Expert Touch

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And now for something completely DIFFERENT! I'm so excited to take you on a tour of our guest room, where I've gone absolutely balls-to-the-wall WILD! Let's jump in feet first shall we?

As with the lounge it all began with wallpaper - specifically this amazing World of Wallpaper Harlen Woodland print in Dark Green which, as you can see, comes out more of a rich, deep teal (that's why we get samples people!) The natural light in this room is like nowhere else in the house, so on top of my overarching theme of "layers" I added "bright" and "playful" into the mix for this particular design. What do you think - mission accomplished?!

Since I was making all of these decisions during lockdown, I was holding all our loved ones in my heart while creating this room, looking forward to the day we could finally have guests to stay. What would my sister-in-law like? My bestie from Arran? My dad when he's had too many whiskies to get the bus home?! But I have to admit I had one particular guest at the front of my mind the whole time - my 7 year-old nephew Jacob. His favourite colours are pink and purple, he's a major snuggler and he loves all the animals, so I just couldn't WAIT to show him!

I've come up with another cost-cutting curtain trick in this room, but don't worry - it doesn't involve more dye! Since I needed 4 identical curtains, my Ebay hunting yielded few results, so I decided to take a different route. I knew I wanted a soft blush pink, textured rather than patterned (the wallpaper is saying quite enough, thank you!) so after much Googling I found the perfect ones at Ikea. They were softest suede, like a pony's nose, BUT as you may know Ikea aren't famous for lining their curtains, and despite being advertised as blackout these were woefully thin and limp. Just one ply of fabric, which doesn't exactly scream luxury.

But not to worry! I had a stack of heavy lining fabric left over from an old set of hotel curtains I'd dismantled, so I sent the curtains and lining off to my trusty seamstress and one week later I had four sumptuously voluminous curtains back and ready to hang! Buying similarly weighty curtains ready-made from an interiors shop would have cost 4 times the price, so always consider how you can edit something less expensive to give it that elevated feel for a fraction of the cost.

I loved adding the finishing touches to this room in particular as they were all chosen to be fun and irreverent! Here's what's what:

  • Gorgeous deep pile faux fur throw from Dunelm

  • Cushions made from Romo Fabrics Zahira Maize to compliment the handmade headboard (more on that in the next post!)

  • Tiebacks and mini-cushions made from Divine Savages Zsa Zsa velvet

  • Wooden print above the bed by Steven Brown Art called Angus McCoo - a very original wedding present!

  • Stunning Anna Wright Illustration print called "Fishy Friends" - she's one of my favourite artists do check her out

  • And of course no room of mine is complete without one of my PolishPoster.com collection - this one is for Shakespeare's Sonnets

Now I know your eagle-eyes will have spotted a few more Expert Touches, but you'll have to tune in next time to get up close and personal with THOSE!