Side tables and a little DIY

Having a fair-sized, but not huge, lounge has meant that I’ve decided to do without a coffee table. I think it would just clutter the place up and become a dumping ground for all the weekend papers… Instead, I have three small side tables (one shown above, and one below - if you look closely). They were an ultimate bargain – £3.50 for the three, picked out of a charity shop by my eagle eyed mum. They’re oak, and so complement the rest of the furniture perfectly.



Another side table purchase was again spotted in a charity shop – this time for a mere 40 pence. I’ve spray painted it a rather fetching pale blue (good ol’ plasikote) and it now complements our new Laura Ashley summer palace wallpaper rather perfectly. It will hold our books, and a small lamp. Perfect.



You could of course customise your own table with wallpaper, or even pages from magazines, or old newspapers. I’ve covered this telephone table (which is actually advertised as a stool, rather than a table, in Ikea) with the same wallpaper as is on the wall behind it. It means it doesn’t stand out too much, and again, is just a little bit different. It really was easy to do, and as I varnished it afterwards, it’s very hardy. What I need now is a cool phone - I love the old fashioned looking ones that come in a variety of colours, but I don't think I'd be able to live with a phone that wasn't cordless. Although that would stop my boyfriend dropping countless phones in the bath - he likes to chat whilst he soaks!

Wallpaper

I know that people have mixed feelings about ‘feature walls’ but I find them a great way of adding a focus to a room, and also of using fantastic wallpaper, that would be overwhelming if on every wall of the room.

When we got the wallpaper in the lounge hung, the guy doing the work (as I think I’ve mentioned we’re not madly practical when it comes to DIY, and that includes hanging paper) was so shocked that I would actually choose to have this rather loud pattern, that he promised to stay and take it down for free, if I didn’t like it. Fortunately for him, I loved it, and still do!

I was worried that this ‘Summer Palace’ paper in the small bedroom might look a bit overwhelming, or make the room look too narrow, but I think it works really well.

In the large bedroom, this charcoal ‘Erin’ paper, also from Laura Ashley, just adds a bit of interest to a small alcove… I’m still wondering if we should go all out in this room though, and get the whole thing papered.

Wallpaper’s not just for walls - it looks great hung on sliding wardrobe doors, too. And if you’re using it on a limited area, you can use a bolder pattern that you might choose for a whole room. You could even frame particularly lovely wallpaper, and make your own art!

If you don’t fancy covering an entire wall in one print, you could utilise your favourite scraps of fabric, mis-matched wallpaper, book jackets or postcards and create a patchwork wall. This can look very chic, and you know that no one else will have the same. You could have a rough colour scheme, or a theme (birds or flowers or, when we papered above our fireplace at university, men!), or alternatively you could do something completely mis-matched and unique. If you were doing this in a kitchen or a bathroom, you could even varnish over it…(although that might make it difficult to change, if you go off your chosen design!)

A great place to go to search through some of the thousands of wallpapers designs available is http://www.wallpaperdirect.co.uk/

I’ve just been browsing through a couple of magazines and seen a picture of a bedroom decorated in ‘Fleur pink’, from the Sophie Conran range at B&Q. Only £24.98 a roll, and soooo pretty.