Bedroom, Decorating, Design, DIY, Final Reveal, Home Decor, Interior Design, Make Over, Painting, Renovation, Saving Money, Uncategorized
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The Copper Bedroom – Final Reveal

MADE Copper Dressing Table

Just like buses, you wait for ages, in the rain, getting puddle mud on the back of your skinny jeans, standing with damp denim stuck to your leg… then three of the double-decker blighters come all at once.

My third final reveal post in as many weeks. That’s got to be some kind of record. The Monochrome Family Bathroom, then the Aquamarine Guest Bedroom and now the Copper Bedroom. That’s how it goes sometimes. Co-ordinating several projects at the same time can be a bit of a nightmare. But then you get a triple whammy of interior eye candy to gorge on.

Before

Today’s it’s the Copper Bedroom. The bedroom on the 2nd floor of the Edwardian property i’ve been working in for nearly the last two years now. Blimey! You can catch up with all the befores for this latest project, here and here.

Drawing Room   |   Upper Brook St

These are the two rooms that sit directly beneath the Copper Bedroom. On the ground floor it’s the Drawing Room and the floor above it’s the Upper Brook St Guest Bedroom which originally would have been the master bedroom. As you can see these guys aren’t afraid of bold design.

The brief for this second floor guest bedroom was:

  • Deal with the low light levels
  • Find a way of disguising the mix of eaves, angles, and sloped sections of ceiling
  • Use an existing bedroom suite, the Landsdowne bed and bedsides from MADE
  • Provide space for guests to hang clothes
  • Include a dressing table and armchair
  • Future proof the room so it can evolve over time. At some point it may need to house a wardrobe and chest of drawers for when it  becomes a children’s bedroom.

As ever with these guys, I sort the design and with a bit of advice they get on and do 90% of the work themselves in order to save money. It’s certainly not cheap renovating a five bedroom, period property.

And what should have been a quick redecorate, ended up being a complete re-wire, the rebuilding of a wall, re-plumbing and re-plastering…. The remaining budget for  the actual interior after all of the groundwork was done, was getting tight, so we made clever design choices to pack as much punch as possible with minimum outlay.

During

The Concept

Finally, after several more months than originally anticipated, the Copper Bedroom is finally done. So here goes…

Copper Bedroom Final Reveal

Craig & Rose Copper Paint Fireplace

After

We’re all so pleased with how it’s turned out. Ask anyone else to paint their entire room in Abigail Ahern’s ‘Madison Grey’ and they’d need to be hitting the Sambuca to gather the courage. But these guys just got on with it and embraced the change. They’ve come such an enormously long way since I first met them. I remember having to work quite hard to convince them to wallpaper all four walls in the Drawing Room, but now there’s no stopping ’em. Brilliant!

So what changes did we make for this room then?

Before

The entrance door needed rehanging so it opened away from the bed, which then meant the light switch needed repositioning on the opposite wall, along with new sockets throughout.

Madison Grey Floorboards

After

The 100+ year old floorboards were in pretty good nick for their age, so again to save money, they were painted the same colour as the walls.

Before

The smallest (and strangest) cupboard in the world was ripped out and the radiator  re-plumbed across to the right to allow a wardrobe to stand against this wall in the future.

La Redoute Hanging Rail

But for now it has a walnut and black hanging rail from La Redoute. Cue controversial cries from hanging rail haters. Man, some people on Houzz were horrified to see one in the Upper Brook St bedroom. Pretty funny.

Dowsing & Reynolds Bubble Chandelier

The Bubble Chandelier from Dowsing & Reynolds really does look stunning against the 360 degree darknesss. When you crop the ceiling rose out, it actually looks like a glass cloud just floating in space. It is super beautiful.

Copper Bedroom Final Reveal

I asked D&R to fit a copper ceiling rose and bulb holders onto this one for us, adding a little flash of colour up high. They do that you know, all you need to do is email ’em and ask.

I really can’t continue talking about the Copper Bedroom without mentioning the Copper Effect paint from Craig & Rose. For about £20 and a few hour’s work, the room has a real focal point. That strange brick fireplace that was there previously, really wasn’t cutting it.

Buh bye

So it was removed to reveal an original Edwardian tiled hearth, which just happened to have a perfectly matched rusty orange colour weaved throughout the border.

Abigail Ahern Madison Grey

Meant to be

As well as revealing these beautiful tiles, a reclaimed cast iron fire surround was sourced and fitted too which is much more in keeping with the period of the property don’t cha think?

The copper effect paint was also used on the adjacent wall to create a dramatic, feature headboard wall behind the bed.

Copper Patina Headboard Wall

This is where these guys got jiggy with the Copper Patina solution. Admittedly, they used a little more than I had imagined, but they both really liked the effect, so we compromised. I painted over about a third of the patina with copper again, and left them with two thirds patina.

The end result looked very Japanese-esque, to me anyway. Weeping Willow anyone? Obviously I left the design so it ran from left, to right, because that’s the law. If you have no idea what i’m talking about here, you must read this.

Nordlux Float Copper Wall Light

Louis De Poortere Mad Men Copper Rug

The Madmen Soho Copper rug just added enough colour and detail to the floor, with metallic, coppery flecks running throughout the flat weave. It’s very cool.

In either alcove, there was yet more rusty orange accents in the form of the Seattle armchair….

MADE Copper Dressing Table

…and the Alana Copper Dressing Table, both from MADE. The Alana dressing table was a bit less coppery than we had imagined, so we’re currently awaiting a replacement for that.

MADE Alanna Copper Dressing Table

Lulea Copper Stool from Maisons du Monde

Interior Detail

Copper Bulldog Clips from Sainsburys & Copper Lamp – homeowner’s own

So there you have it. The Copper Guest Bedroom is now complete. The magic of bold colour choices and statement lighting was the key for this room. If you have a room where you need to make an impact but don’t have the budget for fancy wallpaper, expensive new furniture, then push yourself with your paint choice. Don’t just go for a feature wall, get the whole lot done. It doesn’t need to be dark. A colour wash would work in any colour you like. Just go for it. It really is the most cost effective way to transform a room. And don’t forget the lighting centrepiece.

The Copper Bedroom Final Reveal

Would love to hear your thoughts on today’s final reveal. I already know it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, going this dark, but for these guys I think we nailed the brief.

Before | After

 

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12 Comments

  1. Looks great Karen – I love the artwork created behind the bed with the copper patina.

  2. These clients must be the dream Karen. You really know how to make a statement and it’s great that these guys are brave enough to let you take the lead. It looks stunning! I’m still madly in love with copper so I love all the copper touches here.

  3. Totally in love with that copper wall – it just gives the whole space the finishing wow-factor. I’m also rather smitten with the chair and the rug. Gorgeous work as usual! The whole thing looks amazing – your clients must be SO happy they have you on board to lead the way xxx

  4. Judith Patel says

    Looks stunning Karen. I love it all but I particularly like the rug and chair but the light fitting is my favourite thing. Well done to you all. I’m sure your clients will enjoy this room for a long time. I would just be standing and admiring it whenever I walked past!!

  5. OMG. I don’t like orange at all, or dark rooms, but I adore this one! And that gives them three of your rooms, how they must long to get the rest of the house done! That dark blue and gold room is still my favorite of all you have done, and to think this is in the same house. Gah! Gorgeous.

  6. Simon Mills says

    Just amazing Karen and I totally get the Japanese vibe! Off to look at the D&R website now!

  7. I love it, such a bold and exciting design. The headboard idea is really inspired, and the light makes it. Congratulations on another great project

  8. Mia Spencer says

    Wow, I think their only problem will now be that everyone wants to come and stay. Really stunning room.

  9. That is just stunning. I think my favourite thing is the choice of colour. The dark walls, ceiling and floor give a softness to the room that’s unexpected and really beautiful. Looking at the final two before and after pics, the first looks pink, dull and ordinary. In the second, the weird angles vanish into shadow and the room just looks calm and peaceful. Wow. You have strong nerve with colour, and I love it.

  10. This is so beautiful, I don’t even know what to say. Please imagine an unearthly screech of delight. <3

  11. Dave says

    The headboard in particular is absolutely stunning – what a statement piece. Would love to know how it’s made?

  12. carole says

    Beautiful bedroom, inspiring! If you could give more details on the headboard technic used for the trees and paint from the website mentioned for the trees?
    Thank you very much! BEAUTIFUL!

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