04 Aug CREATING OUR PERFECT BEDROOM
Everybody loves a before and after. I have been working on this one for ages. It has been a really personal process to create the perfect environment that feels just right for us. The cream and beige that was left over from the last owners felt like we were sleeping in someone else’s house so it’s one of the first rooms we’ve decorated since we moved in. It’s the place I see at the beginning and end of each day, so I find it really makes an impact on the way I feel. If I go to sleep looking at piles of stuff, bare walls and unfinished DIY jobs, it stresses me out! If the bedroom is calm and cosy and feels just right, I can relax.
So here is our bedroom makeover. With everything from furniture to trinkets but the most important thing in the bedroom is obviously the bed. It’s the place I wish to be in when everything is a bit much, I just want to be at home curled up in it. I was recently given a mattress from Simba, which is by far the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever slept on. Simba have developed an online sleep tool to assess your sleeping patterns. Take the quiz yourself. It turns out I’m a deep sleeper and I have my deepest sleep in the morning right before I wake up… which may explain why it takes me at least two cups of tea to feel alive in the morning.
BEFORE
AFTER
HOW IT ALL CAME TOGETHER
The colour scheme came about from this painting that I bought years ago in a charity shop. I’ve always loved the combination so I used it as a base. I started with Inchrya Blue from Farrow & Ball for the walls because this would make everything else really pop. More so than with a pale base.
Next came the bed from Loaf and the lamps from Heidi & James, which worked really well with the wall colour. The colour for the dresser actually came from a box of tights! I bought some tights from Heist and loved the box so much that I took it to Wicks where they matched the colour in a hardwearing eggshell. I love it because it’s not too candy pink, it’s more of a seashell sort of pink, perfect for a make-up dresser. A you can see, Batman loves it too.
Once I had my colour scheme, I looked around for vintage bits and pieces that fitted in with it, mainly pops of yellow and pink and anything with a bold pattern. Some of these bits I had already and moved them to the bedroom, others were new finds.
Pattern is something that I am always drawn to. I have an addiction to soft furnishings, so it’s the first place I look in a sale. Most of these cushions were bought in sales. I rotate them around the house all the time, whenever I feel like a bland corner could do with a lift. The curtain fabric is from Brixton Market, I have been holding onto it for years, waiting for its moment. The rug is an Etsy find. Once I knew the type of rug I was after I went down an Etsy rabbit hole. Search for ‘Azilal rug’ you won’t regret it.
There are a few little details that were fiddly but so worth it. I replaced the white plastic light switches and sockets with dark metallic ones which compliment the wall colour. For the light switches I went with tarnished copper from Dowsing & Reynolds. I’ve never had fancy switches before, but it makes a big difference. It’s the one thing you touch over again each day, so it just makes you feel like it’s all finished off really well (even if there are bits of the skirting board that need an extra coat!). So as not to break the bank on fancy switches, I used regular B&Q sockets around the room in a bronze colour which makes them disappear nicely, as they should.
I got a bit crafty with a few pieces. I dip dyed my tiny lampshades on the dresser. You can see how I did it in my previous post. I also painted the Ikea lampshade with the same pink as the dresser. Then added some trinkety bits to it because frankly, it was a bit plain and need some jazzing up!
Then there is the elephant in the room – the wall mounted TV. When we moved in the previous owners had left it on the wall (they couldn’t figure out how to get it off.) The first thing I said was, “That’s got to go!” It’s white, plasticy, the sound quality is terrible and it really didn’t fit with my rattan boho jungle theme. But then I experienced the true joy of sitting in bed watching Gogglebox while driking wine and everything changed. The perfect bedroom needs to feel perfect… not perfect in a Vogue Living way, perfect for how you use it. And the ability to snuggle up in a beautiful room and watch six episodes of Nailed It back to back… is actually a dream come true. So the telly stays!… and gets cropped out of some of the photos when necessary!
Here are some of the bits and pieces that brought it all together with lin ks to the products below.
1. Cushions from Habitat 2. Bed from Loaf 3. Sinnerlig bamboo lampshade from Ikea 4. Rattan chair from Cox&Cox 5. Rattan basket from Habitat 6. Copper switch from Dowsing & Reynolds 7. Ales lamp from Heidi+James 8. Pot from The Prying Eyes 9.Gladom side table from Ikea 10. Brisa linen bed set from Made
Let me know what you think, and take a look at the Simba Sleep quiz to find out how you sleep.
Styling and photography: Emma Scott-Child
The Simba mattress was given to me in exchange for this sponsored post, the Dowsing & Reynolds light switches were discounted in exchange for social media posts. All other items were bought by me, I’m recommending them just because I love them.