‘WE CHOSE A SOOTHING MODERN LOOK’ A relaxing bedroom features a rich colour palette and clean lines
A rich colour palette and clean, simple lines have created a smart yet relaxing main bedroom
Laura Porter, an artist and interior designer, her husband Steve, a mechanical engineer, and their children Luke, 10, and Joel, seven, live in a four-bedroom 1970s detached house in Basingstoke, Hampshire
Tell us about your home We bought the house because, with two growing boys and a business that I run from home, we needed more space and a bigger garden. The rooms were painted in different, strong colours that weren’t to our taste, but we lived in it and renovated as funds and time allowed. The living/dining room was the starting point because it’s the space we use most, then we did the hallway, landing and downstairs cloakroom. We tackled the main bedroom next, spurred on by too many cold, wet nights with the wind blowing straight through the double-glazing. What look were you aiming for?
I wanted a calming but sophisticated look. Before I had the boys I was really into pink, but now, with three males in the house, I’m more accepting of ‘masculine’ colours. If I suggested pink for any of the rooms I’d be shot down in flames! We used a rich blue in the downstairs cloakroom, which I liked and thought would work in the bedroom. We decided on navy for three walls and a stone shade for the fourth, which gets the morning sun, so the light would bounce off it into the room – though I’ve managed to sneak a touch of pink in via an oil painting and accessories.
Who carried out the work?
Steve and I did it between us in the evenings and at the weekends. We got rid of the stained cream carpet, sanded the built-in wardrobe doors before painting them, then painted the walls and woodwork. I wanted brass power sockets, so Steve changed them all. He made the bedside tables from American oak and we painted them in eggshell white. They’re hung on the wall because of a lack of space and also because in the past, I’ve found bedside tables cumbersome, yet not big enough to cope with books, glasses of water and lamps – these hold everything! We had mirrors made to measure to hang above them and, finally, we laid a new carpet and hung curtains. The project took us around eight weeks in total.
Did you encounter any problems?
Yes. We had to paint the blue walls four times to get the right shade. Then when Steve changed the sockets, the plaster crumbled, so we had to re-plaster around them – we had to replace the lining paper on one of the walls and repaint. It added two weekends of work onto the project, which left us sleeping on the spare bedroom floor with our clothes heaped up in piles. By the end we were at breaking point. On the plus side, Steve and I enjoy working together, we chat and listen to cheesy tunes on the radio. We also learnt our lesson – don’t paint a wall before changing the sockets!
What about furniture?
Simple and Scandi was the look we were going for. We bought a classic Ercol oak bed, which looks good against the blue wall. It replaced a painted metal bedstead we’d bought from Argos 12 years before. There was already a built-in wardrobe and an old Ikea chest of drawers. We kept other furniture to a minimum to prevent it looking too cluttered. Were there any extravagances?
The bed was expensive, but it’s a classic. And the carpet is 100 per cent wool, which looks and feels luxurious, especially on a winter morning, but we felt we could afford to indulge ourselves, because we’d saved money by doing the work ourselves and by making our own bedside tables and not buying any other furniture.
Would you change anything?
No, I love it. I go in there sometimes to calm down – it’s the soothing colour and the lovely garden views from the full-height window.