boudoir. (ˈbuːdwɑː; -dwɔː) 1. a woman’s dressing room, bedroom or private sitting room or salon. [C18: from French, literally: room for sulking in, from ‘bouder’ to sulk]
Now the weather is turning decidedly autumnal how about creating a warm and relaxing sanctuary in the home where you can snuggle up with a good book, a hot drink and some cake, or luxuriate in a roll-top glass with some tunes and an indulgent glass of bubbly… I’m in!
For me the boudoir look is all about opulence, texture, pattern, drama, deep rich colours, and some female charm. Lighting is key too. This is a fantastic look to work with in a bedroom, dressing room, powder room or snug. If you are not a fan of bright colours you can always adopt a more sedate palette of nudes, creams, sorbet pinks and chocolatey browns.
A page from my scrapbook.Getting that boudoir feeling. Another page from one of my scrapbooks.Photographer: Miss Aniela. Series: Surreal Fashion. Model: Faye Shearwood Stylist: Minna Attala. Dress: Busardi. Feather cape:National Theatre Costume Archive. Hair: Doubravka Marcinkova. Make-up: Rhiannon Chalmers. Stylist’s assistant: Becky Smith. Photographer’s assistant: Tim Charles Matthews.More Miss Aniela gorgeousness.Photographer: Miss Aniela / Model: Kim Davis / Dress created by Kirsty Mitchell Photography / Stylist: Minna Attala / Hair: Anne Veck / Makeup: Grace Gray / Photographer’s assistants: Greg Sikorski, Matt Lennard, Ian MearsSomewhere to recline with a glass of fizz. (image from pinterest)Grab a book and doze in this delightful space. (pinterest)A dressing room fit for any discerning boudoir fan. Loving the lampshade by Zoe Darlington. (Image from Pearl Lowe’s Vintage book/pinterest)Matisse’s ‘Seville Still Life’. (google images)Matisse’s ‘Reclining Nude Back’. (google images)Sumptuous lighting design by the extremely talented Zoe Darlington. Lush! (www.zoedarlington.co.uk)More yumminess from Zoe Darlington. (www.zoedarlington.co.uk)The Bluebell sofa from sofa.com.Waterblooms Crewelwork Rug by anthropologie. (www.anthropologie.com)Inject some colour into your scheme with the Maud Deco by Mols & Tati-Lois. (Photo by Chris Gatcum)The Club Tartan from Mols & Tati-Lois. (Photo by Chris Gatcum)Pineapple wall sconce from http://www.abigailahern.com.Anthropologie’s Nature Table Dessert Plate… perfect for eating cake off. (www.anthropologie.com)Elegant perfume bottles are a must. (fredmiranda.com)The bubbly is beckoning… so let’s get supping. Enjoy. (pinterest)
The work of the extremely talented artist/photographer, Miss Aniela, encapsulates the boudoir look perfectly in my opinion and she adds a healthy injection of attitude. A very modern boudoir I would say.
Think lush fabrics such as velvet combined with sheers, fresh flowers releasing a heady aroma, ornate mirrors, furniture to recline on (sofa.com has some beautiful customisable sofas), pattern clashing, flamboyant lighting (visit Zoe Darlington, she rocks, and of course Mols & Tati-Lois), beads, tassels, fringing, dark corners, rugs, throws, cushions, arresting wall art.
There’s so much scope with this interior style so let your imagination run wild.
Breathe some life back into a sad-looking charity-shop find and create a stunning conversation piece for your home.
Today I am going to show you how to quickly and easily transform a tatty old foot stool into a quirky, unique object of beauty for the home. A foot stool makes a great little punch of detail in a room if you don’t feel confident yet to reupholster a whole chair or sofa. Kids love sitting on them too! So let’s get creating… I hope you enjoy it.
What you will need:
-A foot stool
-Fabric
-Staple gun plus staples
-Hammer
-Pliers
-Upholstery tack strip trim plus tacks (you can use just standard tacks, but strips save time)
Step 1: A tower of foot stools. What the foot stool looked like originally.Step 2: Original foot stool stripped of old fabric and any tacks and staples, and with legs already painted, distressed and waxed.Step 3: The length of upholstery tack strip needs to be long enough to work around the whole of the edge of the top of the foot stool.Step 4: You will need sufficient fabric to cover the top of the foot stool plus an inch for turnover. I’ve used a vintage-style tea towel to cover this foot stool.Step 5: Start by stapling each edge in the centre point of the fabric, creating a smooth seam by turning the fabric back on itself by about and inch.Step 6: Once you’ve secured each edge you can start stapling along each edge fully. You will need to pull the fabric taut in order to avoid an uneven finish, but do not stretch it so much that you the pattern if the fabric has one.Step 7: Next attach the upholstery tack trim by bending it around the edges of the foot stool to cover the line of staples. Use a hammer and watch out for your fingers!Step 8: The finished foot stool transformed into something really rather lovely. Definitely something to be proud of!Alternative trims and finishes: You don’t have to limit yourself to upholstery tacks to finish your foot stool off. Pom poms, braiding, ribbon, and even buttons can be glued or stitched around the edge of your foot stool to cover the staples and create a unique trim. You also don’t need to use one whole piece of fabric. A great way of using up remnants of fabric is create a patchwork foot stool. This is a great way to mix up print styles.The finished stool! A foot stool makes a great little punch of detail in a room if you don’t feel confident yet to reupholster a whole chair or sofa. Kids love sitting on them too!
This is my very first personal venture into the world of blogging so please be patient. I have been collecting magazine cuttings, postcards, wrapping paper, and all manner of visual stuff for many many years. It all goes into a box and slowly I create collaged pages in a growing number of scrapbooks. I do this purely for pleasure, however, often the pages of my scrapbooks become a go-to source of inspiration for all the creative projects that I embark on, be that decorating spaces, revamping furniture or making lampshades. I cannot get enough of all things visual. So with this in mind I thought I might start to share things that are exciting me visually. A close friend of mine was blown away when I showed her one of my books and she pretty much ordered me to share it with the world! So humbly, here are some of my scrapbook collaged pages together with other images that have caught my eye today.
A page from my scrapbook.Orange is one of my favourite colours. This image is incredible. I found it on pinterest.A page from my scrapbook.More scrapbook inspiration.A couple of pages from one of my scrapbooks.Just a great space. (Image from pinterest)Green… another beautiful colour. Combined with lighting, it’s just gorgeous.Just the most incredible styling. I love everything about this space.Cameos with yellow and concrete. Such a great combination.More orange, this time with teal. I am in heaven!
The Maximalist 