Bed of my dreams

When the then-soon-to-be-Mr. and I moved in to our first apartment together, I started pulling dream house/decor ideas out of magazines, and saved my favorites in a cute binder.  This started a little more than 10 years ago, and way before Pinterest, but I've saved and added to that binder since then.

One of my first pulls was this bed. When I figured out where this bed came from, and its price tag, I was pretty sure it would stay in dreamland for me.

Pulled from Martha Stewart Magazine

But, oh, I loved this bed.  I have never loved another bed like I loved this bed.  All other beds paled in my mental comparison of them to this bed.

And then there was a sale, and a just-big-enough hole in my budget.  So off to Ethan Allen we went.

We met with the nicest Design Consultant ever (locals - Megan Vogel in Fredericksburg, VA)  Which, yes, it's part of her job to be nice to people splashing out nearly $2,000 for a bed; but, when we told her we were there just for the Quincy bed, there was zero pressure to add or even look at anything else.  It was really refreshing.

I didn't need help picking the style, but I had to get a little advice about the multiple beautiful finish options.  While the black finish had been in my mind for years, our bedroom is pretty small, and I was pretty sure that would be overwhelming in the space we've got, given the size and scale of the bed.

After I showed her pictures of our existing room, our Consultant agreed we'd need something a little softer.  The Mr. and I had thought grey would be a better alternative, neutral but a little more interesting than plain white.

Do you know how many greys there are in the world?  So many different greys.  OK, 5.  Still.

Our Consultant patiently let us pore over the samples, and then suggested one of the shades we hadn't even considered based on its online swatch.  She didn't have a sample of it, but there were a few finished pieces in the showroom we could look at.  It was really nice to be able to see how the finish looked in different light, and over a larger surface, as well.

So we wound up ordering it in Dove Gray (which looks NOTHING like its almost tan swatch online), and I love it so, so, so much.

After the order went in, we got a lovely, personal, hand written note from our Consultant thanking us for our purchase and complimenting our Kiddo.  I can say I have spent way more (cumulatively) at Ikea, and nobody ever wrote me a note to say thank you.  It was a very nice touch, coupled with the status updates she emailed us regularly.  Undeniably, these are the keys to my heart and loyalty forever.  

The delivery guys came early this morning.  They had it all set up and beautiful in less than an hour.

I've never had someone else put together a piece of furniture for me, or carry pieces up 2 sets of stairs (Mr. and Dad excluded, of course).  It feels fancy.

Now I finally have a good place for these shams - which looked too big on our smaller metal bed.  They were part of my great-grandmother's trousseau, hand stitched and full of love.

But I have a new first world problem - nearly everything else in the bedroom looks sad and cheap (because it is!)  The bedside lamps are too small.  I think the rest of the bedding could have a little more interesting texture, and probably needs a little decorative pillow in the middle there.  The drapes hang strangely.  My cyclist print needs a new frame and a relocation at least a few inches higher (or to another wall).  

It's going to be a slow process - I'm not letting ANYTHING into that room unless I love it as much as that bed.  Which is a tall (and probably expensive) order, but I'm going to do my best to make sure everything else in that room is so perfect I feel like I can't breathe.

What's been your biggest splurge, or item you've pined for longest (this was definitely mine, on both counts!)?