Happy 4th of July!

If you're just joining us, we're undertaking a bedroom styling challenge of sorts to figure out the best way to style two Ikea Hemnes dressers in red (left here by our homeowner's in our furnished apartment). In honor of the day, I thought I'd post what I think of as a quintessentially American bedroom design idea. This is my (admittedly low-rent) take on a Jonathan Adler design. White bedding, playful accessories, holy pattern, batman - that's the general vibe I get from JA.

I had a delightful day in the West Village after a meeting the other day, while Lou was in camp. I took advantage of my strollerless time to pop into the Jonathan Adler store. When salt and pepper shakers cost that much, it's best not to have a curious little shopper companion. Not all of his stuff is to my taste (Exhibit A), though I am drawn to anything whale inspired. But I like his general gist: Embrace maximalism. It's a nice counter to a lot of the extreme minimalism going around right now.

Anyway, on that same trip I picked up the New York print leaning against the wall, and when I got home I looked around at my (insane) collection of pillows and, um, goods and thought I'd try my hand at an inspired style.

Shall we do a breakdown?

1. Dresser styling: Small shelf from Goodwill for $2; Numbers from Target's party section - Spritz - 20 numbers for about $6. They're a pain to fold (they're just black paper, basically), but I'm happy I put in the effort. Our anniversary is the 27th -- so I added the little heart block to really hammer the point home. White Turtle from Target, on clearance, for about $3 a few months ago. I stole from living room.

2. Numbered tag art - Ikea, on sale for $4 last week.

3. New York the Wonder City print - Greenwich Letter Press, $10.

4. We Live in Brooklyn, Baby! art by local artist Claudia Pearson via the Brooklyn Flea. $20. (I stole it from my hallway).

7. Pillows! Red & White $6 from Goodwill. Blue zigzag made from napkins for $6. Teal/Red striped - Target via Goodwill for $9. Union Jack - Homeowner's. Two black & white stripped pillows from Ikea for $4 each, plus one pillow cover  in light red, teal and other stripes, also from Ikea for $2, all on sale.

8. White bedding - already owned. Was $25 from Waverly outlet a few years ago.

9. Black & White throw. I found this little dude at Salvation Army for $7 and thought it was the Best. Find. Ever. It's so cool! So graphic! So different. And on my recent trip to Ikea I saw it. For like, $15 or something. In ALL of their show rooms. Oh well. I'm not mad at ya, blanket.

Not pictured here (but you can see above): Curtain Panel is from Target section of Goodwill for $7. It's not ideal for the space - too short - and I'd want two of them per window to round things out. But it's trendy in a way that I'd attribute to old Jonny A, so here it is. Also, the ship's steering wheel belongs to our homeowners. It's cool. And super, super heavy. I had to have it in my room so I wouldn't worry about Lou trying to steer the ship anywhere, but I really like it so it all works out.

I spent $72 for the art and pillows. If you wanted to buy the whole shebang, you'd be looking at more like $130, including curtain panels for all windows (but at the prices I got. If you're worried you wouldn't get such prices, consider a shopping buddy :)).

So what do you think? I kind of dig it. I think it works for a small Brooklyn apartment - not too serious. Appropriate amount of geographic pride. Red. As a recap, here're the looks we've seen so far:

1. Black, White & Red Allover, 2. Low-Maintenance Global, & 3. Jonathan Adler-Inspired (that's today!). Happy reading, happy 4th and see you Monday!