It’s weird how tastes change. Even going back just a few years, my living room was a cacophony of various colours – pinks, yellows, blues, turquoise. And at the time, I really did love it. It made me very happy to have such a bright and joyful space. Then, something sort of shifted in me and I decided to remove the turquoise accents. And then I decided to change the wallpaper… and the curtains… and suddenly, the room transformed and I loved it even more. A few choice shades – in the case of my living room, it was greens and raspberry with a touch of pink – made it feel a bit more stately, a bit more grown up.
I’ve seen the same effect in my dining room. It was bold blue (again, which I loved for a while) with bold accents of orange and pink and turquoise shades. A wild ride of bright bold hues and again, I loved it. But redecorating that room with a softer shade of grey and choosing only a couple of areas of where colour was added and allowed to shine has made me realise something. It seemed that despite my love of colour, I didn’t really need to have them all in the room all at the same time. Loving colour for me could just mean using colours with care. A touch here, a touch there.
In the kitchen, the plans are for a mostly black and white scheme. The bold colourful wallpaper behind the shelves is going and in it’s place will be another wallpaper but with a softer (but no less striking) palette of black, white, peach and grey.
And so then we come to the bedroom. I’ve had a really bright bold colour scheme in there for almost as long as we’ve lived here. And I know how many people have always loved it – and trust me, I do (did) too. But I feel like it’s time for the room to grow up a little, along with the rest of the house.
I imagine there are a few of you out there who are thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, woman, can’t you just leave a room alone?! Must you constantly be redecorating??’ but well, yeah, perhaps I do. I enjoy it, it makes me happy and allowing this house to evolve is always what I’ve been all about. My tastes change, they evolve, and I want my home to reflect that.
This is really more of a refresh rather than a total redesign. I’m on a fairly tight budget (the kitchen remodel has soaked up the bulk of my cash over the last few months and I’ve only just finished paying off the new wardrobes!) but I want a calmer, more grown up look in here for winter. There’s plenty in here that I really love and so I’m not looking to change everything by any means.
I took these pictures this weekend because well, not much has really changed in here for at least a year aside from the wardrobes and the new light fitting but I wanted a record of what it looked like before I begin some small changes which I’m hoping will make a nice shift in the look of the room.
I have always struggled with using anything except for white bedding in here and I’ve found it a real challenge trying to find new curtains (which I desperately need). With so much colour and pattern going on everywhere, trying to find another pattern or colour that blended nicely along with everything else has been incredibly difficult so I’m hoping that throwing in a few textural neutrals will go a long way to allow me to mix it up a bit and to be able to give me a little more flexibility.
If you’re wondering, the black walls, the yellow headboard, the vintage chest of drawers, the new overhead light fitting are all definitely staying. The bedside tables will be repainted, the lamps will get new shades, the artwork refreshed. It’s not about stripping all the colour out of the space but just choosing which colours will be the stars. The primary palette of red/yellow/blue will go although I’m not 100% sure of what will take it’s place! I’m working on it ;)
So ready for a little refresh? Are you disappointed or excited? I’ll be sharing some more of my plans soon! Stay tuned!
Loving your home updates! Sophie x
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Excited!! And boo to anyone who says you should leave things alone – why not change things up when you feel like it? That’s the beauty of it being your own space! I always find it really inspiring the way you change a few colours and thus the entire feel of the room…it makes you realise that the devil really is in the detail. I just hope I can get all the way around renovating my house before I start to fall out of love with the first rooms we did! ?xx
I totally get you on a home and taste evolving. When I look at the living room of my old London apartment (the one with the yellow couch on the cover of my first book) I remember the space so fondly. That said, and although I loved it so much, I would never decorate in that style now. Like you, my style has evolved and my taste become more refined and, I guess, more sophisticated. Can’t wait to see what you do with the bedroom. Our bedroom is on the To Decorate list too as we just moved into a new place! x
I love both the before and after rooms! The colours are lovely but I think you’re right – the 2016 definitely look more sophisticated. Colour’s my thing – finding the perfect colour things to match a room can be so tricky! That’s why I created ColourPuff.com. Really looking forward to seeing the new-look bedroom – your rooms are so inspiring!
I love it all but can’t wait to see what you do for the refresh! Glad the black walls and headboard are staying. :)
I thought you were going to say you were getting rid of the wall colour and going light! But I know you find it really restful and calming for sleeping – and that headboard looks amazing against the darkness. I’m trying to imagine what changes you are going to make – excited to see this room with the same dark background, yet different accents – bet it’s going to be luxurious and gorgeous! It seems you are spoiling us with new looks this year! xx
Totally love your kitchen revamp! I think it looks much better now :)
Sometimes I don’t think you grow out of something, you just need to nudge it along a little bit to start and enjoy it again. just changing a few things can make such a big difference, and it doesn’t have to cost the earth.
I love how you put that the room has to grow up a little. It wouldn’t do for us all to still, that would be boring, and you my love are far from boring xxx
Can’t wait to see what you come up with! I do love the room as it is, but I totally get why you want to change it. I think it would be strange to decorate your home and never again want to change it up! Things evolve, we have new ideas and things we want to try, and personally I feel like my home is the best canvas I have to express my creativity.
Okay this is totally selfish, but I’m so excited to see what design you have in mind for your bedroom and I’m a little relieved. So before you block me, let me explain! I’m in the (now incredibly lengthy) process of updating our bedroom, and I finally am happy going with white bed linen (I’ve been all over the shop and so indecisive about bed clothing and bought sooo many different sets to date) and last month I got a huge tin of black paint for the walls. I was so excited to start and then I was like … balls. This is Kimberly’s bedroom :P Ah no, it is going to be different as I’m going to take a Russian angle / theme to it, but I couldn’t help but have a worry in the back of my mind that you may think I was copying you. It’s so silly. I blame hormones :P xx
p.s. Seriously can’t wait to see what you do with your bedroom! Both selfishly and non-selfishly.
That headboard in absolutely gorgeous!
Congratulation on the updates that you have made in your home. The wall designs look so much better than before. You picked the right colors and coordination.
Can’t wait to see it and that wallpaper for the kitchen is so pretty!
Personally I love the designs, however when you come to sell the property will you leave it as it is or will you ‘depersonalise’ the space? I can imagine it would be hard for potential buyers to see themselves in such a vibrant, on-trend, personal space.
It’s a good question and as yet, I’m not sure. We’re not looking to sell for at least another 18 months so it’s not something I need to really worry about just yet. However, we may try to sell it as is and if we’re struggling, we’ll probably depersonalise it just a bit. We’ll never live in a beige box regardless and I won’t be stripping all of the personality out of it – it would break my heart to do that just to sell! We’ll just see how it goes! x