7 Jun 2013

building a bedroom I love

Back in late March, I wrote about the state of my bedroom in the house we'd moved into. Wardrobes were required (we had built-in ones in our previous home), as was new flooring and a fresh lick of paint on the walls. Furthermore, I needed a new bookshelf and was on the look-out for one that I thought would fit into the room decor.

Prior to all of the work (which I did myself, with the help of my mum and some friends), this was how my room looked:


The first thing we did was the painting and this was how it looked after that:


I used the colour 'Mellow Mocha' from the Dulux matt emulsion range and I love how the colour turned out. In the next picture, you can see the marks that indicate where the previous owner had nailed some homemade built-in wardrobes to the wall - but those marks are fine as I'm planning on putting my wardrobes in those areas. My favourite thing about this colour is how feminine and sophisticated it is but without being too girly - I think that pretty much describes me as a person (more the word 'feminine' as opposed to the word 'sophisticated' I think!). I also love how the wall colour contrasts so brilliantly with the other bits and pieces in my room that are white.


Next up was the laying down of floorboards and I chose some natural oak effect ones from B&Q (cheap and cheerful, eh?). For me, the colour was more important than anything as it had to go with the wall colour. I opted not to go for solid oak flooring as the level of care required for them seemed too much of a hassle for me (I like to think I'm pretty low maintenance in most aspects of life...!).

The carpet was then stripped:


And only then, could the floorboards be installed. The wood flooring that was under the carpet was actually very beautiful but the gaps between them were just too big and quite a few had splinters so it wasn't ideal to just use them unfortunately. Bit of a bummer if you could have heard the (positive) gasp I let out when they were revealed from the carpet stripping!


During this whole process, I drew up rough sketches of how I would layout the various pieces of furniture that would be in my room and this is what I came up with:

A bird's eye view of how I planned my room.
I did two further rough sketches: one for the study area (which will be a whole separate post) and one for the windows and curtains (just because!).


And bringing that sketch to life, I only have a picture of the curtain print with the wall colour because I've found it quite difficult to take a picture that was of a decent quality. The curtains are a kind of duck-egg blue colour with a floral print and I think this contrasts pretty well with the wall colour. Finding curtains that I liked, were of the right (awkward) size and were of a decent price was such a headache that I finally settled on these badboys. 


Finally, how the room turned out once everything was done and dusted (but before the curtains were put up):
As you can see, I've opted to put my bedside table by my bedside instead of getting a step ladder. The wardrobes are from IKEA and came to the modest total of £501 (including the Komplement interiors). This, in comparison to a quote we got from a company I won't name who told us it would cost us £5,000 for wardrobes for my room...

Finally, the bookshelf is still a work in progress - everything has just been put into it while my sister's room was being done at the time and I am hoping to blog about how it has been properly organised, in a few weeks' time.

I will be posting about the bookshelf and how I've organised it in another blog post because it is quite messy right now and the above picture isn't an accurate representation of how it will be organised. There will also be yet another blog post about the study area and the thinking behind its arrangement.

All in all, my room had to be a place for sleeping in but also a place to work in because it will be my study area too and so, I think I've done a good job of balancing these two aspects as there is a corner for studying in and the bed in the opposite corner (well, almost!).

16 comments

  1. You've done a great job. ♥ I wish I could decorate my room again.

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    1. Thank you! I still have another two bedrooms, a living room, a study and a kitchen diner to do so I'm not loving it as much as I was a few months ago hehe :) x

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  2. Oh gosh! This is like a dream of mine. I really like what you've done. Ever so organised :D

    Mo x

    withinmylocket.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Aw thank you! I tried to find things that would keep my room organised but also looking pretty :) x

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  3. OMG I Love it all!!!! You are making me more motivated to re paint this weekend rather than leaving it for longer!!!

    I need to reply to your email tonight as well!!! I should of done it last night but I was having a bit of a productive sulk!!

    I am replying tonight!!!! :DDDDDD

    xxxxx

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    1. Hehe thank you! Painting is a good work out too so even though it might not register on NikeFuel, you could add on fuel yourself ;)

      No worries about the email - I know you're busy :) Hope you're ok! xxx

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  4. Your room is beautiful!! I wish I could decorate my room!! Unfortunately all the furniture in my room is fitted and the only things I would be able to change would be the wallpaper and position of my desk! I loved reading this and looking forward to reading your study area post if you are planning on doing one!

    fleurdanielle.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Aw thank you! Ah I kind of wish my furniture was fitted but from what you've just said, it's good that they're not so that I can change the layout if I wanted to hehe :) I will be doing a study area post - going to write it today and will probably go live in a few weeks :) x

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  5. Wow it looks so good! Especially like the bookshelf... would love one in my room but it's too small! I've recently given my room a bit of make over (painted all my furniture!) and I've learnt to accept the petite size of it haha! :) Great post x

    janesjumbles.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Thank you! The bookshelf is just from IKEA hehe, cheap and cheerful. They do various sizes so there might be one that would fit in your room? :) x

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  6. Looks great Angela, we love Ikea too, I guess over 80% of our house is Ikea stuff over the years.

    It's the one store I can walk through and just see so many things I like. It is well designed, clever designed and good value for money too.

    You have made good use of the space in your room.

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    1. Thanks Steve - glad I have your approval hehe. My room is pretty much 60% IKEA at the moment I think. And I think by the time we're done with the house, it will be around that number too! IKEA is only a ten minute drive away which definitely influences our decisions on where to get cheap and decent quality furniture. x

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  7. Oh Angela it looks great!! You did a fantastical job decorating! I gasped when I saw the wood boards under the carpet too but noticed the gaps too :/ The flooring, wall color, and the furniture looks very nice together!

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    1. Thanks Ariana (love your name by the way!) :) I wish the wood flooring under the carpet wasn't so gappy and splintery (not sure that's even a word!) as it really was beautiful. Such a shame really! x

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  8. Just wondering where those curtains are from/the name they are lovely!

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    1. I genuinely can't remember - they were from a local independent store a few years ago! Sorry x

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