I colour-drenched my guest bedroom in a shade I’d never normally choose – and I’m converted

Interior designer Natalie Jahangiry is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on decorating a home to suit a busy family life while sticking to your aesthetic values, too. See the rest of her articles here.

I would like to believe I know my home aesthetic pretty well… I’m a warm palette, cosy vibes kinda girl. From the clothes I buy and the colours I use in my graphic design work, to the product design I’m drawn to on supermarket shelves and the fabrics I love, there’s definitely a theme going on. So if you have been following along with my previous articles, it’s probably no surprise to see my home is filled with deep reds, dusky pinks and warm neutral tones, because ultimately, I like to feel cosy and cocooned in my surroundings.

So, it might come as a surprise when I tell you that I have fallen for blue, light blue to be precise. A colour that doesn’t naturally sit within my go to palette, but one that surprisingly works so well alongside the rest of our home.

It all started when it was time to decorate our guest bedroom, a room that had once been the girls’ pink bedroom before they opted to move into the smaller room across the hallway. With the space now free to design, I felt the guest bedroom gave me more free rein and permission to loosen the reins on the colours I have used throughout the rest of the house. Kind of my very own design playground, an opportunity to explore something a little different, but still in keeping with everywhere else.

It all started with a red bed

So, I did what I always do when I need inspiration to get started, I explore. I looked at interior products in shops that I was naturally drawn to, colour combinations that caught my eye and furniture I would love to include, before popping everything into a design document just as I would with one of our clients.

I also added a sprinkle of Pinterest inspiration too (of course!), although I prefer not to dig too deeply into Pinterest as I feel it’s all too easy to get led down a rabbit hole of trends, rather than discovering what you genuinely love.

While I was exploring and developing the idea, I fell in love… in love with a bed, to be precise, and that became my starting point.

Now, in previous articles I talked about visiting Margate House, and how I took inspiration from there to create my master bed. With that room I didn’t want to fall into a trap of copying the style directly, so initially I left a wavy headboard out of the equation… however this is not to say that I don’t totally love a headboard with curves in all the right places (because I TOTALLY DO!!).

So when I spotted the Lani velvet bed in plum from Danetti, I knew I needed it in the spare room. And what was even better than the gorgeous style of the bed was that it is an ottoman, meaning that in a room seriously lacking in storage, it would also serve as a brilliant solution for hiding away all the extra clutter we seem to accumulate as a family.

Adding the base colour

Going back to my previous comments about colour palettes, the plum bed sits firmly within my comfort zone for all the right reasons. So I looked at contrasting colours that would work alongside it. I went back through my inspiration and explored the colours that ‘sparked joy’, and that’s where dusky blue is starting to come into play.

I loved the idea of using the blue as a backdrop, colour drenching the walls, ceiling and woodwork in a tone I haven’t used anywhere else in the house (or in any of our past homes for that matter!) and then complimenting this with the rich, warm plum and red tones that already feature heavily across our other rooms. It felt like the perfect blend of something different, while still connecting the guest bedroom to the rest of our home, and once I had that vision down on paper I was ready to get to work.

Finding the perfect blue, however, is a tricky task… especially as this is a north facing room, although thankfully it does get a lot of natural light so I knew I could push the boundaries a bit. That being said, I still wanted to make sure the tone of the blue sat comfortably alongside with the rest of the house and didn’t feel too modern or out of place.

So I opted for a dusky but calming shade of blue with V&CO’s Blue Shade 2, which felt like just the right balance without being overpowering. What I really like about V&CO’s paints are that they are multipurpose, so you can use the same dead matt finish across your walls, ceilings, woodwork and even radiators, which makes the process a lot less fussy when you are wanting to colour drench an entire space!

Adding the rest of the furniture to compliment

Once I had my base tone colour painted across the room, it was time to bring in the furniture that would work alongside the bed, adding warmth and character while also making sure the space was practical. After all, as much as I want our spare room to look lovely, it has to work hard as an additional storage space for us as a family.

High gloss is having a bit of a moment in interiors right now, but being cautious of falling into another trend trap, I wanted to introduce just a sprinkling of it rather than going all in. So, I opted for the Carmela Gloss Side Table in Plum, which compliments the bed beautifully, while adding another texture and finish into the mix.

I have a chair in every room (what can I say… I have a thing with chairs), so naturally this is where my attention turned to next. I really liked the idea of playing around with the different tones of blue, so I wanted to find a chair that has a similar tone to the walls without being the exact match, creating a little contrast but still feeling cohesive. The Frances Swivel Chair turned out to be the perfect addition and the kids absolutely love spinning around on it, while Tufty the cat has gained yet another bedroom chair to lounge on. Everyone’s a winner!

Finally, we needed to tackle a bit more storage space, because while the ottoman bed would give us a brilliant place to hide bits and bobs, we still needed something practical for the girls' clothes and toys to overflow. I did this in two areas, firstly I used the nook that is built into the walls to create a hidden storage shelving space, adding a curtain I made and hanging on a tension rod to hide the clutter. And secondly I decided to go with a sideboard style chest of drawers with the Odele Black Ash Chest of Drawers, something slightly smaller than what we had in the room previously so that the space still felt spacious and inviting with balance instead of overwhelming it.

To finish I brought in an elongated mirror and an old Swoon dressing table that I’ve had for the best part of 10 years, because I do love to move the furniture around in our home… much to Tom’s delight I can assure you!

The finishing touches

I wanted to keep this room smart but still quirky, making sure the blue and plum tones remained the stars of the show, so I opted for fewer styling items than I would normally use and let the furniture and colours do the talking.

I have a huge picture of a flamingo that Tom bought me years ago, but despite absolutely loving it I’d never really found quite the right space for it… until now. I hung it above the radiator, where the pink tones beautifully work with the blue walls, and popped some quirky artwork to the adjoining wall, mixing frames in different shapes and sizes to keep things interesting.

I also found a very fitting picture frame in Oliver Bonas, that brings my beloved stripes into the mix (because who doesn’t need stripes somewhere in every room?!), before finishing everything off with some faux branches and hanging planters to tie the look together.

The end result

I’ve ended up with a room that feels fresh and calm, while still feeling very much like us. The dusky blue works so well alongside the familiar warm tones that run throughout our home, giving the guest bedroom its own personality without feeling out of place. And, more importantly, it works as the perfect partner to the new red wavy bed! Not only do we now have a lovely space for guests (Mum, you must be very excited to stay!!), but we’ve also gained some much needed extra storage, so it’s a win all round.

So, will I be using this kind of blue again? ABSOLUTELY! While I’ll always be a warm palette lover at heart, this room has reminded me that sometimes the best design decisions come from stepping outside your comfort zone and exploring something a little different. Who knew I’d fall so in love with blue!