It was Done in the Bedroom with the Paintbrush by Mrs. Ward

Her only response was, "the pillows made me do it."

One day while shopping I came across decorative pillows that I immediately fell in love with. I would have bought them right away, but I had nothing that they would match. The pillows were a silky sea greenish-blue with a chocolate brown velvet pattern on top and our bedroom (at the time) was maroon and gold. Two weeks went by and I was still dreaming of those pillows. I told myself if I go to the store again and they are still there it must be fate and the decorating gods were commanding me to buy them. So I went, they were there, and I obeyed the command.

Now I had a problem on my hands. "How do I redecorate my whole bedroom around these pillows?" Well, I like a challenge. First things, first. I found curtains that matched nearly perfectly with the pillows at Target. They were raw silk with striated horizontal lines. They were pricier than I like. After all, I usually buy everything from the clearance aisle. But I told myself, "Jeana you do not have to decorate your room strictly from the 75% clearance section. You have the right to splurge once in awhile." And so I splurged.

I tried to find bedding to match, but the color was so unique that I couldn't fine anything that was just right. I then went to my favorite $2 fabric store and found the perfect material at the perfect price: 50% off. The decorating gods must have been smiling down on me that day. What are the chances of me walking into the store the same day they were having their "Biggest Sale of the Year?" I truly am blessed.

I made a duvet cover and used the extra fabric from hemming the curtains to make a border for my head pillows. Thank goodness my very talented seamstress mother-in-law helped me add buttons and let me use her serger.

Putting together the curtains and bedding were the easy part of the room. The difficultly came with painting. I had the vision of creating a relaxing spa-like oasis of a bedroom. I wanted the new paint color to be very tranquil so that my room could be our sanctuary from the world and from our kid. I thought I picked out the right color. It was called "Silver Patina." It was a metallic glaze and not a paint. I wanted the color to be very transparent and sheer on the walls. What I didn't realize was how difficult that was to achieve. I read the directions. I followed them closely, but after four different attempts of painting and priming and repainting I gave up. I went to the paint store, found a solid latex paint I liked called "Fog" and I repainted it all over again. This time the paint went on beautifully and even Stephen commented on what a nice color it was.

So with all the paint dried and the pictures hung, the room is finally done. I am glad that the pillows had such power over me and persuaded me to change my whole room around them.