When the Government announced that essentially leaving the house around 4 months ago was a no-go I decided that I was going to be productive and finally redecorate our spare room...
Like most people our spare room, other than accommodating the occasional parent or friendly visit had become a dumping ground of suitcases, unused furniture and our ‘formal wear’ wardrobe.
Also, with the lockdown came the urgent need for a home office whilst not losing the option of a bed for those occasional visitors.
I knew that I wanted a sofa bed and the process of choosing the ‘Sophie’ from Love Your Home was so easy. I worked with the team over email and phone to discuss the fabric choices, dimensions and even the mattress specifications for the piece that we went with.
I had a painting that I used as the colour palette from a friend called ‘Tomo Campbell’ and that was the basis for the colour palette and also the feel for the room which I wanted to have a warm cocoon feeling with a calm and serene energy, which is why I decided to paint the ceiling also.
For the wall colour I knew I wanted a dusty pink and went with ‘Light Peachblossom 3’ from Little Greene, surely the campest sounding colour we could find and not even deliberately. Once that was decided I worked with the team at Love Your Home remotely and we decided on the Olive linen for our Sophie sofa bed. I don’t think I’ve ever received more messages on social media about anything than the colour I painted these walls!
I managed to do all the painting myself, woodwork included and went with a white satin finish on the floor and woodwork to keep a fresh feeling to the room. The furniture was all sourced on Ebay from a Ladderrax shelving unit and the chartreuse upholstered office chair to the Ercol wardrobe to replace the messy looking rail that we had previously.
Then, I discovered Etsy! Previously an Etsy virgin, I become ensconced and obsessed trawling through the site night and day looking for pieces to complete my room. I sourced an antique moroccon rug industrial looking distressed full length mirror and manged to get them shipped relatively easy considering the Covid-19 restrictions.
My husband and I love to collect art from friends and newer up and coming artists that we love and so had a small pile ready to frame once all the furniture was in. We went for a more eclectic mixture rather than trying to keep everything within the tonal palette and included works from Matthew Stone, Christabel MacGreevey and Eleanor Breeze. Then I found this amazing paper maché vase made by an amazing artist
The final piece to the puzzle was the flat roof / terrace that has always been even more neglected than the room itself, save for the very rare afternoon of sunbathing with the dog.
After a lick of Asphalt paint, some astroturf, plants and planters from Amazon and some unbelievably comfortable Ikea chairs that I managed to swing as a birthday gift the terrace has become my new morning sun trap where inhale my coffee before even having to descend the stairs. I think I’m actually dreading the end of lockdown… and no room in the house is now safe from my ‘Handy Andy’ urges!
Useful info and some links…
Artwork
Christabel MacGreevey - @christabitch
Eleanor Breeze – @eleanor.breeze
Matthew Stone - @Matthewstoneart
Papier Maché vase - @morganfhill who creates amazing pieces in paper from vases to bags and jewellery.
we went for the ‘HAVSTEN’ outdoor chairs
The Rug came from ‘EmilysHouseLondon’ and the mirror from ‘HallFarmInteriorsCo’
All the plants we bought from Patch who deliver and the large Jurassic looking one is called an Alocasia Gageana and the spikey one is a Snake Plant
Got to have a new smell for a new room so we got this Tudor Rose indoor / outdoor candle for both the room and the terrace.
We added 2 ‘Orko cotton tufted cushions’ to the olive green ‘Sophie’ sofa
To hide our shoes that were scatterd around the clothing rail I bought some striped ‘Jericho’ storage boxes from habitat
