The boy who refuses to sleep in his own bed because he is "scared" wants a shark room. This was karma biting me in the ass! Jaws had the last laugh!
"Sharks it is!" And by that I mean, he said shark and I made him think he said nautical.
With the help of Spree Lifestyle Boutique & Studio (and a trip to Winners) Cage and I have successfully begun the transformation.
We started with the bedding. Shark fin sheets are sharky, but not scary. The navy fish pillow was part of Spree' s cottage collection.
We kept the curtains... grey walls and grey curtains are so versatile, but we added some more of Spree's cottage collection by draping the buoy over the curtain rods.
The space above his bed was blank and bare and needed something nautical and I loved these decorative paddles at the store. They had hooks so I removed them and placed two over his bed.
Putting casters on this inexpensive cube storage makes it more versatile and lifts it up off the floor for easy cleaning. The nautical door-stop from Spree makes a great book end.
We are still working on the gallery wall. The anchor, whale and driftwood were also part of Spree's summer collections. They work perfectly in this setting to add texture and colour.
No bedroom makeover is complete without using some Fusion Mineral Paint, also available at Spree.
The mirror started with a black plastic frame and with a few coats of Fusion, some wet sanding, and white washing the mirror now has a beachy, weather-worn look.
The rescued night stand was almost black and did not jive with the decor. I wanted to paint it a lighter colour, but didn't want grey or white. Fusion's Little Whale was the perfect choice. A touch of colour, but works as a neutral. It doesn't over power the small space for being a thick, heavy piece of furniture. We swapped the knobs to adorable anchor pulls (again from Spree).
We still have some work to do... I have some decorating and wallpapering left to do and his ratio of nights spent in his room versus mine still needs some work, but we are happy with the progress and thought we would share.
I'm off to bed.
Kristan
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