Last year I decided to paint the front room. Three walls white with the chimney breast wall bright pink and royal blue. It's not our house, (we missed the boat there and will probably be renting for many years to come), so it was a bit of a cheap makeover.
I bought cushions to go on our second hand sofa, (a free, ginger suede number) and I felt I had to keep the price down due to S not understanding why we needed cushions in the first place.
Surprisingly, the colours worked well together and it was warm and cosy and child friendly too.
We bought three cheap canvas prints as well.
But oh how things change.
What a fickle lodger I am.
Now I really don't like the cost cutting look. I think the prints, even the Banksy rip off, look a bit Argos and the cushions irritate me. Two of them were bought from Primark and when you wash them, they come out lumpy and tired looking. There's a pink one too but that's torn and luckily not pictured here.
I have decided that as S has finally bought a decent HD television and we bought a right bargain on Sunday at the boot sale. A large rug from Next, - new looking and really thick & soft under foot. It's made up of grown up shades of stone and cream. We got it for £20 and it's still in Next for over £200 - that I must redecorate. This time I have started with the cushions. All off eBay...
Right, so there's a definite chicken theme. As I was scrolling through hundreds of designs I could hear myself saying, "well that's nice but it just doesn't go with anything else so that's a no no" and I'd then hear Kirsty Alsop as my imaginary designer conscience chirruping, "Tally Ho I say! If you like it....get it"! So, whilst sensing that there was a lot of clashing going on, I pressed BID BID BID, or Buy Now! And am now the happy owner of five completely different cushions.
I am now stuck for the colour of the walls. We cannot afford a new sofa, so our ginger friend is staying. See now these cushions atop that strawberry blond suite is a challenge it itself, without me going Rolf Harris on the walls as well! I am fearing the worst. I fear that due to my sudden cushion obsession, I will have to paint the walls cream.
Oh yeah, the rug is this one...
but in real life it is slightly stony in colour.
but in real life it is slightly stony in colour.So come on readers....what colours for the walls? I don't need opinions on the cushions as my colleagues all assured me today that they were nice INDIVIDUALLY but not as a job lot.
hey Debs, at my old house in South Norwood, Edwardian and had a chimney breast like yours, We used "country cream" for the three main walls and the chimney breast and then in the two alcoves, we used this really great "suede" paint. You just throw it haphazardly on the walls and it looks like suede and changed colour from different angles... I cannot describe the colour (lol) but it was like a brown/grey/deep purple (and sounds really shite now!!) but it made a real feature of the architecture... hope this helps love! I now live in a house that was built in 1996 (rectangular box rooms with no nooks)the walls are nearly all varying shades of cream. Apart from the sunroom which is bright cerise pink and white lol xx
ReplyDeleteHello sphillips05!!! Our bedroom is white with one cerise wall... I liked it at the time but against the black & brass iron bed it looks a bit 80s.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, (angry early teens) I wanted to do my bedroom as a padded cell but my dad refused to allow it...he wouldn't allow me to paint it black either.
I was allowed Laura Ashleyesque florals!
I've seen the suede effect paint but I think there'll be enough textures in the cushions/rug without adding to it. I need plain cushions with a bit of a feel.
Looks great. The colours all tumble together nicely and the pictures look wonderful. Very creative and personal.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I decorated my bedroom wall by painting an 8 foot high woman dressed in something akin to bondage gear and holding a whip in her hand. Considering I was about 15 at the time and living at home it went down like a lead balloon and I had to repaint over it.
Linda - haha I can only imagine what S's reaction would be if our daughter painted something like that in years to come! hahah Our poor parents eh?
ReplyDeleteI have now decided that the blue wall will be grass. As in grass printed on wallpaper, so in theory, the cushions will be like flowers...I can't find grass print wallpaper anywhere though ;(
Cant you get a picture online and paint it yourself?
ReplyDelete