FANCY BEDROOMS

In the past 3 months I have not decorated any fancy bedrooms to speak of. To be clear, what I call "fancy" might be referred to as a luxury bedroom by those who prefer to maintain a level of sophistication in their vocabulary. I know the economy has taken a hit and custom made furniture and girls bedding are probably last on the list of people doing their best to make mortgage payments on those high end homes bought in the heat of the moment.

But thinking of the past, I can remember working on some luxury bedroom designs that were not any more expensive than decorating a room with IKEA style decor (modern look and sleek contemporary finish). There was one project in particular where the homeowner used a solid walnut tester bed as the centerpiece for her teen girl's bedroom that was breathtakingly beautiful. I expected the young girl to reject the antique bed as looking "old fashioned" but I was pleasantly surprised when she was on board with the decision.

It was not that she was such a fan of ornate furniture and fancy bedrooms as she liked the sense of history and place that the bedroom furniture gave to her space. She said that she enjoyed being surrounded with pieces that had been in her family for generations. Her only request was that the comforter set, curtains and wall paint color were light and bright to offset the dark finish of the elaborately carved wood.

TRENDS

In my last few projects, not only were girls leaning toward platform beds and a minimal amount of bedroom furniture, the materials were not that important. A few years ago, if the bedroom set was not real wood, nobody wanted it. And now I find that buying solid wood is not important. Several of my clients ordered custom made furniture and called a master carpenter that built the furniture based on their specifications. Needless to say that we had to wait a long time for the furniture to arrive.


Lately things have really changed; nobody has either the money or the time to hire custom woodworkers. Either they use the furniture they already have in place or buy imported furniture with a contemporary look, bright colors and maintenance-free finishes. I suppose that the time it takes to maintain great-grandma's intricately carved wooden furniture is more than busy, professional people want to deal with since money to hire cleaning help is tight.

THE APPEAL OF IMPORTED PLATFORM BEDS and FURNITURE

I'm all for buying imported furniture for first apartments, dorm rooms and kids' bedrooms. The stuff is cheap and can be easily dismantled, packed in boxes and then re-assembled with little effort. Plus, the pieces require a minimum amount of floor space giving the illusion that the bedrooms are larger than they actually are.

Ok, I get it that low maintenance furniture has its place. But I really miss decorating those fancy bedrooms with luxurious fabrics and decorations even if they were dust catchers.