Project Description
Most people don’t live in their homes for 32 years. At some point, they upgrade, downsize or have to relocate. My mother and father have been fortunate in that when they built their own home all those years ago, they designed their forever home where they would raise their children, entertain loads of family and friends, and most especially, all seven of their grandchildren.
Over the last few months, my mother, Anita began feeling an urge to make some drastic changes to her master suite. She wanted to swap her white carpet for wood flooring, and after many years of my suggesting it, she even surprised me by agreeing to use chalk paint on the dark-wood, wainscoted walls that surround their bed area.
Perhaps most stunning of all, she chose to replace their traditional four-post bed with a new one that would become the piece de resistance.
Let’s start from the ground up to describe her new and improved, French-inspired bedroom transformation.
After months of searching, she chose the perfect white-washed wood plank to replace her nearly white, woven carpet. Perhaps the tiny red footprint stains that just wouldn’t scrub out from my own 2-year-old daughter, Ivery, finally pushed her to replace the carpet. Apparently, little girls not only like putting red lipstick on their lips, but also on the bottom of their feet.
The intricate wall panels that were once a dark, walnut-stained oak had lost their luster and faded throughout the years. I had always begged my parents to let me paint them, but it wasn’t until I started carrying Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan that she would even consider it.
She decided to paint the walls with a singular coat of Annie’s “Paris Grey” and — to get that dreamy French appearance — finish with the brand new “White Wax.”
There was a timeline, however, to our getting the wood floors and painting the wainscoting. On Aug. 4, my mother underwent brain surgery in Tennessee to remove a tumor. While we had ordered the new bed, we knew it would arrive later, during her recovery, and we would set it up when it came in.
When she returned home that afternoon, I was long gone, and she was absolutely worn out from a long day of pushing herself to her new limits. We spoke about the bed the following day, and she was so happy to have the room finally done and put back together.
Life as we know it is hectic, full of ups and downs, things and situations we can’t always predict, but if I were to give you a how-to list, it would be taken from a page in my mother’s life:
1. Fill each day with love and joy.
2. Treat others as you would want to be treated.
3. Buy what you love, and you’ll love it forever.
4. Surround yourself with beauty, whether it be the beauty in your surroundings or simply a beautiful life filled with the ones you love the most.
We featured this home in one of our WV Design Team articles for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. To read the full article: Bedroom remodel becomes invaluable transformation