Meanwhile upstairs......

In between hacking off old plaster and destroying ceilings I was also trying to improve the master bedroom. This was only going to be a temporary thing as adding an ensuite will disrupt the room along with  the insulation. Even so I need a calm scheme in the bedroom and the Neopolitan ice cream style was just not doing it for me.

Before

Neither were the light fittings.

Inherited lampshade

I much prefer to do a job properly but with so much going on I decided that a quick paint job was needed. I did sugar soap all the walls and the ceilingas well as rub down the paintwork, but I didn't remove the wallpaper and knowing that the picture going on the chimney breast would cover this I left it.

Wallpaper tear

I'd decided to use a stone and dark blue colour scheme with white gloss woodwork, which also meant I could use the existing curtains. Although not completely our style they have a certain vintage charm and work well with the wall colour - Egyptian Cotton by Dulux. This is my default neutral - it's a great colour.

In progress

Bright paint & glossy woodwork

The main reason for moving into this room was to get our big bed back, at 6 feet wide it takes up a lot of space, and this is the only room it will fit. We have had it for nearly 20 years (we've ordered a new mattress) but have moved on from modern pine so I decided to paint it. Andrew said he was fine with  that as long as it wasn't white - he said he would feel like a virgin sacrifice - so tempting.......

Original pine bed

I had a Dulux blue called Atlantic Surf mixed but when I painted the bed it was just too blue.

Nursery blue

Looking through their new colour charts I found Breton Blue which Dulux do as an emulsion, so I had it mixed as a satinwood and it was the perfect colour.

Much better

Finally I could dress the room. An oil painting that we bought for £5.00 at a boot fair picked up the colours perfectly, £2.00 paper lantern shades from Ikea were bright and fresh and an alpaca blanket that I was given as a Christmas present completed the picture. There are a couple more things to add but for the moment it'll stay like this.

A calm retreat

Until next time




Sharon