Modern Equestrian Design- The Bedroom Part 1: Before

New person: So what do you do for a living?

Me: I’m an interior designer.

New person: Oh! I bet you have the most glamorous house!

Me: (Awkward pause) Uh huh.

Here’s the reality, folks: Although I am keenly aware of the downfalls of my own personal environment, I have been unable to improve it due to so many different circumstances- at first it was a lack of money, then I blamed it on having small children, and then it was just abandoned while I focused on growing my business and raising my children (not in that order). I have finally decided that I want - NAY- deserve a grown-up bedroom while I’m still in my 30’s (even if it’s only for a few more months… designers love nothing more than a tight deadline). Let’s take a look at what we’re working with.

Hum, where to start, where to start. Well first of all, our bed has no headboard, footboard or frame, it simply sits on a plastic box spring. Leaning up against a cold wall is not exactly conducive for reading in bed (like I have time for that anyway, let’s be honest). Also, I can’t stand the way that bedskirts get bunched up and they’re never the right length, so I left the plastic feet exposed, waiting for the day that we would replace it with a real frame. I intended on getting a rug but the thought of trying to slide a rug underneath a bed seemed laborious and better left for when the aforementioned legit headboard and frame were due to be delivered. Which never happened. And so after our dog continually slipped on the floor while attempting to jump onto the bed (he has his own bed on the floor, doesn’t even notice it), I grabbed an old Target rug from storage and threw it down so he’d have a landing pad. As a temporary solution. Are you seeing the pattern here?

Some dear friends of ours from Dos Gallos in Los Angeles gifted us this one hundred year old Japanese tansu chest which comprises of three separate pieces intended to be stacked to make a tall chest. We separated them years ago to use as nightstands as a temporary solution until we could find something else. That was 12 years ago. The time has come to reunite the trio as they were intended, and let them age gracefully in a quiet, less abused spot in our home (does that exist?).

This small writing desk was a flea market purchase for our guests to use while enjoying our glamorous guest room. Which doesn’t exist anymore because the baby took over, but anyway, just take my word for it, it was very glamorous. Anyway, I digress. So when COVID hit and my husband was stuck at home, he needed a work station. So obviously our bedroom was the perfect work from home location, because nothing promotes restful slumber like the humming of a laptop and a nagging pile of you-did-not-cross-me-off-your-To-Do-list tasks. Also- guitar storage because why not.

This painting by Nashville-Los Angles based artist Andy Anh Ha was the first piece or original art that my husband and I purchased together. We first discovered his art at Yamashiro in Los Angeles and contacted him to find out if we could -fingers crossed- afford one of his pieces. To our surprise, he had just the right piece for us and we pulled together all of our Christmas money and bonuses to splurge on it. He had it in his Nashville gallery and had it shipped to our Santa Barbara apartment, where the 48”x48” size was daunting in our small studio. Fast forward four years later, we packaged it up and put it on a U-haul with a one-way ticket back to Nashville.

The artwork in our room is a hodge-podge collection of miscellaneous pieces that are all significant in meaning, but have no real cohesive connection to each other.

The photograph above our bed by the amazing Jeff Landman is a very special reminder of an extraordinary barn where my horse Alice (palomino tush featured on the right) lived out her senior years. It makes me so happy to see her everyday right above my head! Although I need to move it for the new design, I will be moving this piece to my office so I can still enjoy it.

Awhile ago, we had drapery that worked with the wall paint but the light filtration was too much. The street lamp right outside our window glowed all night and the morning sun came streaming in. I needed some blackout curtains ASAP. Rather than spending money on the perfect drapes to coordinate with the room color, bedding, art- really anything at all- I opted to use ones I already owned (from my son’s nursery), which were gathering dust in a closet because I was tired of the pattern. And they’re too short. But moving the rod down a few inches to accommodate drapery which was -ahem- temporary, just seemed to be an unnecessary exertion of my power tools.

We commissioned a prominent local artist to create a carefully curated selection of Frozen stickers which he installed with painters tape so we could easily move it around our room however our hearts desired. Admittedly, it was a bit of a splurge item, but no design is complete without at least one must-have item that may or may not break the bank.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the transformation, which will feature Painting Day. To be continued…