Sleep in the bush: Can’t see the forest for the trees or trees for the forest?
This room needs to function as bedroom for my visiting student son in holiday times but it also needs to be used as guest bedroom once in a while in our standard family house.
The colour scheme of the room is earthly (hessian) colours and black and white. The strong black colour gives it a sense of style. The curtain rods, throw, picture frames (now repainted in black) and mirror frame on the wall and printing on the continental cushions (because there is no head rest), etc. are all in black that contrasts strikingly with the earthly colors. Using what I had in terms of furniture, I played with old hessian bags (used to import coffee) for both the curtains, antique chair covers and beside carpets.
The color scheme of the room was decided upon when the linen was bought since there was already so much of this warm color in the room in terms of the existing wooden flooring, cupboards, chairs, bedside tables, old trees in the garden in front of the bedroom window, etc.
No need to buy bedside carpets and bedside tables!
The old hessian coffee bags are stitched/ glued to the previous cheap bed side carpets not to glide on the wooden floor.
The bedside tables used to be my children’s play chairs even before they have started school and because I had this I wanted to use this for bedside tables.
Rustic seating but still comfortable
The second hand hessian coffee bags are used to cover the (previous satin look) cushions of this formal sitting room chairs to fit in with the look of the bedroom. Black continental pillow covers are slipped over the back cushions of the chairs and my mother in law made the scatter cushions a few years ago to keep herself busy.
Rustic views do not need to block your view
In this old house the windows as small and because the garden is so private no curtains are really necessary. A hessian bag is merely stringed to the existing curtain rail with in front of the white and black drape to give a layered and rustic look to the window. The length was taken into account to leave open the top part of the window in order to allow for natural light and a view on the trees outside but also to create some privacy of people in the room. A bag of corks of many years came in handy to round of the hessian curtain and to make it heavier at the bottom part to hang neatly. The white and black material used as frame for the window was not even stitched around but burnt with a candle that also complement the rustic look.
Light switch with an alcohol problem?
Wine bottle corks saved (for no reason) over years are fixed to the light switch with a glue gun to
repeat the rustic theme of the room. Different elements from nature help to create a consistent colour scheme and room theme.
Focal wall to welcome
Pictures of trees were downloaded from the internet. Any art student are capable to transfer such images to the wall. It is not supposed to be totally realistic at all and was done in black. An image of an owl was printed afterwards and with modge podge (white project glue) fixed to the wall to look like wall paper.
The theme of trees are echoed the continental pillows. Images of trees can easily be downloaded and then be reprinted (in black) on the pillows with the help of a local printing company.
Bark up the right door?
The cupboards are all in perfect shape but just not interesting or in line with the theme of the room at all. One option was merely to paint them but because it was decided to go for rustic theme from nature, calendar pictures of beautiful trees were fixed on the cupboard doors and the bedroom door with white project glue (modge podge) that gives the feeling of wall paper.
Accessories – the ladder to be climbed
The ladder stood outside for many years and was merely cleaned and an old tray table and wooden box were tight to the ladder with string to keep it in place. This now function as storage for visitors for accessories, hanging clothing, etc.
In terms of accessories, leather and bamboo look alike table mats are used on the existing tables and desk in the study nook to be consistent with the earthly tree theme of the bedroom.
