Lacey Ellen, The Bunny Bed and Filthy Gorgeous Home

Before I had kids I dreamed that having them would look like this picture.

I want to say it was about 13 years ago. I saw this picture in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. I drooled over the room and knew I had to decorate a room some day like that for my daughter.

I saved the magazine for years and through a cross-country move. I was going to have that bunny bed. I was obsessed with the bunny bed. And I wanted my daughter to have a room "just like that."

Oh, and by the way, I was just married and not even pregnant at the time. Thankfully, we had a girl. I'm pretty sure a bunny bed would not have sat well with a boy.

So, when Anna was ready for a big bed, I went searching the house for the magazine. I'd looked at it only about three months prior. But it was no where to be found. I needed it to figure out where to get the bed. I was sure my husband threw it out. and this was a major source of discontent around the house for a while.

[Sidebar: now that bunny bed can be found all over the place. But back then... nada, nothing.]

I did finally find a picture of the bed in a BHG book, and found that the designer owned a store called Lacey Ellen in a town ironically half an hour from where I lived which is now closed (irony and more reason for me to believe that bed was meant to be in my house because I'd moved 1000 miles to be in this town). I don't know how, but I finally found out the name of the foundry where the bed was made.

It turned out to be a $900 bed. There was no way we could do that or would do that at the time. So, being the completely stubborn, never take no for an answer kind of girl I am, I called the foundry and begged them to give me a good price on it. The sweet man on the phone took pity on me (I gave him the whole sad story... "I've been saving this article, I wanted even before I knew I was having kids"... you get the idea), and finally got a floor sample for a price that I swore I'd never tell (but it wasn't anywhere close to $900).

Happy dance! Anna gets the bed. I decorate the room completely inspired by this look. In fact I spend about 20 hours painstakingly painting cream and white stripes on the walls which Anna later told me she hated.

Fast forward to today... I walk into this new and incredibly fabulous store in Walnut Creek (Filthy Gorgeous Home) where I got the most gorgeous tea towel (some of you may remember that I have a penchant for tea towels) and instantly think I know the owner or have met her somewhere.

So, I go home and look at her website and wouldn't you know it... this is the gal that designed that room. She and her brother work together and this is their new store that they own together. I feel like I've met a movie star. Or at least had an Oprah full circle moment.

[Another sidebar: I knew it would happen some day, but booger Anna doesn't want that beautiful bed anymore now that she's almost 12... it's staying for a while. I have to figure out where I can store it for her little girl... muahhahahahahhaha... evil laugh and secret mom revenge on vintage-style- hating-and-I-know-they'll-change-their-minds-when-they're-old-enough-to-know-better daughters.]

Comments

[Annie]

1.

What a surprise seeing THAT ROOM again! I saved every magazine photo of the rooms Tirzah created for years and years. I have wondered many times whatever became of her and if her style changed over the years. I was obsessed with that bunny bed, too! If I recall, she wasn't (tho' may be now) trained professionally, but just a mom like many of us who wanted a room for her daughter that didn't rely on hot pink/purple plastic stuff to make it a little girl's room. I admired her style and taste and I thank you for finding her again.

[yummygoods]

2.

i want a bed like that!
great story, bari. And the teatowel! I have a teatowel fteish myself. Vintage, new, repurposed, handmade, embellished- you name it.
I really dig your blog.

[Ellen]

3.

THAT'S INCREDIBLE! I too have "followed" Tirzah over the years and am so excited to hear that she is still in The Bay Area AND still involved in the creative process! She is so talented! I cant wait to stop by their Shop- thanks for the heads up Bari!!!

[Inger]

4.

Cute bed! I can see why you liked it. When we moved into a new house when I was nine my parents let me pick the colour of my room. Stupid..Stupid. I picked pink and 6 months later I did not like pink. Everything was pink/pinkish. The room is still pink! I got lucky when I was 15 and could finally move out of that room but my sister wasn't as happy when my mum forced her into the room! lol. I hope you manage to find a place to store the bed:) Very cool story!

[jen]

5.

awww bunny bed! very beatrix potter-like. she'll change her mind someday. i kick myself now for tearing down the antique wallpaper that was in my bedroom growing up. I wish I had kept it that way.

[Carole]

6.

I saved that same magazine for that same article, but I was smitten with the pine table in their kitchen. Thanks for including the link to the new business.

[bejeweled]

7.

What a great post!! That bunny bed is definitely the stuff of dreams!

[Mary]

8.

Apparently there is a small cadre of very smart women who saw this spread in BHG and were smitten because I, too, LOVED the rooms photographed. In fact, I found this blog because I was hoping someone would have posted pictures of this feature. I apparently only pulled out one page of the magazine to save (the boy's bed, which I still love, too). Even funnier, I wasn't even married at that point (I was only 23). But, now I am, and now I'm pregnant, and I'm looking for the pictures of the nursery Tirzah did. Anybody have copies of that they could send my way or post online?

[stephanie]

9.

that room just happens to be my best friend laceys actual room. as a matter of fact she is sitting right next to me! her room now is still as gorgeous as her old one!!!

[Beverly]

10.

I have saved the complete article carefully tapping the pages together and keeping it in a folder of favorite rooms or pictures I cut out of magazines. Some are favorites for a couple years and then grow dated, but a number never lose their appeal and classic style. They seem as fresh today as they did years ago. It would be fun to see an article about her family and what she is doing now creatively.

[chess]

11.

I want a bed as beautiful as that and to tell you honestly that bedroom looks great. I like the simplicity of that bedroom and those light colors. I just love that bedroom.

[Double Glazing]

12.

The bedroom looks so nice. I love it very much. I want to have a room like that it's cute for your child.

[Jeanne]

13.

OMGosh Bari I love love love that room. Could it get any stinkin' cuter? I don't think so. that is somewhat how I decorated the loft room for our granddaughter. She hated it later on but someday, just like you said, someday she will wish she had it all back. Hmmm, did I keep it or not? I know but she won't until the time is JUST Right!