Using Decals to decorate a girl’s bedroom

You would be forgiven for thinking that we moved house to avoid a) having build work and b) decorating The Girls’ bedroom. I promised LBG a long time ago that she could get her bedroom redecorated when Dimples moved in with her.

The move, ironically, led to them being separated- and us having build work- so now I have two bedrooms to decorate. In fact a whole house to decorate. I started small with the Guest Loo makeover, the wallpaper for which is a hit with everyone who visits us personally or reads the post!

But where The Girls were concerned, a different approach was needed. Children change a lot in a short space of time but I have absolutely no intention of redecorating every time they grow out of something. Almost all of the walls in our new house were a mustardy yellow which had to go. We painted The Girls’ rooms in Calamine by Farrow and Ball, which is a great shade of pink that isn’t too saccharine and actually looks more purple in some lights. I admit the name also makes me giggle and think of chicken-pox-ridden walls.

Because the house used to be an agricultural building, all the rooms have large deep window ledges, and we used this to our advantage in Dimples’ room by building a bookcase up from the ledge next to her bed: perfect for storing masses of books, teddies and ‘special things’. This was also painted pink.

Dimples requested a room that is “pink and purple and all colours.” I found, when we moved, several packs of vinyl bunting decal I bought with a view to decorating her nursery when she was born four years ago, and that I never used. Wouldn’t you know but it fitted her new room almost exactly? It probably took and hour to stick up and I did it by eye so it’s undoubtedly uneven in places but it looks great and fills the ‘all colours’ brief very well. The remaining few flags I used to decorate the beam that runs across her room. Then I got DH to hang various paintings and prints, including a beautiful name plate made by a friend who specialises in upcycling Vintage Furniture. The Ikea Hack meadow rug I made a few years ago is still going strong and perfect for the large space.

There was still something missing so I turned to decals again: PVC stickers go up very easily, are really easy to install because you can peel them and restick them if you don’t like the placement. And they come in so many fun designs. I found a tree with two lovebirds on eBay for an absolute steal. One of the birds I stuck on top of the bunting which ties the two sticker sets together. And finally, given that you never rip out good storage, I replaced the door handles on the existing wardrobes- we’ve had them adapted by a carpenter so that we can store toys in one half- with funky coloured mismatched handles.

There is more to come but I am really pleased with the look, and best of all, because the decals are easy to remove and don’t damage the walls, I’ll be able to change the look in a few years when she’s ready for a more ‘grown-up’ style!

 

Bunting wall stickers

Tree and bird decal wall sticker- for similar try Not On The High Street

Mixed coloured door handles

Calamine by Farrow and Ball