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Room Tour: A “Boring” Bedroom Becomes a Characterful Sanctuary
Before photos show the dramatic change that good interior design has made to this space, which was lacking period charm
Interior designer Catherine Connacher of Blaven Interiors used rich colour and a carefully chosen mix of modern and vintage pieces to dramatically refresh this bedroom in an Edwardian house in Scotland. Previously, the room had – by its long-term owners’ admission – been somewhat bland. It also didn’t reflect the era of the house.
Catherine used Houzz Pro’s 3D Floor Planner tool to help convey her vision to the owners with a design that added textural layers, dark green paint, artwork and a mix of antique and contemporary details that turned this plain space into a cosy yet elegant room, full of character and period references. Check out the before and after photos below.
Catherine used Houzz Pro’s 3D Floor Planner tool to help convey her vision to the owners with a design that added textural layers, dark green paint, artwork and a mix of antique and contemporary details that turned this plain space into a cosy yet elegant room, full of character and period references. Check out the before and after photos below.
This shot of the room before Catherine’s transformation shows how different the feel of the space is now, even though she worked with a lot of the features and furnishings already in the room.
“I was delighted [the owner] wanted to keep the antique bed,” she says. “The black and brass dictated the finishes for the rest of the room.”
“I was delighted [the owner] wanted to keep the antique bed,” she says. “The black and brass dictated the finishes for the rest of the room.”
The owners also wanted to keep the black chandelier, which Catherine used to inspire the new scheme, too.
Ask your designer if they use Houzz Pro software: tools, such as 3D Floor Plans and Mood Boards, can help you visualise designs for your space.
Ask your designer if they use Houzz Pro software: tools, such as 3D Floor Plans and Mood Boards, can help you visualise designs for your space.
The idea for the dark green walls was a joint effort between Catherine and the owner. “She already had quite a lot of paint samples, but they weren’t as dark as the colour we eventually went with,” Catherine says. “She needed a bit of encouragement to be bolder. During the consultation, I brought my paint swatches and we looked at different shades of green, and we both loved this one.”
Catherine kept the light carpet and went for a pale colour above the picture rail. She also added a cream accent chair and ottoman and creamy linen sheets and curtains. “Keeping all these light meant the room didn’t feel too cave-like,” she says.
The ottoman created storage the room didn’t previously have and a useful place to sit, but it also fulfilled an aesthetic purpose. “The room is actually really big and there had been a big gap between end of the bed and the wardrobes,” Catherine says. “The ottoman makes the room feel more finished.”
Ottoman, John Lewis & Partners. Walls painted in Invisible Green, Little Greene.
Catherine kept the light carpet and went for a pale colour above the picture rail. She also added a cream accent chair and ottoman and creamy linen sheets and curtains. “Keeping all these light meant the room didn’t feel too cave-like,” she says.
The ottoman created storage the room didn’t previously have and a useful place to sit, but it also fulfilled an aesthetic purpose. “The room is actually really big and there had been a big gap between end of the bed and the wardrobes,” Catherine says. “The ottoman makes the room feel more finished.”
Ottoman, John Lewis & Partners. Walls painted in Invisible Green, Little Greene.
Although it’s a big room, the layout threw up a few challenges, partly because the bed is against the chimney breast.
What I always do as part of my process is sketch out the room – bird’s-eye view – using the Houzz Floor Planner [seen here], which I love. I then play around with the layout to make sure everything will fit and it’s all in the best location.”
Find a local interior designer whose style you love in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
What I always do as part of my process is sketch out the room – bird’s-eye view – using the Houzz Floor Planner [seen here], which I love. I then play around with the layout to make sure everything will fit and it’s all in the best location.”
Find a local interior designer whose style you love in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
Planning so carefully proved very useful when it came to fitting in all the elements. “The owner initially thought there would be no room for the armchair, but the Floor Planner allowed me to justify it,” Catherine says.
There was another barrier, though: the husband felt the chair was too modern for the new look of the room. “I said, ‘Why don’t we keep it for a few days. We can always send it back,’” Catherine recalls. “But after a few days he said, ‘Yeah, I love the chair.’ I chose it because so much in the room was old style and I felt it would be nice to put something new in for that juxtaposition. The texture works really well in a bedroom, too.”
Armchair, Where Saints Go.
There was another barrier, though: the husband felt the chair was too modern for the new look of the room. “I said, ‘Why don’t we keep it for a few days. We can always send it back,’” Catherine recalls. “But after a few days he said, ‘Yeah, I love the chair.’ I chose it because so much in the room was old style and I felt it would be nice to put something new in for that juxtaposition. The texture works really well in a bedroom, too.”
Armchair, Where Saints Go.
The handy Houzz Pro tool also allowed Catherine to have this 30cm-diameter, antique-looking side table made to work in this spot as a bedside table. It fits perfectly, but doesn’t provide space for lighting, so she added wall-mounted, extendable lights on the sides of the chimney breast.
Catherine left the existing shelves and picture rail as bare wood, at the owners’ request. The details tie in with the natural wood doors throughout the rest of the house.
The shelves had previously been fairly empty and lacking in character, so Catherine helped the owner to curate a display. “We did some playing around together and I gave her some tips on styling, such as layering some pictures behind an object, putting things on top of a pile of books and having plants in the mix,” she says.
Bespoke side table, Etsy.
Catherine left the existing shelves and picture rail as bare wood, at the owners’ request. The details tie in with the natural wood doors throughout the rest of the house.
The shelves had previously been fairly empty and lacking in character, so Catherine helped the owner to curate a display. “We did some playing around together and I gave her some tips on styling, such as layering some pictures behind an object, putting things on top of a pile of books and having plants in the mix,” she says.
Bespoke side table, Etsy.
The rug adds a textural layer. “It looks old, but it isn’t,” Catherine says. “I chose something that had pinky-brown undertones [to work with the green walls] and, as the carpet they chose has quite a bit of depth to it, I wanted a rug that didn’t have a deep pile and wouldn’t compete. This is a flatweave and it’s more for a visual; if it was on a wood floor, I’d want something with a deeper pile.”
There are other fabric layers that add to the soft, intimate feel of the room: draped throws on the bed over cream bed linen, and linen curtains layered with a linen blind, for blackout purposes. “We chose natural fabrics where we could,” Catherine says.
Rug, Ruggable. Curtains, Gotain. Linen blind, Dunelm. Cream bedding, The Secret Linen Store.
There are other fabric layers that add to the soft, intimate feel of the room: draped throws on the bed over cream bed linen, and linen curtains layered with a linen blind, for blackout purposes. “We chose natural fabrics where we could,” Catherine says.
Rug, Ruggable. Curtains, Gotain. Linen blind, Dunelm. Cream bedding, The Secret Linen Store.
Adding art was also an important factor in bringing more personality and warmth into the room.
“The walls were really bare; I said that having some nice, scaled pieces of artwork would really ground the scheme,” Catherine says. “This portrait is actually an off-the-shelf print, but it has that depth to it.
“I also think one of the reasons the art all looks so nice is because we hung it from the picture rail,” she continues. “It’s a small detail, but having them hanging from the intended rail gives a kind of elegance and lifts the whole room.”
You might be surprised to learn that the other artworks, which look like original paintings, are also prints. “They come as digital downloads and I had them printed exactly the size I wanted and on the right type of paper – slightly textured – that would work with the paintings. I sourced every frame for each artwork and the art is all bespoke, but not very expensive. In fact, the frames were more expensive!”
Print seen here, Desenio. Other prints, NorthPrints. Lamp, Marks & Spencer. Picture frames throughout, Easyframe.co.uk.
“The walls were really bare; I said that having some nice, scaled pieces of artwork would really ground the scheme,” Catherine says. “This portrait is actually an off-the-shelf print, but it has that depth to it.
“I also think one of the reasons the art all looks so nice is because we hung it from the picture rail,” she continues. “It’s a small detail, but having them hanging from the intended rail gives a kind of elegance and lifts the whole room.”
You might be surprised to learn that the other artworks, which look like original paintings, are also prints. “They come as digital downloads and I had them printed exactly the size I wanted and on the right type of paper – slightly textured – that would work with the paintings. I sourced every frame for each artwork and the art is all bespoke, but not very expensive. In fact, the frames were more expensive!”
Print seen here, Desenio. Other prints, NorthPrints. Lamp, Marks & Spencer. Picture frames throughout, Easyframe.co.uk.
There was already a pretty vintage dressing table in the window, but Catherine could see it had the potential to look much better.
She found the perfect size stool to go underneath and dressed the window with curtains that make the delicate piece of furniture look grounded rather than lost.
Catherine had suggested a light for the dressing table, but the owner found the glass table lamp in a vintage shop while on a trip to Poland. “It was perfect,” she says.
Dressing table stool, The Cotswold Company.
Catherine had suggested a light for the dressing table, but the owner found the glass table lamp in a vintage shop while on a trip to Poland. “It was perfect,” she says.
Dressing table stool, The Cotswold Company.
The wardrobes were already in place and Catherine was enthusiastic about how good they’d look painted.
You can just see a glimpse of how good they look now. They’re the same colour as the walls, while the knobs, tying in with the bed, are brass.
This old – handily black and gold – mirror remained and now looks entirely intentional in its new context (see below).
“This was the first time the owners had used an interior designer,” Catherine says. “We worked so well together; I think the room was so successful because it was a collaboration – I gave [the owner] confidence to be braver with some of her ideas.” It was so successful, in fact, that Catherine has been asked back, this time to work on the couple’s home office.
And what did they have to say about working with Catherine? “Our bedroom has been transformed into a beautiful, calm and cosy space. Cat worked very closely with us to capture the feel we wanted the room to have. … At first it seemed like a very brave move to go such a dark shade of green, but we loved this colour as soon as we saw it on a swatch, and Cat gave us the confidence that it was the right choice. We would never have achieved such a cohesive space without a professional designer. What before felt like a room with a bed is now a luxurious and comfortable place to relax at the end of the day.”
Lamp shade, Pooky.
Tell us…
What’s your favourite detail in Catherine’s redesign? Let us know in the Comments.
And what did they have to say about working with Catherine? “Our bedroom has been transformed into a beautiful, calm and cosy space. Cat worked very closely with us to capture the feel we wanted the room to have. … At first it seemed like a very brave move to go such a dark shade of green, but we loved this colour as soon as we saw it on a swatch, and Cat gave us the confidence that it was the right choice. We would never have achieved such a cohesive space without a professional designer. What before felt like a room with a bed is now a luxurious and comfortable place to relax at the end of the day.”
Lamp shade, Pooky.
Tell us…
What’s your favourite detail in Catherine’s redesign? Let us know in the Comments.
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Who lives here? A couple and their 11-year-old daughter
Location Central Perth, Scotland
Property A semi-detached Edwardian house with three bedrooms and one bathroom
Room dimensions 4.6m x 4.8m
Designer Catherine Connacher of Blaven Interiors
Project year 2024
Photos by Katie Pryde
The family had lived in their home for around 14 years before they got around to tackling this space. “They’d done other rooms in the house, but your own bedroom is often left to the end, isn’t it?” Catherine says.
It was mainly the wife who Catherine worked with. “When I first went to view the room, she felt it was boring and uninspiring,” Catherine says.
In terms of a brief, there were some small practical considerations to be factored in, but aesthetics were to the fore. “She was keen to lean into the Edwardian era of the house, but wanted to mix vintage with contemporary and give it a hotel feel; relaxing and like a sanctuary, but dark and moody as well.”