1950 Bedroom Decorating Ideas
Our invitee bedchamber didn't always look similar this. When we moved into this house, it became articulate that decorating ideas needed to come thick and fast. The guest bedchamber walls had chunks out of them and were painted lilac. The thin bluish rug was threadbare in places, and stained with drips and drops of lilac paint. The faded floral curtains were mounted on a wonky, plastic curtain-pole. I bought a double bed, but was startled to discover the prices of brand new headboards and resolved to find one in a charity store (I never establish one). The simply other furniture was an wobbly IKEA wardrobe left past the previous owner. This was our guest bedroom – and it was so utterly unwelcoming, I found myself apologising whenever guests came to stay.
Our house is a 1960s semi, with square rooms and long, high windows. Right at present these 1960s houses are ofttimes regarded as a tired style, but I'm a vintage daughter at heart. When information technology comes to style and design, I'll take mid-century modern over current fashions whatsoever day. When decorating the guest bedroom, I knew I wanted to go for a mid-century theme. Too, while I was on a tight budget – as in, statutory-maternity-leave tight – I wanted to make the room as comfy and welcoming as possible. Basically, I wanted it to be all-round lovely. And then although I scrimped on upkeep, I wasn't prepared to scrimp on quality.
Welcome to the guest bedroom as it looks now. Let's accept a look inside…
So that's limited edition Graham & Brown wallpaper, a stupidly-posh Schreiber bedhead (RRP £449) and a set of 1000-Plan bedroom article of furniture. See, I said I wouldn't scrimp on quality! The price for that lot? A little over £600, including the wallpaper paste.
Now I don't desire to show offtoo much here. I did brand two purchases for this bedroom that, while heavily discounted, were still jeffing expensive. (That Schreiber bedhead was one; the carpet was another). I'll come to those at the finish.
Plaster & Paint
I was lucky to accept people to aid – and VERY lucky to have people in the family with plastering knowhow. When I was in the after stages of pregnancy and it was uncomfortable to move, let alone decorate (my son was built-in weighing 10lb, which explained a lot…) , my mum and stepdad came to visit from Essex, 250 miles abroad. They emptied out the guest bedroom and plastered information technology.
Then, when the plaster stale and my parents-in-constabulary came to stay and meet the new baby, they did the washcoat (half white pigment, half water) on the walls and ceiling. Heroes, all of them.
My husband painted the walls. Then my mum and stepdad came dorsum and painted the skirting-boards and radiator a gleaming white. Honestly, I am spoiled.
In the guest bedchamber, we papered ii walls and painted the other two a pale, soft grey. I know grey paint is all the rage at the moment, but I'm non sold: a lot of the time, the grey-painted rooms look dingy to me. Information technology took a while to find a shade that was soft and light, and which helped open up up this small-sized room.
My chosen shade: Grey Lace from the Crown Paints Period Drove. You can become it at Homebase for £fifteen.99 for 750ml, but that's dear. Paint Direct does a better deal on this paint: £22.99 for a 2.5 litre pot, plus £iii.49 delivery.
Bedchamber Accessories
I didn't feel the need to buy many accessories for the room: information technology isn't a big guest bedchamber, and that wallpaper is decorated. I looked high and depression for a candlewick bedspread, eventually finding one in the House of Bath catalogue. I suppose that made sense: Business firm of Bath caters to an elderly demographic, and the market for old-fashioned bedcovers is narrow these days. I love this peach candlewick bedspread: it'due south garish but distinctive. It's also good quality and hardwearing: my toddler, with his chocolatey paws, has seen it into the washing motorcar and tumble dryer on a number of occasions at present. This bedspread retails at £69.95 on the House of Bath website, but I picked information technology up for £34.95 when a half-cost auction was on. If you register on the Firm of Bath website, you will get an email when the next sale launches: you will too get a ten% off code on your altogether, and (at the time of writing) 20% off your start club.
The pinkish glassware came from a charity shop in Frinton on-ocean: £five for the set. I didn't notice at the time, but one of the glass candlesticks has lost its elevation: if you look carefully, you can see that it has been advisedly filed and buffed to a shine stop. I take kept it: conspicuously, somebody treasured their pink glass.
Vintage Wallpaper
A few years ago, when it was the Queen'due south Diamond Jubilee and at that place was a Royal Wedding ceremony and British memorabilia was everywhere, I won a roll of beautiful wallpaper in an online competition. It was limited edition Graham & Chocolate-brown wallpaper chosen Jubilee Design, and it was awesome. The wallpaper was illustrated with pictures of 1950s ladies in New Look dresses, with Big Ben and Belfry Bridge in the background.
I had a problem: a single gyre of wallpaper doesn't stretch far. Not unless your wall is very, very pocket-sized. But I loved it and I wanted to detect a use for it, then I hoarded it.
When nosotros moved into this house and wanted to decorate the guest sleeping room, I knew the wallpaper would be perfect… and I wondered, given the time that had passed, if I could find old rolls being sold cheaply.
I lucked out on the get-go go: when I checked the Graham & Brown website, the wallpaper was however there – on clearance. Information technology had been reduced to £ten a whorl. I bought two rolls for £20, with an extra £4 shipping. So I ended up with 3 rolls of tip-top designer wallpaper for £24. What tin I say? Sometimes, unreasonable hoarding pays off!
The Jubilee Pattern wallpaper is no longer bachelor on Graham & Brown'south Great britain website, although it is yet sold on the US website for $35 a curl. I found an astonishing wallpaper on WallpaperDirect, with illustrations of ladies in vintage fashions, but it is £165 a roll (glurk).
G-Plan Furniture
How I honey mid-century G-Plan furniture. The trouble is, it has soared in popularity and at present everybody loves it. Fifty-fifty my local charity shop, when they accept one-time G-Programme furniture donated, ship it straight off to waiting customers in Communist china. The vintage emporium about me used to have a unabridged floor dedicated to furniture, with lots of Thou-Plan – but it was all so expensive. The going rate for a wardrobe was £175-£225 – and I wanted a matching set of furniture for the chamber.
I needed a Plan C. I found it on Shpock, the app billed as a virtual car boot sale. Information technology'due south a picayune like Gumtree, with people in your area offering their preloved items for sale – but with plenty of pictures.
On Shpock, I found a set up of Eastward. Gomme bedroom furniture – wardrobe, chest of drawers and dressing table – going for just £fourscore.
I negotiated the toll downward to £70 (something else you tin practise on Shpock) and we went and fetched it. This furniture was l years old and and had clearly been loved and used for a lot of that time. The finish was worn away in places, and the set was in need of some TLC. But information technology was solid, sturdy, fully functional – and a corking find. The original receipts were dated 1955 and 1957, from piece of furniture stores in Bradford: biro handwriting on yellowed, aging paper.
Here is the stamp of authenticity, on the within of i of the wardrobe doors:
This is an early 1000-Plan postage: the 'EG' is for the traditional British furniture manufacture E. Gomme, which began producing the showtime G-Plan piece of furniture in the 1950s. This sleeping room suite is from the 'Brandon' range, which was extremely pop. Something else I like about this furniture set is that because it is then sturdy and ubiquitous, there are lots of One thousand-Plan Brandon items still around. If nosotros want to buy matching items at any point in the future, they shouldn't be likewise difficult to find. I'll have to look hard to find bargains equally practiced equally these though.
My husband renovated the wardrobe and the chest of drawers as a wedding ceremony present (it helps to take a woodworker in the family unit). He took off all the handles, sanded everything downwardly and refinished it all. He did an amazing job: I love information technology.
The woods is oak and I like the minor details of the design: the edging and the manner the grain on the side strip above is at right-angles to the grain of the wooden doors, for example.
There isn't enough room in our guest sleeping accommodation for the dressing table. Information technology'due south prettier than the drawers merely to be honest, we needed the storage. Right at present the dressing tabular array is withal out in our garage. My original plan, at the time of buy, was that nosotros could renovate it and sell it on for more than than nosotros paid for the 3-piece set. Free Yard-Plan: wouldn't that exist dandy?
However I underestimated just how much I would like this furniture. I'm even thinking that when we renovate our ain bedchamber (which is pink and flowery and AWFUL right now – simply that's for some other post), we could motion the Grand-Plan article of furniture in there, dressing tabular array and all, and detect a couple of bedside tables in the Brandon manner. Hmm, we shall run across. Don't be too surprised if y'all meet this big ole' wardrobe and these drawers popping upward on another post here in the future…
Sadly the lock to the wardrobe door is missing. I wish we had information technology: Thrifty Kid likes to hide in this wardrobe. Information technology's then spacious, he likes to pretend he's in Narnia. When he comes out information technology's like a bomb has gone off in at that place.
If yous like G-Plan piece of furniture in the Brandon fashion, keep an eye out in charity shops because information technology does pop up there. Some other good place to await is this little corner of eBay: because lots of Brandon G-Plan was made, I guarantee you that you volition find the wardrobe, drawers, dressing table and more there.
Carpet and Curtains
The rug is a Milan Saxony Evidently Carpet in Anthracite, from Carpetright. It'southward hardwearing, but feels thick and plush underfoot. It also comes with a lifetime stain warranty, which is handy when you have two pocket-sized children.
This was i of my large spends, simply even and so, I think it has provided good value for money. At the time of writing, yous can kit out a room the size of our guest bedroom with this carpet for less than £300. That toll includes the door bar, grippers and underlay.
The curtains are Chenille Grayness Lined Pencil Pleat defunction from Dunelm, which sell for £45. I yet need to accept them upward – like a lot of 1960s houses, ours has short windows – but I'm very pleased with them. They are readymade, ready-lined – and the lining is and so thick, these velvety curtains are similar blackout blinds.
The Headboard
I've left my splurge until last: well-made headboards are crazy expensive! This Schreiber Portisham double headboard was £270 from Homebase. That was the sale price, when Homebase was immigration all its Schreiber stock concluding year: the full price was £449. It is solid, very neat and fits into the room perfectly but I am not going to pretend that, fifty-fifty as a clearance buy, this was a thrifty purchase. The Schreiber brand rights belong to Sainsburys and, if you like this style of furniture, y'all tin still find some Schreiber items on the Argos website, which is also Sainsburys-owned.
If you are feeling confident – well, more confident than I was – you lot can make your own tufted headboard. There are lots of tutorials on Pinterest.
This guest bedroom was put together, piece by piece, over the course of about a year. The walls came first and everything else followed. The room notwithstanding isn't complete: I'm looking for a pic to hang on the big blank grey wall facing the bed, plus a new light fixture. But I like it, decorating like this. Y'all can save up and buy the right things, at the correct prices, when they happen to come along. It's the DIY version of Slow Food.
Featured products: where to find them
Pigment: Grey Lace from the Crown Paints Period Drove, from PaintDirect, £22.99 for a 2.five litre pot.
Bedspread: peach candlewick bedspread from House of Bath, £69 (only wait for the next auction).
G-Programme Brandon furniture: hither are the latest listings on eBay.
Carpet: Milan Saxony Apparently Rug in Anthracite, from Carpetright, £284.
Curtains: Chenille Greyness Lined Pencil Pleat curtains from Dunelm, £45.
Screiber article of furniture: Argos.
Source: https://www.miss-thrifty.co.uk/bedroom-decorating-ideas-on-a-budget/