New Accents: Part II.

As I mentioned in this post, Mr. Mags and I just moved into our new home and are in the midst of a first wave of decorating. Our strategy was to make a few key investments and then fill in the rest over time. Mr. Magpie was especially concerned about the idea of “buying everything at once, just to have it all done” — his philosophy has long been to slowly collect the best pieces you can find from here and there, and that it can’t be done in a matter of days or weeks. Frankly, he’s right. But it’s also a little nerve-wracking to think we won’t be close to “complete” for a long while. (On the other hand, I’m guessing that few people that care about interior design ever feel that their homes are “complete.” Fashion is never done, right?!)

So, I covered the awesomeness of our huge bull painting (aka Augus) and some other pieces that we’re currently mulling over. Several of our other bigger investments have found a new home in our bedroom. When I thought about how I wanted to design this room, I took a lot of inspiration from our recent trip to San Sebastian and, more specifically, to the absolutely dreamy, luxurious, elegant hotel we stayed in: Hotel Maria Cristina. Holy. Moly. That place is pure magic. We had read ecstatic reviews before booking, but were in for the decadence of our lives. Now, not to brag, but I’ve had the good fortune to stay in some pretty nice hotels over time whether through the generosity of my parents or nice accommodations as a part of work travel, so I thought that nothing would surprise me. Especially because my parents took me to stay at the Ritz in Paris just after I graduate from high school. I remember thinking, as I sat in my gorgine hotel room, that I may have peaked at the age of 17. But Hotel Maria Cristina! It was so elegant, so chic, so European, and yet so modern and artsy in its own way. I pretty much felt like royalty. At any rate, let’s just say I loved it and wanted to recreate the feeling.

PS. I took ALL of the above pictures with my iPhone! Can you believe that?! It was just that gorgeous. So obviously, we wanted to recreate this look on our own. We started with a big purchase in the form of a custom upholstered bed, which we had done in a pewter basketweave, and are preparing to purchase one of these GORGEOUS (O.M.G.) Paule Marrot framed fabric pieces (slight divergence from the hotel, but I’ve been coveting one of these for.ev.er.):

I added predominantly white hotel bedding with stone (gray) trim from Restoration Hardware — we pretty much got the entire bedding set here, and I had a few pieces monogrammed. The style shown below is actually from Williams-Sonoma Home, another option I considered. But I’d heard good things about RH’s bedding and it feels absolutely exquisite.

On a slightly more boring note, we upgraded our mattress when we first moved to Chicago — I believe the model we got was called iSensa (?!) — and it was the best thing ever. I hadn’t thought about it, but you spend so much time in bed; you might as well feel as cozy and comfortable as can be. The best part was that it stopped Mr. Magpie from snoring! The mattress sort of conforms to your body and you sink in a little — for whatever reason, this means a quieter Mr. Mags at night. Our latest improvement in this area was a set of pillows that The Sweet Home blog recommended. If you’ve never heard of The Sweet Home, it’s awesome. It reviews all sorts of household products and items and makes a suggestion about just one (not ten or fifteen) that they most strongly recommend. The site is actually a spin-off of The Wirecutter, which is pretty much Mr. Magpie’s favorite thing on earth. (Ask your man — pretty sure he’ll know about this site.) At any rate, I use The Sweet Home (and the Wirecutter) for all kinds of things — laundry baskets to water bottles to pens — and am always excited with the outcome. The pillows above are so affordable (!!!) but they feel like real down.

And scene.

So, those. And we also captured that Hotel Maria Cristina vibe by snapping up some mirrored bed side tables ($279 each — though this style is also super cool) and the ultra-famous Robert Abbey double gourd lamp in a gray color ($315 each — if you’re not familiar with this style now, I guarantee suddenly you’ll see them pop up errrrywhere), with a sheepskin at the foot of the bed ($99+, depending on size):

Eventually, we want to add two upholstered benches, and I found this AWESOME Etsy store, LivenUPDesign, that will permit you to ship them a fabric and will do the upholstery for you, for $650.

This was music to my ears because I had previously been thinking I’d need to shell out twice as much by buying the set below:

I am also intrigued by the idea of this unique rug as a textural contrast and a little bit of boho-glam ($158+):

I also recently had one of the Prada Marfa prints from the famous Gray Malin collection framed ($125, depending on size — love this entire series and all it represents), and had originally intended to hang it in my new closet, but really like the way it works in our bedroom…and especially close to some of these Tory Burch lucite letters ($95 each)

Speaking of my closet (earlier), I found this affordable little fellow (Nate Berkus for Target, $55) and need to go scoop him up ASAP. He’ll be great for reaching things on top shelves. And he just makes me happy.

BTW, there are lots of fab finds in the current NB for Target collection, including this mirror, which would look great within a gallery wall; this antique mirrored tray; these glam glass-and-gold candle holders; and these faux-fur throw pillows. We have a lot of ways to go with our master bath, but for now we simply bought some great new Matouk towels with our last name’s initial ($58) and some of these AMAZING Fresh candles (I like the Sugar scent and also the Life scent — $55; any time anyone comes over, they gush over them! They are the best) and a cute matches box ($7) and a monogrammed acrylic tray ($24 — great gift!):