Creating a sanctuary

We’re incredibly lucky to have a spacious house, I LOVE that we have a separate playroom {shutting the door at the ned of the day on all the mess is literally the best thing ever}, plenty of bedrooms, an office for me, a big kitchen/diner and a light-filled living room. We also have an extension off the back of the house, with a utility and the fifth bedroom/en-suite. When we moved in, it was our guest space/man-cave, it was never really used and nothing was done with the space other than basic furniture in, and the odd guest staying over. Now the kids Dad has finally moved all of his junk out, I’ve spent this week beginning to transform the space and think about what we want to do with it.

It’s a pretty big room, has two big windows and looks over the garden. I decided it would make a great studio/sanctuary space. I’ve been painting more and more again lately, meaning my office has been taken over with projects and I’ve been back to working on the sofa as my desk is covered in paints and no space for a laptop. We had a spare dining table in our second hallway, gathering dust, so that has been moved in, a shelf put up, lots of fairy lights, some art on the walls and I’m in the middle of moving all our art supplies down there.

It’s a perfect space for me to {and the kids} to create in – I can paint in the day and watch Beastie playing in the garden, and at night I can paint and blast out some tunes without disturbing sleeping kiddos.

When we moved in, none of the curtains we had fitted, so we just grabbed some cheap ones to put up temporarily – needless to say, they’re still hanging and I really don’t like them. I’m thinking of switching them for some simple roller blinds – I’ve seen some great blackout ones on the VELUX website, they’d offer the darkness we need if guests stay over in there, but look a little nicer than the current curtains we have up! I’m leaning towards the duo blinds, they seem the perfect combo to meet the needs of the room, using the blackout blind to block out as much light as you want, the built in pleated blind then diffuses the remaining light in the room. I love that there are a tonne of colours to pick from – I’m thinking as the room is painted white, and the carpet grey, adding in a pop of colour with a bright purple maybe?

The other end of the room is a little hideaway – someplace to curl up with a cup of Earl Grey and a good book, for me to sneak five minutes reading in whilst the kids are painting, and of course, for guests to stay. The spare TV has been packed away, as we never use it and a technology free room is bliss, I’ve thrown some new throws over the sofabed and chair, strung up some fairy lights and laid a new, colourful rug.

It’s amazing what a difference a few, quick tweaks can make to the energy of the space. There are a few things I’d like to purchase to finish off the space, and a few projects to work on. The cupboard {an old nursery wardrobe} is in need of a coat of paint come the spring, I’m thinking a mint green maybe. I’ve just ordered some Moroccan tile stickers to use to makeover the old coffee table in there.

The space already feels so much nicer, I can’t wait to finish it off and spend the long summer days painting away in there.