Two down, two to go

The astute among you may have noticed the statement 'and as we had, at last, finished the winter project of the bedroom,' in the first of the Montreuil posts and wondered why there hadn't been anything on the blog. The answer is  that Andrew and I have two different definitions of 'finished'. His is when he can hand the room over to me for decorating and mine is when the last painting has been hung (which actually means that the room isn't quite finished yet!) So although there are still decisions to be made on art for the room and the hooks that Andrew rashly promised to make for me, enough is in place for a reveal.

All four bedrooms are about the same size, the two in the front being slightly larger as this was traditionally seen as the best side of a house (think front parlour).  The other differences in Nelson House are that they have cornices and two windows. So although slightly larger, our oversized bed worked best in the smaller back bedroom particularly as I have allocated one of the rooms as a dressing room and so it doesn't need any furniture.

So, remember this?

Mid destruction

Previous posts have shown the standard progress for this house, all plaster off the walls, 50mm insulation installed, plasterboard & plaster and at least one radiator to move.

I like my bedrooms to be  calm spaces without much distraction. We both read in bed and have used the tight beamed lights before. Individually switched they spread very little light across to the other person. Andrew hid the light switches on the side of the chimney breast, which he had extended to make it central in the room and allow the bed to fit. This wall is the one where we are still deciding on which painting/s to hang.

The room at night

The room faces south and is subject to strong sunlight. I made the curtains (Clarke & Clarke Malena for those interested) with blackout linings but had a concern about fading of both the curtaain fabric and the duvet cover. Because I wanted a hint of colonial style I chose wooden Venetian blinds which control the light but still enable a breeze. I love the way light is filtered through these, reminding me of siesta time on holiday.

I love the way the light is filtered

I could be on holiday!

With the slats open we have this.

Regular readers will know that I'm not keen on rushing out and buying new things for the house, money aside there is too much thrown away these days. Sometimes you just need to think about what you already have and see if it will work. It may need painting  - our bed is quite old now and originally pine but a couple of coats of Dulux Breton Blue has transformed it. The light fitting came from two houses ago and was originally in the bathroom, as we wanted something with a clean design it works beautifully.

Adding old pieces, those a bit battered but loved, give personality and texture. I love Lloyd Loom chairs and have a small collection (I would have more but Andrew put his foot down...) I don't mind that they've been repainted over the years. Here I have given it a contemporary feel with a cushion cover made from a crisp cotton offcut I had.

Old Lloyd Loom chair

The French oil lamp was acquired when I had an antique shop, I couldn't resist the colour and it has proved useful in power cuts.

19th century French oil lamp

Paint(Farrow & Ball Oxford Stone) and carpet aside the only new purchases were the duvet covers. I love pre-washed linen, the colours are usually gorgeous, the texture is lovely and it dosen't matter if you hate ironing!,but sadly they can be expensive. However I discovered that La Redoute have quite a good range and nearly always have 50% off. Perfect.

So we now have a calm space for the end of the day which is just as well as next week a cement mixer arrives and apparently I'm the chief floor spreader. I keep telling myself it will all be worth it...