Over the last few years Mr W has stopped raising concerns or objections over my decorating plans he just goes with the flow. It’s not that I didn’t get my way before, we wouldn’t be living in Holly Cottage if that was the case, or have a red kitchen, or exposed stone walls in the bathroom. In fact our house would look very different if I wasn’t so ~~bossy~~ persuasive. But now I don’t even have to argue with him, he just lets me get on with it. He tells me that I’ve proven I know what I’m doing and he now trusts my decisions. I think I’ve just worn him down. Either way – yay for me.

The Bedroom Makeover

Living with an interior designer is like a version of that Fat Boy Slim tune – Eat, Sleep, Paint, Repeat. And I’m not even going to bother defending myself. It is both a perk and a curse when it’s your job to seek out and create beautiful interiors. The latest room in my house to get a makeover is our bedroom, and if you follow my social media feeds you might remember the wallpapers I was considering, this one being top of my list.

Cranes in flight wallpaper by Harlequin available at Jane Clayton — Cranes in Flight wallpaper by Harlequin

In the end I decided I didn’t want to break up the room with one papered wall and wanted to keep it all one colour. And with my new found decorating freedom I wanted to go darker. A lot lot darker.

Dark Interiors

Dark interiors are a bit like marmite, you either love them or hate them, but even those who love them aren’t always brave enough to take the plunge at home.

Dark grey living room with emerald green upholstered chair — Image by Ingrid Rasmussen Photography via Houzz

Usually they’re concerned because there isn’t enough natural light in the room, or they think the room is too small to carry a dark tone. But if you have a small dark room, painting it white is probably going to make it look very stark, whereas going dark will make it cosy and a whole lot more interesting.

Cloakroom decorated in black and gold – image via Houzz

I’m a fan of dark interiors but unfortunately Mr W is not, and it’s the one battle I’ve never been able to win. Until now of course…..

Home of designer Abigail Ahern, champion of dark interiors — The home of designer Abigail Ahern, champion of dark interiors

The Bedroom Makeover – Phase I

So back to the bedroom. Before I show you in it all its lovely inky glory you have to see what it looked like before. And I’m going to take you way way back to the day I first viewed the house. I have to apologise for the very poor quality pics but this was 2010 when all I had was a blackberry, and if you see the pics you’ll understand why Mr W didn’t even want to buy the house.

Grim eh?

FYI the homeowners didn’t have any small children…

The Bedroom Makeover – Phase II

So when I first decorated I was living in an uber modern flat in London. I was a bit giddy about owning an old house in the country and got carried away with the country slash vintage vibe.

Our entire flat in London was floor to ceiling white so the darkest I could get Mr W to agree to was a light mushroom, and that took some convincing…..

Now I liked it, but I felt we could do better.

The Bedroom Makeover – Final Reveal

When you’re taking a non-believer over to the dark side its all about breaking them in gently. So when I first mentioned navy blue to Mr W I told him we’d just paint one wall. This one.

Bedroom painted stiffkey blue by Farrow & Ball — Stiffkey Blue by Farrow & Ball

And he loved it. Thank god. As I’d already bought the paint for the rest of the room.

The pics aren’t great as this is a dark room, but that was my rational for going dark. Its a bedroom, it’s usually dark outside when I’m in there, and you want it to be cosy.

Roman blind in Antique Gold Alvar fabric by Clarke & Clarke, made by Di's Soft Furnishings — Roman blind in Antique Gold Alvar fabric by Clarke & Clarke, made by Di’s Soft Furnishings

All the furniture is the same, we just changed the curtains to a roman blind, bought new bedside lamp bases and shades, a new bedspread and pillow shams, and moved our existing artwork and accessories around. Total spend approx. £900.