The Bedroom: A Domino Dream in Progress
NSFW Disclaimer: If your boss asks, this is a blog about curtains.
Work is fine. Clients are fine. I even feel like an adult sometimes. But the second I step into my bedroom, it’s like I’ve wandered into a rehearsal space for a band that doesn’t know its sound yet—loud, messy, full of questionable choices, and every so often brilliant by accident. One minute I’m shouting “I’m a genius!” the next I’m muttering “I suck” into a paint tray. That’s the process soundtrack. And the only thing more ridiculous than the room itself? My endgame: the Domino Dream. Yes, I want my bedroom—of all rooms, the bedroom—to end up in Domino. People usually hide their bedrooms under laundry piles and regret. I’m trying to get mine photographed. Punk move, right? (Also: why does every laundry basket look like a modern sculpture when you’re procrastinating folding it?)
Either way, the Domino Dream continues. I’m frankly surprised I’ve made it this far. It’s all thanks to you —— you keep me honest and accountable. I dread/look forward to spilling my guts every week and exposing the pendulum swing of my emotions as I boundlessly leap down the rabbit hole of my own decision making process. Thanks for being here. Thanks for letting me be weird. Thanks for weighing in and cheering me on.
Hugs!
Instagram Popular vs. Domino Worthy
Here’s what I’ve learned: Instagram wants a one-night stand. Domino wants a long-term relationship. Insta loves the shock—the reel where you slap on a trending song, paint a wall neon, and watch the likes roll in. Domino wants the story, the weird chapters, the throughline between the bedroom and the kitchen and the bathroom tile you lost sleep over. Instagram is cheap beer. Domino is whiskey neat. I’m trying to keep both in my bloodstream, but honestly? Domino’s the tattoo I want to live with. And can we talk about how every IG trending audio sounds like it was recorded at a frat party bathroom? But sure, let’s paint our houses to it.
The Phases (AKA My Greatest Hits and Worst Demos)
YO Phase: Giant letters on the wall, loud wallpaper, lamps that looked stolen from a set. Fun for a photo, unhinged in reality. Like a garage band that only knows one chord. Try waking up to a giant “YO” every morning—it’s aggressive, like an alarm clock with opinions.
Blackout Phase: Painted everything black. Chic in theory, depression cave in practice. Even the plants staged a walkout. My fiddle leaf fig keeled over like it had just watched the last season of Game of Thrones.
Mural Phase: Tried to live inside a pop-up museum. The walls and furniture screamed at each other. I didn’t sleep, I refereed. Museum guards always look both bored and on edge at the same time—that was me.
Veneer Phase: Finally grew up. Wood veneer, architectural calm, like finding the right drummer. The room stopped shouting and started humming. Veneer is basically the bass player—underappreciated but the band collapses without it.
The Big Realization: Stop Fighting the Room
I kept forcing this room to be something it didn’t want. First I went blue. Wrong. Then all black. Wrong again. What it really needed was warmth. A cocoon. A place that could swallow me whole after a night out. So I gave it wood paneling—instant glow, instant gravitas. Next up: a headboard in a brown undertone fabric and a comforter that feels like it’s hugging you back. Less Gotham cosplay, more punk loft with soul. Also, sidenote: wood paneling is back. Everyone made fun of it in the ’90s but here we are. Life is a circle, and so are bad trends. See: low-rise jeans.
Current Problems, AKA Curtain Chaos
Curtains: my eternal nemesis. First I bought cheap linen ones that looked like they’d been ironed with a fist. Too small, too wrinkled, too sad. Honestly, same here so can’t be too judgmental.
Then I upgraded to TwoPages velvet curtains on a Kirsch track. Grown-up move, right? Except I forgot the double track, so no sheers for me. Just blackout drama when I crave layers. And the punchline: buy a black curtain track, get white plastic brackets. WHITE. PLASTIC. BRACKETS. It’s like wearing Doc Martens with glow-in-the-dark Crocs straps. Nothing Domino about it, nothing punk either. Hardware companies must laugh when they pack these—like, “let’s ruin someone’s week with this one detail that would seem like it should be something we disclose. AND let’s throw in the added bonus that all sales are final. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.”
Bien Fait: My New Obsession
Then salvation: Bien Fait makes peel-and-stick murals. French, custom-sized, removable. It’s like finding out Patti Smith will ghostwrite your diary entries. I needed one to cover my Madrid map—I loved that map, it had history, sentiment, smug traveler energy (like, oh this old thing? Just Madrid).
But it was dingy, yellow, and not in the cool nicotine-patina way. Northern light plus yellow equals sickly. So I slapped a Bien Fait mural over the glass and boom—the clouds parted. Sunshine. Air. The whole room exhaled. Sometimes joy is as simple as discovering the French do removable rebellion. Peel-and-stick is dangerous for me though; give me a free Saturday and suddenly every surface in the house is wallpapered.
NOTE: if getting a custom made mural, measure an inch bigger than the actual spot you want to cover. It’s better to be a little too big vs. not big enough.
Scroll to the bottom to see what I picked out!
Counterpart Studios: Luxe Printing Without Limits
And then Counterpart Studios. They digitally print everything, which means all patterns can come in any color, any scale, any fabric you want. All you have to do is request a custom strike off in your preferred RGB colors. 🤯 but more like a happy face mind-blown than a worried face.
Imagine Spoonflower, but after a year abroad smoking clove cigarettes and collecting vintage leather. It’s luxe, it’s bespoke, it’s dangerously enabling. And I need it, because the Kvadrat headboard—bless it, bless my husband for loving it—is too green against the purple rug. Straight-up Joker vibes. My husband tried to fight for it, but lesson learned: never listen to a husband when he says “I like it.” Love them, yes. Trust their fabric instincts? No. I’m covering that thing with something warm, weird, and maybe a little confrontational. Fine is not Domino.
Scroll to the bottom to see what I picked out!
The DNA Reveal
Here’s what this room taught me: my design DNA is UK-meets-LA, with a punk-rock weirdo core. Think London townhouse eccentricity slammed against Good Times at Davey Wayne’s (yes, the bar with the vending machine cigarettes and secret door). And why don’t more bars have secret doors? If I can walk in through a fridge, I’m instantly loyal.
Anyway, back to the mural. It’s custom by Kailee Collar: masculine but-not-scary hands chasing cheeky birds. Black and white. What does it mean? Well… and I’m being completely honest here… It’s a metaphor for masturbation—because what else are hands chasing flighty birds supposed to mean? The fluttering wings, the strong masculine hands, the disembodiment. Once that idea landed in my brain, I couldn’t unsee it. I wanted to find an exact image that could verbalize that feeling, and this was it. Not horses, not lightning bolts. Birds. Did I mention I’m a weirdo? Yeah, well, welcome to my bedroom and my blog.
Lessons From the Chaos
What I’ve learned so far:
Black walls: light > mood.
Murals: pattern needs hierarchy.
Veneer: permanence > novelty.
Curtains: always check the brackets. They do not disclose these things for some reason.
Husbands: love them, but don’t take fabric advice.
This room is my bootcamp, my dive bar gig, my practice set. It’s where I figure out how far I can push and still want to live inside the results. Domino might care about polish, but I care about process. Around here, “I’m a genius” and “I suck” are the chorus. Why do people clap at concerts when the band plays the first chord? We already know what song it is. Anyway—bedroom design.
Next Moves
The to-do list never dies:
Since I’ve added a wraparound floating shelf in the same veneer as the walls, no nightstands needed—so now it’s about styling that shelf so it looks intentional, not like I gave up halfway through.
Get the custom strike off for the fabric
Install the fabric
A lamp that’s weird in the best way, not Craigslist-regret weird.
Bedding that says “lived-in rock star” not “hotel turndown service.”
And sheer curtains, because apparently I like suffering. Maybe in a peach????
Audience Participation (Pick My Setlist)
Alright, main event time. First up: Bien Fait. Which mural do you think I picked? Place your bets before you scroll the gallery.
Bien Fait
LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW WHICH ONE YOU THINK I CHOSE!!!
COUNTERPART STUDIOS
Then it’s Counterpart’s turn—four fabric contenders for the headboard, only one made the cut. Which one’s the encore? Guess before you peek.
LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW WHICH ONE YOU THINK I CHOSE!!!
