A bedroom shelfie, the best decorating shop and other musings...

Creating shelving for a bedroom requires a softer approach. But for a child's bedroom or a guest room, a shelf does create both helpful storage space and space that can be styled accordingly. 

Our daughters bedroom has been undergoing an update, a room that hasn't seen a paint brush since she was born (she's now seven!). One of my worst investments when decorating her nursery was to purchase a ladder style bookcase. A totally useless bookcase being neither high enough to accomodate books or pocessing the quality of design to prevent the books slipping down the back. The bookcase awaits an unsuspecting new parent at our local charity shop and a new shelf has been created in its place.

The room had a repaint last week with my favourite brand of paint, which is Colourtrend. We are really lucky in Malton to have a proper paint shop, Harrison & Hargreaves. Owned and run by professional decorators, it is invaluable for advice and is my go to for every project both professional & domestic. So,off I trotted for my chosen colour only to step inside and completely change my mind, and return with "Ha'penny white". Colourtrend paint is made in Ireland and not only are the colours good, the paint itself goes on really well, covers well and is scrubbable when finished, always a Brucie bonus in our house. 

This room is in the eaves with a single sash window low to the floor and handsome original beams on either side of the room. Adding a single shelf just below the slope of the ceiling creates a bookshelf but also adds interest. Our shelf boards are available in three, four, five and six foot lengths. Our cast brackets range from industrial factory style to ornate Victorian, I have opted for the fairly plain 203mm gallows, these are simple but avoid the factory look that is more applicable for a kitchen.

Now for a little design hack...to soften the look of the shelf, it is helpful to shape the corner (this is also helpful if the shelf is to be sited where it might protrude). Take a circular pot to draw a template around the corner and then carefully cut round using a jigsaw. Sand with sand paper and finish with wax.

How you style the shelf really depends on the room's occupant, I have mixed books with Shorditch tins filled with crayons, initial letters and toys. For a guestroom, you may want include a selection of books (try to avoid dogeared thrillers that have failed to make the journey to the charity shop), a collection of vases filled with fresh flowers. One thing to bear in mind is to create groups along your shelf, if you fill the entire length without creating space between each group your shelf will resemble a charity shop display. This is something we train our shop team in, if you cover every single square cm of the surface area, the eye can't take it all in and the resulting look is one of chaos.

One las thing, the tassels adorning the curtains were found in Artique in Tetbury Glos last Summer, a gem of a store that imports artefacts from India I purchased these simply because they caught my eye. 

Check out the youtube video for the finished result