We moved to the country for lots of reasons. But one was so that my youngest daughter, Bo, could have her own bedroom. Our London house was lovely, but it’s third bedroom was teeny-tiny and used as my office. And Bo’s older sister, Anouk, now a very grown up 8-year-old, had had more than enough of sharing.
Our new house had bedrooms for everyone and – exciting! – enough space for a proper playroom. It meant that the girls’ rooms could be their own spaces and not just depositories for epic amounts of toys. My thoughts about children’s rooms are that they should be a mix of the whimsical and the classic. Whimsical to make them magical places for the children to spend time in; and classic, because, ideally, you want the furniture to last until they are well into their teens.
We resisted Bo’s requests to paint the walls bright pink and used a soft, cloud-like grey instead. It creates a neutral and calming background for all her toys and clutter. The furniture – mostly proper antiques, hand-me-downs or ebay finds – are all painted in Farrow & Ball’s Shaded White a perfect, warm grey with a velvety finish that looks expensive, even when what it’s covering isn’t. Bo got her pink in the form of raspberry ticking stripes on blinds and an antique chair. And a sweet, gingham print brightened up her bed and lampshades. Using raspberry rather than a more sugary shade kept things fresh and not overly girly.