"Honey, I Shrunk the Nightstands"!

O.K. So when you last were here I was telling you how excited I was to finally see and feel my new mattress and box spring set that was delivered while I was out saving the world from air potatoes. Couldn't wait to get home! Couldn't wait to see it! Couldn't wait to feel it! Couldn't wait to sleep on it! COULDN'T GET UP ON IT! Yep, you heard me right! We have a high 4 poster bed but it is the same bed we have had forever and I have always had no trouble hopping up, so apparently something was different this time!

My kids will tell you that with me, there is ALWAYS a story. While that may not always be the truth, I will admit that many times it is....and this is one of those times. So, settle in and pour a cup of coffee-or wine if it is getting close to 5 P.M. when you're reading this-and hear my sad tale.

When we had settled on the bed we wanted and all that was left was the really sad part of paying for it, I remember the salesgirl asking us if we would want to special order a smaller box spring. Now mind you, my head was still reeling from the prices of these mattresses and when I heard "special order", I heard "more money". In her defense, I never did ask her if that was the case. What I did ask her was why she was asking this because in all of my years of mattress buying, this question had never come up before. She said something about the thickness of the mattress being so much more than older mattresses. I told her the mattress we were replacing was a relatively new one and she said then there was probably no need as the difference would be negligible. But then, she had us sign a statement saying that she had asked us about this and we had declined. I guess bells should have gone off right then, but I was tired and am getting old and I just don't over process things.

Fast forward 3 1/2 weeks and our long-awaited purchase has finally arrived. The first thing I noticed upon entering the room was that my dust ruffle still hit the ground just perfectly hence effectively hiding that black cashmere box spring as I had hoped. Then I noticed that I could not easily just hop up on the bed. But, that was O.K. too as I have seen many pictures of 4 poster beds with little step stools next to them and, since back in my country decorating days, I collected quite a few step stools and still haven't managed to get rid of them-in my defense, I do use them as risers quite often, but I digress-I figured I would just set one on each side of the bed.

So off I went to dress this new beauty. All I can say is thank goodness I had recently purchased some new, very, very deep sheets. They bearly made it on the mattress-don't think any of my beloved Ralph Lauren deep sets will fit. I noticed right away how much of the headboard was no longer visible and thought that might be an issue when we set up our pillows to prop ourselves for our nightly reading. But, later that night I found it wasn't a huge issue.

Then, my husband kept hitting his head on the pediment hanging above the bed. Knew this would be a pain to move because of the crazy hanging system it used. One of those where you have to have the 4 brackets in the EXACT spots or they don't couple. Another one of those measure twice, cut once kind of things where I tend to be just the opposite-all of the extra nail holes in my home will attest to that. I figured I could live with this the way it was until....

But then, I reached over to my night stands to pick up my book and nearly fell out of bed. Oh my goodness were they low-or I was high I guess. Showing you some pictures to see what you think. Should we get a new, lower bed and headboard. Would kind of hate to do that as this is a Habersham Plantation bed and it goes with our gorgeous armoire. Should we get new nightstands? Really would hate to do that as these are relatively new and match our large dresser. Should I live with it the way it is and see if we get used to it? That is kind of where we are leaning as we have both now figured out how to get up into it without the stools. Not very graceful but at our ages, not much of anything about us is graceful these days! And, I bit the bullet and raised the pediment just now. Here is what the bed looks like as we speak.

Before:

After:

When looking at these pictures, I remembered that the pediment has always been just a bit off center. This would have been the perfect time to fix that, but that would have required even more precise measuring, etc. and like I said.....

This picture kind of makes me think of a giant living in my house. It just looks really funny to me.

I would love to tell you that I have had the 2 best nights of sleep that I have ever had but that would not be the truth. I think the first night I just tossed and turned because it felt like I was sleeping somewhere strange and then last night I was just tossing around all sorts of new decorating ideas in case I decide to change any of the above problems.  Maybe tonight will do the trick. The mattress is fabulous to be on when I am awake. Hopefully it will soon be the same when I am ASLEEP!

Off to meet my husband and daughter for lunch. Be back soon. Stay tuned. And I warned you it was a loonnngggg story! Next time I do that, run while you still can!