A snoop around our bedroom…
I can’t believe we finally have another room ready to show you! Although it has taken us almost two years to get to this point (oh my god that has literally SHOCKED ME, renovating is no joke, people!).
Our bedroom was pretty much a blank space until a couple of weeks ago, and with the help of my favourite print, some new bedding and a little gallery wall, it’s been transformed.
I have a bit of a rule for bedrooms, something I think about when it comes to my own home and even when I’m scoring for Scotland’s Home Of The Year too, and that is that the master bedroom should be light, airy and only for sleeping and getting ready! That means limited technology and a very minimal feel. Guest rooms can be wild, of course – go crazy with colour in spare rooms! But your own bedroom should be free of too many distractions in my opinion.
This room, as you’ll see in the photo above, was a magnolia mess when we bought the flat. I mean, it had potential (we certainly lucked out with that cornicing!) but we had to strip it back to it’s bare bones to make it what it is today. That meant stripping wallpaper, removing the skirting boards, sealing over the walk in wardrobe (we wanted this as our hallway cupboard), ripping up the carpet, putting down floorboards, removing and replacing the radiators, fitting new custom skirting boards, painting the entire room, replacing the curtain pole, ordering custom curtains, rewiring and repositioning the sockets, fitting a new light fitting, and designing and building custom wardrobes. Phew, not an easy job! And that was just to get it to a stage where we could live in it! Then came the decorating…
A laidback style…
As I said, I like a very bright and fresh space for a bedroom so I embraced this with lots of natural textures, like the rattan headboard and the matching wardrobes, as well as fresh white walls, lots of greenery and some warmth from the brass details.
I then added in colour with soft furnishings, which can be replaced easily so if I ever want to rejig this room, it won’t be too hard on the ol’ bank balance. Ideal if you’re in lockdown #7534 and sick of looking at the same stupid walls every day.
I kept to pastels and earthy tones for the entire room, and I found a big chest of drawers on eBay to house all my loungewear and pyjamas (genuinely). And then finally, I worked in some decorative pillows that I change out with different pillow cases each time we change the bedding so it’s always looking a little different in here.
The storage…
I feel like our beautiful wardrobes deserve their own post so I think I’ll share the design process with you at some point, but they were made by the same guy who did our green shelves – Gary. I designed the interior and the doors, and sent him photos of and drawings of what I wanted, and he did the rest. I really love how I have space for all my midi dresses, as well as drawer space and shelving for handbags and hats. Jord has big drawers in his section (not pictured), so I also use the chest of drawers for all my other clothes too – and of course, all my makeup sits on top! I wish I could keep this area more clutter-free but I have accepted that it’s always going to be a little messy.
The details…
We have had our wall lights forever, a Maison du Monde find (similar here) and I love how well they go with our bedside tables.
We decided to get the Loaf First Base bed so we could switch out the headboard without having to get a whole new bed, something I’m very glad I did! I think at some point I’ll get an olive green velvet headboard made, but for now I adore the rattan – will I ever be over my rattan stage? Apparently not!
Just like in our old flat, I hung my favourite Jennifer Ament print above the bed – it honestly is just the most beautiful print! The gold frame adds a bit of warmth, and the large size of the artwork draws the eye up to the beautiful cornicing details.
Recently I picked up a couple of cushions from Oliver Bonas and the room kind of came together from there, they’re the perfect colours for a bedroom and they’ve really helped to finish the room off.
And the gallery wall…
I did this on a whim recently and I adore it! We used to have the Lightning Bolt print here and it looked so good, and I couldn’t find anything to replace it that worked as well. In the end I decided I’d do a random gallery wall and it came together perfectly! Well, a little wonky but that’s what you get for living in a 100+ year old building!
Usually Jord is in charge of the gallery walls in our flat, but I managed to put this one up while he was at work and he was very impressed. I eyeballed it mostly, I am too impatient for measuring.
It features quite a few different styles, from a photograph of a skateboarder to an illustration of a vase of flowers and an ocean scene, but the calming collection was just what this room needed.
I chose mostly wooden frames (mostly from Juniqe – from a previous ad) to tie in with the light, airy feel in here, and I planned it so the prints could be switched out when I’m in need of a refresh. It’s tough being this fickle, I tell ya!
With the ceilings being so high, I usually only deal with big prints when it comes to gallery walls, but the way this collection fits above the chest of drawers made sense to me. It’s simple but it was pretty much the turning point in this room – it was the burst of personality the blank wall needed.
Honestly, for ages I had no idea what to do with this room and then one day it sort of just… came together. I love everything about it – from my hats on the wall to the fiddle leaf fig plant sitting next to my old IKEA mirror. There’s something so zen about our bedroom, and I found that we’ve used the space so well, considering the room is a fair bit smaller than our old bedroom. There’s more storage, less clutter and more personality. I’m so happy with it!
My main aim was to create a space I could easily relax in, but also a room I could change out when I got a bit bored of it. There’s pieces in this room (like the bedside tables, the wall lights and the mirror) that we’ve had for years and I know I’ll hang on to, but I do find myself getting tired of colour palettes, so I love that I can easily swap out the cushions and bedding and make it feel like an entirely new room.
What do you think of our bedroom? Are you in to the calming feel or do you like a busy room?
