I have a confession to make. When it comes to decorating, I have always been quite anxious about using a lot of colour. It goes against my personality. I cannot relax and unwind when surrounded by lots of different colours. My youngest daughter, however, is quite the opposite. She loves all the colours of the rainbow (which also sums up her personality!). The wonderful thing about children’s rooms is that if you are colour-shy like me, this is your chance to let go. I really wanted to bring a lot of colour into this room, but without making it feel too stimulating or overwhelming. I think it’s still important to balance bold and harmonious when decorating with multiple colours. Especially in a bedroom.
BEFORE
Ok, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Except that the old wallpaper had started to peel off the edges. There were a lot of scratches and damage. The bright yellow wallpaper was from the previous owners and although I didn’t dislike it, it wasn’t the colour or pattern I would have chosen. It was all just a little bit too yellow for my taste. I did like the idea of a feature wall, but I felt that a mural would work better in a contemporary children’s room. And keeping the walls white was the right thing to do. The main problem was the yellow wall. It had to go. And I aimed to find something better, but just as colourful and fun.
AFTER
Ta-da! My daughter and I spent ages looking for the perfect colourful mural. We finally agreed on the Abstract Flower Art Wall Mural by Mural Wonder. The moment we saw it, we both knew it was ‘the one’. You can read my full review of the wallpaper here. I picked the wallpaper before I chose anything else for this space. Everything else in the room – colourful furniture, rugs, accessories, etc – had to complement the accent wall. The room feels so much brighter now and the abstract pattern in the wallpaper adds so much interest and depth. It really does feel more like an artwork than wallpaper.
FURNITURE
As I said, all the furniture purchases for this room have been with the accent wall in mind. I wanted them to be colourful and fun. The only pieces of furniture that we had already bought were the bed and wardrobes, which is why they are white. Both will need replacing as my daughter needs a bigger bed and more storage soon.
The blue desk is such a cute design with plenty of storage space. It’s great for smaller rooms and looks really well-made. Of course, we had to match it with a pretty pink chair as well. The faux cowhide armchair is very old, but it adds just the right amount of wildness to this interior scheme.
ACCESSORIES
We also wanted to have fun with the accessories. I found the fluffiest rug from Lorena Canals. It matches the colours of the accent wall beautifully. It’s also machine-washable, which is important. I also added some contemporary art to the walls and colourful shelves to break up the whiteness. The woven storage baskets are from Artisanne, handmade in Senegal.
CURTAINS
We kept the old curtains as they go so nicely with a contemporary interior. The poles had to be replaced though and I found these from John Lewis to be excellent quality and easy to install.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Although this room makeover is now officially complete, there’s no doubt that we’ll have a few more updates to do in the future. Children grow and their rooms must evolve with them. My daughter loves her room so much that there’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll be happy with it for many years to come.
But, as I said, some furniture will need replacing. I’m thinking of putting in fitted wardrobes to make better use of the space we have. A new bed is going to be on my shopping list as well. I’d really like something in rattan. So we’ll wait and see. But I can promise you that any new updates are going to be just as fun and quirky as the rest of the room.
I’ve tried to link to all the products here, but if there’s anything I’ve missed, or if you have a question you’d like to ask, just leave a comment below!
* Post contains gifted items.
