For the first time in my life I’ve got a room that I can dedicate purely as a bedroom.
A space for relaxation, pampering and sleep. It’s a complete joy to pull together a decor scheme quite unlike any I’ve been able to create before; all soft hues, tactile textures and minimal clutter.
Come on in and have a nosy round..
Platform bed
I’ve mentioned before that finding a bed sans headboard had proven to be a bit of a tricky task (I documented my research into the UK’s best platform beds a few months ago), but am happy to report that the bed I ended up opting for has proven to be a great choice!
It’s the Mirage bed** from The Futon Company, which combines a low level minimalist design with a robust frame to create a feeling of space and calm. I really loved the Japanese zen-like feel to it when I first spotted it online, and the low-level platform works wonderfully in my room by allowing the sunlight from the window to stream through to all corners of the room unimpeded. I love the warmth of the solid pine wood frame and the simplicity of the silhouette when unadorned with linens. When dressed, the whole effect is that of a floating platform with an expanse of streamlined space underneath, which helps create an aura of calm in the room. Now I just have to resist the urge to use the space underneath for storage!
Memory foam mattress
The depth of my new Sleepbear memory foam mattress** atop the low platform base helps prevent any comparison to student-day futon-bed living and creates a wonderfully sumptuous sleep experience. After reaching out to some of my favourite blogging pals for their mattress-in-a-box recommendations, I settled upon the Sleepbear for its clever combination of three layers that provide natural elasticity, perfect support and temperature control.
Firm support was a key criteria for me, and Sleepbear’s super dense base provides a solid foundation for the memory foam middle that moulds and adapts to provide tailor made support regardless of your sleeping positon. This is then topped with a pure latex sleep surface, offering ‘cloudlike’ comfort and bounce, with perforations that allow it to naturally regulate body temperature.
The pure latex surface is a sustainable natural material sourced from sustainable Hevea rubber tree plantations and processed into latex foam by the largest latex manufacturer in europe, which utilises 100% green energy and recycles 95% of the water they use. If you’re not familiar with the rubber tree – hevea brasiliensis – it grows in many tropical areas and produces the sap from which latex is derived. This sap is tapped to flow from the tree and organically harvested for latex foam production. Each tree can live for up to 100 years, and the number of trees tapped for a king size Sleepbear mattress will over the course of 1 year remove up to 28 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – impressive, huh?
Having slept on my Sleepbear mattress for nearly three months now I’m happy to report that its an incredibly comfortable mattress and I’ve had no trouble at all sleeping. As I generally sleep on my front or side, I’ve previously found memory foam mattresses to feel a little too squishy and really haven’t enjoyed the feeling of sinking too far into the surface. Thankfully this doesn’t happen at all with my Sleepbear mattress – there’s definitely a little give as it moulds around your body but certainly nothing like as much as I’ve experienced with others. The only time I’ve really noticed a touch too much give is when I’ve sat up in bed to watch Netflix on my laptop and to be honest, its been a welcome push to relegate television watching to the living room and keep my bedroom as a blue light free zone, which I’m sure has also contributed to my enhanced quality of sleep.
Sleepbear offer a 100-night free trial so you can be confident it’s the best choice for you – I’d be at the end of my 100-day trial now and definitely wouldn’t give it up!
One of the great things about having plain white walls, a neutral (let’s call it latte) coloured carpet and light wood bed frame is having the freedom to dress the bed in a range of styles to suit my mood and the changing seasons.
Given that we’ve been moving through Spring and into Summer during my first three months in the flat, the three looks I’ve created thus far have been quite pared down and muted colour-wise to help enhance a feeling of calm, serenity and relaxation, but I can see deeper colour hues working well in the space during the winter months.
Lazy Linen
I’ve spoken before about my love of relaxed bedlinen styles (while introducing my five favourite bed linen brands), so it should be no surprise that the first look i’ve embraced is the nonchalant crumpled look of Loaf’s 100% crushed Belgian Lazy Linen**, which prides itself on requiring no ironing at all – yippee!
I’ve paired their pale pink linen set with my favourite Nina Kullberg Paris cushion** and slubby Malagoon Berber throw** from Holly’s House (stolen from my sofa – I really need two of these!) to toughen the look slightly and prevent it being overly feminine.
Lots of linen
I’ve paired Secret Linen Store’s Relaxed Denim Natural Linen** with Parisian blue pieces from The Linen Works that I’ve had for years now. Utilising Secret Linen Store’s signature denim effect weave —perfect for a gal who’s wedded to her jeans— the bedding has a natural linen face with soft laundered cotton finish underneath for a soft and cosy night’s sleep.
I love the contrasting colour tones of the two sides – slightly darker on the linen topside – which marries wonderfully with the soft silkiness of my Amara Corfe Alpaca throw**, which I’ve added for the extra visual detail in its delicate herringbone design, as well as its super snuggle factor!
Hinterland
For my last bedding look I’ve embraced one of Sainsbury’s SS17 trends – Hinterland – to create a look that sits beautifully alongside the other modern tribal pieces in the room without breaking the bank. I’ve layered up the white pintuck bed linen set** with grey quilted bedspread** and knitted marl blanket**, adding in an African mudcloth cushion from Maewoven as a final flourish. It’s been great having large superstores on my doorstep for the first time (in London all I had were express stores), and discovering all the fantastically affordable trend-led homeware pieces. The whole double bedlinen set, plus bedspread and blanket, came to £70 total!
There were a couple of other key pieces that I felt would help really bring the room together: a statement rug and a leaner mirror.
Ialready had a beautiful Beni Ourain from Sukhi rugs which I knew would sit perfectly between my bedside and the window, but on the other side of the room between the bed and my IKEA MALM drawers there was a much larger expanse of plain beige carpet I felt needed a decorative piece-de-resistance.
A large part of the style influence for this room stemmed from the beautiful Berber print of my beloved Beni Ourain, and when I spotted the hand knotted wool Amira rug** from Barker and Stonehouse I knew the beige and black geometric design would perfectly complement this look. Soft and cosy underfoot, this rug really helped pull the space together as soon as it was laid, and brings a smile to my face whenever I pass by the door and see it.
Whilst being a strong style statement in the space, the muted colour palette has allowed it to work as a great foil for the strong graphic silhouette of my curved edge black leaner mirror** from Exclusive Mirrors.
I’m naturally drawn to fairly unadorned mirrors and think the softer curved silhouette of this exclusive mirrors number helps enhance the relaxed homely vibe I sought to create in this space. The black edging has symmetry in the black frame of my large Andy Warhol print from King and McGaw, which has found its home atop the long MALM chest of drawers, and helps prevent the overall vibe from being overly feminine or too thematic.
This leaner style is slightly shorter than a standard full length mirror but I luckily have plenty of space in front to be able to stand far enough back and get my full reflection. I also love the way it reflects the full expanse of the Amira rug to double the impact of this striking design, and have purposely kept all other pieces around it as minimal as possible – utilising the sleek Scandi silhouette of a trusty IKEA FROSTA stool as a bedside table so as to keep as much ‘open space’ as possible.
I’d spent a long time wracking my brains trying to decide how I wanted to use the space at the end of my bed – its not a wide enough space to add in a proper storage unit and still have space to pass by, but at the same time was too wide to be left without anything.
So when Salvation Furniture got in touch to introduce me to their reclaimed furniture designs it felt like fate. Their ethos of creating design-led looks combined with naturally warm and tactile textiles was right up my street and as soon as I spotted the beautiful Bruno bench** I knew it was what was missing from the room.
I wasn’t wrong; the warmth of the reclaimed wood top paired with pure white steel legs has proved a wonderful addition to the space, and provided a great place to showcase my Happy+Co cushions which hadn’t quite found their home up until then. Handmade in Suffolk, Salvation Furniture benches are all made-to-order using reclaimed wood that is shaped and sanded from old builders’ boards in their workshop, using limewax or clear was to enhance the natural beauty of the woodgrain and ensure that no two benches are the same. These beautiful benches are the perfect harmony of rustic country style meets contemporary minimal, and are suited for use in any room of the home as well as outdoors.
And there you have it; a little insight into the bedroom sanctuary I’ve created in my new home thus far… I hope you like it!
A number of items in this post have been gifted and are denoted by a double asterisk (**). All photography © Kate Baxter.
9 Responses
Absolutely beautiful hun. Calm, peaceful, understated and tasteful. Just like you. xxx
Oh your bedroom looks gorgeous! I especially love the simple boho accents – the rugs and the wallhanging just bring so much warmth and I love how easily you can change up your bedding to give it a new look! xx
So gorgeous Kate. I love how calming it is. That tapestry and those rugs, wow! Also found myself drawn to that lovely little bag at the end…
What a simple but beautiful room. I love the light pouring in through the windows. I’m drooling over that rug. I love it.
I’ve never thought of putting a stool in a bedroom and it works so well.
Your flat is looking so beautiful, Kate. Looks like you’ve really settled in now. That B&S rug is stunning. I would never have looked there for a Beni style rug. And i’m also a huge fan of layers of linen. Great post x
I absolutely love it. It feel so calm and serene. I’d love a bedroom like that but I’m a magpie for saturated colours. Blush pink has well and truly won me over, though.
Your bedroom is looking fantastic, Kate, a serene and relaxing place to unwind and recharge. And we’re thrilled you like our Bruno bench and think it looks fab in its new home!
So pretty, I love the idea of the relaxed bedding……anything that reduces my ironing I think is wonderful!
your bedroom looks awesome and i absolutely loves it