our space {rooftop bedroom}

I had dreams.  I had visions.  I had pinned beautiful outdoor beds, and spaces and had images of what was sure to be our awesome, Awesome, AWESOME new pallet bed on our roof.

You saw this sneak peek this morning …

And, I have to admit, I do NOT have all that I had dreamed of.  But, considering that we have been talking about putting a pallet bed on the roof for.like.ever since we moved in, 2 and a half years ago, and we now have pallets on the roof with a mattress on top of it and a few cute accessories that will never hold up to the wind so I have to carry them up and down whenever we use the space, I am thrilled.

I am also VERY relieved happy to report that we had a few rainy mornings this week (you would know it delayed my rooftop photo sessions if you are a Facebook friend) and the bed is in what, so far, has stayed a dry zone.  Yippee!!  Of course, if we get any freaky sideways rain (this has totally happened before), that would be different.

Now, I really, REALLY wanted a hanging bed.  How cool would that have been?  Gently swinging in the breeze.  Down right dreamy I imagine.  But then I realized that the roof rafters weren’t conducive to hanging a bed.  And I didn’t see the landlord looking favorably on my drilling big holes in her rafters.

No, I don’t know why that picture is at that angle.  I’m just taking ‘arsty photo angles’ to extremes, I guess.  And, no, I didn’t clean the roof at all or do anything with the random cords we like to keep up there to corrode in the elements.  ;)

Aaaaanyway, back to the not-nearly-as-awesome-as-I’d-imagined-but-awesome-all-the-same-rooftop-pallet-bed.

When push came to shove, I realized I really didn’t want to make a pallet bed at all … I really just wanted pallets to magically make a bed all on their own.  And, with a little painting of the pallet slats you can see (oh no I di -en’t paint the slats under the mattress), it does fit the bill of ‘pallet bed’.

And, back to those stinkin’ high roof rafters, I didn’t actually realize how high they were until after I strung together what I think could be a pretty-cool, beer-bottle, star-like, hanging pendant light and realized we don’t have a ladder tall enough to hang it. So, I did what any self-respecting blogger person would do, I nestled it by the pillows for a pic.

Oh, yeah, and then we have what is supposed to be the ‘headboard’ for the bed.  There was actually cutting and nailing and measuring involved.  There was also a bunch of wind and a few curse words and the need to totally re-evaluate what to do with the headboard.

Once the mattress was in place it was more a game of ‘where’d the headboard go?’ than a relaxing spot to lean back and take in the view.  How happy am I that I didn’t waste take the time to paint it?!?!  VERY happy.  :)

And speaking of wind, approximately .0011 seconds after each picture I had to re-tuck, fluff and otherwise prep the photo area.  Does this photo seem inappropriate to you?  Put your duvet down!

Yeah, just setting down 4 pallets is definitely not the only part I cut corners.  I put what I like to call a ‘skim coat’ of paint on the end of the pallet AND on the rug.  And, as you saw from the close up of the useless headboard, I didn’t even bother with the skim coat on the other end of the pallets.

I did, however, try my hand at up-cycling some fabric into envelope closure pillow covers with success.  Yay!!  Score 1 for the good guys.  And, for anyone who is counting, we’re at 5 for the bad guys roof and pallets.  Sigh.

And, I did a little DIY pillowcase/cover embellishment.

And, I made these cute little candles …

 … and this ‘our beach house’ sign.

Which, (side note), was intended to go across the top of the headboard all cute like until it turned out it would be hidden behind all of the pillows because I made the headboard so flippin’ short!  ACK!!!

I also had visions of a flowing mosquito netting, especially after seeing ‘The Lucky One‘.  Hello this-isn’t-a-Disney-movie Zac Ephron.  But, with the wind, it is just impractical and unnecessary.  Would be uber romantic when it’s not blowing up my nose, but not worth the expense or the effort to hang it from those high rafters.

All-in-all, we are stoked to finally have our version of a pallet bed on our roof.  It has been a long time coming and it will definitely get primped, tweaked and prodded again in 2 1/2 years over time.  But It. Is. Here!  And We. Will. Use. It!  Hip hip hooray!!

Update:  Learn how to make your own DIY jar candles here.  And how to make this easy peasy pallet bed here.

Update #2:  A tutorial for making envelope closure pillows out of old shirts is now here with 3 easy pillow embellishing ideas here.