An English Bedroom Gets a Dark and Dramatic Design
A large-scale floral wallpaper inspires a gorgeous guest suite that celebrates its Edwardian features
When it comes to decorating, a large room can be as much a challenge as a blessing, especially when it isn’t going to contain much furniture. With a spacious, high-ceilinged guest bedroom and bath to transform, and directives to retain the lovely period features of the Edwardian house and to create a distinctive and luxurious design, Karen Knox thought that wallpaper was the way to go — and that size mattered. “We needed a large-scale wallpaper because there wasn’t going to be a lot of stuff in there,” the designer says. She had free rein, and an impressive flower-and-foliage print became the foundation of the guest quarters in this home in the North Yorkshire area of England.
A four-poster wasn’t the first thought for a bed. “We were going to go for an upholstered headboard,” Knox says, “but when we found the wallpaper, there was no point in having a big solid piece of furniture in front of it.”
A large bed was still required to suit the dimensions of the room, though. “This one seemed to tick all the boxes,” she says. “It doesn’t fight with the wallpaper, the color works, and it frames different aspects of the wallpaper as you walk around it.”
Charleston bedspread: Made; Goa bed: Maisons du Monde;
see other four-poster beds
A large bed was still required to suit the dimensions of the room, though. “This one seemed to tick all the boxes,” she says. “It doesn’t fight with the wallpaper, the color works, and it frames different aspects of the wallpaper as you walk around it.”
Charleston bedspread: Made; Goa bed: Maisons du Monde;
see other four-poster beds
Rich velvet chairs were on the owners’ wish list, and Knox found designs with upholstery in a green to complement the wallpaper. There’s a coffee machine in the room, so guests can make their own without going downstairs. Then they can sit in the alcove created by the bay window to drink it.
The velvet curtains were made by a relative from fabric bought on eBay. “The owners did a lot of work themselves, and by saving money on trades, they could splurge to make the room look pretty special,” Knox says.
Frame armchairs: Made; Shallows paint (bay window alcove): The Little Greene Paint Co.
Green Velvet Shines in These Enviable Rooms
The velvet curtains were made by a relative from fabric bought on eBay. “The owners did a lot of work themselves, and by saving money on trades, they could splurge to make the room look pretty special,” Knox says.
Frame armchairs: Made; Shallows paint (bay window alcove): The Little Greene Paint Co.
Green Velvet Shines in These Enviable Rooms
Before. A large bed looked small in the space.
After. The owners wanted the room’s cast-iron fireplace to stand out, and it’s now framed by the wallpaper. The Little Greene Paint Co.’s Jack Black paint on the picture rail, baseboard and cornice pulls the original features into the design.
Before. The bathroom intruded into the bedroom. It was reworked as an en suite, with a new doorway farther along the right-hand wall.
After. Painting the floorboards was a money-saving strategy. “They’d sworn off floorboard work, but when we’d gone for the wallpaper, the best idea was to get the floorboards repaired and carry the black through,” Knox says.
A rug adds warmth and avoids an echo. “We didn’t want a pattern, but to let the wallpaper do the talking,” she says.
Adum rug: Ikea
Browse solid gray area rugs
A rug adds warmth and avoids an echo. “We didn’t want a pattern, but to let the wallpaper do the talking,” she says.
Adum rug: Ikea
Browse solid gray area rugs
The bay window area wasn’t wallpapered since it would’ve involved too much waste. Big foliage plants here and elsewhere in the room are part of the look the owners wanted all along and complement the wallpaper’s theme perfectly.
Vita Copenhagen’s Eos pendant light shade was also a design the owners had their hearts set on. “It’s like a fluffy cloud floating on the treetops,” Knox says. “I swagged it across so it hangs centrally to the fireplace.”
Porcelain ceiling rose and Sheffield Steel twisted cable: Dowsing & Reynolds; Soknedal mirror: Ikea
Porcelain ceiling rose and Sheffield Steel twisted cable: Dowsing & Reynolds; Soknedal mirror: Ikea
Accommodating the room’s period features meant losing the top of the wallpaper.
“It fades to a light color equivalent to Little Greene’s Shallows, so we used what would have been the top of the wallpaper’s color as the ceiling color,” Knox says.
“It fades to a light color equivalent to Little Greene’s Shallows, so we used what would have been the top of the wallpaper’s color as the ceiling color,” Knox says.
“When the hanging rail arrived, it had feet in blond wood, so we painted the feet gold,” Knox says. The metallic tone repeats throughout. “It warms the space up,” she says.
Garment rack: La Redoute
Garment rack: La Redoute
The trunk commemorates the couple’s wedding.
“It seemed to fit nicely at the bottom of the bed, and bedding and towels can go in there,” Knox says.
“It seemed to fit nicely at the bottom of the bed, and bedding and towels can go in there,” Knox says.
Coral accents on the bed were color-matched to the wallpaper. The coral pillow covers were found on eBay, while the gray ones were made from fabric left over from the curtains.
The knobs that came with the bedside tables were changed to continue the warm metallic notes in the room. The light switches and outlets, meanwhile, were exchanged for black versions.
Hemnes bedside table: Ikea; Futurist brass knobs: Dowsing & Reynolds; Rita table lamp: Made
Hemnes bedside table: Ikea; Futurist brass knobs: Dowsing & Reynolds; Rita table lamp: Made
The door to the en suite got a coral accent to link it to the color scheme.
The couple had already chosen the en suite floor tiles when Knox was called in. “They wanted to know how to make everything come together, so I suggested the artwork, the brassy accents and the wall color,” she says.
Shallows paint (bathroom walls): The Little Greene Paint Co.
Shallows paint (bathroom walls): The Little Greene Paint Co.
The colors of the art in the bathroom repeat those in the bedroom. “The couple had bought prints from the artist before, and he’d done a Chanel print, but the colorway wasn’t going to work, so I asked him to do it in bespoke colors,” Knox says.
Artwork: Andy Welland
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Artwork: Andy Welland
More
Check out our “get the look” guide
Read other stories about bedrooms
Browse bedroom products
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Harrogate, England
Size: 19 by 14 feet (5.8 by 4.3 meters)
Designer: Karen Knox of Making Spaces
The garment rack in the right-hand corner had already been earmarked by the owners for the guest bedroom, and with that, “black popped into my mind,” Knox says. “Initially, they’d not thought about wallpaper, but they were bowled over by the effect.”
Upper Brook Street wallpaper: The Little Greene Paint Co.; browse wall coverings