When sunshine prevails over San Francisco drizzle it is as if the sun itself waves a magic wand and behind every fence blooms burst into existance. This sudden radiance infuses me with the desperate urge to change my bedding. Every year I tell myself that I will resist this urge and that my bed looks perfectly fine in last year's glory. But, then I am glued to magazine images of posh new bedrooms all gloriously fresh and bursting with energy. This is the time of year when you will find me in the display aisles of the bedding departments fingering the goods and sniffing around for deals. I'm not alone.
You know you might have a slight problem when you see other shoppers whose faces are somewhat familiar and you realize you saw them a few hours ago at store X and oh no, they are fingering your favorite pieces. I want to snatch my possible new bedding out of their hands.
One of my problems when selecting spring bedding is that I am coming off of a few months of feeling deprived of color. It is like the sudden burst of sunshine makes all the most colorful spring ensembles look glorious. My first instinct is to grasp at some vibrant color. However, this tendency in the past has resulted in a bedroom color story more suited for a tween-age girl. See, a bedding set makes a huge color impact in a bedroom. Often it is necessary to repaint the entire room to make the bedding look cohesive. So when I look at the bedding I have to ask myself, if these were paint colors how would the room feel?
How do I want to feel in my bedroom? The answer is that I want a beautiful, luscious bedding that is somewhat neutral but feels wonderful. I know that this will give me a beautiful, luscious feeling. I also know that I want my bedroom to feel spring fresh, as if the world is scrubbed clean and full of possibility. That means I need to buy some vibrant spring pillows to nestle among my neutral bedding. This compromise allows me to invigorate my decor without changing anything major. In a month or so, the first pillows of spring will disappear and the lazy pillows of summer comfort will arrive. My bed is my indoor garden.
Today, my arms fill with a lovely soft clay color mixed with white. Perfect. Both colors will look fabulous on my walls. I head immediately to my paint store for quarts and samples. This weekend my bedroom will squat in my living room and the bare walls will become a testing ground for this years garden foundation. Once the walls are painted, then I bring back my furniture, trying to leave some things out and steal some things from other rooms. How can I place the furniture so that it feels new. It's all about feeling free to throw new seeds around. The room sprouts and the last finishing touch is the new bedding, topped off with my current favorite pillows.
Tips: Look for bedding sales at your favorite stores. Always touch your bedding to feel the texture of the fabric. Buy new bed pillows every year and donate your old ones to shelters. Buy outrageous decor pillows that make you smile. Send these home with favored visiting family members as you change your bedroom for summer.
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