Before
M
oving from a busy apartment
block to a house with a garden
is the goal for many growing
families. However, when Laura Craig,
47, and husband, Paul, 46, bought their
compact two-bedroom Victorian terrace
in South London with daughter Ania, six,
they knew they’d have to compromise on
room size and layout. ‘This wasn’t such
an issue downstairs, as we love the cosy
nature of the house,’ says Laura. ‘Upstairs,
however, we had to walk through Ania’s
bedroom to access the family bathroom.’
The long-term plan is to add an extension
complete with new bathroom but, for the
time being, what the couple needed was
a solution that worked for all the family.
STEP ONE Laura and Paul
fleetingly considered partitioning off a
narrow section of room to create a corridor,
but as this would have resulted in a very
small second bedroom, the couple quickly
ditched the idea in favour of working
with the existing layout. ‘Ania is only six,
so our need for bathroom access isn’t
currently an issue for her,’ says Laura.
‘Though, understandably, she still
wanted a room that felt like her own.’
The couple were keen to involve Ania in
all decorating decisions, and in terms of
layout, decided to create two dedicated
zones, either side of the natural route to
the bathroom.STEP TwO Luckily, the
bedroom already had built-in cupboards.
‘These are actually sited over the
stairwell,’ explains Laura, ‘So while
an odd shape, they had the potential
to provide plenty of storage space.’
With this in mind, Laura hired a local
carpenter to re-configure the interior andhttp://www.yourhomemagazine.co.uk June 2019 31
Good idea!
Fabric blinds complete with a
blackout and thermal lining will
ensure children aren’t woken at
the crack of dawn.create dedicated spaces for clothes, shoes
and toys, complete with hanging rails and
pull-out baskets. This left Laura free to
tackle the sleep and play zones. ‘I wasn’t
keen on cluttering up the limited space
with lots of furniture, so when I spotted
the clever cabin bed in a local store,
I snapped it up,’ smiles Laura, ‘It wasn’t
cheap but had everything Ania needed and
even freed up a play area by the window,
where her toys can’t get trodden on!’STEP ThrEEAs Ania’s favourite
colours are pink and blue the colour
scheme was never in doubt, and once
the old carpet had been pulled up and
consigned to the skip, the entire room was
painted a soft blue-white. Laura and Ania
chose the bird, flower and butterfly design
wallpaper together. ‘The idea of hanging
patterned paper was daunting,’ recalls
Laura, ‘But I watched a few how-to videos,
and gave it a go – and I’m very proud of
my first attempt!’ Only papering one
wall also made sure the patternKID’S BEDROOM MAKEOVER
Good idea!
Turn a light string into an illuminated
photo display by simply adding
wooden pegs, painted using left over
paint – just ensure you use LED
bulbs that won’t emit heat.Laura found this lovely
bentwood chair abandoned
in the street, then customised
it with colourful washi tapes