White space

It all started with Honeybee.  She was always attracted to warm bright colours, what honeybee isn't and so her bedroom reflected her personality; vibrant, creative and busy like any little worker bee.  ORANGE!  All four walls.  No one could ever say it wasn't cheerful.  When our summers turned to grey and winter set in, Honeybee’s room shone. It was never dull.  Just like her.  Full of African artefacts, posters and photos, invitations, faux butterflies hanging from ceilings, Peacock feathers,  sparkly jewellery dangling from several stands, beckoning to be worn to one more party, and the floor constantly strewn with assignment papers.  And then she left. 

Every time I’d go into her room I’d be wondering how I could utilise it better, since Honeybee doesn't come home that often.  I also needed a space, somewhere to put my laptop other than my knee and so the big clear out started.  It took me about three weeks to pack up all her possessions, sorting them into different piles; bin, charity shop, and storage.

Because the rest of the house is fairly colourful, I wanted minimal colour here.  And for those of you who have heard me talking about my distaste for white interiors, I take it all back.  I've been converted, at least in this room. I was so excited about the prospect of wallpapering one wall with Cole and Son’s Palm Leaf Wallpaper as I had some left over from a few years back, but after struggling to cover the orange with four coats of white paint, I don’t think I can deface these walls with wallpaper, so I am keeping it white.  It’s bright and light and it feels cool, but not cold and because it’s a tiny room which is long and not very wide, I wanted it to look as spacious as possible.

Like most rooms, they take time to evolve.  Right now I'm looking for a rug.  I just can’t seem to find one that isn't too loud or colourful. I'm favouring sisal or jute at this stage which I want to top with another more graphic rug in muted tones.  The colour palette is a little bit neutral with pops of gold, earthy tones with lots of greenery and a few sparkly pieces to warm it all up.  My design scheme totally changed after I decided against hanging the wallpaper.  When you change one element of a design, everything else needs tweaking and so I am adjusting my design to fit in more with my restrained mainly white canvas.

A sneak peak of my desk which is not quite finished.  The gold Hare is by Abigail Ahern and I'm a little bit in love with him!  I've bought some plants in here to complement the white space and give it some life, plus it’s really light and sunny so I'm hoping these will flourish! Keeping colour to a minimum is really hard for me, because I love colour in a big way, but I'm going for a restrained palette here and quite honestly, after the orange I am appreciating the neutrality of this space. 

So a few pics for the week, I’ll have more to show you later as I layer it all up, add some gold, a few cushions and more green.

Have a great week!

Sharon