Inspiration 8.18

Magnificent skylights and beams.

via Sweet Home Style

Reader Room Makeover: Restrained Wanderlust

One of my former colleagues, Lorna, wrote to me a few weeks ago, because she had recently moved in a townhouse and was looking for a fun way to decorate her bedroom (pictured below). You can see the most special feature of this room is the angled ceiling, which is a feature she definitely wants to highlight. The furniture is staying for now, but she mentioned that she plans to paint the room green.

My first thought was that the best way to showcase the angled ceiling would be a gallery wall like the one below. While this can be an expensive look to pull off, it can be done with frames from Ikea, and a little creativity when it comes to "artwork". One of my favorite tricks is to use pages from old art books. Admit it, you're never going to go back and read them again anyway.

Another option I liked was splurging on really cool wallpaper for the wall right behind the bed. While I loathe the one wall/different color look, I think a bold graphic wallpaper is a much better approach. You can also afford to go a little more expensive than you normally would because you don't have to paper the whole room. While perusing Walnut Wallpaper's site, I fell in love with a muted leopard print...annnnd this is where I got a little carried away. Even though Lorna isn't switching up the furniture in her room yet, I decided to take advantage of the blank slate to play around with how I might decorate it.

One of my favorite ways to approach an empty room is to pick a really fabulous person (real or fictional) and decorate the room for them. In this case, I thought of Grace Kelly's character in Mogambo, which also starred Ava Gardner and Clark Gable. Grace's character is a married woman on safari with her kind-of-boring husband. Inevitably, both she and Ava fall in love with Clark Gable's character (the rugged safari guide).

I kind of imagined this room as Grace Kelly's bachelorette pad after she dumps both guys and sets off to travel the world on her own -- filled with exotic but familiar pieces collected from all over the world.

Starting with the leopard print on the high wall, I would paint the rest of the room a "mint julep" green, carpet the floor in seagrass or jute, and layer another rug on top. (I love the preppiness of the pink/green combo, which I think is fitting for a girl from the Philadelphia Mainline)

Because the wallpaper is kind of strong, I would keep the furniture low, sleek and modern. I like using task lamp sconces on either side of a bed to free up space on the nightable (maybe for vintage travel brochures and tickets). I would use ethnic textiles in either a muted color or hot pink to keep that "princess-y" feel. Finally, I love artwork that "speaks to each other" despite being totally different in origin and style. I think this vintage chimp print next to Lauren Nassef's Banana illustration would be so cute and playful.

Sources, left to right: 1. Leopard wallpaper in aged ivory (Walnut Wallpaper) 2. Top-drawer side table (West Elm) 3. Jute leather rug (West Elm) 4. Woven leather rug (Urban Outfitters) 5. Turkish copper pilaf serving pieces (Loaded Trunk) 6. Mexican "piranha" bedspread -- I'm so obsessed with this one! (Loaded Trunk) 7. Sorrento bed (Williams Sonoma Home) 8. Wyatt sconce (Pottery Barn) 9. Ikat pillow (John Robshaw) 10. Printing cloth bolster (John Robshaw) 11. "Bananas for Sale" original drawing (Lauren Nassef) 12. Circa 1794 Primates etching print (Empiric Studio)

So do you guys have any more advice for Lorna? If you have a angled ceiling, how did you decide to play it up?