The Princess Suite

I've moved apartments almost every year since high school.  As a result,  I have become a pro at apartment hunting, roommate finding, moving, assembling and disassembling. I have lived in dorm rooms, scary run-down college houses and apartments, townhomes, Portland and Beaverton nice apartments.

Despite all of this- I never really was super interested in interior decorating.  To me- this meant bedding that mostly matched with a few paintings thrown on the wall.  Then enter Pinterest and Ikea (plus a slightly higher income).  Suddenly- I became very interested in decorating.  

Currently I live in a beautiful townhome apartment in Beaverton near Tanasbourne.  It is a newer clean two story apartment that almost feels like a house.  I have two amazing lovely roommates and everything is great.  And I live in, what I call, the "Princess Suite".  The main attraction in the "Princess Suite" is my Princess Bed.  

The Princess Bed was developed in several stages and steps, basically as I purchased the different components.

Stage 1: Initial Set Up

Stage 2: Expand Canopy

Stage 3: Load With Pillows

- Bed-  

The bed frame was an old frame I bought on clearance at Ikea.  It is a black wooden frame that has since been discontinued.  The Hemnes frame is probably the most similar one currently available at Ikea.  I don't think I ever set this up in the most stable manner- I woke one night on the floor as my mattress crashed through!  Therefore I now have a cheap metal frame underneath with the Ikea frame surrounding it just for decoration

-Bedding- 

When I got my first "big girl bed" (queen bed) a couple of years ago my parents bought me my fantastic bedding.  I wanted something "classier" and "more grown up" that what I had before (my previous bedding was my college twin bright orange and pink bedding).  We went to Macy's, where they have model beds set up, and I picked out the set I wanted and we bought everything on the model bed.  They don't make it anymore but I think the most similar bedding set is the CalvinKlein Briar.  I have loved this bed set so much.  The comforter is fluffy warm down comforter. When I went Europe a few years back I noticed that people sleep without top sheets, just a duvet. This is much more comfortable, your sheets don't get tangled, and making the bed is a breeze. Since then I have slept with just a bottom sheet and the down comforter.  I wash the duvet cover when I wash my bottom sheets.  I highly recommend this set up.

-Mattress-

Costco Mattress for the win here. A moving gift from my parents.

-Black Mirrors-

The black square mirrors were an Ikea find I got a few years back (Malma Mirror). They are great, except I had to google how to hang them- they had no clear hanging instructions or method (I stapled a string to them and then tacked them up)

-Yellow Mirror-

I bought this simple yellow bedside mirror from Target to help tie the room together. Another Pinterest inspiration

-Canopy-

The canopy is the fun part of this post...  and where I got the most creative.  I have wanted a canopy bed for some time. Nothing sounds more cozy than an enclosed bed.  I kept seeing amazing "fake" canopy beds on pinterest, where people would do things like hang curtain rods from the ceiling and put curtains on them.  I tried this- FAIL- I couldn't get them to stay up. My solution- I simply nailed some Cheap Ikea Curtains to the ceiling and called it good. AMAZING

-Window Curtains-

I nailed (yes nailed- apparently hanging curtain rods isn't my skill) these curtains to the wall and tied them back.  

-Pillows-

The final step to my bed was loading it with pillows.  My bed currently has two large oversized square pillows, 6 normal size pillows, and 5 decorative pillows. And yes, I sleep with them ALL in a bill pile of softness in the middle!!!

And that is my bed.  I love it and love sleeping in it. This is the centerpiece of my room.  The other rooms in my home are also decorated- My Bathroom is Paris themed, Living Room is Africa Themed. But I still think my bed is my absolute favorite part of my apartment. A comfortable bed is a happy life!