GIRL’S BEDROOM MAKEOVER: THE PAINT COLOURS

* In partnership with Hyperion Tiles.

Since moving in, I’ve been dying to give my eldest daughter’s bedroom a mini makeover. It’s such a beautiful room with a great view but it just needed a slightly different colour scheme to suit her taste and personality. Repainting the walls is the quickest and cheapest way to change a color scheme. The pink walls had to go. My daughter is 10 now and she wanted to go for more neutral tones. We liked the old dark feature wall in her room and decided to keep it and paint it a slightly darker colour. I made all the decorating decisions together with my daughter. I wanted her to be involved since she’s the one who will be spending most of the time here. And thankfully she was very excited about getting a room makeover and was keen to pick her favourite colours, wallpaper, etc. I think it’s important to let children have a say when it comes to decorating their room but I would also be a little cautious when picking more permanent features. It also depends on how frequently you are happy to redecorate. I don’t expect to repaint the rooms for at least 5+ years but I understand this is very personal and depends on whether it’s a high-traffic area, if you have kids or pets etc.

WALLS

We chose Ca’ Pietra’s Proper Good Paint in colour Maples Cloth (matt emulsion) for the main walls. It’s a perfect off-white shade. Not too cold or warm but enough to make a north-facing room feel warmer and cosier. It is categorised as a white paint and I’d say it is the perfect balance between cream and white. It’s got a wonderful softness to it which works nicely in rooms that don’t get much natural light. We painted over the existing paint (pink) and used the same paint as a primer. It only needed two coats as the coverage was extremely good according to our decorator. He also mentioned that the paint was fabulous to work with. It doesn’t smell or drip and is a pleasure to apply. The finish is great too. I love this shade of white with greys. It looks so chic and timeless. It really stands out when paired with feature walls thanks to being the perfect contrast to bolder colours.

FEATURE WALL

I do love a feature. Whether it’s painted or wallpapered, a feature wall can elevate any space. I usually stick to one but sometimes it’s fun to make an exception, don’t you think? The great thing about decorating these days is that there are no rules. Do what makes you happy! We chose Apollo’s Moonstone matt emulsion for our dark feature wall. This wall was already painted darker so it was fairly easy to just paint over it. However, due to having to use quite a bit of filler, we needed three coats of paint. Otherwise, the white filler would have shown through the darker paint. The medium grey paint looks so stylish, especially when paired with a neutral colour like Maples Cloth. The coverage was very good and you’d probably be ok with two coats if you already have dark walls. I love the depth and the hint of blue that this paint colour brings to this room. Dark walls tend to have the opposite effect that people usually think. They can visually make a room appear bigger and lighter. We painted the light colours first and left the dark feature wall last. Just use masking tape to avoid any streaks in your existing paintwork.

WOOD PAINT

To keep things consistent, we decided to paint the woodwork in the same colour as the white walls, using Maples Cloth in eggshell. Blending in the skirting boards with the walls will make the room feel comforting and cohesive. It’s also a great choice if you want to emphasise a specific feature; like a feature wall. I love that the paint we used is a non-toxic paint completely safe for children’s rooms. It’s not as shiny as satinwood or gloss paint which is exactly what I was after. It also doesn’t smell bad like gloss paints do which was a big bonus. This is the first time we used eggshell on skirting boards and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. I love the seamless look and the matt finish works nicely in a contemporary space. Eggshell is a durable choice for skirting boards, especially in non-high-traffic areas but I can’t comment on the longevity just yet as we only painted the room a few weeks ago.

CEILING

I would have considered painting the ceiling in the same colour as the walls, but the ceiling is wallpapered so we decided to leave it as it is. It was in good condition so it didn’t need redoing. I would have of course preferred to get rid of the textured wallpaper but that would have resulted in at least two extra days of work (not to mention the mess) so we decided to skip it. Plus, we live in an old house and chances are the ceiling is not in a great condition and may need replastering once you take the wallpaper off.

UPCYCLING AN OLD DESK

I was lucky to spot this Laura Ashley desk on Gumtree a few months ago. I’d been looking for the perfect desk for quite some time. I liked the idea of upcycling an old wooden desk and being able to repaint it if we fancied a change. My daughter is 10 now so it was important that the desk would last her through her teenage years and beyond. The desk already had a primer on, so all it needed was two coats of Maples Cloth in eggshell. This is the same paint we used for the woodwork and it came out beautiful. I love how it matches the built-in cabinets. I changed the original drawer pulls to Moroccan-inspired knobs. It’s crazy how something so small can make the whole desk look more expensive and unique. I’m also thinking of changing all the handles for the built-in wardrobe and replacing them with similar ones.

This room is not quite finished yet but painting was definitely one of the quickest and most effective ways to transform the space. It looks a lot more grown up now and I think my daughter won’t get bored of it anytime soon. I love adding the finishing touches like art, decorative pieces, etc next. Plus we still have a wallpaper reveal coming up, so stay tuned!