Decorating is one of my favourite pastimes. There is something about being able to switch up the whole room with just a lick of paint or a few rolls of wallpaper.
As Amelia won’t sleep in her own room we switched it to a play room but the need for a spare room is greater. So, this year a complete overhaul is happening. I know exactly what I want it to look like, it has white wooden flooring, country style wallpaper which gives a calm English garden type feel. Fresh flowers and lace, a real country cottage vibe with floral wallpaper.
The walls in this house were once covered in wood chip which is a nightmare to remove but once gone, although the walls aren’t perfect, they are smooth enough for patterned wallpaper which will brighten up the room a lot. It took a total of 3 weeks solid work to remove the wood chip from just one room. Scoring the wallpaper and using a wallpaper stripper really helped, who thought that wallpaper with little chips of wood in it was a good idea?
Although I love rooms that are cosy and dark I also have a love off everything shabby chic. The pastels, floral and vintage lace etc. The clean lines and outdoor feel of flower patterned wallpaper can change up a whole room and bring the outdoors in.
I find that floral country style papers also have a timeless feel to them. So often patterns go through phases and trends see curtain designs come and go in and out of fashion. At the moment geometric patterns are in fashion and anything with rose gold is top of a lot of decorating wish lists but 6 or 12 months down the line, when the new styles hit the shelves, this will look dated and you will want to switch it up again.
I find it easier to start with a concept of how I want the room to look eventually and start to piece it all together on a mood board. That is when the colours, patterns and whole feel of the room seems to come together. Most wallpaper sites have the availability to search via colour or theme, this makes it so much easier when it comes to finding something you know is going to fit. Most of the time I end up finding papers I know will work in other rooms and I am not lying when I say I have rolls of wallpaper here ready to decorate rooms I have only just done. When I see a timeless paper that I fall in love with I get it there and then, you never know when it will be discontinued!
As it’s only a small box room I am wanting to give it a look that means it will be clean and fresh for at least a couple of years. I don’t mind redecorating often but when it’s somewhere that’s only going to be used on occasion then it seems a wasted expense and effort to redo over and over again.
I have always been pulled towards floral country garden style wallpaper. Even during my current obsession with everything dark, including painting most of the paintwork in the house black, I have chosen florals. Not the not the regular chintzy patterns though. More statement looks!
My bedroom is black and gold, as is the living room but Evies room has always been pink with unicorns. She turns 10 this year though and has expressed an interest in having her bedroom renovated to something a little more grown up. She is a real girly girl so I just know the floral need is going to be strong with her and if she chooses a strong pattern we will go with the statement wall. Otherwise it will be a full room job, which although I don’t mind doing, doesn’t give that quick satisfaction papering just the one wall does! As Evie is getting older she wants to be more involved too so having her pick her own paper and help with the painting of the other walls means a lot to her. I know one thing…..there will definitely still be pink involved somewhere!
