Children’s Bedroom Transformation
Sadly, children grow into young adults and decorating fashion changes. Recently I undertook the transformation of our spare bedroom to move with the times.
Influencing factors
There were a number of factors that influenced my decision to decorate the bedroom not least the fitted carpet which had long since needed to be replaced. It was the only bedroom to retain the original creamy yellow carpet and it no longer tied in with the rest of the house since I dared to swap it out for Crucial Trading’s Audrey Stripe on the stairs and landing. Another, and possibly more pressing factor, was that the small children that we once accommodated were now all longer in length than the elegant wrought iron framed daybed.
A random shopping trip
I had not decided how I was going to decorate the bedroom until I went on a random shopping trip. Left to my own devices whilst holidaying in the New Forest I decided to take a trip to the nearest Dunelm to purchase some square pillows and pillowcases for my own recently decorated bedroom. Whilst wandering around the bedding department I happened upon a green gingham bedding set which I knew would be ideal for the spare room. Not only was the colour absolutely perfect but the pattern epitomised country cottage style.
Getting the green light
The next step was to choose a paint colour for the bedroom walls. My ideal paint choice was a green matt emulsion which would match the colour of the dark green check in the fabric. My instinct was to purchase Farrow & Ball’s Sap Green #56 until I tested it in the room. In-situ I felt that it was too dark and, therefore, started exploring alternative shades. I quickly exhausted the F&B range and moved on to Little Green. Again, I wasn’t entirely happy so looked at Dulux’s infinitesimal range of greens. Finally, I selected Sea Nettle for three of the walls, Fired Earth’s White Mulberry for the fourth (window) wall and a conventional brilliant white for the ceiling.
From the floorboards up
With everything moving in the right direction I decided to address the issue of the bedroom flooring. To remedy this particular element of the room I chose to tear up the carpet to reveal the stripped pine floorboards beneath. I knew that they weren’t going to be in a brilliant condition but entirely in keeping with the house’s history. As the room is so small, approximately 3m square, I knew that I could buy a rug that would take up most of the floor space with just a border of honey coloured floorboards around the edge. To this end, and by now becoming a complete Dunelm junkie, I opted for a timeless natural fibre rug with a contrasting cotton border.
Monochromatic scheme
Due to the size of the bedroom I wanted to keep the finishes as simple as possible. With this in mind I replaced the painted blanket box and bedside table with pine ones which I requisitioned from other parts of the house. I also chose to replace the duck egg blue spot curtains and orange lampshade for neutral/green versions. I kept the window valance which was a Cath Kidston fabric from way back but ordered a roller blind to replace the drapes. Originally, I was looking for a plain design but stumbled across one which had a pine tree forest silhouette. This was perfect as the window has a view across open fields to woodland.
The wow factor
Last but not least I needed to find new lampshades for the table lamp and for the ceiling pendant. After searching the house high and low I eventually found a suedette coolie shade for the small lamp and ordered a fringed boucle tassel shade from Oliver Bonas for the pendant. I must admit it was slightly bigger than I had envisaged but decided that its scale added the wow factor to the bedroom. The only thing left to consider was the bed. In order to make it comfortable for the young adults we simply removed the iron frame so that limbs could hang freely over the end!
The finished article
I must admit that I loved the previous version of this bedroom with its Designer Guild paint on the walls and cheery prints and accessories but it was definitely time for a change. So far, I’ve decided not to hang anything on the walls but just to appreciate the simplicity of the colour, light, pattern and textures. I’m hoping in this instance less is more and that the room will be appreciated by its teenage guests.
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