GIVING MY BEDROOM A FRESH NEW LOOK // with posterlounge

gifted review

Ever since we finished our big extension my bedroom has just looked a little, well, sad. 

We didn’t touch the original bedrooms in this round of renovations, as we decided to concentrate our budget on the kitchen-diner and the girls’ new space and woodland bedrooms, but now they’re all finished and fancy, my bedroom looked tired and boring by comparison.

So I decided to give myself a mini bedroom makeover!

I started with a good old-fashioned clear out, filling four black bags with shoes and clothes I didn’t wear anymore (you know, the ones you keep promising yourself you’ll fit back into one day… ) and donating them to the charity shop. Next, I had a furniture reshuffle, moving things around to make better use of the space. 

Removing all that clutter made me feel like I could breeeeeeeeeathe! but also revealed loads of scuff marks where the furniture had been knocking up against the wall, so made a snap decision to paint the walls. As fate would have it, I had a tin of Farrow & Ball ‘Lamproom Grey’ I’d bought to paint the lounge, only to decide we needed something more colourful (I still haven’t decided what yet, but I’ll know it when I see it).

Before I could change my mind, I prised it open and started painting. The difference was instant, and inspired me to keep going until the entire wall was finished. Now I had a clean, blank canvas to work with – and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

A few weeks ago I was introduced to the Posterlounge website, where you can choose from over 100,000 images and have them turned into gorgeous pieces of wall art. With that much choice it’s literally impossible not to find a design you adore, whether it be a classic print by Klimt, or one of the thousands of contemporary artists and photographers who’ve contributed images to the site.

When I was invited to select a piece for myself, I knew I wanted to push myself out of my usual Scandi comfort zone and try something different. I’ve always had a fascination for all things art deco (it’s totally the place I’d go back to if I had a time machine), so while browsing the site I was instantly drawn to the botanical drawings, and kept coming back to this one of a bird of paradise flower.

I’ve always had standard box-framed prints in the past and really fancied the idea of doing something a bit different  this time round… when I saw that Posterlounge had the option of printing directly on to a wooden background, I knew this was my fresh twist!

When it arrived a few days later, it was EXACTLY as I pictured it – I loved the contemporary frameless look, the grain of the board added an interesting texture, and the colour of the board perfectly complemented those in the design. Not to mention the fact my newly-painted grey wall formed the ideal backdrop.

It’s grown-up and classic but also soothing, if that makes sense? Now I feel like I’m in my own safe little sanctuary, which is something my bedroom – when it was filled with clutter and tired accessories – hadn’t felt like in a long time.

The picture has actually inspired me to keep going with my room – my next plan is to revive my old side table and chest of drawers with black chalk paint, which gives it a lovely ‘shabby chic’ matt finish). Then, I want to get a new mirror to hang over the drawers, and maybe a big, flouncy houseplant.

UPDATE: here’s how I ended up renovating my bedroom

• need some interior inspiration? Check out my professional home-styling tips, courtesy of the Amara design team.