Style at Home

PRETTY PERFECT‘Lola loves her new room.It’s full of colour andcreative ideas, and thestylish single bed willhopefully last for years’My husband Mark and Idecided our next housewould be a project, sowhen this 1950s semi-detached came up forsale we jumped at the chance to buy it,’says Wendy. ‘It was a perfect renovationopportunity we could carry out ourselves,and wouldn’t cost too much.The priority was for my children, Lola, 7and Connor, 4, to have their own rooms,as they had shared previously in our oldtwo-bedroom terrace. Lola bagged themiddle-sized room, as she was desperateto have a bigger room than her brother! Myonly concern was the old boiler cupboardin there, as it was an odd shape and notmuch use, so we decided to box it inand make the bathroom next door larger.``````Getting startedLola and I had very different ideas aboutdecor, but I wanted to ensure her bedroomwould be suitable for a good few years. Wesettled on a colour scheme of aqua, pinkand grey – girlie but with a grown-up feel.The first job was to strip the space backto basics and block up the cupboard doorwith plasterboard. Rather than just treatthe walls where the plaster was comingoff, we had them all skimmed, as well asremoving the dated Artex on the ceiling, sowe’d have a better canvas to paint on. Wemoved the ceiling light to the centre, andadded a few more power sockets.``````The basicsAfter a few dramas about Lola wantingtoo much pink, we eventually settled ona pretty aqua wall colour from the Light& Space range at Dulux. We chose thatshade as I thought it would help to keepthe scheme feeling fresh and light. To adda hint of glamour, I found an elegant whitechandelier, which added the wow effectthat Lola wanted – I knew she’d feel likeWendy, 38, turned a run-down space into a dreamscheme where her daughter can read, play and sleepGIRLIE BUTGROWN UP’‘It had to bePRETTY PAPER‘I used some wallpaperremnants to jazz upthe back of thesebookshelves’``````housetohome.co.uk/styleathome SEPTEMBER 2016| 79GIRL’S ROOM MAKEOVER Love it