A Romantic Hideaway

I have already shared about making our bedroom a retreat. You can view my post on that here.
When I posted that devotion, I intended on getting some pictures of our bedroom up so that you could see what I was talking about. Well, several months later, I am finally getting around to it! These are pictures taken while we were waiting for labor to begin with Ezra, so there are a few things that are not typical to our bedroom in the pictures.



Here is our bed. While this doesn't show the whole thing, you can get an idea of what it's like. I have a double layered bed skirt on it ~ which does not match the quilt. However, it goes well with the coloring in our bedroom, and it was a bargain! The netting you see is a canopy of mosquito netting that hangs from hooks in the ceiling ~ our ceiling is a bit low for a true 4 poster or canopy bed. Around the top of the canopy, I have the small Christmas tree lights. They are amber colored ~ we found the clear ones were too bright. To the majority of the lights I have added roses and or leaves (the light is the center of the rose or leaf set), so it appears that our bed is garlanded by flowers. The bed is set cross-wise in the corner, and behind the headboard, I have a fairly rough pedestal that Mike made (which I have covered with a floral fabric), and that is what the candelabra is sitting on. I have multiple pillows on the bed, and in the winter there is also a brown plaid blanket that lays across the foot of the bed.

This is the corner opposite the bed. Normally next to the rocking chair there is a small black kidney shaped table. On the other side of the little table sits another chair. This gives us an intimate little spot for a quiet cup of tea and conversation. The little shelves you see are a recent addition and are holding layette items. My plan is to paint the shelves black (my "shabby chic" color), and use them in some other way when Ezra's clothing is too large for the little baskets. On the wall, you can see just the lower part of one of our pictures, and then next to that is a 5 arm candelabra ~ for a little added romance!

You can see that I use fairly bold colors in our bedroom, and I do try to accent with plaids because they are more masculine. I decorate our room with things that are meaningful to us. The rocking chair was my great-grandmother's, there are portraits of our children on the walls and dresser tops. I have heard different people recommend not having pictures of your children in your bedroom; after all, it's supposed to be a retreat! However, part of who we are is our children's parents. God has blessed us tremendously with our children ~ why would we want to keep our bedroom devoid of reminders of them? You will also find in our bedroom ~ for the majority of our 19 years of marriage, a bassinet or cradle or a crib. This does not diminish the romance or retreat "feeling" of our room. Rather, for us, it is a reminder of how abundantly blessed we are; and for me, it brings feelings of joy and contentment to see them.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, and perhaps gain some inspiration if you're struggling with infusing your room with romance.