Winterize

It’s starting to get chilly at night here. I finally gave in and turned on the heat Saturday morning. Yes, I am a wimp! It doesn’t run during the day, and it doesn’t even run every night. Our fall and winter weather is a real mixed bag around here. I’m not complaining! I know what it’s like to live further north in the winter. Brrrrr!

I’ve not put any pictures of our bedroom on this blog, yet. Except this:

Why Janet? Why?

It was in this post, where I was bemoaning Mondays. This is the sitting area across from the bed.

Last spring, I kept my eyes open and anticipated this moment.

On sale at Pottery Barn!

Here is the unmade bed:

The furry thing on top of the mattress pad is a washable wool mattress topper. Last winter, both the husband and myself were waking up sweating. This is so bizarre for me. I get cold in the summer! The culprit turned out to be a very soft, polyester blanket. After doing a little reading, I became armed with the knowledge of how to have a warm, but breathable bed. Look for cotton, linen, wool and even silk. They are all natural fibers. Stay away from polyester and be aware that certain foam mattresses will sleep hotter than conventional ones. This is not true of all foam mattresses, and frankly, I forget what the difference is. Just be sure and do your research before buying. Especially, if you are a “hot sleeper”.

I wanted to show you pictures of my sheets. Super exciting, right?! 😉 The reason is that I learned a few years ago how to fold them, and it has made such a difference both in storage and appearance.

queen sheet set

The picture above is how each set looks when it’s put away.

sheet guts!

This one shows what it looks like inside: the flat sheet on the outside, the bottom sheet and the pillow cases on the inside. The flat sheet gets folded in thirds, with the other stuff stacked inside.

Also, organic or conventional? My answer is both. It is ideal in my opinion to buy organic cotton sheets. The reason for this is that cotton is one of two worldwide crops that is sprayed with the most pesticide. The other is coffee. That being said, it’s not always possible to buy organic. I either can’t find the color I’m looking for, or it’s cost prohibitive. The places I have found the best deals on organic cotton sheets are: Target, LL Bean and West Elm, with West Elm being my favorite. The sheets are so soft and have held up well. My favorite resource for organic baby items is Kate Quinn Organics. I’ve already spoken about my lack of children, but I’m surrounded by babies. I buy a lot of baby gifts. 🙂 And I even have a crib in my home for nieces and nephews. It’s all decked out from Kate Quinn. I also love that they don’t sell bumper pads. Don’t get me started on the bumper pads!

Here’s how it turned out:

the finished bed

view from the window wall

I love stripes!

View from the door and Mr. Darcy's bed.

Isn’t the placement of Mr. Darcy’s bed funny? That is where he prefers to sleep. Which is not good for my bed skirt. So I found this awesome bed at Fetch Dog. I wish I had found it years ago.

I really can’t do anything expensive to our room. But paint is cheap and I’ve been thinking that a greeny, browny gray might look really good with everything I already have and with all the white moldings. What do you think? Any paint color recommendations that fit the bill? I also think that replacing the old white blinds with something woven and in the gold/natural wicker color family would look awesome. But then I would want to change out the curtains to white. And I really like my brown silk ones that my friend Julia so generously gave me. Ideas? Anyone? Anyone? (Name that movie!)

Do you change your bed linens with the seasons? Or have I become some sort of Martha wannnabe that you want to strangle? 😉 If you want to know where I purchased anything, please let me know. I got tired and didn’t want to list everything.

***Please check back on Thursday. I will be having my first ever giveaway!***