Mommy Shorts Makes Time for a Bedroom Makeover

Meet Ilana of Mommy Shorts and Member of the Serta Comfort Crew.

Serta is joining forces with influential women who know a thing or two about transforming a bedroom into a comfort oasis.

After three years of sleeping on a King-size Serta mattress on the floor with Queen-size comforter that doesn’t even span the length of the bed, I finally got around to decorating our Master Bedroom. Yes, it was the last room in the house that I paid any attention. Why? Probably because it’s the easiest to shut the door so that company doesn’t go inside.

We decorated the living room, the dining room and the den before we moved in for the first summer. The kids’ room came together last year and the guest room is a kind of a hodge podge but it still got more love than the room Mike and I sleep in.

In our bedroom, we had the afore mentioned Serta mattress (which is incredibly comfortable despite the ill-fitting bedding), a hideous gold nightstand from my first apartment on Mike’s side of the bed, Mazzy’s old dresser/changing table on one side of the room and the old nursery glider in the corner. I didn’t have a nightstand, so at night, I would turn the tissue box that sat on the floor next to my bed on its side and place my phone on top. FOR THREE YEARS.

What motivated me to finally get my ass in gear? Well, Serta came to me (since I already had their mattress) and asked me to write about how my bedroom is a sanctuary. A relaxation retreat away from the housework and the childcare, if you will.

Uh-huh. Okay. Tell me more about how most normal people without sleep issues use their bedroom???

“Well, actually…” they said (I’m paraphrasing)— “48% of people today feel that they deal with more stress in their lives than their parents did and 54% report feeling stress on a regular basis. Now more than ever, Americans are in need a comfortable night sleep.” Serta’s new campaign is all about “declaring peace” in your bedroom.

This honestly sounded like a perfect opportunity. I want a sanctuary! I want a relaxation retreat! I want to DECLARE PEACE in my bedroom! I had even picked out my dream bedroom furniture already!

It was a late night at my friend Seri’s house a few months ago and after a few drinks, we decided the most fun thing we could possibly do was make a mood board for my master bedroom on Pinterest. I think this was the point at which our husbands both fell asleep on the couch. We picked pillows, a bedspread, an occasional chair, a rug, a dresser, matching table lamps and yes— TWO NIGHT STANDS.

I had even ordered everything (except the dresser, for some reason) and it was sitting in boxes in the corner of my room just waiting for me to put my sanctuary together. Am I only person on earth who orders bedroom furniture and bedding and doesn’t open it immediately when I receive it? Probably. In my defense, I was waiting for the dresser which I thought I ordered, but later figured out, I had never ordered at all.

After accepting Serta’s challenge, about two weeks ago, I finally ordered our new dresser and scheduled it to arrive the following weekend.

One week ago, we drove out to the house early on Saturday morning to be there in time for the dresser delivery. Yay! It was finally happening!!!!

Except, when we were about ten minutes away from the house, I got a phone call. It was the doorman at our building in Manhattan. Apparently, there was a delivery man there dropping off a dresser.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo.

I had given them the wrong address so we had to reschedule for the following weekend. I don’t want to even talk about what it was like relaying that information to Mike who had no interest driving out so early on a Saturday morning. He took it better than I did though.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t deliver again until the following weekend, but I was going to be away that weekend… so Mike had to be there to receive it on his own. Then, Allie and I had to drive out on a random Tuesday (that’s two days ago to bring our timeline up to date) and put together the master bedroom in the middle of the week. Kind of a hassle.

BUT OH MY GOD— LOOK HOW IT CAME OUT!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhh….I finally have a sanctuary. A relaxation retreat. A place the kids aren’t even allowed to step foot in, let alone jump on the bed.

Well, okay- maybe they can still come in to snuggle when they want. And we’ll even have a tickle party or two.

Thanks Serta for motivating me to prioritize the place I get my well-earned sleep! Maybe this will further motivate me to go to bed at a decent hour.

BTW – now through June 16, you can take time out to declare peace and enjoy the comfort of your bedroom for a chance to win a grand prize bedroom makeover, plus weekly prizes like free mattresses, pillows, blankets and more. To enter the Declare Peace Sweepstakes and learn more, visit DeclarePeace.com.