Eat, read, sleep.

The title of this blog is a variation on that memoir of breakdown and recovery by Elizabeth Gilbert. If movies are your thing, then the 2010 release of the filmed version starred Julia Roberts. (She of the romantic-comedy genre, starting with Mystic Pizza in 1988.)

This image is of the vestry from the back door, looking towards the room that will be my bed/living room. The pale blue double doors, bookshelves, and large cupboard were the first items to go, followed by the fluorescent lights and false ceiling. The desk and chair now serve as the construction office furniture in the vestibule.

Those who know me well know that I’m not a ‘morning’ person. This made for lots of fun and games when I shared a room with my sisters growing up. I read somewhere that east-facing bedrooms were optimal for sleeping / waking. For the vestry conversion, I didn’t have any option but to go with the bedroom in the east-facing corner of the building.

I’ve lived in old houses with large bedrooms for the majority of my adult life. At just over 4 x 3.5m, I’d need to be careful with how I organised the space and what furniture I’d put in it. Fortunately the high ceilings (3.5-4m) would maintain the sense of space. Early on I had decided to put a pocket door opposite the back door for the bedroom, and to replace the window opposite with French doors to increase the amount of light and maximise the view of the mountain.

As a minimum, I needed to have a table, couch, and bed to make the space comfortable for short stays. A lot of my furnishing decisions have been based on aesthetics rather than anything else!

I found second-hand dining chairs and a small square rimu dining table that I liked quite quickly on TradeMe in January 2019. What took a lot longer to find was fabric for the dining chairs that would go with the couch and overall colour scheme. When I did find a fabric I liked, it was no longer available anywhere in the world! Eventually I settled on a plaid pattern that was simple, elegant, and reflect the Scottish heritage of my Presbyterian kirk.

I decided on a leather couch as being suitably hard-wearing as well as giving a touch of luxury. I was fortunate to pick up a lovely two-seater recliner model over a year ago as described in this post. I’m still tossing up whether or not to add a floor lamp and coffee table to the reading area. I think it’s going to depend on how much space I have once the main pieces of furniture are in place.

I’ve always liked the Design Mobel range of bedroom furniture, ever since I bought my first bed from them over 20 years ago. Unfortunately they went out of business a few years ago, so their solid native timber beds and furniture is starting to attract a premium. I decided that the Ironbark range had the right aesthetic for my space, so I’m slowly picking up bedsides and a queen bed as I come across them at a reasonable price.

Curtaining has been a bit of a dilemma. I’m still wanting to use natural fibres where I can so have focused on the range offered by Verdant Living. I’d originally picked a bird print on a cotton and hemp fabric, but the fabric colour didn’t go with the dining chairs. Most of their other prints are too small, but I’ve now settled on another bird print on a hemp fabric which works quite well. I’ve gone with a light colour for the paint to go with the overall scheme.