I’m still not quite sure what I want to do with my bedroom.  My bedroom furniture is an antique (I’m guessing turn of the century) mahogany set I found on Craigslist (I need to get a picture).  I adore this set, but I haven’t totally decided what I want to do about the rest of the room, so I’ve been saving pictures for inspiration.  Take a look at this and see if you notice a theme…

source:   http://www.shabbychic.com/gallery/sc_gallery.htm

Source: I can’t remember! Help!

Source: Domino magazine

And these last two are from the Domino decorating contest winner, Catherine.

Everything is girly, girly, girly.  I’m suprised, honestly, since the rest of the house is shaping up as nature-inspired but this is clearly what I want for my bedroom.  I didn’t even realize it until I looked at all the pictures I’d saved together, but there it is, an incredibly clear theme.

Fortunately this will fit nicely with the antique furniture I already have, though mine is dark and most of these feature white furniture (I will not paint my furniture, more on this later).  I’m trying to do a grouping of mirrors over the bed, sort of like the silouettes in the fushia room.  I’m also seriously contemplating replacing the light fixture with a chandelier… We’ll see.  The one problem with that is my room is nowhere near as big as these and I’m afraid a chandlier will overwhelm the space.  The other thing I lack that these rooms all have in spades is natural light.  My bedroom is about five feet from the brick wall of the next door building.  Oh, and mine has a giant dog crate in it.  One design feature I can’t avoid :)

Okay, so furniture paining - take a look at the awesome vanity off to the right in the second to last picture.  I see these all over Craigslist for next to nothing – it’s a pretty standard 1940’s dressing table.  Catherine has painted hers.  Normally seeing vintage furniture painted causes me to die a little bit inside.  It ruins not only the value but, in my opinion, the vintage charm of these pieces.  However, in the case of these vanities, they are so common and often in terrible condition that I’ll let it go.  If you go hunting for one of these babies I’ll give you a tip: the one huge flaw I often see in these pieces is that the mirrors are flaking.  Having mirrors replaced, especially one this large, is a huge expense.  So, if you’re looking at antique vanities, take ones with flaws in the wood or finish over ones with destroyed mirrors.  Incidentally, I’d kill to have a vanity in my room, but, sadly, I have no space at all.