Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for bedroom

Scenes From The Cottage: The Bedroom

January 22, 2015 at 9:33 am by Claudia

I’d say the “Master” bedroom, but really, let’s be honest here. We have two bedrooms. One functions as a guest bedroom/office/studio. The other is the one we sleep in. So I’m not going to use the somewhat grandiose Master. Come to think of it, Master of what? Of his domain? Of his lands?

And why not Mistress? Or Master and  Mistress?

I’m starting a movement to cease and desist using the term “Master Bedroom” unless you have an estate in the country with servants in the house and serfs working your land.

The bedroom is tucked under the eaves, which makes furniture placement a challenge – to put it mildly. But it’s cozy, that’s for sure.

Corners-bedroom 8

It’s impossible to take a picture of the entire room. I’ve tried.

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while will remember the new California King bed we ordered last year and the delivery saga that ensued. We ended up having to sleep in the full sized bed in the other room for about a month. To say we were in tight quarters is an understatement. But the new bed has been with us almost a year now and we love it. LOVE IT.

Corners-bedroom 2

No, I don’t iron my pillowcases, not even for a photo shoot. I can’t be bothered. I do make my bed every day, though. I cannot handle an unmade bed unless I’m sick.

Corners-bedroom 14

A couple of years ago, when Don was away working, I went on a mad painting spree. The furniture in the room had a variety of wood finishes, many of them darkish. We have two small windows in this room, so I decided a creamy white was in order. It looks much better, though I worried it would be a bit feminine for Don. He assured me that he didn’t care because he was only in the bedroom when it was time to sleep.

A practical guy.

The dresser was found on a street in Cambridge when I was living there. Free. My friend and I carried it for about four city blocks and then up four flights of stairs. I’ve had it for about 23 or 24 years. It’s been painted gray, then yellow, and now aqua and cream.

The vintage rocker needs some repair and I plan on attending to that shortly. I love that rocker. I crocheted that throw and made the quilt, as well.

Corners-bedroom 4

A vintage tea towel as dresser scarf, assorted jewelry, a silver pillbox from Tiffany’s given to me by my late mentor and his partner, my grandmother’s lamp, my great-grandmother’s tea chest, and a photo of my late brother and me.

Corners-bedroom 6

A photo of me when I was teaching at Boston University (oh, to be that young again), some McCoy and Roseville pottery, and Don’s head shot (which I took).

Corners-bedroom 5

A pansy print that I bought while working in Owensboro, Kentucky. I love the print and the vintage frame. A D hook from Anthropologie which holds my necklaces (most of which I never wear). D for Don, by the way. I also had the C, but I couldn’t find it when I was putting this up. So the D won.

Corners-bedroom 9

I coveted and salivated over this painting for over a year. It was in a shop in San Diego – Vignettes – and as I went back and forth to SD to coach a few shows, I would see it and gaze upon it and then I would walk away because it was too expensive for me.

Finally, I took a picture and sent it to Don, talked it over with him and got his approval, and then drove to Vignettes where Lori, the owner, told me that she had wrapped it up for a customer and was getting ready to put the sale through when the customer changed his mind. All the while, she had been thinking that I was going to be so upset when I saw it was gone.

That clinched it. I bought it. I always knew it would go on this section of the wall that surrounds the chimney.

Corners-bedroom 3

Impatiens brought in for the winter.

Corners-bedroom 10

Egg cups. And a Christie Repasy print.

Corners-bedroom 13

Beautiful Japanese wood block prints on rice paper. These are Don’s. He bought them when he was courting me and living in the company housing provided by the Old Globe. He wanted something to personalize his living space.

On my side of the room:

Corners-bedroom 11

Books and lots of ’em. There are books behind books – two layers deep.

The black and white photograph of a rose was taken by my late brother, there’s vintage mirror my mom bought me when I was visiting them in Michigan, another parakeet lamp that I found (!) that needs some rewiring, photos of Winston and Riley and Scout.

The lone wolf print was purchased while we were living in San Diego.

Corners-bedroom 7

My traveling pals: Maggie Rabbit, Wayfrum Holmes, Little Lamb. They’re sitting on a vintage hatbox I found many years ago in the Berkshires. And that’s Home, by Edgar Guest. I found it in a local antique shop last year.

Corners-bedroom 12

More books. A bit blurry, but you get the picture. They’re everywhere.

There’s also a cabinet to the left of my dresser that our old behemoth of a television sits on, but I didn’t get a photo of it, though there’s one elsewhere on this blog.

On a sunny day like today, the bedroom is filled with a lovely, rosy glow. And though I’d love more wall space, instead of the half-walls, there is something wonderful about being tucked under the eaves in an attic bedroom.

Any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments section.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: bedroom, decorating, DIY, Don, Edgar Guest, egg cups 56 Comments

A Corner of the Cottage

May 4, 2014 at 8:28 am by Claudia

bedroomcorner1c

Let’s explore another corner of the cottage today – our bedroom. As always, this is photographed ‘As Is.’

What’s that piece of furniture? Well, there are two. The dresser has a story, as does everything in this house. It’s vintage and it has been in my possession for about 23 years. I was walking down Harvard Street in Cambridge, MA one day (I lived on Harvard) and I spied this dresser sitting out at the curb. The wood was dark but I liked the lines of the piece and I knew I could paint it. After I made sure it was indeed free, I ran back to my apartment building, enlisted my friend Annette’s help, and together we walked that dresser about 3 blocks to the building and then hauled it up 3 flights of stairs. I painted it a soft gray. After it moved to San Diego with me, it was painted a pretty yellow. Just last year, I repainted it in these colors. When it was yellow, I changed out the metal knobs to vintage green glass knobs. When I painted it last year, I replaced them with clear glass knobs. Come to think of it, where did I put those green knobs? I haven’t seen them in a while.

The wicker rocking chair is a favorite of mine. It needs some repair work. I got it for $60 in an antique shop. It lived on the porch, then in the living room, before moving up the stairs to its current home.

bedroomcorner2a

What’s on/in it? On top of the dresser: a lovely hand painted lamp that was my grandmother’s. I grew up with this pretty lamp and I’ve always loved it. A tea chest that belonged to my great-grandmother. It is handmade and is filled with mementos that were important to my grandmother – the funeral cards for her two adored sisters who died in the flu epidemic of 1918, a lock of her sister’s hair, my great-grandfather’s will. A framed photo of my late brother and me taken in my acting days. Favorite earrings. A Tiffany pill box. A vintage tea towel that I use as a dresser scarf. A piece of McCoy Pottery. There are also pieces of Roseville pottery but they are out of view. The pottery pieces hold bits and bobs, receipts, jewelry, photos.

The pillow on the chair is covered in a vintage linen napkin embroidered with the word ‘Nice,’ intertwined with flowers – embroidery by me.

What’s on the wall? A vintage pansy print that I discovered in an old shop in Kentucky. It has the prettiest frame. A letter D/hook from Anthropologie that holds my favorite necklaces.

Any challenges? Yes. The danged slanted/sloped ceiling. The ceilings in both of the upstairs rooms are sloped and sharply sloped at that. It means that furniture placement is always a challenge. And doing anything in those areas is a daily challenge as both Don and I are tall. I can’t tell you how many times I have bumped my head on the ceiling. The sloped ceilings are the reason that Don’s dresser is in the other room – there was no place for it in ours. (That has worked out very nicely, by the way.)

Anything else? The vintage dresser is charming, but the drawers sometimes stick, which results in some colorful language on my part. (Don’s dresser drawers also stick.) Ah, the charms of vintage.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: bedroom, decorating 22 Comments

Let’s Talk About Something Other Than Snow

February 16, 2014 at 8:51 am by Claudia

bedroom

Let’s talk about something other than snow, alright?

How about how pretty the bedroom looks when the sun floods in through the windows? I can’t get over how pretty the bed looks with that gold coverlet. And let me tell you, almost every muscle in my body has been aching the last couple of days and that bed….that bed….sinking into that plush pillow top mattress at the end of the day has been delicious. Thank you bed, so long waited for and well worth the wait.

Let’s talk about House of Cards, Season 2, now available on Netflix. I watched four episodes yesterday and once again, I am gobsmacked by the quality of this series; the acting, the writing, the direction…everything. Simply excellent. And very Shakespearean, I might add, with echoes of Macbeth and Richard III. My three favorite series right now are: Sherlock, House of Cards and The Newsroom. Everything else I’ve seen is okay (and sometimes not at all okay) but doesn’t come close to this level of excellence. Purely personal opinion, of course.

Two of my former students are in Episodes 1 – 4, Season 2 of House of Cards, doing wonderful work. That makes me happy.

I’ve not seen one episode of Downton Abbey. I suppose I’ll watch it someday. We have the first season on DVD but have yet to open the shrink rap and it’s been sitting around here for a year. That tells you something. It’s just not calling me at the moment and, as is usually the case with me, if everyone seems to watching something and I read endless articles and posts about it, I usually stay away. Go figure.

livingroom

I’m reading Sycamore Row by John Grisham and it is taking me forever to get through that book. Now, I’ve read Grisham’s books in the past and he is a good writer. No argument there. But this book, for some reason, is not grabbing me enough to keep me reading. It’s interesting, the characters are quirky, the plot promises to be compelling but the pace is way too slow for me. I’ve made a vow to finish it and I will, but boy oh boy, it’s taking me far too long to get through this sucker.

I forgot to mention something here though I did mention it on this blog’s Facebook page. Don won a San Diego Theatre Critics/Craig Noel Award for his performance as Doolittle in Pygmalion. The awards ceremony was last Monday evening and since Don couldn’t be there, Don’s brother Ron and his wife Suzie represented him. Ron got to go up to the stage and accept the award and they filmed the announcement with their phone, so we got to see it. I’m so proud of Don. Let me tell you, he was simply brilliant in that role. I’m still in awe of that performance and I’d give anything to see it again.

Craig Noel, who died a few years ago at the age of 94, was the man who shaped the Old Globe Theatre. It simply wouldn’t be here without him. He was Don’s mentor at a time when he desperately needed one. He helped Don find his way in the theater when he was still a teenager. I worked with Craig many times and simply adored him. He was that rare man who made a difference is countless lives, who made the world a better place. He was awarded the National Medal of the Arts for his work. We miss him so much.

So, the fact that this award was named for Craig Noel is particularly poignant and powerful.

Three cheers for Don!

Note: Nora, I want to take you up on your offer of Miniology mags, but when I sent an email to your Yahoo address it came back to me. Said it was not valid. Can you email me with a valid address? Thanks so much!

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: bedroom, books, decorating, Don, television 74 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

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