Cecelia Mullins
But boy has this room makeover caused chaos in the rest of the house! And what feels like 742 tip runs the house is slowly getting back to normal. And so I thought you might like to see my youngest teenagers small bedroom now it’s finished, ready for the reveal?
And he wanted LED lighting too so that depending on his mood he can change the colour of his room.
Let’s just say that the room had to stimulate or calm his set of unique sensory needs. At that point a cabin bed with all the furniture fitting snugly beneath it was the perfect answer to the size of the room.
And if we fast forward to this year, I have a six foot two (and still growing) young man trying to cope with this tiny room. And to convey my ideas I drew the scheme, there have been a few tweaks but I think you will agree I got there in the end. He also can’t stand the feel of hard floors against bare feet. Function wise, well first and foremost it needs to be conducive to sleep.
I mean how else is he going to spend time photoshopping the faces of celebrities I’ve never heard of onto ‘Despicable Me’ characters! So that’s it folks, this is where the room started with the loft bed central to the design.
Safe to say though it took as long to build this as the rest of the room because boy does it need to be strong. It’s finished in a Valspar colour called The Perfect White. So watery was it, that it took 5 coats of paint on the walls and four plus undercoat on the woodwork!! And to add insult to injury was told that their self priming paint requires a primer. I gave it a quick sand first and then a good wipe over. It does however take around 24 hours to dry so please factor this in if you want to give it a try.
And don’t be fooled into trying the ‘Extra’ version unless you can give the room a whole week off though. I learn’t the hard way many a moon ago that it takes like forever to dry!
The only thing youngest RFW didn’t like about my design was the open hanging rail and shelves which is why in the finished room this became a wardrobe.
It helps to make the room feel more spacious and clutter free.
It was another natural progression to then have a desk extending from the side of the wardrobe. Curving around two walls it gives him plenty of space to work at his computer.
But that was the easiest place to man handle the huge sheets of plywood. Plus we could then carry it straight in through the front door and up the stairs once made. It’s quite a simple box construction help together with screws and wood glue.
With my Draper circular saw it only took an hour and a half to go from 3 sheets of ply to a fully functioning wardrobe! I’d say it was for Insta selfies but weirdly not one of my boys is on any social media platform. Cut from a single sheet of 18mm plywood wood batons support it at the back running the full length of the desk.
And for extra stability I screwed them to the floor, straight through the rug (which was already in the room). The finishing touch are the 2 under slung Ivar drawers from Ikea which makes it look more like a desk than a work bench. And so with all the furniture in situ and fitting perfectly it was time to sand everything to a silky smooth finish before giving it two coats of Osmo Polyx Oil in black. It adds a real depth of shine and brings the grain of the wood out beautifully.
So with the bones of the room complete next up was getting the lighting in and sorting power. Now I can put up a light, change a socket face and all the basics but I certainly cannot wire in new ones.
And so because, as always I’m on a budget I had to work out how to get power to all 4 corners of the room. Not the perfect answer but they are completely out of sight having run them around the room under the edge of the rug. And don’t let their amazing prices put you off, they are actually fabulous quality too. I went with classic designs so they shouldn’t fall out of favour anytime soon. Giving him infinite choices will allow him to control the mood of the room simply and effectively. First up was the issue that once in bed, Youngest RFW wouldn’t be able to reach the light switch.
It’s the perfect answer to the space as it takes up little room and requires no chasing in. So Youngest RFW can turn it on and off from the floor I also added a remote control socket too. I also used another of the wall lights on the side of the wardrobe to illuminate one end of the desk without taking up valuable work space.
Next up was the was the Iconic Dorian Dome Table Lamp to go at the other end of the desk.
Zoning the individual spaces of the design with lighting is incredibly important. Not visible from the ground it works via a remote control which can change the colour of the room at the touch of a button.
This helps Youngest RFW cope when he starts to feel anxious. Luckily a trip to our local National Heart Foundation furniture shop secured us an armchair. It’s a lovely chair and great quality too but it’s going to need a little bit of magic worked on it to meet my rather annoying levels of perfectionism!
I bought a couple of faux plants from Matalan to add a bit of greenery. Try as I might the best I can do is the crop of flourishing dandelions thriving as they take over my dying lawn. There’s something about adding a piece with history to a room to make it feel more like home as far as I’m concerned.
I don’t think a room ever is and it will take a little time to grow in personality, as and when budget allows. Some of the pieces in this makeover were gifted to me and I have done my best to make this clear for those items.
I’m also conscious to do my research with all the companies I work with to ensure they are not only ethical but customer centric too.
