It took a lot of effort, but I finally convinced the Pink House Husband that, along with the house’s exterior, we should paint the bedroom pink.
Of course, I didn’t actually put it like that; I’m well schooled in the fine art of husband persuasion (dedicated feature on this to follow shortly). Instead, I suggested it might make the bedroom feel a bit sexier if we chose a nice, warm paint shade, such as Farrow & Ball’s classy Calamine. PHH heard the words ‘sexier’ and ‘bedroom’ in the same sentence and gave me the green – or should I say pink – light.
Timorous Beasties' Butterflies wallpaper = the perfect mix of pretty and subversive - spot the evil insects/Photo: Susie Lowe
However, this wasn’t the starting point for the room’s décor. As with the dining room, this came in the form of my Timorous Beasties obsession – this time, it was their Butterflies wallpaper whose wingtips had tickled my fancy. What I love about Timorous Beasties is the subversive tone paired with the beauty and attention to detail of their patterns. If you look closely at this shimmering dark purple wallpaper you’ll see that, as well as iridescent butterflies, there are evil little insects ready to suck your blood as you sleep. Nice!
As the room was now swarming with nature, I continued the theme with a pair of thick, moss-green velvet curtains in Designers Guild Brescia fabric, in Lime (they don't seem to do this exact colour way any more), which lead to the view over one of Edinburgh’s many hills. I like the idea of the outside world creeping in through the window.
The mother-of-pearl chest of drawers is something I’d had my eye on ever since discovering Graham & Green. The intricacies of the pattern don’t overwhelm, since everything is in shades of white, but you still get that lovely, shimmery effect. And of course the leaves and branches in the design pick up on the nature theme.
A soft grey wool carpet allows the wallpaper to take centre stage, and I added a little rug from Oliver Bonas, which picks up the pinks and yellows. The duality of this rug appeals to me: on the one hand it’s old-fashioned, with its cross-stitch and florals, but on the other, it feels like a pixelated, computer-generated image. It might sound a bit random, but it reminds me of the mosaic space invader street art in Shoreditch.
But my favourite thing in the room is That Chair. This hot pink tub chair is probably the first piece of furniture I ever fell in love with. I bought it with the Pink House Husband when he was still the Kentish Town Boyfriend and we spent our weekends wandering around Hampstead Heath and getting drunk.
The hot pink armchair from Tann Rokka, bought in the days when weekends really were weekends/Photo: Susie Lowe
I found it one lazy Saturday in the truly fabulous Primrose Hill interiors shop Tann Rokka. It is the perfect hot pink, the perfect size for a smallish lady such as myself, and reminds me of a little chair in a childhood storybook (most of my favourite things have a childhood connection of some sort). The Pink House Husband likes to joke that it’s his favourite place to sit, as then he doesn’t have to look at it. At least I think he’s joking.
The other bits? The bedside bird lamps came from John Lewis (they’re nice but one day I’ll swap them for something a bit more glam), the bedside tables from a vintage shop in Hampton Court (perhaps they used to belong to Henry VIII - I hear he was into shabby chic), and the bed is Marks & Spencer. To be honest, I’m keen to replace the bed with a yellow velvet, button-backed number, and I'm over the whole shabby-chic bedside tables (we bought them ages ago), but the bank manager's approval for these purchases is still pending.
Oh, and I need a piece of kick-ass contemporary art - luckily our very own Fine Art Consultant Vanessa Brodrick is on hand to advise...
Fancy poking around a bit more? Be our guest! Below are the latest room tours from Inside The Pink House...
