It’s been two and a half years since I moved into my first home on my own. Everyone says that when you buy your first house, it’s a constant work in progress. And guess what, they’re bloody well right! It may have been a couple of years and I may have got the bulk of decorating out of the way for the first few months before I moved in, but there are still areas I am tweaking with one room in particular I have never been happy with – my spare bedroom.
When I first moved into my house, every wall in the whole place was brown. Yes, brown. Think: carboard beige brown. The type of brown which isn’t really a colour, but definitely needs at least four coats of white paint on every wall and ceiling to get rid of it. As a result, I white washed the house with buckets of matte white paint before I went through every room and gave it an identity. By the time I got to my spare room, I was kinda sick of the white, and made the fateful decision to paint each of the walls a baby blue instead. Unfortunately, it was instant regret, but after painting on three coats to cover the brown I couldn’t face going over it again. As a result, my spare bedroom has never really had an identity; I kinda just shut the door on it and put it to the bottom of my ‘to-do’ list for the past two years. I just couldn’t face more painting!
That was, until I had a moment of inspiration a month or so ago and thought – it’s now or never! I gathered some fresh paint rollers, dug out a leftover bucket of matte white paint and gathered all the strength in my arms to get this room going again. It was time it had an identity, a purpose and a use. What a waste to just have it there, unused – it needed to have it’s time!
As you can see from my ‘before’ pictures, my spare room was quite unloved. Sadly, this was after I had already had a good go at decorating it the first time. I wish I had pictures from even -before- it’s first makeover because then you would have truly seen in what a state of disrepair it was.
This was an improvement, trust me. But still; the paint wasn’t great quality; it was a little dull, streaky and made the room feel cold. I had purchased the day bed with a trundle for the purposes of guests, but other than that the room didn’t really get used. It was in risk of becoming a junk room and I was so uninspired with the whole thing!
When I finally decided it was time to make this room from a ‘house into a home’, I did my research on current home trends with longevity. You guys know I love my bold colours and patterns, and I have been seeing so much teal recently that I really loved the idea of using it in this room. However, I was hesitant to put it on every wall for fear of it having it’s time and having to repaint and cover up such a bold colour again in a year or two’s time. So, I decided to paint three of the walls white and then concentrate on just one feature wall.
The white washing of the room took a long time – lots of weekends, evenings and even Friday nights with a bottle of wine. As you can see, my pug, Sonny, had no idea what I was doing spending so much time in this room on my own, but he was more than happy to keep me company throughout!
I painted the three walls white first, before getting onto this beautiful teal colour. It looks very similar to a certain Farrow and Ball colour, but expensive it was not! In fact, I picked it up at Wilko’s and it was their own brand paint in the shade, Neptune, and cost less than a tenner. I did 2 – 3 coats over the main back wall and I still have around half a pot left, so it was super value for money. It also felt like a dream to paint on such a bold colour after so much white, white, white over the cold pale blue that was there before. Look how happy I was with myself!
The painting was definitely the longest part of the process. Not necessarily the hardest, because it is quite a therapeutic thing to do, but it is also boring and takes a lot of upper arm strength. I even had aching muscles for a few days after one weekend where I dedicated all my time to it!
And introducing… My spare bedroom, after it’s makeover – and as you can see, I couldn’t be more delighted!
I really struggled to take a photo of the whole room at the same time, so I hope my selection of pictures give you an idea of how the whole room fits together in it’s different parts. I am so pleased with how it turned out, even better than I expected if I do say so myself!
As I wanted to keep the teal colour as a central theme to the bedroom, I didn’t want to introduce too many different colours into the theme. Instead, I went for a classic colour palette of black, white and a splash of gold to add some warm metallics into the room. Of course, I couldn’t be totally tame, and did choose to add a mix of monochrome prints and this incredible artwork as a focal piece to the wall. So, let me talk you through the different elements I included…
One of the biggest struggles I knew I was going to face when making over my spare bedroom, was what to do with the bed. Although the bed in there was brand new, I had just never fallen in love with it. In fact, I really disliked it and was tempted to chuck it out and just buy a proper sofa bed to put in there, instead of a day bed. However, I am trying to be less wasteful and was determined to try and make this bed work for the space.
I researched how to try and make a day bed look more like a sofa, and well, the thing I found to work the best was getting some damn big cushions to put against the wall, almost to act as sofa backs. As you can see in my before pictures, normal pillows and cushion sizes just weren’t cutting it, but as soon as I found these XL Black cushions on Wayfair I was hoping they would help transform the bed. And they have! At just £24.15 each, they are certainly a lot cheaper than splashing out on a whole new bed for no reason other than appearances.
Although it doesn’t look exactly like a sofa, I am actually very happy with how the day bed turned out. With the help of a paw print patterned duvet cover (to add to the monochrome theme but with some extra texture), a velvet throw and a couple of smaller teal cushions to tie the bed back into the colour theme, it truly now does resemble how I picture a ‘day bed’ to look, instead of just a ‘bed’. And let me tell you, it feels as comfortable as it looks!
Aside from the two existing pieces of furniture (the set of drawers and the bed), the biggest addition to the spare bedroom is this stunning ottoman. I had wanted an ottoman for SO long but never found somewhere to put one – until now! I think they just look so luxurious and add an element of class to any room.
This ottoman is from Wayfair (by the designer Canora Grey) and is of exceptionally high quality. With black velvet chesterfield upholstery and gold plated metal legs, it is absolutely worth every penny and more. The ottoman fits absolutely perfectly in the room. I’ve positioned it in front of the bed to act as a foot stool-come-coffee table and it works absolute wonders. I truly don’t think the room would look complete without it, especially as the bed is a day bed. It really helps to bring the room together and give it that extra snuggly feeling. In fact, I have started to refer to the room as ‘my snug’ as it fits that description so well!
In the left hand side corner (the corner that faces you as you walk in the room) is a simple Malm drawer set from IKEA. Like the day bed, this was a fixture of the room before, but has taken on a new lease of life since the makeover despite doing nothing to touch the actual furniture itself. Simply giving It a purpose – a home for my shoes and my record player – has given it a reason to be there and an identity.
In fact, I absolutely love how my high heels look all lined up in my drawers. It makes me feel like I have my own mini she shop in my spare room (almost as a little treat to myself) and aside from that, makes picking out a pair of heels super easy before a night out! You guys know I go to a lot of work events and award ceremonies, so it makes total sense to have all my fancy shoes put neatly away, but still exactly where I can find them.
I am particularly proud of the record player on top of the drawers, however, as this was salvaged from my late Grandma’s home. After she passed away this Summer, I have been missing her so incredibly much and so to have a statement item from her home, now in my home, means a lot and reminds me of fond memories every day. Despite being rescued from Grandma’s house, this record player/stereo set did originally belong to my Uncle when he was my age and so it feels nice to give it another lease of life. Plus, it looks pretty cool, don’t you think? The stereo can play vinyl, the radio, cassette tapes – the lot!
Above the vinyl player is this elephant head sculpture that I found when looking for elephant artwork on Etsy. Handcrafted from wood and stained black by an intendant artist, I was instantly taken with it and it only cost me around £25. Elephants have long been a family symbol of my grandma, so it made sense to place it above the record player so she could watch over the room. The artwork did come with some industrial double-sided tape to stick it onto the wall, but I actually used two tiny gold nails to hammer it into the wall – and plus, they make the elephant look like she has eyes!
For lighting, I knew I wanted to keep the space ‘snug’ with warm coloured lights and subtle accents of golds. Therefore, I decided to go for a black lampshade with a gold metallic inside, that would help create some warm golden light in the room – simple yet effective. This black cotton lampshade with gold foil on its interior was a bargain at £19.99 and spans the perfect width at 30cm; not too big and not too small, just right!
I also chose a black tripod floor lamp with the same black and gold theme, which I fell in love with the minute I put it up. It resembles the Old Hollywood style ‘film lamps’ and I adore its industrial gold colouring on the inside of the shade. At it’s highest, it stands at 133cm but the legs are fully adjustable and it comes with an easy to access on-off switch for ease of use.
Both the floor lamp and lampshade go together so perfectly even though they weren’t from the same creators, and again, both of these items were from Wayfair. It is my one-stop-shop for all things homeware!
Although the carpet in the spare room was new and matches the rest of the carpet along the upstairs, I felt like the spare room would benefit from a litte somthin’ somethin’ extra to tie the space all in together and help it stand out from the rest of the upstairs. Cue: this incredible Tabit monochrome patterned rug by Wayfair.
This rug comes in a variety of different sizes and shapes, but I chose a classic rectangular shape and it slots in the room absolutely perfectly. In fact, it truly helps to frame the centre of the room around the bed, chest of drawers and position the Ottomon perfectly on it. It is very satisfying indeed!
I mean, how could I see this piece of art and NOT buy it?! It would be a crime for any Pug Momma to pass this up. In fact, I spied it when I was looking for several smaller pieces for the right hand side white wall in order to create a gallery feature, but when I spotted this I totally fell in love and just had to have it in the biggest size possible. In fact, this ended up being one of the most expensive items in the room once framed. I bought the frame myself off eBay to try and cut costs a little, but it was quite tricky to mount an A3 print of this size so I almost wish I had just bought it altogether – maybe next time!
For other finishing touches, I have to mention the mirror I hung on the right hand wall. I really love my art deco glamour and so wanted a little nod to this in my spare room as well. This gold sunburst mirror does the trick and at just £35 from Dunelm was an absolute bargain for the size. That being said, it did turn up with some sprongs out of place and took several attempts to get a hook strong enough to support it on the wall. I finally managed to do it (all by myself) and couldn’t be prouder!
Of course, no bedroom is truly complete without some flowers (faux sunflowers, the last flowers I gave to my Grandma), some conveniently colour coordinated books and scented candles (making sure they match the gold metallics theme, of course). I am toying with the idea of looking out for a projector in the Black Friday sales so that I can screen films on the wall opposite the bed, which for now I have left blank and white. There’s something nice and cosy about the room that would lend itself so well to that!
As I am sure you can tell, both Sonny and I are absolutely over the moon with our new ‘snug’. It has given the spare bedroom a purpose, an identity and a proper reason to use it. No longer it is an empty, forgotten room in the home – it has a true reason to be there, as well as still acting as the perfect guest room whenever a friend comes to stay. With the help of a fresh lick of paint and just a few additional homeware accessories, it has transformed the two main furniture items in the room, changed the vibe of it and made it even more snug than I ever expected!
[Include gifted items from Wayfair, all other items purchased with my own money]
Full time I'm an ambitious Head of Marketing and Communications in the luxury industry. Part time, I'm an enthusiastic British Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle blogger and YouTuber from Manchester, UK. This blog has been my outlet for the past 7+ years, and as a longstanding, Award-winning blogger I take the most enjoyment from creating content I truly love and believe in. All authentic. Always.