By House of Hackney September 04, 2024 2 Min Read
Portrait of a Room: The Snowdrop Room
The Transformation of a Guest Bedroom
It’s no secret that guest bedrooms are usually the last room on the agenda when it comes to decorating; dull, grey rooms that act as a dumping ground for outgrown kid’s clothes, leftover wrapping paper and gym equipment. So for this transformation, House of Hackney founders Frieda and Javvy wanted to inject some life into their spare room. Like the arrival of Spring, they wanted the space to blossom with joy and optimism. And what better way to do that than creating an ode to the snowdrop, the first flower of the new year?
The room in question is a cosy 4m x 3m space, and the starting point for the design was the joy-filled GALANTHI wallpaper. Depicting a meadow of wild snowdrops, this was the perfect print to bring freshness and an uplifting spirit into the room. Once all 5 walls (the ceiling is a wall in our House!) were swathed in florals, they picked out some key colors from the wallpaper to use as accents. GALANTHUS white, a softer alternative to brilliant white, was used to highlight the woodwork and fireplace and the beautiful cornflower hued AZURE blue coated the built-in wardrobe.
The room is so small that any bed would take up the entire floor space, so Frieda and Javvy decided to create a bespoke one. The couple designed a half tester detail to add a tented feel, and they used a divan as a base, which they covered in fabric.
Niki & Paul's Soft Furnishings in Devon created a shaped headboard in the acid bright PETUNIA yellow, plucked from a detail in the wallpaper, bringing the whole scheme together, and a pleated tester was made from GALANTHI cotton-linen, so the couple’s guests can fall asleep under a canopy of wild flowers.
Wall-to-wall print may sound overwhelming to some, (and Frieda and Javvy are never ones to shy away from maximalism), but the use of the same pattern on the walls, ceiling, curtains and bed creates a feeling of harmony and serenity, rather than being overpowering.
House neutral, WILD CARD Axminster carpet covers the floor, and to continue the nature theme, floral motifs were introduced in the accessories, with the ACANTHUS side table and matching Art Nouveau inspired lamp, and an archive FLORA FANTASIA mirror hangs above the mantle.
Crisp white bed linen adds to the Spring freshness, and a little reading and writing nook, furnished with an antique desk holds personal treasures like favorite books, a glass mushroom ornament and our flower-shaped FLORIS table lamp.
Art maketh the home, and the finishing touches to this room come in the form of two beautiful oil paintings from our Market Garden artist, Georgia Beaumont. Et voila, a bedroom filled with the optimism of Spring. Lucky guests!
“The overall effect is being cocooned in a Spring garden all year round and one of the smallest rooms in the house has become my favourite room! It's somewhere I sneak away to with a book in Winter and it feels like I’m lying on the grass on a sunny day.”
- Frieda Gormley
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