I haven’t done one of these Home Tour posts in quite a while so I thought I would kick them off again with a look at our Master Suite and how we went about styling it.
I call it a suite as it is made up of three rooms. We have a large Master Bedroom with an attached full size bathroom and also a walk-in Wardrobe. When planning our home, we decided that while we weren’t stuck for space, we would just have four bedrooms (three for family use and one guestroom). This meant that when it came to our bedroom, for example, we had lots of space to play around with layout and could include all the things on our, (who am I kidding!!) ‘My’ wishlist 🙂
I just love Modern Country Style and so when it came to the decor in these rooms I knew exactly what I wanted…
Our bed, which was bought in Laura Ashley (see here) was the starting point for the design. It’s such a popular style that even though we bought it back eleven years ago, it is still available to buy from their store. The walls in the room are a dusky pink and unfortunately, I cannot remember where we bought this paint. The woodwork is painted in a pale cream which was the same colour used on the paintwork throughout the house when we first decorated.
These days I buy the majority of my bedding in TK Maxx and always choose white (this goes for all of the bedrooms except for the boys where I occasionally use navy check). I like to add colour then with cushions and bedspreads.
Even though we have a walk-in wardrobe, we knew we wanted an antique chest of drawers for this room and while it took us some time to source the perfect one, we got there in the end. We have a lot of antique furniture throughout our house which we have gathered up over the years and none of it was expensive. I know that antiques are not for everyone but it really adds to a modern country style interior provided you don’t include too much of it. Yes, it’s going to have signs of age but that really doesn’t bother us and its nice to think that you have something in your home which has served a family well for generations!!
We paid around €400 for our chest of drawers but it was worth it. It can hold so much but, more than that, its just lovely to look at. I am still deciding what to hang over it and at the moment, I’m thinking of perhaps some botanical prints in gold frames – we’ll have to wait and see…
Our bedside lockers were bought in a local independent shop and while the quality is not as good as I’d like, they have served us well for many years and will be changed probably when we next decorate the room.
We had our curtains made through the Laura Ashley ‘Made to Measure’ service using their Hydrangea Pink/Natural fabric (see here). The only niggle I have with these is that in an effort to keep costs down at the time we bought them, I opted for standard lining whereas I should have had them made using interlining. One piece of advice I would give to anyone getting curtains made is to include interlining in them – not only for their insulating quality but this lining will leave your drapes much fuller and with that ‘show house’ look that we all aim for 🙂 I had intended getting them re-lined again but haven’t had the opportunity yet to do so – I still love them though!
Anyone who follows me on Instagram may remember that I bought the arm chair in our bedroom at a recent furniture auction (our first one ever to attend). We paid just over €20 for it. I had thought that I would get it re-upholstered but when I took it home, decided that the colour actually was fine and we were told by the Auctioneer that it had been recently recovered so I’m happy to leave it for the moment. There’s another tip – keep an ear for out for local house clearance auctions as there will always be bargains to be had. Armchairs are so expensive to buy in the stores and you can pick them up at auctions for a song with the only cost afterwards perhaps having to get them reupholstered. You can save so much this way.
We bought the full length mirror in a local antique shop and I just love it! This cost less than €100 – you probably couldn’t get one in IKEA for this price! Again, its not in perfect condition but I don’t think anyone except ourselves would notice its defects and its exactly the right style for our house.
Our latest purchase for the bedroom was the box at the end of our bed. Again, I mentioned on Instagram that we bought this on a recent trip to Ludlow in Shropshire. We spotted it while wandering around an antique market which they hold there regularly. Its not the kind of thing I usually go for but it just caught my eye. The box is seemingly an old tool chest which the dealer had cleaned up and it cost us £40 – its my favourite piece in the bedroom at the moment and another little space for styling:-)
We still need some artwork for the walls in this room but you know, there is no rush. Most of us when we move into a house just want to get it decorated and finished with but in my opinion, you should just take your time. You will find that perfect piece eventually and we have learned to live with bare walls and empty spaces in our rooms until that perfect item shows up.
Our walk-in wardrobe is very simple in style. We didn’t go to any fancy showroom to pick it out or design it but simply when our kitchen man was here making up the kitchen units, I did up a sketch and he made up the unit for me. I didn’t want any doors on the wardrobe as I wanted to have everything where I could see it. This open plan design is not for everyone as you do need to be quite tidy and organised but it works for me… I’m a bit anal about keeping everything in its place (ask anyone who knows me)
Needless to say, the majority of it is taken over with my clothes, shoes and bags but I do ‘allow’ Feargal to use a small section of it:-)
In our first home, our en-suite bathroom was about 3 foot wide and 6 foot long – OK if you’re on your own but try to get 2 people dancing around a sink in the morning brushing their teeth in the rush to get ready for work. I always swore when we were in that house that if we built another that we would have a full-size bathroom in the next so that is exactly what we did.
Not only do we have a full-size bathroom complete with a roll-top bath and large shower, but we also have twin sinks (so no stress there in the mornings!) I’m not a big fan of floor to ceiling tiles in a bathroom but I didn’t just want to paint the walls in here so decided to have some panelling done. Its a very simple design but it matches the Modern Country theme. The wallpaper happened really by accident – I had had the walls above the panelling painted in the same colour as it and was happy enough. I called to visit a friend who mentioned that she had bought some wallpaper in Laura Ashley (It’s Abbeville Pink/Natural which is still available – see here) which when she took it home decided it didn’t suit where she had planned to put it. She asked me if I would like it. Naturally, when I heard ‘Laura Ashley’, I just knew I had to find a place for it. I took it home and thought about our en-suite. It suited perfectly and I had my decorator put it up. I absolutely LOVE it, even after 11 years and will not be looking forward to the day I have to change it (which is fast approaching). People will tell you that you can’t put wallpaper in a bathroom but I have never had any problem with either paper lifting or mildew. Modern bathrooms are so well ventilated that this shouldn’t be an issue – I’m no professional, but I can only tell you about my experience.
The light in the bathroom is another example – this is not a light designed specifically for bathroom use. I had some job convincing the electrician to put it up for me and maybe if it was today I was asking him he would probably refuse on some Health & Safety grounds. Again, I have had no issues whatsoever with rust etc on it (I’m not in any way telling people to rush out and wallpaper their bathrooms and hang metal lights but this has been our experience!)
The twin sinks are just brilliant and the lights over these ‘are’ designed for bathroom use. Always a good idea to have lighting over your sink in the bathroom – ladies will probably need it more than men but then again they are useful for the boys shaving.
We have a cabinet in the corner of the bathroom which holds a multitude. I don’t have a dressing table in the bedroom so I put my makeup on in the bathroom and therefore this cupboard holds my small collection.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my ramblings here but if there is anything which I haven’t included and you have a question on then please just drop me a line….
Thanks,
Bernie xx
Country Life My Style 