A LOFTY IDEA! ( revised bedroom of #43 Green Dolphin Street)

"Good, Better, Best.

Never let them rest, until your Good is Better,

and your better 

Best!"

When I was in grade 5, this motto was posted across the top of the classroom wall.

simple words to live by

***

I had an idea with regard to the bedroom of #43.  I wanted to make it Better.

Through trails and errors, this is the ( newest) final result.

I HAVE INSTALLED A LOFT!
 And sitting inside the loft is a large tin of English biscuits that JANINE of MINWORKS brought over for me, last Wednesday when she and Fats and I had lunch together and then 'Minied our Minds Out', exchanged gifts, ideas and lots and lots of laughter.  We 3 Miniteers, have So Much Fun when we get together, and I will have to show you more of what they both gifted me with on a later posting, but for now I have Janine's  biscuit tin next to a hat box of mine...  But wait!
 I am getting waaaay ahead of myself.  Let me take you back to the beginning.
  It all began with the Ugly wood beam that I installed on the bedroom wall...

I had placed this beam on the bedroom wall and then heartily disliked it!  I had installed it because it corresponded to the one glued onto the opposite side of the wall, in the hallway.  I had wanted to break up the strong blank vertical wall in the stairwell, with a horizontal beam and so to be consistent I had to duplicate it in the bedroom, but now I was Not Happy :(   The dark beam was too visible, even when the bed was in front of it, I wanted to reverse the whole procedure but it was, by then, too late!  I was now reluctantly committed to the 'Ugly!'  In trying to come up with a variety of solutions to make me like the bedroom again, I began to play with some toile material that was going to be used for a shower and window curtains in the bathroom.  Hmmmm?  If I could find a way to incorporate the curtain fabric to detract from the ugly beam then maybe I could live with it.  I started to play around with the drapes and then the idea of A LOFT, hit me as a possibility!  But how to do it..... ?  It would need to be anchored to the ceiling without looking like a death trap!  I had to mock it up to see.  I tried so many different solutions and combinations struggling to work out the physical problem.  I am miserable at math and anything that requires calculations, so EVERYthing was all by "trying this, and then, trying that".  The problem of how to suspend the loft in a Solid, Reasonable and Logical way was very difficult for me.  I had to build it in place and then to think of what step I should take next to get over the following hurdle.

I mocked it up to see if what I had envisioned, would even Look any good, then
 I used some paper to see just what it Would look like with a lowered canopy over the bed

I liked the effect.
 But how could I get it to work?

Here with the bathroom in progress, was another possible way of supporting the loft over the bed.  I have a thin beam stretching from one side of the room to the other, but visually, it was totally unacceptable.  I didn't like the way the top of the room was sliced off.  So back to the drawing board trying to figure out how to keep that loft UP!

Meanwhile, I decided to make some more curtains.  I was also looking to see how best to make a valance.  By this stage I was out of the toile fabric and so this meant
No Mistakes were Allowed
( sorry about the fuzzy photo)

 And after much doing and redoing, this is the final result!  I found that if I made a solid wall to stretch from the platform of the loft up to the ceiling, then I could trim it out with additional wood to make it appear  as though it was a solid part of the architecture rather than a flimsy 'add on'.  I dropped the curtain panels to the floor from the underside of the valance and made them denser and more substantial by doubling the curtain  over so that the pattern is on both the front  and back of the panels.  The visual weight of the curtains help support the idea of a structurally sound loft above the bed.  I am so relieved to have the canopy and the loft done!  The additional heavier drapes have added even more ambience to the room
 And I am LOVIN IT!

 But, then, when I took this shot, a bell went off in my head
'Hey, I've seen this somewhere before!'
 Then I remembered....
Pinned onto my INSPIRATION BOARD that is on my studio wall, I have a tear sheet of a bedroom that I love.
(see below)

Uncanny!  I didn't realize how much it looked like this picture until I was done!
I guess this photo Really WAS Inspiring! :D

#43 Green Dolphin Street
My revised miniature bedroom! 

  I love the variations of the shapes, spaces and textures.  A future project will include a small ladder which will be kept under the bed for reaching those items stowed up in the loft

I didn't want a solid floor to the loft area, but something that appears visually lighter so I made a plank floor to support the contents in the loft and stained the wood dark, to compliment the other wood trims in the room.  In the pictures you can see what it looks like from the underside.  I LOVE IT!  It reminds me of a berth of a sailing ship and because of that, it then ties in with the voyage that Marianne made
 ( in the book, Green Dolphin Street ) across the Atlantic to marry William in New Zealand!  A little Nautical reference after all!  (whoohoo! )Things are looking Better and Better all the time!

I was showing my sister Bev, the changes to the bedroom and she commented that now the room looks finished, and there is some privacy for anyone sleeping in the bed and I agree!  Also there is some added warmth during those wet and blustery nights when the wind rattles the old window panes and creeps through any cracks in the uninsulated stone walls.  The thickness of those bed curtains, should ward off Some of the chill that blows through on those cold coastal nights!

ahhh,
Nice and Cosy!

I also gave a little 'face lift' for the standing mirror on the painted chest of drawers.
 I added a filigree frame around it, to fussy it up!

So This is now what it looks like with all the items  in place

 And here is the entire room with the new bed curtains and also showing the stairwell 

And this is the view looking to the left!  I love this shot!
it reminds me of the motion of a boat the way it seems to be leaning left, 
weird huh?

So what do you think of my Lofty Idea?
I have really tried to make what was good about this room look even better!
And now I  think that I like it
The Best!
 ( perhaps even More than the Parlor? )
and speaking of the Parlor; look what Fats made for me when she came over last Wednesday

A MINI BOOK OF
GREEN DOLPHIN STREET!

My two friends, are by far

The VERY Best!
Thanks for the visit

elizabeth