Bold, Bright and Colourful Boys Bedroom Makeover

*This post contains gifted items

It was about time Raf’s room got a proper makeover. When we moved in five years ago, we gave it a fresh lick of paint (Juniper Ash by Little Greene) but every other detail was a bit of a ‘make do for now’ job. We kept the previous owners blind up, the pendant and rug had been in our old lounge, the bedside table had been in our old bathroom, and his wardrobe was a Mothercare one we got when he was a baby. After I did his sister’s room for a second time, it was definitely his turn.

I don’t consider myself a maximalist by any stretch of the imagination, but when it comes to kids room I love to experiment and be bold with colour and pattern, as I think it helps fire their creativity and encourages play and imagination.

The seed for this room had been sown many months before when I spotted Studio Flock’s Storm wallpaper and fabric as I scrolled through Instagram. I loved it immediately, showed it to Rafferty who agreed it was “cool” and I knew I wanted to work it into his room when I eventually got round to it. His room was already a shade of bluey grey, but after four years it was looking a bit tatty and I wanted something richer which would work with the wallpaper. Step forward Hague Blue, which just so happens to be an almost perfect colour match for the Storm wallpaper. I know that Hague Blue has been a popular choice for a long time and isn’t the most original choice from me but I’ve always loved it, it works perfectly in this scheme and there’s a reason it’s so popular!

I had originally planned to put the wallpaper on the ceiling but I changed my mind and went for the chimney breast instead. Rafferty’s room is on the second floor and the ceilings aren’t as high as they are in the rest of the house, so a heavily patterned ceiling and carpet would make the ceilings look even lower and be too overbearing, so I let the wallpaper sing on the chimney breast instead.I also chose the matching fabric but in the reverse colour way, and my very lovely and very clever mum made it up into a Roman blind for me, with the all important blackout lining.

For the floors we knew carpet was the only option. I’ve mentioned it before, but just in case you are new round here, for some reason unbeknownst to us, the floors in all the bedrooms have been raised by about 10cms and they all had laminate flooring sitting on top of that. Our excellent carpet fitter couldn’t be sure it wasn’t going to unleash an almighty can of worms by tearing it up. We had no desire to tempt fate and potentially open this particular can, so instead we have carpeted on top of the existing laminate.

So that was decided. And I knew I wanted pattern. But make it modern. There’s something pretty radical about bold patterned carpets. People aren’t afraid of patterned rugs, but a whole floor?!? But I love the statement it makes. I had spotted Axminster’s Havana Geo print carpet at the launch of a John Lewis campaign, in a room set designed by artist Morag Myerscough. I loved how the pattern brought an extra layer of texture and liveliness to the space. Does it clash with the wallpaper? Absolutely! But I have to say I think it also manages to look very together and considered, rather than a crazy hotch-potch. The key here is that walls and floors are the same colour. The Hague Blue walls meet the Storm wallpaper, which meets the Havana Geo carpet in Ocean, and the Petrol Blue wardrobe. They have different names but they are all basically the same colour which helps the whole room flow together, and not be too confusing for the eye to take in. Notice I haven’t painted the ceiling out. It would have been far too dark in here. But I didn’t go white either, it would have been too bright and too stark a contrast. I went for Strong White on the ceiling, which has light grey undertones. Again, it gives the room a slightly more grown up, sophisticated edge.

One thing I had done to Raf’s room on a whim a couple of years ago, had been to paint out his window frame in Charlotte’s Locks, with some paint leftover from our front door. He loves orange and he’s never gonna get an orange bedroom so that had been a good compromise. When the time came to tackle his room properly he asked if he could keep the window frame, to which my response was: “Absolutely!” The orange looks amazing paired with the Hague Blue and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to it either. If it ain’t broke and all that.

In fact the orange window frame was the catalyst for the other bold decision in this room. The Tylko storage in rust. I am OBSESSED with this brand. Seriously, it has restored my faith in flat pack furniture and I honestly think more people need to know about it. Here is why it is the future…

With Tylko you get to design a fully bespoke product to fit your space. They offer shelving, bookcases, TV units, wall storage, chests of drawers and vinyl storage in a range of colours. I went for the rust because I wanted that colour pop but the navy blue is also very nice. You select a shape and size closest to what you are after, and you can then customise so many different aspects of your storage, including the height, width and depth of the shelves, whether you want backs on the shelves or doors or drawers, and how many of each of these you want. The options are endless and it means you can design something which is perfectly suited to your space, not only in size, but also how you use it. It’s not the cheapest flatpack on the market, but this is no ordinary flatpack. It took us under ten minutes to put each piece of furniture up. The instructions were clear and everything slotted and clicked together with ease. No arguments, no divorce threats…dare I say we actually had a laugh putting it together. Told you it’s a gamechanger!

I knew I wanted a bookcase to sit in one of the alcoves, and a sideboard for across the chimney breast. Like with any kids room, storage is everything. The cupboards in that sideboard are full of Lego, craft sets, action figures etc. The bookshelves are probably my favourite thing in this room….and Raf’s. As he’s now reading by himself, I wanted to encourage that as much as possible and create a reading nook for him. It worked because I often find him curled up in his chair reading, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me!

The marigold velvet chair itself was something I found as part of a previous collaboration with Home Sense. They have an incredible selection of statement accent chairs, sofas and footstools in a rainbow of colours which are perfect for a bedroom. I also found the astronaut statue there and couldn’t resist him. Again, Home Sense is great for those quirky pieces that you didn’t realise you needed in your life! The Let’s Dance print was a present from Rafferty’s Nanny because he’s a little twinkle-toes, and the very cool Boys Boys Boys print was a gift from my friend Niamh, a very talented artist and illustrator. The print also comes in different colourways and she has lots of other beautiful designs too so do check her out.

Moving further round the room, I couldn’t believe my luck when I found the Hiba wardrobe from La Redoute was available in almost exactly the same colour as the walls. I hadn’t wanted to introduce another colour but thought the chances of finding a colour match were pretty slim. But it was my lucky day, because it was also during one of La Redoute’s famous 40% off promos so I got it for a total bargain price. I also love that you can add another section to the top of the wardrobe if you need more storage and there are storage crates and drawers in the range too. I love the utility style and the fact it blends so seamlessly into the room. The trunks are from Amanda Holden’s Bundleberry range for QVC and are full of Lego and Nerf gun pellets. The light is the Kartell Fly pendant, one of two that used to hang in the lounge/diner of our old house. I sold one on eBay but kept the other as it’s perfect in Rafferty’s room. I love the scale of it, and the fact it’s transparent means it doesn’t dominate the room.

On the other side of the room, not so much has changed apart from the wallcolour. The gallery wall was created as part of a collab with Desenio last years, I narrowed it down to a colour scheme and Raf chose his favourite pieces. The astronaut is my favourite of his picks and he now ties in nicely with the astronaut I picked up in Home Sense. His bed is old from Dreams and was under £100 and his bedding is also old from Tobias & The Bear but I absolutely love this brand for kids bedding. The jersey is so cosy and I love the graphic foxes.

All in all I think I’ve managed to create a colourful, fun, inspiring space which will last him a good few years…although he has started asking me for bunk beds in the last few weeks. The most important thing is he loves it and my hopes for his little bookworm corner have come true.

What do you think? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

The carpet and Tylko bookshelf and sideboard was gifted. I bought everything else.

All images by Kasia Fiszer Photography