Planning our dream bedroom...

Our bedroom is currently a very blank canvas. This is for two reasons, firstly indecision about what we want to do with it and secondly what money we had left at the end of the building work went on the more important areas like the sitting room and Theo's bedroom. It has white walls, a rotating selection of white duvet covers and no curtains or blinds (we are using Theo's old travel blackouts at night!) The boldest design decision that we've made so far was actually made by my sister who chose the fabric for our bedside lights.

So when I saw Heart Home were running a competition in partnership with the newly launched Good To Be Home magazine to design your dream room, my first thought was that it would be a great reason to force me to consider some ideas for our bedroom and to start the process of thinking about how to make the room more homely.

After several hours of browsing for ideas (it's amazing how I can procrastinate when I have university work to do) this is what I came up with. I wanted to incorporate some of the colours of the sea and land near us, but also to use yellow to add a pop of colour. I tried to use materials that suggested the sea through texture and pattern rather than a more explicit nautical bedroom.

(1) Acrylic Seascape by Stuart Roy. £185 from Notonthehighstreet.com. - I have always hankered after owning an acrylic or oil painting as I think there is something quite wonderful about being able to see the brush strokes in the picture. This seascape pulls together the colours of our room and its undulating paintbrush strokes echo the natural shapes the sea carves in the earth.

(2) Hanging chair (various) - Our double doors look out over farmland towards the harbour. It's a lovely view and would be a great spot to relax with a book. As we have a structural beam directly above the doors, I thought it would be the perfect place for a hanging chair.

(3) Sellarsbrook Yellow Rug. £4,548 from The Rug Company - I'd love an extra large yellow geometric rug, as this is a dream bedroom there is no one to stop me spending the price of a small car on one, so this beauty can go on my list!

(4) Indigo Hand Dyed Shibori Cushion, £28 from Rebecca Desnos on Etsy. - Tie Dye is big news right now and the washed out look of this cushion reminded me of the way fabrics on board boats can be faded by sun and salt.

(5) Harris Tweed Herringbone Throw - Personally I cannot think of a fabric that connects more directly with the sea than this one. It's pattern imitates waves and it originates in the windswept Western Isles of Scotland. My Harris Tweed bag came from a lady who made them in a cottage a few feet from the shore, I'm sure she'd make a great throw for our bed too.

(6) Seascape wallpaper by Anthropologie, £31 a roll - A lovely subtle undulating wallpaper which would make a beautiful feature wall. This being my dream bedroom, I'd also like to hire someone in to hang it. Jim's only just got over doing the bathroom last week. 

(7) Moss Stitch Cushion by John Lewis, £25 - The texture of this cushion reminded me of the thick cream knitted jumpers that fishermen wear. I think it would look great on our bed.

(8) A stack of vintage books - Yes I know most of us have Kindles these days, but there's nothing like the wrinkled pages of a well thumbed novel. In my dream bedroom I'd have hours to read under the covers and no digital distractions, so having a stack of these on hand would be essential.

(9) Reclaimed wood headboard - Top of my list of things to change in our bedroom is to create a headboard for our Ikea Malm bed. There are stacks of ideas and hacks out there and I'd really like to create something similar to this for our room. (original image source)

(10) Upcycled yellow midcentury bedside table - This is a beautiful piece I found online and I'd like to find a similar pair for our room and paint them yellow to add a splash of colour. (original image source)

(11) Linen curtains - If this blog post has achieved one thing it is that I have finally worked out what I want for material for our curtains! I think linen is such a beautiful natural textile and the neutral colour will work well with the other elements in the room. I would make my own to keep costs down.

(12) Beach Hut Style Chest Of Drawers by Camberwood at Not On The High Street, £521 - Our current chest of drawers are very bland. They aren't even Ikea, they are imitation Ikea! (can you believe it!) this chest of drawers with an array of twilight blues, would be an absolute delight to wake up to every morning.

You can see more of my ideas on my Pinterest board here...

Follow Clare Mansell's board Our bedroom on Pinterest.