A year ago at this time, my bedroom “furniture” consisted of a queen bed I’d purchased in 2004 for less than $300, a headboard purchased at the JCPenney’s catalog outlet in Milwaukee back around 1996, a folding chair, and a little table I bought in 1979 from my boss at the time, Michael Bugeja. Since January, with some assistance from Trish Kim at Staged Interior, I have all-new bedroom furniture–mattress, bedstead, dresser, nightstand, recliner–for the first time since I graduated from college. All that’s left to be done is determine the paint.
This was a big step for me. The post-college stuff I bought pretty much was discarded when I got married in 1984. My ex and I had a lot of bedroom furniture (and plenty of bedrooms to put it in; two of the places we lived had four bedrooms) that had come our way through his parents. We acquired the dresser I’d had as a child when my mother died. It was all sturdy, but it wasn’t the kind of furniture we would have picked ourselves.
When I left him in 2004, I took very little, what would fit in a 1991 Toyota Camry. I went back with my sister and a truck in 2007 shortly before we sold the house. I didn’t take much then either–think George Strait and “Just Give It Away.”
I’ve grown used to living simply and sparely–repaying $109,332 in debts through bankruptcy in about three years will do that for you. And I like living that way. But there’s something very special and warm and welcoming about coming home (especially when I’ve been traveling) to a bedroom that has exactly what you want.
