Room To Grow

so that as he matures, he won’t tire of the colour scheme or accents. In other words, a room for him to grow up. I chose to compliment the blue wall with chocolate brown and deep red accents. I don’t know what planet I was living on when I decided I would sew the curtains for the bedroom, but it spawned the entire design scheme for the room. Furthermore, I had never sewn roman blinds. After endless hours of toil (and much cursing), I produced two serviceable blinds made of chocolate brown corduroy with a red grosgrain ribbon trim. I had my upholsterer make a headboard with the remaining material (it cost me $300) and my neighbour found a coordinating bed skirt for $7!!! Other than the bed, which we bought new, the furniture were both pieces that my husband had as a child, which he reinvented by removing the brass hardware and details. With a fresh coat of paint and new hardware, the nighttable and dresser got a second lease on life. The artwork over the dresser is a homage to my father-in-law. As a boy he collected penants with his brother, which he displayed at the family cottage. When the cottage was sold, we took the penants and I created homemade artwork from some of them, including those of my father-in-law’s high school, fraternity and camp. I imagine my son will tire of the décor one day and ask to paint it black or scrawl graffiti across the walls, but in the meantime I hope the images and colours and even the history of the pieces in his room spark his imagination and bring him comfort when he lays down to sleep each night and awakens each morning.