At one time this bedroom was used as a craft room with red walls and a desk.
The window was converted to patio doors, allowing access to the new corner balcony, a gathering area for morning coffee.
While enjoying the warmth of the spring sun on my balcony a few days ago, one room in my house that has undergone several changes sparked a series of memories that reminded me of poignant changes in my life.
When first moving into this house, the first few days were spent allocating purpose to each room. Most are self-explanatory, but a few spaces still required designation. For example, the upper floor consisted of two bedrooms. And although the front bedroom was slightly larger than the other, the rear bedroom had access to the old south-side balcony and because of this, was deemed the master bedroom.
The front bedroom became my office and recording studio, and remained as such until the big recording studio build a few years later. Once the migration from office/studio to new studio space was finally completed in 2008, the front bedroom remained virtually vacant until its first conversion to a craft room. At that time, it was decided two of the earth-tone walls would be painted bright red, with a black and white patterned wallpaper on the other two walls. The old office corner desk was recovered in a red vinyl material to match the walls and velvet red chairs. The closet was also converted into a large shoe closet. The bedroom remained this way until 2012.
With the studio in full bloom by this point, and with recent changes to my living arrangements, this front bedroom space was converted back into its namesake. The wallpaper was removed, and those walls were also painted red to match. Although the big red desk and chairs remained, a bunk bed was added to the space to provide additional sleeping quarters for musicians who wished to stay over-night if and when a recording session ran longer than expected — or if the winter weather was not co-operating. It also came in handy on weekends when gatherings around the pool resulted in friends needing to spend the night. In the ensuing years, the space was used less and less until most recently. My partner Carole’s daughters would sometimes spend the night. And although the novelty of sleeping in bunk beds was fun for a while, this room was destined for another change.
Change would come again in the spring of 2018, following the completion of the south-side two-storey addition onto the house. The rear bedroom had already been converted into the walk-though closet which leads to the new master bedroom that provides access to the newly built corner balcony. The front bedroom underwent an obtrusive upgrade to also provide balcony access, by converting the south window into matching patio doors. Once the exterior of the door upgrade was completed, the interior received an entire facelift — the walls returned to their earth-tone roots, the big desk was completely removed and the room was furnished with a nightstand and drawers and a queen-sized bed. After a few finishing touches, this space has finally come into its own and truly flows with the rest of the house. And with the new exterior access, the corner balcony has become a family area during the non-winter months, where we can all enjoy a morning coffee and a gentle breeze under the warmth of the sun.
It is this front bedroom that has morphed most often in our house, providing a variety of functions throughout the years. Although the changes have been primarily esthetic (other than the window conversion to patio doors) and rather easy to implement, these alterations are bookmarks that indicate big changes in the story of my life. And in its current configuration, this front bedroom continues to serve — providing comfort and solace as a calming space for the upcoming chapters in my life.
BossEnterprise@outlook.com
