Girl's Bedroom

Have you used Polyvore to create moodboards? Or do you use any other websites to create moodboards.  There’s Olioboard too but I have yet to try it. I might give that a go and then I’ll give you my opinion regarding which is the better/easier one.

Portier Bedlinen

I’m working on a living room, study and bedroom for a client at the moment and am in the process of choosing wallpaper and roman blind fabric for the bedroom so I thought I’d show you my favourite selection so far. I’ll be bringing her a number of choices on Tuesday but here’s my favourites.

It isn’t a large master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom and has two windows (one above the bed and the other above a dressingtable) which will have roman blinds. We’ve decided to opt for wallpaper but as the room isn’t that large, we’re not going mad with a large scale pattern.  There is a dark red contemporary chest of drawers in the room which is really the only piece that we need to co-ordinate with.

We are going with choices from Designers Guild – beautiful quality, vivid colour, contemporary with a classical twist.  We’ve opted for Portier bedlinen as above.

My favourite wallpaper is the Kasuri in lime :

Kasuri Lime Wallpaper

Though Yukata in moss is very pretty too:

Yukata wallpaper - Moss

The client wants some bold fabrics for the roman blinds so my two favourites are (again by Designers Guild): 1) Perrault in Peony

Perrault Fabric by Designers Guild

2) Tancredi in Moss (with the Kasuri, not the Yukata)

Tancredi Moss Fabric by Designers Guild

I’m opting for strong colours on the blinds as the windows are relatively small so these colours will create sufficient impact. What do you think? I’m looking forward to finding out what she thinks too.

Dara mentioned Jab’s new Black and White collection and it reminded me of one of my favourite photos from one of their previous collections, Palm Beach – I just love the textures and layers in this bedroom:

Jab - Palm Beach

It certainly makes me rethink black being too masculine for a bedroom!

And another striking black and white bedroom that I spotted on pinterest.

What do you think? Only for a bachelor pad or does black and white work for a feminine bedroom? I have to admit when I looked at the first picture I thought to myself that I’d love to see a splash of pink somewhere – just one like a pink orchid on the bedside table and hey presto, there’s pretty peonies there in the second photo – perfection

Things are pretty hectic here at GL at the moment, so far this morning I have attempted to write a tender (don’t ask), despatched the weekend’s orders, separated the six goats into 2 batches which might sound easy but they are very attached to each other (why did I do that?, well, I don’t want Rolo to get Katie pregnant whereas it would be nice if Megan and Becky became pregnant so he is with the 2 older females and Katie is with her brothers Clay and Soot)., hoovered because our 7 year old is in a ‘let’s make it’ mood and there were trails of cut up tiny bits of paper everywhere, and answered lots of emails.

It’s going to be a busy week too, I’m really excited to be delivering a talk on Wednesday at the National Women’s Enterprise Day conference in Portlaoise.  I still remember how nervous I was when I delivered my first talk in public many years ago.  I remember practising in front of my antique teddy bears. I dotted them around the room trying to make eye contact with each of them as I practised. None of them looked bored or smirked but all smiled encouragingly!

Maybe it is the darker evenings and the open fire but I am loving the cosy country look at the moment.

Country style Bedroom

Images: Country Living

Wallpapering feature walls is very popular and works particularly well in rooms such as bedrooms when the ‘unbroken’ wall (not broken up by windows or doors) is that which the bed is set against.  It also works well in reception rooms with a fireplace (either the whole wall, the chimney breast or the alcoves can be wallpapered), bathrooms and within rooms that are an unusual shape.

But how to decide on the paint colour? Choose your wallpaper first and then you have to decide on whether you want to wallpaper to really stand out as the feature or not.  If you do, it is best to let the paint blend into the background of the wallpaper so the paint colour will be similar to or lighter than the main background wallpaper colour.

In my own hall, you can see that the backgrounds in the Taraz wallpaper and in the fabric are of a similar tone. The carpet has varying shades so we opted for Farrow & Ball’s Old White for the other 3 walls which is lighter, partly because the hall can be quite dark.  There is a very subtle metallic stripe in the wallpaper which means that it looks much darker in the evenings and can be quite bright when the late afternoon sun is streaming in.

This bedroom from House to Home has a matching pair of curtains to the feature wall wallpaper and rather than letting the painted walls recede  into the background with white paint, they are making a bolder statement by picking out the vivid green leaf detailing in the pattern.  This gives the other walls more impact but also draws more attention to the pattern within the wallpaper and fabric.

In this living room (image also from House to Home) , the feature wall simply has a couple of strips of wallpaper in its centre and symmetry is created with the positioning of the console table, the lamps, the framed wallpapers and the centralised coffee table.  Here the silvery grey in the wallpaper pattern is used on the walls which gives the wallpaper and the yellow chaise much more impact in this room.

I hope those tips help. If you have any more queries, do add them in the comments.

We probably all can remember those wallpaper borders that co-ordinated with the wallpaper and matched the curtain fabric and the bedlinen – in fact, they might even have induced some nightmares. Some wallpaper and fabric designer companies still produce photos like that to display the new design.

A tad much methinks! Finches wallpaper and fabric by Sanderson

A striking monochrome colour scheme with floral black and white wallpaper and a slightly different design in the fabric.  While I like it, I couldn’t live with it. I like how the bedlinen is so plain and would prefer a contrasting fabric in the curtains – something that is quite plain with a raised stripe for contrast and texture.  Image from House to Home.

The image below from Designers Guild‘s Valadier indicates what I mean.

This picture by Jab shows how a monochrome scheme can be full of interest as long as different patterns (stripes against the frond wallpaper), textures and tones are used:

Also by Jab, this image shows how the matching curtain fabric and wallpaper means the two merge and in my opinion, is overwhelming:

The image below (Jab) shows that if you want to use matching fabrics and wallpapers, then use a panelling effect to break up the pattern with plain paint. Plain fabrics on seating and bedlinen will mean that the plain patterns will stand out against the patterned floral walls.

A busy wallpaper like a toile de jouy (below from House Beautiful) really needs a plain curtain fabric, (you can barely see that they have edged the leading edges of the cream curtains with a complementary colour to the wallpaper).

You can see in the picture by Lorient below that this vivid green floral wallpaper co-ordinates well with the simple leaf design, with the greens being of the same tone.

Gorgeous Charlotte fabric by Designers Guild in their first Royal Collection co-ordinates beautifully with the duck egg damask wallpaper.

Remember this tip – You can use the same colour scheme – but use a different pattern, e.g. striped fabric with floral wallpaper, plain fabrics with busy wallpaper, or a floral/leaf pattern that is much bigger or smaller in scale.

We are stockists for most of  the wallpapers displayed above so if you see something you like on the Designers Guild, Sanderson or Voyage Decoration websites, do contact us if you have a price enquiry.

For today’s post then, the focus is on wallpaper for bedroom with sloping ceiling / dormer windows.

You can see in the room above that the sloping ceiling is quite long in that there isn’t much headroom above the bed and the slope goes all the way up to the centre of the room.  Wallpapering this sloping ceiling would make the room feel claustrophobic in my opinion. You can see that the exterior wall is the only room to be wallpapered, I think this wallpaper would have been nice on the other walls too although there is quite a curve as the wall meets the sloping ceiling which would make it very difficult to get a neat edge – so there is also a practical reason here for not wallpapering the low wall.

In this bedroom featured in Country Living, the slope of the ceiling is quite short and there is a significant proportion of full ceiling height.  In theory, one could wallpaper this sloped ceiling and it would accentuate the height of the room (as the sloped ceiling would then appear as if a wall) but as the room is quite busy, there is enough going on without adding more patterned wallpaper to the scheme and the wallpapering of the feature wall in sufficient.

Here’s an example of a bedroom that has the walls and sloped ceiling wallpapered in the same wallpaper. I have to admit I would run screaming from this – way too claustrophic for me. Having said that though, this would work in a guest bedroom if you wanted to achieve a really cosy atmosphere but I would opt for a less busy pattern!

I think this room is lovely, the blue and white is really fresh and as the slopes are also wallpapered, it adds height yet cosiness to this room.

Most of these pictures are of ‘country-styled’ rooms as loft bedrooms lend themselves to that look so well but there is no reason why you can’t add a more modern wallpaper to a bedroom in a dormer house.  You just have to be cautious regarding the busyness of the pattern and the amount of furniture in the room – don’t make it all too busy as the bedroom is a room to relax in after all.

I love the saplings wallpapers by Miss Print particularly the white with gold.  A really pretty leaf design and the metallic within the design changes with different lights so it will sometimes look like a dull pewter rather than a gold. A really pretty wallpaper that won’t enclose a space.

Another pretty wallpaper is that of Promenade – in the distance it looks like a traditional country style blue and white toile pattern but up closer, you can see it is very tongue in cheek with people dressed in the styles of different eras and yet chatting happily to those from a different time.

and here’s a close-up:

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with the points I have made regarding wallpapering a room with a sloping ceiling? Any other suggestions?

Images: House to Home, Country Living

Jab - Palm Beach Collection

I love this bedroom picture from Jab and it just proves how a black, grey and white bedroom can look so warm and tactile – through the use of flock walpaper and cut velvet fabrics. You can almost feel the softness of that headboard! Even the lilies serve as a lovely contrast (although I could never sleep in a bed beside lilies – can you imagine what their scent would do for hayfever!)

Add texture to a decorative scheme through items such as a pleated cushion or trimmings on a curtain,  interestingly shaped vases or candleabras, a deep pile rug, flock wallpaper, a throw on the sofa,  even the placing of a couple of books in interesting dust jackets, all add to the decorative features of a neutral room.

We still do the homework at the kitchen table but it won’t be long (judging by the rate the years are speeding along at the moment) until they will be studying in their bedrooms or moving away from home to study in halls of residence at university or in rented rooms.

Given the timing, I thought I would do a post on how best to get that teenage/young adult bedroom conducive to studying, especially as it will also be used for sleeping, relaxing and socialising with friends.

• Position the desk near the window if you can, looking out at  a view helps when you’re concentrating plus it makes the most of the natural light.
• Ensure the desk is large enough to contain a laptop/PC, some books and a desk lamp.
• Lighting is really important, a good desk lamp like an anglepoise is perfect (if you are looking for a fabulous one, do check out Skinflint Design for their salvaged and reconditioned lamps and they ship worldside)
• Try to ‘zone’ all the areas of the room, so for example, demarcate the study area of the bedroom in some way, either with interesting shelves above the desk or with some wallpaper in front of the desk.

Zone a Study area with Wallpaper

• A screen can be handy if they want to hide that unfinished essay while they are relaxing with a book or watching TV. It can also hide the TV when they are trying to study!
• If space is at a premium, one of the top bunk type beds with storage or a desk underneath is perfect, especially for a teenager. And if you really want to push the boat out and have extra height in the bedroom – wouldn’t this be fabulous?

Double height Study Bedroom

• Storage is important for all those tomes so strong shelving or a large bookcase is a must.  Wall storage such as these wall mounted Ring Ring magazine racks by Black and Blum are handy for newspapers, magazines and ‘fun stuff’.

Ring Ring Magazine Racks

• Bean bags or a comfy armchair is a must. Again, if space is at a premium, an option is have a day bed rather than an ordinary bed which can double up as a sofa with lots of cushions.
• If the room is rented and the walls have to stay cream or magnolia, inject some colour into the room with bright bedlinen, a vibrant bean bag and some fun cushions such as our multi coloured C60 cushion by Mini Moderns.

The academic year seems to go faster the older the children become so it’s a good idea to get their bedroom organised for the year ahead. I hope you found these tips useful and that you have a lovely weekend, Lorna

Images: House to Home, MarthaStewart.com and Silive.com

Well, here’s some pink to brighten up your weekend on this dull “summer’s day” that we are experiencing today – cold, blustery, windy …. I’m very tempted to light the fire tonight.

But some pink cupcakes or even this pretty print would warm me up

I do like shocking pink and these dining chairs are delightful.

Vivid pink cushions and what girl doesn’t like shoes?  On sale at Garrendenny Lane

And the perfect wallpaper for little farmerettes – Moo by Mini Moderns in Pink.

I’m loving the pink fridge (would love a pink Smeg myself) but not so sure about the pink range cooker – what do you think?

I have yet to visit the Ladies room in Galway’s G Hotel, designed by Philip Treacy. Is it as vivid in real life I wonder?

Striking Pink and Green Monteverdi fabric by Designers Guild – great colour blocking!

And I will finish with my daughter’s pink (and slightly) green bedroom!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and see you on Monday, Lorna x

Images: Isle of View, La Belle Vie, Garrendenny Lane x 2, Daisy Cup Cake, G Hotel, Designers Guild,