For a few years now my husband and I have been toying with the idea of moving house. Two main stumbling blocks, the first one (as always) is cost, for us to move to the next “level” as it were is pretty significant, the second hurdle is we just can’t find anything that fits our requirements. And it isn’t because we’re not willing to compromise (I would actually favour a bit of a project in order to get the layout and decor we really want) it’s just there doesn’t seem to be anything remotely in line with what we’re after.

I love our current house, a 3 bed 1905 semi with an open airy kitchen diner, small utility (it may only just about fit a washing machine, my ironing board and a few shelves but it’s so useful!) and lots of light. And maybe that is part of the issue, nothing else compares.

With a baby on the way and my home office (the small 3rd bedroom) becoming a nursery we have instead thought about ways we can utilise our current space more efficiently. It was immediately apparent that the room we use the least is the guest bedroom, our friends and family either tend to either live locally or far enough away for us to want to go there and make a weekend of it, to summarise, this reasonably generous double bedroom just sits there not doing very bloody much.

What we really needed was a) somewhere I could comfortably work from home when I needed to b) somewhere I could get ready/put make-up on/attempt to do something with my barnet (the way our master bedroom is designed simply doesn’t lend itself to a dressing table area) c) a place for the baby to play/be with me when I was doing either a) or b)

For a little sideline project I currently have in the pipeline we were also battling the challenge of finding a suitable studio space, I won’t go into this fruitless search for fear of boring you to tears.. but a few months ago I did have a light bulb moment as to how I could somehow create an environment that would meet all of the requirements mentioned above.

I am currently transforming my “spare” (and for the most part useless) guest bedroom into a light, bright and beautiful studio. It is not quite finished as yet but already there is a dressing area, plenty of floor space for my little girl to play, a sofa that turns into a bed should we invite friends over and plenty of practical storage and accessories that means (fingers crossed) in the next few months my new project will finally launch.

I was wondering if anyone else has ever considered changing the “traditional” use of any of their rooms in order to make life more convenient? it’s funny isn’t it, how for whatever reason we are almost bound to this standard way of thinking when it comes to interiors (my parents seemed equal parts confused, equal parts semi horrified when I mentioned perhaps their dining room should be knocked through to extend the kitchen considering they use it about 3 times a year.)

My husband has been very generous in that he has just let me get on with it and choose the exact decor and furniture I want. Although I do think he is secretly pleased my initial palette of peach, blush and mint (yep just like Lauren’s recent pastel feature) has for whatever reason, changed into a rather masculine mix of copper, grey and various industrial materials.

I’ll share the finished look with you in the next few weeks or so folks, in the meantime if anyone knows where I could find a genuine old bakelite pyramid telephone that doesn’t cost the earth then it would be muchos appreciated.

Image Sources: Studio Ideas: The Design Chaser and Sehura Tumblr Pretty Prints: sfgirlbybay and Made By Girl Industrial Details: Pinterest Pinner and tyylijakoti