Winter Woodland

I don't know about where you guys are but this last week there has been a real change to the weather, it's November and that chill is being felt in the air.  Shops are starting to bring in the Christmas products and with the clocks going back the other week the nights are drawing in.  But don't let the darker days get to you, think cosy, think warmth (albeit with cushions and throws) and be inspired by the best winter décor around.  So much I love this trend this year that I'm redecorating my bedroom for it.  That, and I happen to have bought a new Stag Head from Achica so I have to find somewhere for it to go! 

There is a lot of Stag heads and winter woodland items out there but so often I find they are in reds, browns and neutral colours.  I like my red to highlight in my black and white scheme rather than be the dominant colour.  So when I came across the Opulent Stag head in black on Achica I was right there.  They aren't currently available now, but I have had a look around and if you head over to Amazon or Arthouse you can find stockists.

Looking around for more black/white décor for my room, I was lucky enough to stop by the following cushion from Rose & Grey on Twitter and I had that "found it" moment.  Simple as it seems sometimes it can just be a cushion to make you see what way the room is going to shape up.



Available from Rose & Grey
Thanks to @knitted_stars

So with Stag purchased, cushion (or maybe 2) in the basket, I'm ready to look at the rest.  I have a tall hotel headboard on my bed so my stag is likely to go on my side wall.  But I want to create impact in this room and not make it look to bare and cold just because it is black and white. 

I came  across Zazous and their fabulous range of wall stickers.  Wall stickers create a great impact in a room without the mess of wallpaper, or if you are like me without having to call in the professional (also known as Dad).  So I have my eye on this one;




Deer In the Forest available in various colour options for the birds.



My deer would have to be placed away from the trees for me due to the layout of the room but I have a way it will work!

One thing I'd love to convince myself on in this redecoration is to go black on the ceiling or black on the whole room rather than my current white walls. 

Then I want to add a few more flying birds on the ceiling itself (extra birds also available from Zazous ).

Accent the room in reds or maybe oranges, in fact choose the birds to be the accent colours, and keep bedding simple in white with a faux fur throw over the end for really cosiness.

Can't wait to get started!


As a little update, we finally did the bedroom!  Ok so not everything turned out as described above, I had a change of mind in some things and the layout of our room didn't really allow for everything I wanted, but I am very happy with the results so wanted to update this post to share with you.  I went with black winter tree wall stickers from Zazous and the separate birds you can buy to go with them.  To save in time and money I decided against painting the whole room black and opted for black gloss work instead, it really gives a rather dramatic look to the room.

We only did the room this week so my accessories and cushions still need to be ordered. 

It feels like a bedroom, but it really feels like you can disappear into another place when you are there, and yes suggestions of Narnia have already been mentioned.
 

Brighter Days

I have this habit of ordering wallpaper samples even if I have no intention of wallpapering anywhere.  Sometimes I just like the colours or design, sometimes they are good for inspiration.  Recently I ordered some from The Decorating Shop and I was immediately inspired.  They have a great range of wallpapers from top brands including Harlequin and Graham & Brown. 

But it is this one in particular really jumped out at me.  The geometric pattern in vibrant colours, and the colours being a great mix of some of my favourites, I had to order a sample. 

With the sample arriving and being just as vibrant as online, I could now visualise it in a living room.  It would also be suitable in maybe a teenage girls bedroom, but something about these darker nights made me want to picture a brighter living room to come home to.

Available in 4 colourways Harlequin Kaleidescope

So with wallpaper in hand I needed some ideas for pieces that would pull this room together.  Firstly I'd love to add a retro inspired black leather sofa, and an accent chair in bright pink.  For my chair I head straight over to Plush Deco for their Pink Barcelona Chair it really works well with the two tones of pink in the paper. 

Available in a variety of colours from Plush Deco

I was then lucky enough to come across these cushions whilst browsing some of my other favourite sites, and quite frankly it all made me really want to redecorate my living room.......shame I just have, will have to wait a little while now.

Cushions available (clockwise from top left) Made, Rose & Grey , Quirk & Rescue and Rose & Grey also

So there is now a lot of colour and design going on but the other walls are quite bare?  No worries, simple and cost effective way to fix that.  In fact 3 options you can look at.  Buy some tester pots of paint in colours from the wallpaper and mask up some squares, maybe even overlay them and you will get something like the following effect (note I have just done this on my pc to explain better what I mean, obviously it will look tons better on the wall!).

Paint squares of colours from the wallpaper to add life to the other walls.

Second possibility, picking up some square white photo frames (if you cant find white fine wooden and spray paint them - remembering to use the spray paint outside, covering the ground and wear a mask), and create some letters on the computer, for example spelling out love or punk.  One letter per frame and there is your own art.  Remember as this is for personal use at home you are ok.


And thirdly, why not put up a floating shelf in white (my walls are white so this works for me) and in frames (white is my preferred option here) in various sizes frame colours of card, again using the colours from the wallpaper.