The making of a home

Bedroom number one

#Gifted #AD

I'm not going to play around here, this house has been worked on for so long, I got to a point where I thought I was in a parallel universe where I would forever be waiting for the house to be done...like I was forever in limbo, a land where it felt like I was in the waiting room to my life. Well. NO MORE AM I WAITING! I am finally writing, which means that finally I can share an actual completed room.

I will write a big blog post when the entire house is finished showing all the rooms before and during the different stages and after once they're all completed, I will also run you through the timeline of when this all began and how my boyfriend Will got on doing it up himself with some help from is dad. for now though I'm just going to chat about this one room, partly because it's the only finished room so far, but also because I got to work with West Elm, and let me tell you, I don't get gifted many things (think I can count on one hand in fact) and the fact that the lovely folks over at West Elm were as excited about our 400 year old house renovation as we were, it put me on a high I have not yet come down from.

Here is the thing, my boyfriend is doing up a house, which is very expensive, and I have given myself the role of filling the house, which is very expensive. Am I hugely lucky and fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work with West Elm? You bet your bottom dollar I am. Would I have been able to afford all this stuff in one go on my own? You bet your bottom dollar I wouldn't. However, I would absolutely have bought each and every one of these items myself...you know, not at once, but if I had a house that already had some things, I would have bought these things if I needed them, because they're well made and, most importantly, pretty. I met with the design team over at West Elm earlier in the year and the put together this amazing design of pieces that would work with what I had in mind, it helped so much with picking wall colours and other items that could work in the room.

That long ramble summarized is, yes I am a spoilt b*tch, but yes I also would have spent my money on this...just not all at once.

Without further ado (and boring you with the rambling) I present the bedroom...at different stages throughout the renovation and, when you scroll far enough, the completed room. I will chat below as well about the items and, of course, link them all as well in case you're interested...and like interiors, and think West Elm is pretty fab, like I do.

Stage one:

Stage two:

Stage three:

The finished bedroom!

The Details

(all items are listed and linked at the end of the blog post as well)

The bed and duvet set.

So the room started with choosing the bed. in a 3 bedroom house I knew I wanted to really vomit different styles all over the place, I knew I wanted a black metal bed, a neutral rattan bed and a fabric (preferably velvet) bed, so when I saw this wonder on the West Elm website I knew it was the one. It's a bloody king size and all, and let me tell you, this is something I have wanted for so very long, before I met Will, but it's certainly helps to have a king size with Will as he is 6"2. The duvet and pillow covers are also from West Elm, they are linen and beautiful and White and Will isn't allowed anywhere near them.

The chest of drawers.

With the bed picked it was time to pick the furniture, which was a pretty easy job because I've been aware of West Elm's mid-century collection for ages, so boom, I picked the Acorn drawers because, well look at them, need I say more?

The planter.

I try and fight against the grain generally, I try and not pick things cause they're trending, but of course I got a bloody planter! I want a lot of planters and a lot of plants in the rest of the house, and this is a beautiful hefty beast that I had to have. This is also from West Elm.

Hanging macrame planter.

Speaking of trendy pieces yeah or course I got a macrame plant hanger, don't judge me though cause I'm truly living out my scandi dreams. I got this at a little farm market near my house...about a year ago (maybe 2...it's been a long road guys), I've found a similar one here though.

The picture.

With feature beams and a vaulted ceiling I couldn't go art crazy, but I did manage to sneak in one framed photo. I took this of Will and his best friend Matt when we were at Secret Garden Party Festival 4 years ago, I tiptoed in the camper can and got this of them sleeping. It had the right brown tones for the room...and also I love this photo...mostly that.

The side table.

Felt like the rocking chair needed a friend so found this guy...he might end up being a plant stand, we'll see how crazy life gets. On top is a vintage watering can, for the plants, and a candle that I got bloody ages ago from H&M I think.

The rocking chair.

It was my mum's, she used to nurse us on it when we were babies...then I got hold of it and ruined it when I was going through my 'PAINT EVERYTHING' phase. Still, it's sentimental and one day I will strip the paint to bring it back to its former charming glory.

The baskets.

I have bought a lot of wicker baskets in my time...I'm an idiot, I just should have bought these West Elm ones. They are the best I've owned and honestly, I just realised that being a basket aficionado is something I'm actually alright with.

The turquoise lamp.

Before talking about this lamp I'd like to personally thank spell check for helping me out with the word turquoise. Right, so, the lamp was an easy choice from West Elm, it looks beautiful lets be honest, it had the natural elements to tie in with the basket and rug, it had the wood element to match the chest of drawers and bedside tables and the blue for the walls. 

The trinkets.

Before you say it, I know, I know I should have planted these properly in the plant pots...the thing is...shut up. So yeah, the natural coloured face plant pot it called chester, I got him from...somewhere on the internet, which although isn't helpful, I found somewhere else that sells them here. The little lady planter was from ASOS and the duck leg tray (never thought I would type that) is a West Elm gem, though don't hate me if it's sold out ok?

The pigeon hole shelf.

I got this...somewhere on the internet, can't remember where but I found somewhere that does a similar one and linked at the bottom of this post. The clock was a gift from my sister, like, 10 years ago and I thought she'd get a kick out of seeing it (already sent her photos and she has very much not realised). The little houses had liqueur in them once upon a time I think, I don't drink so I just nabbed them after when my mum was passed out drunk from the liqueur. The cacti were supposed to be in pots that didn't arrive in time which pissed me off, and bottles were found when DIGGING UP THE FLOOR DOWNSTAIRS...yes these are actually relics that were discovered in the mud floors...yes mud, this house is stupidly old. And the candles are candles, go figure.

The bedside lamps.

These are from West Elm and I love them. I wanted black lamps because there was black in the mirror frame and the hanging bracket and the door. Oooh also it has the natural element to go with the floors and rug and the wooden element to go with all the wood accents. I was trying to be right clever. 

The books in the second photo I highly recommend, the pink one is Becoming by Laura Jane Williams and the other is Ctl Alt Delete by Emma Gannon. Both amazing, witty and smart women.

The curtain rods.

Look, when you do up a room you don't realise at first you have to think of thinks like curtain rods, I just thought we would put a stick above the window or something, but West Elm made me realise you can have good looking rails (ones that bring in the metal that goes with the light and mirror and the wood for the chest of drawers). Also these are double rods, which means we can (and will) hand some net curtains soon, meaning I will able to undress in this room without the whole road seeing.

The ceiling lamp.

When renovating a house, what I have come to learn is that picking light fixtures (and tiles, but that's a blog post for another room) is THE HARDEST THING. When it came to this room I was so very happy we only had to pick one tbh, and this West Elm mid-century light was for the win.

The blue velvet cushions.

More velvet from West Elm, more awesomeness, they're linked at the bottom.

The round jute rug and grey hand loomed rug.

God I love these rugs. Both are from West Elm, both bring in different colours and textures and I literally could not be happier. 

The round copper velvet cushion and the llama cushion..

The lovely llama is from Urban Outfitter...he has no name so help a girl out yeah? The round copper velvet cushion is from West Elm and feels ace.



The curtains.

We chose white linen blackout curtains from West Elm because they literally had everything we needed. I don't know much about curtains but I do know these are made very very well.

The door.

I know you probably don't care about the door, but I took a photo of it because it's an original door that we had chemically dipped to strip the paint, and the fixtures are original too.

The floors.

The floor is one of my favourite things about this room. They are the original floor boards that Will painstakingly and carefully ripped up and laid back down, then sanded and sprayed (for woodworm). They came out so well I want to be buried with them.

The floor mirror.

You know how you can get mirrors you hate cause it distorts and makes you look like crap (or probably just shows the reality of what you actually look like), this ain't that, this makes you look great. It's from West Elm and is the kind of floor mirror I always wanted, it also had the wood and black metal touches that were also in the rest of the room.

The items.

West Elm Andes Deco Upolstered Bed

West Elm Mid-Century 3-Drawer Chest

West Elm Mid-Century Patterned Planter

West Elm Black and Natural Curved Basket

West Elm Morten Black Table Lamp

West Elm Roar and Rabbit Ceramic Table Lamp

West Elm Metal and Wood Floor Mirror

West Elm Hand Loomed Silver Rug

West Elm Ivory Round Jute Rug

West Elm Blue Lush Velvet Cushion

West Elm Copper Round Lush Velvet Cushion

West Elm While Linen Blackout Curtains

West Elm Mid-Century Wood/Brass Double Curtain Rod

West Elm Belgian Flax White Linen Duvet Cover and Pillows

West Elm Sculptural Glass Geo Ceiling Lamp

eBay Pigeon Hole Shelf

Face Planter

The Rocking Chair was my mums

ASOS Lady Kitsch Ceramic Planter

Urban Outfitters Llama Cushion

Glass Macrame Hanging Planter (similar one here)

Paint is Mono by Little Greene

(Affiliate links used where relevant)