Last year we painted our two spare rooms, laid fresh underlay and had new grey carpets fitted. That was nearly a year ago now and I’d love to say I’ve turned the back bedroom into a super glam dressing room and the front one into a gorgeous guest room. However I have done neither and they are both untouched despite my best efforts to get my bedroom decorating mojo back.

My parents stayed with me recently and even my dad remarked on the lack of decor. It would appear he would like a mirror and a few prints here and there. We’ve got an onslaught of guests arriving over the next few weeks so I’ve decided I better get a wriggle and you know, make the bed and put a few pictures up.

The Before Gallery

The guest room in question has a lot going for it. It’s bathed in light until early afternoon, has great proportions, an adorable cast iron fireplace and characterful wooden beams. It’s filled full of furniture from our last house; the cream metal bed, distressed chest of drawers, the tufted love seat and the glass fronted cupboard we used to have in our old bedroom. Reusing furniture has meant it’s cost pence to get us this far, however with all the cottage-appropriate greige decor I feel I’m teetering on the edge of ‘twee’ territory. Shabby-chic is very homely and restful but I’ve evolved my style over the last few years and this house has a very different vibe to the last. I’d like this space to feel a bit more contemporary.

When I lost my decorating mojo I encouraged anyone who was having similar feelings to remove everything from the room that wasn’t working for them. However in this case, I’ve got a meagre budget; there’s nothing left for new furniture so the evolution is going to have to come with a small price tag and be purely based on the accessories.

The Colour Scheme

As is hopefully glaringly obvious, I intend to go for a taupe, champagne and antique pink colour scheme in the room. I’m thinking the dusky blush shades will tie in nicely with the ivory of the bed and the mink of the love seat. I may move out the taupe glass fronted cabinet to the other bedroom but figure it will also gel with the new accents for now.

Bedding

I have a heap of white and ivory bed linen from our old bedroom so rather than splash out on a whole new set, I’m going to bag myself a set of antique pink oxford pillowcases to bring in a new shade to the bed. Don’t laugh, but I’ve actually bought a few items from Lorraine Kelly’s favourite, JD Williams recently. I know you’re giggling but I bought a really decent sized jute rug from there for less than £25 the other day. Anyway back to pillowcases, I’m potentially thinking the JD Williams ones or maybe the John Lewis blush ones.
Following on from my rather unexpected online shopping stores, have you ever been in M&Co? No, me neither but they have some very luxurious velour cushions and a blush pink mongolian number if that’s your kind of thing.

Lighting

I want to ditch the traditional bedside lamp and bring in a bare bulb or too. I bought two cut glass cage lights from George last year which I could rig up. As far as ceiling lights go, I’m pretty sure we’ve established by now that the current one isn’t allowed to stay. In terms of a replacement I’m not too sure to be honest – sometimes I wish we could do away with the ‘big light’ all together but I’m all ears if you have any suggestions?

Fireplace

I’m currently debating whether to paint the fireplace a lighter shade, however one thing I am sure of is the hexagon mirror I just bought from Home Sense. As they don’t have an online store I can’t link to it but Choice Furniture also sell it too and you’ll see it’s a dead ringer for the West Elm one that was around a while ago.

Finishing Touches

Brighton is a special place for my family and friends and the majority of people who’ll stay in this room have a connection to the place. I’m considering the Keri Bevan Brighton Carousel photo from King & McGaw and a selection of black and white prints I’ve accumulated.

THE SHORT LIST
  • M&Co Mongolian Cushion
    SHOP NOW
  • George Pendant Light
    SHOP NOW
  • M&Co Velour Cushion
    SHOP NOW
  • Hexagon Mirror
    SHOP NOW
  • King & McGaw Brighton Print
    SHOP NOW
  • John Lewis Blush Pillow Case
    SHOP NOW

As ever, I’ll keep you posted. Do let me know if you’re dealing with evolving decor too. How do you breathe new life into a room when you grow out of the original style?