It all started with a new duvet. A gorgeously plump, soft kingsize goose-down duvet that my folks gave to me for Christmas. It truly feels like being enveloped in a cloud. But now it feels like that duvet is the best thing about my bedroom. The walls are the same magnolia emulsion as the day I moved in, the bed and wardrobe belong in a room twice the size and the floor, or floordrobe in my case, is (probably still) covered in that cheap oatmeal carpet that landlords and developers love so much. It's rubbish and it's making me miserable.
So I've decided that I need to sort it all out and make a fabulous boudoir for myself. It's not a bad room. It's a reasonable size, if you take out all the huge bits of furniture. It has a pretty Victorian cast iron fireplace and a lovely big sash window.
My problem with decorating is that I find it really hard to make any decisions. My ex is a designer and we always struggled to agree on anything and would end up with some sort of dull compromise that neither of us loved. Now I can have anything that I want, budget allowing, it's really liberating but also hard. I've started a Pinterest board of bedroom ideas and that is helping to clarify in my mind exactly what I'm after. Basically…all the stuff he would have hated. A little voice inside my head is still saying "No, no! The duvet cover must be white washed linen!" but I think I'll ignore that for now.
Anyway, at the moment I'm really taken with Matthew Williamson's range for Osborne & Little, 'Eden'. Particularly the 'Sunbird' wallpaper. Right up my street. Tropical foliage and hummingbirds in jewelly tones. Lush. There are seven amazing colourways to choose from, dammit. And did I mention the metallic detailing?! Stunning. (I'm also quite taken with the 'Peacock' wallpaper but let's not complicate matters.)
I would happily paper my whole room in this but my bank balance is telling me that I should probably go for the dreaded 'feature wall'. I think that term got a bashing after overuse on home makeover shows but as a concept, I think it works.
So now all I need to do to recreate my own little piece of tropical paradise by the British seaside is decide on a colour. Oh…and a duvet cover. Yeah, maybe white after all.