what’s black and white and red all over?

“When you go, you have to go,” said Anne, a soft-spoken woman from High Point, North Carolina. She knows her stuff and her stuff is fabric and pattern and how it can come together to tell the story of a room. The room in question is my bedroom and soon, very soon it will be a boudoir with red silk curtains to the floor.

It all happened unexpectantly. My mother took me to a fabric store just to look and soon after arriving, I was bored and done. I love fabrics, but my wallet doesn’t and so I was practicing restraint until my mother said something like, “Let me buy you something and I’ll make the curtains.” From there it went on and on.

Anne decided that I also needed a bed skirt and even though I told her that the red plaid she picked was too much for me she quietly walked by me again, laid down her red sample and said, “I know you’re nervous about this, but I’m just going to tell you it would look great,” and walked away.

I still didn’t budge. There is a point in a red bedroom when it becomes a brothel and Anne, very kindly, was leading me down that path. “You could choose an accent color.” And with this my eyes popped open.

“Black!” I almost screamed.

“Well, yes,” she said quietly and went about finding black samples. And the winner was another silk number. I told her no frillies, no ruffles. I want straight lines and rich colors that will make me happy and not make men cringe because what boy wants to walk into a red bedroom filled with bows and ruffles?

She also suggested an oriental rug, which will come, in time. And the current red rug and black dresser and red toile duvet cover all blend seamlessly. My mom thinks she’ll be done with the curtains in 2-3 weeks and I’ll show you pictures. It’s the room I had originally dreamed of when I moved here: black, white, and red all over.