Decorating Dilemmas

Way back in January, Mr U-t-B and I decided it was high time we re-decorated our bedroom.  I set about dreaming,  planning the oasis of calm we were going to create, but we didn't get any further than that, probably because the enormity of the job put paid to our enthusiasm.

Fast forward through winter and spring, into what we are laughingly calling summer, and a decision to turn our mattress through 180 degrees last Sunday led to a thorough spring clean.  Having ejected unloved clothes, heaps of paperwork, and a spare dining room chair, we were then able to swirl the furniture round a bit and see that it really would be worth getting going on the revamp front.

So I pulled out the wallpaper swatches I sent off for earlier in the year, and started to do a more serious assessment. Our room is currently wallpapered, which is probably due to the plasterwork not being in the greatest condition.  If Mr U-t-B is feeling especially energetic, I can imagine him deciding to go the whole hog and re-plaster, in which case, the wallpaper will just be for a feature wall.

Some of the swatches were gorgeous, but quickly dismissed for one reason or another...

Harlequin's Iola Rose

I love the 1930s style of this one.  The background is subtly metallic and the pinks are such pretty shades.  But seeing it in a room set, I think it may be a bit too girly for our bedroom...

Photo courtesy of Wigan Wallpaper

I also very much like Sophie Conran's 'Chantilly' in both 'Oyster'...

and 'Celadon'...

This has the advantage of being on sale at the moment at £22.98 per roll at wallpaperdirect.co.uk.  But the sheeny, metallic flowers are not quite what I was looking for, my heart having been stolen by the matt, hand-printed look of some of the other swatches.

This one, 'April' by Thibaut feels like hand-made paper.  

The colour is a soothing blue-grey and I think if I lay in bed with this around me I would be able to hear the tweeting of birds , smell the sweet flowers and feel the brush of a butterfly's wing...

Photo courtesy of Fashion Wallpaper

But at more than £70 a roll, I'd probably be lying on the bed recovering from a swoon at the bill, insensible to all the loveliness!

Another soothing one is this large-scale print from Sanderson...

Sanderson Swallows

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted this in BBC1's 'Turn Back Time - The Family' this week - in two different colourways (at around 7:30 and 30:06).  It does look great in a room!

Morris & Co's 'Medway' was designed in 1885, so might well have been the style of paper that would have been in this house when it was built.  Lovely though it is, it's not quite what I'm looking for.

Next up for my consideration is Zoffany's 'Meadow' in Aqua.

My scanned picture does not give a good indication of the colour, which is a darker, more teal-like colour.  I adore the hand-printed look of this one.  And the heart-shaped buds make it rather romantic! Definitely in the running (though it's a wee bit expensive...)

Sanderson's 'Pelham' has the same look and is available in lots of lovely colourways.

This one (Linden/Ivory) is really a light sagey green but looks more yellow on my screen

And 'Marney' (also by Sanderson - I am not being paid by them to advertise, honest!) is similarly blessed with the hand-printed look...

Sorry - I think the carrot cake got to this swatch before it got scanned! 

Originally I was looking for green based papers, as our curtains are mainly green, and I was trying to avoid the expense and effort of making new ones.  But I am now tempted to go for a complete change of colour, and am very drawn to the grey-green end of the blues...

Dove/Cream

Cream/Duck Egg

But my dilemma now is this - would a grey-based colour scheme be depressing?  

Mr U-t-B has headed off to France for a couple of weeks of hard graft.  I might just move into the back bedroom (aka my sewing room, which has a daybed) and start pulling off the old wallpaper...

Hope you have a sunshine-y weekend. 

By that I do not necessarily mean that the sun will actually be shining (I've given up looking at forecasts) but that you will have nice things happen to make you feel like it has...

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