this weeks mood board customer is looking for a smart teenage bedroom for her son. but she wants something that he can grow with and something that isn't a blokey room! she was originally looking at the blue stars and semaphores designs, however i think we have ended up down a more sophisticated road! when we were talking about the stars fabric I asked her what colour she was doing the walls, and she told me either a very pale grey or shaded white, so i suggested looking at the possibility of charcoal fabric or natural linen.
Lots of people are put off using black and white because it can look harsh and stark. However used carefully as an accent in a mainly neutral palette it can be a stunning decorating choice. Above and below are 2 different boards using essentially the same 2 colours but different tones of them. Th board above uses a scandi grey white as the neutral backdrop, and below uses a more creamy tone for the neutral backdrop, and a very different (but both beautiful) look is achieved.
Our customer also wanted to introduce a tiny shot of colour and rather liked the idea of a vintage red, so my first stop was my favourite colour guru Katherine of Snippet and ink. Now I know these are two wedding boards and you are probably thinking why am I using a wedding website as inspiration, but inspiration comes in unusual places and Katherine has a great eye for unusual colour combinatons (if you are getting married any time soon, check out her lovely site as you will be filled with fab ideas).
anyway what i love about these two boards is that a little tiny accent of colour is introduced , yet overall the feel is neutral/grey (i think the addition of a tiny hint of duck egg is rather lovely too!)
well moving back from sophistication to teenagers , below are some ideas for 'boy - i -fying' your lovely sophisticated charcoal and natural room! a black and white collage or a black and white photo print wallpaper are two decorating solutions which offer impact as well as style
a chalk board wall is cool idea for a teen feature wall.
photo print roller blinds or wallpaper make a strong design feature.
my ideas for my customer were to paint her walls her chosen neutral, then go for natural linen curtains edged with a border of charcoal stars or scarlet if she decides on a hint of accent colour. then a roman blind in charcoal star fabric. i would go for white bedding and some of my favourite skinny oblong cushions in 2 different sizes of charcoal and scarlet stars.
for a smarter tailored look she could go for a battered vintage linen with 2 stripes of velvet ribbon in french grey and charcoal stitched down the leading edge and a charcoal star roman blind , introducing no accent colour at all,
then when her son is all grown up and moved out she can turn it in to a spare room by adding a pretty print in another shade of charcoal, such as a toile.
images from
tinek,
pottery barn, atlanta barlett easy elegance,
snippet and ink,
martha stewart
all fabrics available from
sarah hardaker ltd (inc photoblinds and wallpapers)
I've three boys and I find this post really inspirational - thank you! It is lovely to find a change from the traditional red, white and blue. It feels a little more contemporary and perhaps a bit edgier? (Is that a word?!) A lovely post, as always.
ReplyDelete