Goodbye, Granny Chic.

Designers say the most difficult home to design is their own, and I believe it. When friends ask me for decorating advice, it's easy to see what their rooms need. "Sorry, hon, but that sofa is too large for your living room, and the orangey oak trim fights with the modern look you want. Try an apartment-sized sofa, and paint the trim white." It seems easy! But the easiest, most obvious fixes don't occur to me in my own space.

Goodbye, matelasse. Hello, contemporary duvet!
Case in point: Our bedroom. It was beginning to look like a little old lady's room, but I couldn't imagine how to change it. I had no idea what was wrong, because I couldn't look at the room with objective detachment. That is, not until we went out of town. The day after we got home, I walked into our room and knew that the cream-colored matelasse bedspread was to blame. The matelasse bedspread is beautiful, but this room needs clean, modern white and some graphic interest. Cream was making it look too old-fashioned.

This is what the room looked like before.
So the matelasse went into the guest room, where it looks much better. And I took the bright white hotel-style duvet out of the guest room and put it on our bed. The white bedspread, with its bold square border, makes everything in here look a bit more modern. As a finishing touch, a hand-embroidered Swedish throw came out of storage to grace the foot of the bed. And I'm so glad I didn't have to buy anything new.
Of course, this set off a domino effect of changes and ideas. Eagle-eyed readers will notice another major change in these before and after pictures. But I'll tell you more about that later! For now, have fun ogling the results of the One Room Challenge.