Room Reveal: Oliver’s bedroom from the Great Interior Design Challenge
So the new season of The Great Interior Design Challenge has kicked off its fourth season this week and Episode one saw the three amateur interior designers tackle bedrooms in beautiful Regency town houses in Cheltenham. I am totally loving being on the other side of the screen and find myself shouting at the telly. And the judges! So thought I thought I’d celebrate the new series and chose a room from the first episode for this weeks Room Reveal. (This is where we take a room and pick it apart for good ideas).
One designer stole the show for me and that was Oliver Thomas. I thought there were so many good ideas and the room looked very well put together and professional.
The headboard
First of all the contentious chintz fabric I though was perfect for a scheme that aims to bring the outside in, by drawing your eye out towards the greenery outside. People are often terrified of chintz; maybe a hangover from the eighties when it was splurged uncontrollably on wallpaper, and matching sets of bed linen and curtains everything. But I feel it’s a wonderful print to incorporate in a scheme. Hugely decorative and can help to pull a colour palette together. By containing the loud and bold print to just the oversized headboard made just the right impact. And the huge oversized scale I feel worked in such a spacious bedroom.
The table lamps
I think it’s a really cute idea to use mismatched bedside lamps. It adds some originality and personality to a room. It’s something to be played around with although I’m not sure the vintage angle poise gives the right feel to this otherwise grand room.
The pendant light.
In a high ceilinged room a generous sized pendant light is the perfect choice. Small light fittings can look tiddly and don’t balance with the grand proportions. I always say if in doubt go bigger than you dare. Oliver’s design incorporating sprayed gold up cycled Hula hoops was, I thought, genius!
The curtains
Full-length curtains always get the thumbs up from me. They help the room feel furnished, cosy and luxurious. I think the ticking stripe here helps celebrate the height of the magnificent ceiling and large windows.
The wall panelling
Because the headboard was the showgirl in the room, it’s a great idea to keep the walls quiet by painting them a soft plain colour. Dove greay is such a classic restful colour for a bedroom. However by adding the panelling there is some texture and interest to the otherwise plain walls. It’s also in keeping with the period of the property but I don’t think that should withhold you. I love using panelling to add interest to my schemes. Definitely something I encourage you to experiment with, especially if your home lacks period character.
Bed dressing
A well-dressed bed always smacks a smile on my face. Plain white linen is the way to go and then you can update the look with cushions and a bed throw. By picking out the colours from the headboard fabric made the scheme really pull together. Bit of a niggle but I’d like to have seen a much bigger bed throw that fell all the way to the floor and hid that rather unattractive valance! By then carrying out the same colour story across the room onto the sofa scatters made the room work in the entire 360 degrees.
The floor
Floor paint, is a great budget idea, but in a bedroom especially it must be accompanied with a luxuriously large rug. Which makes it less of a budget option! I’m not a total fan as I always think carpet feels better under bare feet. If you do have wood floors in the bedroom then you’ll need some massive fluffy soft rugs. However the rug Oliver chose was the right size. Nice and big so he could sit a third of the bed on it which is an ideal way to dress a large bedroom.
Layout
Ideally you would want to position the bed opposite the view. I think it’s always really important to think about how a room will feel and be used. Personally I love sitting in bed with a cup of tea and looking at the view. I also think it can feel a bit awkward to have the bed against the windows.
I’m sure Oliver will go far in the competition as he seems to have a good grasp of the basic rules of decorating as well as a hugely creative flair. I’d love to know what you think of the series so far. Any favourites?
