Serenity Now (Literally)

Pete had long complained about our bed; how it was impossible to read in bed without the iron (steel, really) poking you in the back. I wasn't happy with the overall look and feel in our bedroom and thought it was just a trainwreck. It was not relaxing and serene. Unless it was spotless, felt cluttery. Also, it may have actually been cluttery. And the white duvet/bedding, while very nice quality, just never did it for me. It always felt too stark for that room.

So in our recent let's feel better about our current living situation mass-purge/redecorate, I listed our bed on Craiglist one night, thinking it would take at least a few days to sell and even then, we'd probably have our fair share of CL shenanigans. We recalled when we lived in Redwood City, this one lady showed up in the Cadillac Escalade and tried to haggle over $10, and then called me practically sobbing over an IKEA chair. CL peeps are weird.  

So a few hours later, I got an email asking about it. I wrote back and didn't think much of it. Until they wrote back again and said they'd come and buy it the next day. Pete and I were kicking back with some Saturday night libations, and I did the buzzed-whisper-snicker thing and said, I THINK I SOLD OUR BED. Which? Again, we thought those crazy CL peeps will either 1. flake out or 2. bring like half of the cash and be all this is all I have, so we didn't think much of it.

The next morning, sure enough, there was another email saying they'd pick it up at 10 a.m. I went to wake Pete up. Uh, Pete? Can you wake up so we can disassemble the bed?

$100 later, our bed was sold! Woo! But ehm, we didn't have a bed to sleep on. We also had a jam-packed social schedule so we couldn't really take the time to go shop for one. So I pinned about a zillion of them on Pinterest and then we agreed on a few. In the meanwhile, we put the mattress on the ground like this.

It was like camping! Only not! Also, note the mess. As soon as I took those patterned curtains down, I felt a sense of calm. Phew. We put up some old ones and planned on purchasing some nicer ones in the future. 


We finally got around to selecting a bed, which included Lucia's first hang-time at the IKEA children's area. (While fueling up on free coffee with the IKEA Family membership, we spied her watching TV rather than coloring with the other kids, which we thought was hilarious.) We sat on a few beds then selected one and its matching headboard. But Lucia's carseat being in the way, meaning either Pete or I had to go get the bed solo, not as a family. Plus we had other plans that day, I think swim lessons or something. 

Pete went to get it a few days later just before the store closed. Mission accomplished. I made the mistake/blessing? of googling the bed instructions beforehand and there was a YouTube video saying it took about 4 hours to put together start-to-finish. So we postponed assembly for a few days and set aside a Saturday to git 'er done.

Headboard complete

Six hours later, we had it 90% done but realized we were missing the wooden slat things, which we had GIVEN away with our bed to the CL buyers. Fiddlesticks! We had plans at a friend's house for dinner, so we left a little earlier than planned and I ran inside to fetch it while Pete and Lucia waited in the car. 


Slats in hand, we finally put the finishing touches on our new bedroom. The surprise awesome curtains came from a dyeing accident, where I was trying to have our living room curtains progress from Ivory to light beige, and they ended up the exact shade of the old bedding, which I loved and had hung onto. Hurray!! We also moved that leafy pillow into the living room (post on that effort coming soon). 


We decluttered the room also, inside and out, meaning I finally gave away all those post-pregnancy clothes (a mere 5 sizes larger than my current size -- wooo!) and tons of other stuff cluttering the room. The bed's storage drawers are great for linens. 


We love the new look; it's wonderfully relaxing and serene in there. Ahhhhhhh.