Even a small space can be perfect for a guest bedroom
Q. I’m fixing up a tiny bedroom as a guest room for holiday company. Can you recommend any wall finishes that would look romantic and cozy and would suit lots of different ages and personalities?
A. I have just finished renovating my tiny London home, and one of the rooms that I particularly like is the little bedroom in the attic. It is my guest room, but I have a feeling that I will be sneaking up there myself.
Attic rooms can be a challenge, with sloping ceilings that make the space feel even smaller. But to me this is cozy, perfect for happy dreams and a good night’s sleep.
It is said that in order to make a small room appear larger, you must use white or light colors on the walls. It is true that pastels are airy and give the illusion of pushing out the walls and enlarging the space — but darker colors, or oversized and busy patterns, are a cozy alternative.
I papered the whole room in a glorious damask patterned wallpaper from Farrow & Ball (www.farrow-ball.com). It looks like an original stenciled finish that would have taken days to paint. (I did stencil a similar pattern on my walls years ago, and it looked stunning, but it was labor-intensive.) The Farrow & Ball company makes its own wallpaper using paints instead of dyes to create the patterns. Not only are the colors brilliant, but you can also feel the texture. It looks like painted wallpaper — and it is — but they do the work. The pattern shown here, called Silvergate, was translated from an early-19th-century English damask paper originally printed at Silvergate in Norfolk.
Today, more than ever, headboards claim the center of attention in bedrooms, and this soft grey tufted wool headboard, Charlton from The White Company (www.
thewhitecompany.com), is no exception. It’s incredibly comfortable to lean against when you’re reading, and the wool feels cool in summer and warm in winter.
The mirrored-glass bedside table with drawers and the matching dresser (not seen), add a little Hollywood glam and generate sparkle and life in the cozy, romantic setting.
It’s always lovely to be able to add a bit of personal history to a room. It could be a hand-quilted bedspread, an old rocking chair or a grouping of old family photos. Here, I chose to hang a pair of antique lamps from France that I inherited from my grandmother.
The room is finished now and awaits its first arrivals. Enjoy your decorating, and let your imagination soar.
Q. My young nieces are visiting over the weekend, and I’d like to plan some Christmas projects for us to do together. They love crafts and baking, but I am no pro. Do you have any ideas for activities?
A. Your local craft store will have lots of hands-on projects that come with materials and instructions.
Why not make decorations for a child’s Christmas tree?
You can cut out paper snowflakes; glue colored foil onto cardboard to fashion shiny stars; and decorate Styrofoam balls with metallic paint and glitter. It will also be fun to bake up some gingerbread cookies to use as decorations (don’t forget to cut a hole in the top of each cookie so you can attach a ribbon loop and hang it on the tree). Have the children decorate the cookies with icing and sprinkles.
If you still have time, have the kids design and decorate wrapping paper. All you need is a roll of brown or plain white paper, some paint and a few stamps with holiday motifs.
You supply the materials, and the children will guide you. Have fun!