I have never really been a girly girl where bedrooms were concerned and always had a functional room, nothing else. It was a place where my bed was with one or two bare necessities and to me that was all that mattered. (As a teenager I also used my bed and very long overthrow as a decoy for more or less 100kg of laundry I used to hide. Disturbing, I know. My dad thought so too and subsequently, to my great horror, showed any boyfriend that wished to date me the mess underneath my bed!) Anyway, fast forward a few years and along came 5 males sharing the house with me (dad, 3 boys and a dog) and things got even barer in the main bedroom department.
It used to be the same for our current bedroom. One Queen size bed, one duvet, four pillows, two bedside cabinets, one chest of drawers with my husband’s sound system. That’s it. It has never really bothered me since I was used to it that way and it certainly doesn’t bother my hubby. And then today as I was waiting at the dentist I read an old magazine and stumbled on an article entitled ‘Your bedroom. Your sanctuary” (or something to that effect.) The article said that since one spends at least 8-10 hours a day in your bedroom, you should go through the trouble of making it ‘pleasant’ or ‘desirable’. And if you are married, apparently, you have an even bigger obligation as a woman to “sanctuarize” your bedroom. Well I never!
According to the article my husband is supposed to look forward to spend time with me in our love nest and I have to entice him to do this by creating a warm, friendly atmosphere. (Not that I ever struggle to get him in the bedroom but that’s a story for another day.) They then explained the way to transform your bedroom: Use different textures and colours, throws, pillows and carpets to make the room look inviting. (Our current duvet-only status most definitely had to change.) Then you have to place two or three photographs that he is particularly fond of strategically in the room, a candle or candles (even if nothing else but chilling is on the menu), a few of his books (in my case his iPad) and one or two special keepsakes that will give him a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever he looks at it.
Lastly, you need to place something of his that you don’t particularly fancy but will have to tolerate in the bedroom – they say it plays its part to make your husband enjoy the ambiance of your haven. (I know right?) In our case, it is his Bose sound system and putter. (Don’t ask.) Of course, different types of lightning are important – according to them you can never have enough lamps in a bedroom. Go figure. Anyway, since I was on a semi-high from my dentist’s potion anyway, I decided to give this haven thing a go and bought two or three things I needed for our sanctuary – the rest was in storage in the shack so I just had to retrieve and clean before use. (I’m sure the lady at Mr. Price Home thought I was on the verge of stealing something because she followed me everywhere. I wasn’t, I was trying to hold on the shelves and use it as a crutch to move forward when I was overcome by dizziness every now and then. No one said make-overs were for sissies hey!)
When I got home, I was actually looking forward to our room’s mini-makeover (well, major make-over actually,) and I started working right away. (Don’t judge me, as I was high as a kite and no work would have been done anyway!) I followed the article to a T and it took me all of two hours to finish the project but I must say, I am quite chuffed with the results. Now, let me just say that my girlfriends have THE most beautiful rooms ever and nothing I do could ever come close to theirs, BUT taking into consideration that we used to stay in a dorm room, this is a giant leap for me.
I took every single bit of advice they gave – from the different textures to his grotesque Bose system to the cake topper on our wedding cake (thank heavens for bullet points.) I am now very impatiently waiting for my husband to come home and get his opinion on our made-over bedroom. I’ll share a photo to show you that yes, it happened. Nicci did indeed sanctuarize! Unbelievable. (Watch this space, I will report back on his reaction!)
UPDATE:
His words when he saw the room:
“Jissie, ons kamer lyk so mooi soos ‘n gastehuis!” (Our room looks like it’s in a guest house!)
Mission accomplished!
PS: I must admit, it IS really much nicer to go to our bedroom and it did change the ‘feel’ of the room. So go on, go sanctuarize!!