Master Bedroom Update

I can’t believe how many decisions it has taken to get to this point. When I was looking at all the different items we have purchased for our master bedroom, I remembered how each of these was a decision I had to research (like which mattress is the best? or what bedding? Should I buy that rug?)

So I thought I would share the sources to our master bedroom, which I am currently very happy with.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links and if you use the link to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Keep in mind that I link these companies & their products only when I genuinely love the quality & use them in my own home, & not because of the commission I could receive.

One thing we debated on first was the mattress. My husband found Zinus and I was super skeptical, but because they had a return policy and a 100 night trial I thought - okay, let’s try it. We are really happy with this mattress. I have zero complaints about it and I have had friends try it as a result who also have loved it. We went with the thickest mattress they make because we figured we would try the nicest mattress they make and it is still reasonably priced.

I knew I wanted a duvet with a cover because it’s one of my favorite types of bedding. I spent a little more on the sheets + cover and spent less on the duvet insert. This is the duvet insert I got from Amazon. It claims to be hypoallergenic - if I had no budget - I would consider something organic - because this is something on your body for hours everyday - but this one has been fine and no problems.

I finally tried Brooklinen sheets and we liked them so much we decided to try their duvet cover as well. I really do not like a polyester or itchy sheet. We have really liked the sheets + the cover. I highly recommend these!

THE BED. Another decision I belabored over.

Anything that’s a bigger purchase like this - I tend to think about a lot...reading tons of reviews, etc. We FINALLY purchased this bed from Wayfair and 6 months in - we are really happy with it.

The grey blanket is a weighted blanket by Gravity…aka my new best friend. I generally have some problems falling asleep and this real seems to help me. With weighted blankets, you want to get around 10% of your body weight and I have heard spending a little more on them is worth is otherwise, the weight on the inside will shift all around. I was surprised by how much my husband spent on this (it was a Christmas gift…), but after using it - I am obsessed and think its worth every penny! I just don’t know how I am going to travel without one…

Lights on the nightstands are Amazon & very reasonably priced. The nightstands were made by my great-grandfather…and the rug is a flea market find, so no links to those!

Other sources you might be curious about…

I can honestly say, we have been very happy with everything and I hope it makes it easier for you to make some decisions if you are shopping.

A Case for the 12 Days of Christmas

Last year, I learned about the 12 days of Christmas and what they really meant. They were actually a real thing - meant to be celebrated and not just “12 days of deals” or something like that you see featured before Christmas. As I have learned more about them - I have felt they are an important thing our rushed society needs.

I am not an expert on the 12 days of Christmas and there really is not that much information on the internet about them, but I’ll share what I know and why I see them as important. If you grew up in this tradition, feel free to chime in with info. I am trying to more about how to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas.

Unlike all the promotions you have see for the 12 days of Christmas prior to the holiday, the 12 days start on December 25th and last until January 5th. Some traditions call it the twelvetide and it signifies Jesus’ birth on the 25th and the magi (wise men) coming to him on the 5th (12 days later).

Why do the 12 days make so much more sense than starting to celebrate Christmas on November 1st?

I really love Christmas and I understand why everyone wants to jump the gun, but our society has skipped Thanksgiving (which is a pretty great holiday) and then on 12/26 everything Christmas comes to a total hault, which is depressing, especially in areas where you have 4 or 5 months of winter left. I am guessing I’m not the only one that has felt this way. Go to Target on December 26th and all the Christmas things are marked down. Go a few days later and spring is being promoted. Sure, maybe you live in the South and its not that cold anyway…but are you really ready for spring?

Starting to celebrate on the 25th of December gives you 12 days to enjoy Christmas during winter instead of having to squeeze it in the fall. I hope I’m making sense because that makes a lot of sense to me.

Advent, the four weeks before Christmas are really meant for preparing for Christmas instead of celebrating as if its already here. And really that’s what I am usually doing during advent…maybe not as much in spiritual sense as much as I would like. But I am usually making preparations for the holiday

So, how can I do celebrate the 12 days of Christmas?

The main idea is - keep celebrating and enjoying Christmas! Instead of feeling like you have to celebrate it all in early December and on the 25th…keep listening to Christmas music, keep baking cookies, keep watching Christmas movies, keep enjoying time with family…

More: I have not found very much information, but this article was helpful with some ideas on how to celebrate.

Other thoughts:

• In Italy, my understanding is most presents are not exchanged until the epiphany. I just thought that was interesting. The main thing in my head is - we open almost presents on Christmas and we really could spread some out of the 12 days to extend the celebration.

• The 12 days of Christmas helps to clarify the season. It doesn’t have to be this confusing thing of - when should I take down the decorations? This gives you some direction. Take them down on January 7th.

• More on the 12 days of Christmas

What do the 12 days actually mean?

The pairings go like this (from the artofsimple.com)

• A partridge in a pear tree: Jesus

• Two turtle doves: The Old and New Testaments

• Three French hens: Faith, hope, and love

• Four calling birds: The Four Gospels

• Five gold rings: The Torah/Pentateuch, first five books of the Old Testament

• Six geese a-laying: The six days of Creation

• Seven swans a-swimming: Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

• Eight maids a-milking: Eight Beatitudes

• Nine ladies dancing: Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit

• Ten lords a-leaping: The Ten Commandments

• Eleven pipers piping: The eleven faithful apostles

• Twelve drummers drumming: Twelve points of the Apostles Creed

One idea I saw online was you could help your kids memorize this.

SO, that’s the gist. On year two of celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, I am learning more and becoming more passionate about why this is so important and makes so much more sense than celebrating early November. I hope this will help you too.

Airbnbing Your Home

If you had told me that we would Airbnb our personal residence, I don’t know if I would have believed you. I liked the income potential, but I had a lot of reservations about opening up our home and trusting other people I didn’t know with my home and belongings.

I can share more on how we finally decided to Airbnb our home if anyone is curious…the short of it is AirBnb does support the people that rent through them and we have had mostly positive experiences with guests, but we have had even more positive interactions with Airbnb as a company.

We are now airbnbing our second home. We did this when we lived in Massachusetts and now we are in Virginia doing it again. Our plan was to rent out our basement, but the construction has taken longer than expected.

So plan B. We are renting our entire personal residence. If you would like to see the listing, here is our listing if you are curious.

So here are 10 quick things that helped up Airbnb our home.

Click the Button below to view the PDF.

If you have questions feel free to leave them in the comments or find me on instagram and send me a dm.

Updated Foyer: The Rowe House

We have made enough progress on our house that it feels like we can start making some fun additions. It’s not all just getting things to status quo livable, but I’m starting to play around with some design decisions.

Here is our foyer after we removed the fuzzy yellow wallpaper that was kind of fun, but ultimately smelled dingy after hanging on the walls for 60 years. Its not that I didn’t love the wallpaper, but it needed to go.

BEFORE

I had thought of a few options to spice up the entryway….I considered painting a pattern myself on the wall to save money, using wallpaper that I already had from an old project…but ultimately I went with this wallpaper on Amazon.

AFTER

Some details.

The walls door is Benjamin Moore Marblehead Gold. I’m really happy with the color and really happy it pays homage to the North Shore of Boston that we miss so much.

The wallpaper is linked here.

And the rug is here!

I’m glad I took this little risk and wallpapered the front foyer….now to decide on the bannister. :)