Ditch Kids' Stuff For A More Mature, Elegant Design

Nov 16 2008 Justin And Colin

Get The Look

GET MOVING

The old single bed was squashed up against the wall, leaving a gap in the centre of the room which was effectively dead space.

We bought a double bed for our growing princess and positioned it in the centre of the largest unbroken wall to make everything feel larger.

This change of position allowed us to upsize to a double while still leaving enough circulation space to walk round.

FLOOR PLAN

The timber flooring was in relatively good condition, so we sanded it lightly, cleaned it up then painted it a lovely, vibrant pink.

The trick to making floor paint hard-wearing is to build up several light coats in favour of one thick, gloopy coat that could easily chip.

Afluffy rug softens up the look. Check out the Kidsworld fluffy pink rug, 90cm x 60cm for just £12.99 from Argos.

STICK WITH US

We added a floral detail by sticking up a repeat pattern of wall decals.

Wall graphics have come a long way and are a great way of adding a trendy touch without committing yourself to full-scale decor.

Check out the huge range of decals from US specialists Blik at Supernice - www.supernice.co.uk - their range includes everything from Nintendo logos to flying elephants.

GO COLOUR CRAZY

Webought plain white, flatpack furniture then jazzed it up with a lick of satin paint so it matched our chosen colour scheme.

International Paints make a melamine primer that makes the ideal base coat, visit www.internationalpaints.co.uk

The bed we've used is the Malm and the units are the Hemnes and Alex, all from IKEA, see www.ikea.com or check in stores.

PAINT POWER

To stop this bedroom feeling too young, we used robust pink over soft baby pink then toned in the colour with lighter shades on the bed and curtain fabrics.

Painting the woodwork black takes this room into skater girl territory making it pop princess perfect.

The wall colour is Garnet Symphony by Dulux, see www.dulux.co.uk

THINK PINK

If you're a bit of a pink panther then get clicking to visit this great online store, www.itspinkuk.com

From bean bags and Barbies to microwaves and money boxes, they stock a huge range of products which all have one vital thing in common...they come in every shade of perfect PINK.