Bad Case of Wanderlust? Cure it With a Bedroom Makeover.

ByThe Open Suitcase

Got a bad case of wanderlust and no money for a vacation? There’s a super simple cure – give your bedroom a beach villa makeover! Here’s how.

One cure for wanderlust are dreamy beach pictures like this one of Colombier beach.
An aerial view of Colombier beach. Photo credit: Cathy Bennett Kopf/The Open Suitcase

We go to St. Barth every April.

I know what you’re thinking.

“My, aren’t you a fancy Nancy?”

Just the opposite. My husband’s an accountant. We get a bad case of wanderlust and need to get away after 3 months’ of W-2s and 1040s. St. Barth is a marvelous Caribbean getaway.

St. Barth? Isn’t that the island where celebrities parade around in teeny bikinis 4 hours after giving birth? Sure. In season. Past New Year’s Eve revelers, according to Forbes, included Paul McCartney, George Lucas, Tobey Maguire, Paris Hilton, Ellen DeGeneres, Kendall Jenner, Harry Styles, Marc Jacobs, Robin Thicke, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Bieber, and the late great Prince.

But April is the start of the off-season. This year we stayed in a villa that rents for $9200 a week during the holidays. We paid much less. Like the same per-night rate you’d pay at a beachfront Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale. And we had a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and plunge pool. The restaurants are empty off-season and the locals seem genuinely happy to see us. We spend 6 hours sitting on a beach under an umbrella, reading books, and drinking beers out of a Playmate cooler. It’s just like the Jersey Shore – if everyone spoke French and the women were topless. Consider it the perfect cure for wanderlust.

Villa Palm House provided inspiration for a bedroom makeover.
Villa Palm House, St. Barth.

I’m always sad to leave but I try to bring the St. Barth lifestyle home with me. It’s a way to make the every day not so gray. I stock the refrigerator with bottles of rosé, replace my shower soap with a lavender-scented bar from Provence, and I swap out my bedding.

Off comes the heavy down duvet, floral cover, and dark linens. I dig out white sheets and wash and dry them in the bright spring sunshine. Then I make up the bed, top it with a light cotton spread and a couple of exotic throw pillows (my daughter picked up new ones for me in Turkey – J’adore!). I finish it all off with a spritz or two of Fragonard’s Eau d’Oreiller (wisteria with acacia, violet, orange blossom, jasmine and lily, cedar, sandalwood, and musk).

White linens in a bedroom makeover help to cure your wanderlust by making you think you're in a beach villa.
Crisp white linens are the key to a successful bedroom makeover. Photo credit: Cathy Bennett Kopf/The Open Suitcase LLC

A bedroom makeover like this can cure a case of wanderlust in minutes. If you’re stuck at home and cant’ get away, it’s a great strategy for transforming your home for a staycation.

When I climb into bed, I can pretend that I’ve shed my sunburnt, peeling Irish skin for the bronzed body of a supermodel.

“What did you say, Leo? Why, yes. I would adore another glass of champagne. Merci!”

A girl can dream. So why not set your bed to encourage a fantasy voyage each night?