Welcome

It has been a while I must admit but I am excited to be writing to tell you all about a surprise interior project that took place at our abode prior to Christmas that I am just delighted about.

During last year I noticed I was reading a lot of articles about the smallest room in the house being the perfect place to be more adventurous with decor and to really punch some personality into the space.  I find myself more and more moving away from the sparse minimalist Scandinavian look that has been popular for so long and embracing this more opulent feel together with darker jewel colours .  Last summer I saw a picture of a bathroom that just inspired me.  It had a black and white floor just as our downstairs toilet but the walls were covered in a wonderful palm leaf wallpaper in greens and blues on a black background.  I suddenly had a lightbulb moment and thought that we could recreate this look within our downstairs cloakroom.

For as long as I can remember, well since we had our extension some 20 years ago, this room has been painted white with a chequered black and white tiled floor – and it has been great – this was just the look I wanted.  It has been redecorated in the same style over the years, particularly when in high winds the chimney came crashing down through the roof light!  It also houses a large black radiator, fancy black light and arched mirror with candle attachments – I had also added a pink towel and candles for contrast together with some posters brought back from a french holiday of some beautiful pink hydrangeas in full bloom.  However, change was abrewing……….hints started to be dropped – what did hubby think of this new idea – did he like the wallpaper? – ‘no’ was the answer – but could he be persuaded?!! I left the idea hanging in the air for several months, before picking it up again come the autumn – of course we both knew that there was a bit of a stumbling block – something that was going to take a lot more effort than a roll of wallpaper and lick of paint and that was to tackle the pipes that lay around the bottom of the wall – now of course this had always been an issue since we had the room built – but you know how it is – some jobs you just don’t get round to tackling and before you know it you become blind to them – well this was one of them.

Black Friday was on the horizon and I was toying with ordering some wallpaper at a good price – just to see of course…. and suddenly hubby sprung into action – so quickly that I had no time to take any ‘before’ photos! Well just this one as work was in progress…..

He built up a wooden frame to hide the pipes – then the decision came as to whether to paint or tile – I was going to settle for paint as I thought it too much to ask him to tile – but luckily he decided to really go for it and take the pattern from the tiled floor up and over the new boxing and I am so glad he did – it looks great and well worth all the effort he put in x

Next it was time to choose a paint colour – I was toying with a green to go with the leaf pattern but couldn’t find one that I liked and so decided to go with a rich blue colour and am just so happy with the result.

 

Initially I was wondering whether to wallpaper the whole room but just couldn’t justify the cost of doing this  with christmas on the horizon and so have just settled for wallpaper on the back wall.  The room now feels nicely cosy, although admittedly darker, but to me this is not an issue for the downstairs toilet.

 

And so the finished result …….

 

 

To finish the room off I have chosen a zingy orange towel and orange candles and have treated myself to a great little statue of a parrot on a perch  who sits guard in the corner!

In time I am hoping to add one or two jungle style framed prints but am more than happy with the outcome and the room just feels so much more cosy now.  Hubby has been a star finishing this off for me so that it was ready for our christmas guests.  Happy days! x

 

Our bedroom has now also been fully redecorated and I hope to be sharing this with you shortly on the blog.

 

Until next time………