- Name:
- Ryan
- Location:
- Seattle, WA
- Division:
- United States
- What do you love about your bedroom?:
- I love how my bedroom seems to have emerged out of my paternal grandfather’s landscape paintings. I have four of them hanging in my bedroom, depicting scenes in Iowa, Vermont, the Virgin Islands, and Puget Sound. Each painting features water and wood, so it seemed natural to include watery and woodsy elements in my room. Above my bed hangs a photograph taken in the lake in Iceland that was formed between the Atlantic and European continental plates. I had the wood-print curtains made of fabric from Ikea. I’m surrounded by pictures of my kids, my DVD collection is close at hand, and I can lay back in bed zoning out to the ficus that gazes longingly at the trees outside my window. I feel simultaneously energized and relaxed in my room, the place where I most enjoy thinking about my place in the world.
- What are your tips for creating a beautiful, healthy and organized bedroom?
- I’m a novelist, so I tend to look at room as narratives. You should be able to walk into a room and get a sense of the character who lives there. Once I figured out the story my room wanted to tell, it all started to fall into place. Living in Seattle, I’m bound to both woods and water, and I found that these elements could comfortably coexist. They also suggested a color palate of green, brown, and blue, which I realize I’ve completely undermined with the Pendleton blanket on the bed. The DVD towers and console table are from IKEA, and I spent all my bed budget on the mattress. For the life of me I don’t understand what headboards are for. I’m most proud of the mat in front of the door that leads to the fire escape; I pieced it together with FLOR carpet samples for which I paid a total of $20.
- In modern homes, bedrooms have become more than just a place to sleep; they can be a retreat, a home office, a library, a relaxation zone. What are some ways you make the most of your bedroom?
- My bedroom is a place to fall in love, read, and watch movies. I purposely decided not to get cable when I moved to my apartment, which forces me to choose a disc when I want to watch something on TV. I love ending the day with a movie, but giving up cable means I don’t aimlessly channel surf. When my kids are with me my bedroom turns into a little film festival where we watch Ray Harryhausen and Buster Keaton films. Even though a bedroom is a place to collapse it doesn’t have to be a place to give in. Relaxation can be intentional. I look at my bedroom not as a place to get away from things, but a place where I can fully be myself, and I can’t help but feel energized when I spend time there.
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My Bedroom Retreat
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I like the spirit of this room, which does feel vibrant and relaxed but pulled together too. It's welcoming, unfussy, clearly masculine without being a silly stage set of masculinity. And Ryan, I can tell you are a novelist by the hyper-articulateness of your responses!
AT, please delete four of the five copies of my comments above. Don't know how that happened--sorry, Ryan.
What I love about this room is it looks like (and is) a real life bedroom. It has a lot of personality without being a cluttered mess. I love that it doesn't look like a catalog or staged home. It just looks like a very comfortable and personal space.
I always want my books in my room, but the layout of my house doesn't allow for it right now. I really like your very thin bookshelves. Share the source?
Oh I see that they're dvd towers from Ikea now.
This reminds me of my hippie housemates' room in grad school. Lots of IKEA, plus a "tribal" multicolor piece of fabric on the bed.
The room is nice, minus the bed throw with the art above the room, it makes it look like a stoners room.
I think everything else is very tastefull and nice though.
The thing on the bed is super distracting in a bad way, but I'd love to see a clear shot of that painting over the bed. It looks interesting.
Having a door open to garden is a nice touch – jealous!
Nothing is super distracting to me. I see personality in that throw and that awesome pic above the bed. And I love all those shelves! But then, I'm a book and music freak and have to have shelves in every room. Yours look very organized and somehow soothing.
I love that you only watch DVDs in your room instead of a big screen TV. Little bedroom filmfests with your kids sounds lovely
Not my style, but I had to "favorite" just for the writing style! Great description.
I could give you a "favorite" alone for just watching silent films with your kids, but I really do like the space - it feels very real, very down to earth. It's clean and non-fussy, and best of all very clearly "you." Well done!
You totally won me over with your description of yourself as a novelist who wants the room to tell a story -- that blanket may "ruin" the color scheme you had in mind, but it is a story-piece! It makes a person curious.