A Mini Makeover For Our Third Bedroom

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Pete and I have a running joke that we have a “bedroom each” with us fondly referring to the front bedroom as “his” room and the back bedroom as “my room”. Truth be told of course is that we share the top floor master bedroom but have managed to do very well at finding useful purpose for our second and third bedrooms whilst turning bedroom four into our home office.

Perhaps useful purpose is a slight exaggeration – up until earlier in 2015, both second and third bedrooms were full of stuff. His stuff still occupies our second bedroom, which at some future point will be a guest room but currently serves as laundry room and holder of all junk…

The third bedroom which looks out over the garden is the only suitable place we have for guests and doubles-up as my stockroom for DaisychainBaby. This room was the least damaged of all the rooms when we moved in – carpet in a fairly reasonable state and just an insipid pink paint on the walls. Despite that, it’s still taken me nearly 2 years to complete a mini makeover/transformation of this room which is no surprise given that my home improvements would be faster if a snail was in charge!

Back in August I wrote this post with a few before pictures and thankfully some wonderful collaborations with Wayfair and Iconic Lights encouraged me to keep moving forward with giving our spare spare room a lick of paint and generally a bit of a facelift. It can be hard when a room doesn’t have a traditional purpose and this room never really will – part stock room, part sewing/craft room hopefully one day, part spill-over guest room. Yet now it’s finally at a lovely stage of looking warm and welcoming whilst we save up for a new window, new flooring and try to decide on a final colour in due course.

Here’s a reminder with a couple of before photos (because I LOVE before photos, I get so cross when home magazines give all these beautiful after images with zero before photos. How can you tell if a transformation is really all that?!)sparespareroom1

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When we moved in, we realised that at some point all the internal doors had been switched round to open into the rooms rather than against the wall, which meant all the light switches were now behind the doors. It probably sounds like a minor thing but trying to live in a house where every time you go into a room in the dark you have to fumble behind the door to find the light switch started driving us a bit crazy and so we had them all switched around to be in the right place. Aside from that, nothing had been done to the room before I started tackling some painting.

I’ve painted the walls for now in Dulux Brilliant White, giving us a blank canvas to really explore how the light falls in the room before we eventually decide on a colour. Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with white and it has grown on me since we moved in. It also allows us to play around with some colourful accessories which as you can see I’m quite a fan of, but ultimately white walls are just not for me, at least not an entire room of them. For now though, this bedroom is bright and clean and a far cry from the dirty pen and scuff-marked pink.

The first item we bought for the room is this beautiful sofa bed from Multiyork. It didn’t come cheap and you can read about the nightmare we had getting it up the stairs and into the room, but it’s made in the UK and the quality is amazing. We’ve slept on it, guests have slept on it and all comment how comfortable it is and as a sofa you’d be happy to have it in any living room because it’s just so comfy.thirdbedroomsofabed

The rather gaudy central “chandelier” has been replaced by this pineapple print lampshade which I just adore from my friend Julianna’s online interiors store, Barnaby & Co.

A Rum Fellow

The Colour Sphere print is from A Rum Fellow which I won a few months ago, pretty much the first thing I’ve ever won in my life!

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The cushion on the sofa bed was a gift from my Mum and Stepdad after one of their travels, I think possibly to South Africa. They love collecting unique and vibrant prints to remember their trips by and it’s a habit I want to continue. It’s bright and colourful but fits right in with the duck egg blue of the sofa bed.

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The floor lamp in the corner was kindly sent to me by Iconic Lights and was used to style a retro movies theme as part of being one of their blogging ambassadors last year. It acts as the perfect bedside lamp too when we have people to come and stay. Underneath sits this pretty basket I picked up from Homebase before we moved into the house knowing I’d have a purpose for it one day and now it holds all my homes and interiors magazines 😉

home magazines

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This poster on the wall pays homage to my love of old movies and we picked it up after visiting the Audrey Hepburn exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on our 8th wedding anniversary last summer. Such a fascinating woman and wonderfully witty actress. I never understood older movies when I was small but now could easily get lost in watching them day after day although then the house really would never see any attention.

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The drawers, mirror and bud vases were very kindly given to me by Wayfair last year after I collaborated with them on an ombre paint makeover. This was such a fun project to take part in and the drawers look beautiful in this room. The task was completed using Annie Sloane chalk paint and I chose the drawer knobs separately.

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This pretty storage jar/vase came from a bric-a-brac shop but I still haven’t decided what to put in it yet, perhaps some coloured cotton reels once I start using the sewing machine. And the vintage-style post box book ends were a gift from my brother for my birthday last year. I’ve tried to be ruthless with book hoarding over time and although it’s been many years since my A-Levels in English Lit and then degree in American Literature and History, there are a fair few I just can’t let go of. It used to be my dream to have a whole room given over to a library but that seems a bit self-indulgent now so I’ll settle with having them scattered about the house. Pete always laughs that I’ve only kept the classy books which make me look well-read. Oh, and there’s always a place for Flowers in the Attic…

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One of the things I love most about this room is that it looks over the garden. Which is silly because the garden is in a terrible state and all the leaves on the big oak trees at the bottom have disappeared for the winter so it’s all looking a bit sparse. One day though it would be lovely to build a window seat in and make the radiator smaller or move it entirely to really enjoy the view. We still have no idea what will happen to the garden in years to come – we talk about plans to turn the garage you can see at the bottom into a summer house with bi-folding doors and get the garden landscaped once the extension is built but hopefully these aren’t just pipe dreams. We definitely will be changing that window though, as soon as we can afford to!

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And of course a room wouldn’t be complete without IKEA! Once I decided at the end of 2014 to stop doing so many events for DaisychainBaby, it meant we needed a storage solution for all the stock since keeping it in big bags was fine if we were carting it about week in week out but wasn’t suitable on a more permanent basis. The cube storage system from IKEA is perfect, it’s cheap, sturdy and means I can find everything easily when orders come in. It’s also the ideal surface for my colourful cable lights.

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Finally after much filling and sanding, filling and sanding, the area around the door is now looking clean and repaired.

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I’m so pleased with how pretty this room is now, there’s lots to be done in future but for now, as far as mini-makeovers go this is one more job ticked off the list!

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18 Comments

  1. January 6, 2016 / 4:50 pm

    Well done you! You’ve really brightened it up. I know how hard it is to get motivated with decorating projects but the hard work pays off in spades when you’re done doesn’t it?! I love the IKEA unit – so perfect for keeping all your bits and pieces tidied nicely away and the ombre drawers and sofa look great. Happy new year! xx #Twinkly Tuesday

    • Lins
      January 7, 2016 / 8:38 am

      Thanks so much Sue for your lovely words. You are SO right – getting motivated is the hardest part, once I’m busy and getting on with it I really don’t mind at all and it’s so rewarding in the end. Here’s to a productive 2016! X

  2. January 6, 2016 / 8:43 pm

    It looks fab, what a lovely room for guests, I bet the door switch drove you mad it would me. Our last house was a 1930s semi and the doors all opened into the rooms, it never made any sense to me but that is why we never changed them

    • Lins
      January 7, 2016 / 8:37 am

      Thank you Sarah 🙂 I must admit that I’ve grown to love it now but always had my heart set on a Victorian house but they’re just SO expensive in London (what isn’t). So I’m trying to do some research into elements from the 1930s up to a point and do some restoration, it feels great to have a long term plan X

  3. January 6, 2016 / 10:05 pm

    That light switch issue would have absolutely done my head in!!! WHY would someone do that?! Love the new look Lins although — and don’t hold it against me — I really love that pale pink paint!!!! Am think I *might* paint my bedroom in it. Haven’t discussed it with my boy yet, not sure that he’d like to sleep in a girly pink bedroom!! Happy new year and thanks so much for linking up with us!! 🙂 #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      January 7, 2016 / 8:35 am

      Oh our house is full of the weird and odd decisions, I think we’re done with finding any more though thank goodness!! I won’t hold the pink against you, it is a pretty feminine colour just ours was covered in years of it being a little girl’s bedroom… 😉 Glad to be back with #HomeEtc Xx

  4. January 6, 2016 / 10:10 pm

    That room looks so lovely!! I am a little in love with your hours – it has such good size rooms and I love how light and airy it feels x

    • Lins
      January 7, 2016 / 8:30 am

      Aw thank you Donna, that’s so kind to say. One of the things that sold it to us was the light that floods in, even on the greyest of days…it made up for all the things that need changing 😉 Xx

  5. January 7, 2016 / 2:41 pm

    What a lovely new fresh look, that is a gorgeous sofa bed. I love the lamp and the drawers. Do show us when you decide maybe to add some colour xx

    • Lins
      January 7, 2016 / 10:06 pm

      Thanks so much Kara, I can well imagine that deciding on a colour is what will take us the longest time, I’m better with fewer choices!! Xx

  6. mummyofboygirltwins
    January 11, 2016 / 12:20 pm

    Looks brighter, fresher and more inspiring!! Love all the accessories and colours. Wow the IKEA unit is SO practical too 🙂 Great work and must be so nice opening the door on it now. Thanks for linking up and welcome back! #HomeEtc

    Jess xx

    • Lins
      January 11, 2016 / 1:04 pm

      Thanks Jess, it really makes such a difference especially when the sun streams in through the window. At least a temporary improvement after all and motivating me for other changes! Xx

  7. January 11, 2016 / 5:39 pm

    Looks fab well done. we have one of those ikea units and I love it, the boxes can fut so much in can’t they. #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      January 12, 2016 / 8:50 pm

      THey’re SO handy Caroline!! I was a bit sceptical at first but I wouldn’t be without it now 🙂 X

  8. Lucy
    January 12, 2016 / 9:14 am

    What a great job you’ve done! I love all the different pops of colour against the neutral back drop (especially that pineapple shade!). It must be fab having all your stock organised so well. Do you tend to have a vision of how a room will develop or do you add bits and pieces you find as you go? X

    • Lins
      January 12, 2016 / 8:39 pm

      Thank you!! It’s hard to tell how this room will end up because of all the things we want to use it for but it really would be lovely to get a window seat in and then eventually some kind of craft table. Too much to do!! X

  9. January 13, 2016 / 2:19 pm

    It’s a remarkable difference. I still love your chest of drawers makeover. It’s so nice the way the light from the window really enhances the colours. Job well done, Lins!!!

    • Lins
      January 18, 2016 / 10:29 pm

      Thanks so much Rachel, I keep walking past and just stopping to peep in. I love these big rooms with big windows, one of the things that sold the house to us X

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