What do a bra and a mattress have in common?

More than you might think!  I bought a new bra last week, and was surprised to find my clothes fitting a little differently (hmmmm).  I also bought a new Sealy pillow top mattress.  Suddenly my old bedding didn’t look right.  Let me back up and show you the evolution of our bedroom:

When we first moved in, we painted the walls a lighter neutral and added new linen curtains. We also moved in our gargantuan king sized sleigh bed!  We lightened it up with colorful accessories to give it a coastal New England feel.

All was well until we got our new BIG 20” pillow top mattress.  Suddenly, the bedding looked ridiculous – like a bad hair piece on a bald head. Now bald men can be very sexy, but I despise seeing the side of a naked mattress.

Do the math…if a King bed is 76” wide, and the mattress is 20” deep, then you need bedding that is 116” wide (most King bedding is 104″).

But I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, and I do like the existing color palate.

Here’s my solution.  Can you guess what was changed, and how much was spent?

Answer: I spent $50 on the bed (side note: the bra was $42).  Here’s what was changed:

I bought new white sheets (that’s where the $50 came from).  Yes, that’s pretty cheap for sheets – but they’re 600 TC Egyptian cotton with 20” pockets and a wider-than-normal top sheet.  I’m hoping they’ll soften as they’re washed, and I can live with a few wrinkles for that price. (Update: yes, they have softened, and I love them!)

I flipped the comforter with the quilt – because the bed is so big now, the brown was overwhelming the room (and a bit faded from the sun). To get the quilt the right size at the end of the bed, I had to double my favorite “Z” fold, which will take some practice.  I like to be able to reach down at night and pull up an extra blanket if needed without having to completely wake up.

I also switched out the night table lights (these had been in our living room).  This gave us more room on the night tables, and the task lighting is much cozier. Of course, once you start moving one light…you know…I changed lights in 3 other rooms as well (but that’s another blog for another day).

And finally, I changed accent pillows.  I already had these silver sage herringbone pillows (they were stored in the basement).  Another good reason to store accents and pull them out seasonally or as the mood strikes you – they feel brand new again!

Now I can’t see the side of the mattress anymore.  (Note: I used an old fitted sheet to cover the boxes).

Now that’s cheap change I can really relax in!

I must give a shout out to Sealy for their wonderful new Posturepedic line – I am sleeping MUCH better now!

And the bra?  Well, that will have to “shout out” for itself. 😉