Second Bedroom Redesign

My house was so messy by Saturday last week, that I could not believe so little time had passed since the last cleaning. I was particularly dismayed by the state of the second bedroom. Two weeks ago, on Labor Day weekend, my friend Nga came to visit, and the room looked like this.

However, this is the room where we shove things that we do not want to deal with, and it can quickly get very  disorganized. By Saturday, only a short time later, it looked like this.

I decided that the second bedroom would be more functional if I rearranged the furniture as well. As I have said in the past, I cannot stand for things to stay the same for long! I also used the opportunity to clean thoroughly under and behind all of the furniture. Here is what the room looks like now.

Here is the room from different angles. I feel so much better about it. This gives me more space around the closet, which is where I need it. The only time we use any other part of the room is when people come to visit. Now the part of the room that you can see from the door is more open, and the space feels bigger.

I have already spoken about many of the objects in the room. You can read about the black dresser and mirror in Curb Sale Mirror and Painted Dresser. All of the mirrors were mentioned in Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. The cat lamp was described in Weirdly Cool Kitty Lamp. Here are some other details from the room. The black nightstand was a gift from my mother. I do not remember if you bought it at a garage sale or found it on the curb. I painted it black.

The bed was my great-grandparents’ bed. I remember sleeping in it when I used to go visit them. Douglas bought the bedspread in his bachelor days.

The other nightstand was given to Douglas by a friend. It needs refinished. The lamp was given to him by the same friend.

I have been writing a journal since I was seven years old. All of my journals from over the years are locked in this trunk, which was a gift from my mother. If you want to know my secrets, this is the place to go! I bought the Buddha on top of the trunk in South Korea. The purple garbage can that is peeking out on the side has a shredder and contains our paper recycling.

This braided rug was made by my great-grandmother.

I made the afghan on the bed while I was living with my grandparents after graduate school. My grandmother taught me how to crochet. This is the only afghan that I have made, but I have crocheted many scarves.

The closet door must always stay open because the kitty litter is in there. The cat’s water and food are in her carrying case so that the dog cannot get to them. The carrier is squeezed between the bed and the trunk. We always put it in our room when there are guests.

Going around the walls of the room from the left of the door when you walk in, the first object on the walls is this piece that Douglas has had hanging in his room since he was a child. It tells the origin and meaning of his name.

This first painting was one that I made for Douglas for our first Christmas when we were dating. Someday, I will write a post about how this work was created.

This is a photo of me that my grandfather took. For most of my life it hung in my grandparents’ bedroom. They gave it to me when they moved out of their house. I love the frame.

As you can see, I decided to hang one of Thomas Chin‘s paintings in here. You can read more about it in my post Artwork of Women.

This ink drawing was done by an ex-boyfriend and given to me in 1998.

This pencil drawing was done for me by a college boyfriend. He gave it to me for my birthday in 1994.

This is a painting that I started in 2004 and never finished. Maybe someday.

This is a map of the United States, and the lines in black are all of the roads I have traveled. As you can see, I have not been to the Northwest, Alaska or Hawaii. I am also missing Maine. I have been to forty three states, which is not bad.

I am much happier with how the room looks now. Here is one more look at the before and after.

When Douglas got home from work, we both went to town cleaning the entire house. I should have taken some before and after pictures of the other rooms, but I guess we were too busy cleaning to do that. I feel much better now that everything is spic and span!

Happy Homemaking!