B edrooms often get the short end of the home-decorating stick.
With kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms and gardens higher on most makeover lists, it’s understandable.
But this isn’t that kind of tale.
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Photo GalleryThis is a story of complete custom-made bedroom bliss at the home of Bob and Pauline Cejka.
When they moved into their Mill Creek home in 1999, they planned to redo their master suite.
Its high, cathedral-style ceilings peaked in the center of the bedroom and called for a grand design.
They started with a French-style bed boasting a 6-foot-tall headboard and a duo of 3-foot-tall bedside lamps.
Still, it didn’t feel tall enough.
They needed something else to calm the vertical thrust of the space, something to make their sleeping space less hollow and cold, more intimate and cozy.
The Cejkas decided to think about it for a while – roughly five years, actually – and in the process found a carpenter and painter who would help create built-in cabinetry on both sides of the bedroom for their movie collections and other necessities.
They also crossed paths with luxury-bedding specialist Terry Sawyer of Serendipity Home Decor in Marysville, who started on a one-of-a-kind design for their bedroom, featuring numerous silk materials they liked.
When it came time for the Cejkas to do the project last year, everyone was ready, including Crystal Disotell of Arlington and Diane Ball of Lake Stevens, both seamstresses who work closely with Serendipity as part of Disotell’s business, Contours.
“We wanted something really special,” Pauline Cejka said. “Both Bob and I like to decorate.”
Today the Cejkas’ bedroom is palace of silk and their bed is a temple of handcrafted perfection designed to fit every feature of their California king-sized bed frame.
Their comforter is an exquisite and reversible hand-made basket-weave silk, trimmed with pinstripe panels, tassels and twists of bullion fringe. Myriad textures on the silk pillows create a dazzling sight and an inviting scene.
Top to bottom, their bed shines, from the tidy hand-pleated skirt at the floor to the crowning glory, a half-circle of custom-made molding at the top, where still more silk cascades around the bed, flanking it like a royal cape.
If that weren’t enough, a window seat, which the Cejkas designed, beckons with matching fabrics and pillows, and plenty of built-in storage in the surrounding hand-painted cabinetry.
Directly across from the window seat and on the other side of the bed, the Cejkas commissioned matching built-in cabinetry and left a space for a custom-made, quilted wall with 140 silk-covered buttons.
Bob Cejka, who did the wiring on the project, said the key to making the room work so well was balance, symmetry and ample lighting, including a small fixture he installed in the crown molding over the bed.
“Light brings life to dark areas,” he said. “It’s accent lighting.”
Pauline Cejka is thrilled with the space, especially since she and her husband use the space routinely for leisure. Their adjustable bed allows them to sit up easily, which also helps with Pauline Cejka’s back pain.
“We love to watch TV and watch movies,” she said, adding the space is an oasis of calm. “It’s very soft. It’s very serene.”
Though the Cejkas chose most of the fabrics, they worked closely with Sawyer and her team of experts on the design.
“I have a feeling anything she does is going to be beautiful,” Pauline Cejka said of Sawyer. “She’s so talented.”
Interior designer Adriann Wade, who also worked on the project for Serendipity, said bedrooms allow homeowners to create more personal spaces because they’re private.
“It’s their haven people don’t always see,” she said. “It’s softer.”
Sawyer said more people are working on their bedrooms because of home decorating TV shows and the rise of master suites as in-home getaways.
“People are getting inspired,” Sawyer said. “It’s pampering yourself and a bedroom can be a sanctuary.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.
Bedroom basics
Resist the urge to rush: Don’t make major changes right after moving into a new place. Wait at least a year, to see how you use the different spaces, how light affects each room in different seasons and where you spend the most time.
Know your likes: If you plan to work with a designer, you’ll get more out of your visit if you come prepared with images of things you love. Using pages torn from magazines and other media, start a portfolio of your favorite things.
Don’t neglect lighting: Though you spend most of your time in the bedroom with the lights out, don’t leave lighting off the list. Accent lighting can make a dramatic statement, especially when used in combination with shimmering fabrics, such as silk. Dimmers can be used to create moderate lighting. Indirect lighting sets a romantic tone. Reading lights and adequate lighting near mirrors can make a bedroom more functional.
All that glitters: If you want a look of luxury but can’t afford silk, consider other fabrics that imitate it and you may be able to cut the cost in half.
Pillow talk: OK, so not everyone wants or can afford a 13-piece pillow arrangement, but you can create a pleasant symmetry and layering with just five throw pillows. First, lay your sleeping pillows flat, then place two large, 27-inch-square pillows in matching prints against the headboard to create a sense of height. In front of those, add two standard-sized pillows in solid-color cases. Then add one, two or three throw pillows in various prints to tie the ensemble together.
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