I’ve been meaning to do a tour of Ben’s room for a few months, but most of the time it’s such a Lego-strewn state that I can’t find anywhere to stand to take the pictures. So the other day, I put work aside for a few hours and got down to sorting out the old toys, stray socks and broken crayons; I emerged sweaty, flustered and tired, but quite proud of myself. There were surfaces! A carpet! New bedding! After high fiving myself profusely, I got the camera out and got snapping – no point in wasting a golden opportunity, eh?
I love our little house, but man alive, it’s dark. Not so dark that you need lights on, just dark enough to make taking pictures inside a challenge; luckily, the sun came out around the time I finished (like some higher being was rewarding my hard work!), so I managed to capture it in all it’s bright, colourful glory.
I bought the bedding recently from Wilkinsons; his old set was nice, but he’s had it since he was three and I thought it was time for an upgrade. I actually bought two sets the same, as the kiddos will be sharing bunkbeds eventually, and I wanted something fun but gender neutral – and at £9, it was hardly going to break the bank. Also – geometrics! Who doesn’t love a good triangle?! The crochet blanket hops around the house depending on my mood; it usually sits on the back of a chair in the lounge, but I thought it looked pretty good upstairs – it was actually one of my best charity shop bargains, and cost the princely sum of £2.50.
The lights are from Cable and Cotton, who got in touch and asked if I’d like some to review. I had a browse on the website, and was massively impressed to see that not only are they beautiful and extremely well priced, but they’re also ethically made. Win! The lights are handmade in Thailand by skilled craftswomen; each employee works outside in the fresh air, has their own insurance policy and is paid a fair, living wage – they work in conjunction with the Government’s OTOP programme, which is designed to support small sustainable business, and allow workers a year round income and decent working conditions. Regular readers will know I’m always keen to promote any kind of fairly traded, sustainable or handmade items, which is why I did a little excited dance and said I’d be more than happy to review them.
They arrived beautifully packaged, with detailed instructions on assembling them; it literally took five minutes (OK, five minutes to assemble, twenty-five minutes of faffing around deciding how to arrange the colours), then I hung them on a hook on the wall, plugged them in and pretended it was Christmas for a bit. I love how they look when they’re switched off; like a mini art installation in Ben’s room, but when they’re switched on at night they’re just magical. I chose the Mexican set, but there are so many different options; sea greens, relaxing blues, calm pastels and acid brights, or you can even just go maverick and choose your own colours. I love them, Ben loves them, and I honestly cannot recommend them enough – there are plenty of companies selling similar things, but the real deal-breaker for me was that they’re ethically made. Who can argue with that?
Ben’s room is pretty small, so I didn’t want to overload the walls with too much and make it seem ever smaller; I picked a few prints and cards, and then made them into a mini-gallery wall, topped off with a cowboy garland made from the pages of an old kids annual. I made a little window-thingy (actual technical term) to cover the top of the roller blind; it started life as an old quilt cover, and now it makes the window look a bit more interesting.
Apart from the little table, which I found in a charity shop and jazzed up with a bit of DIY chalk paint, the furniture in Ben’s room is all from IKEA; a lot of people are sniffy about IKEA, but I love them – they’re trying their best with regards to the environment, and they make cracking storage. The wardrobe holds all of Ben’s clothes, all of Daisy’s clothes, and a whole load of books and games – it’s literally huge, and is the closest I’ve ever come to a real-life Tardis. The upright book storage is actually the wall-mounted Trofast system turned on it’s side and covered in washi tape – I wanted some crates but couldn’t find any, so this was the next best thing.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek into our home – next up, the bathroom!
Cable and Cotton were generous enough to send me one set of 20-light strings, but as usual all thoughts and opinions are my own. In case you couldn’t tell, we loved them and will definitely be going back for more!
Joining in with the #LoveYourHome linky hosted by the lovely Jen at Love Chic Living. Come and join us!
Love Ben's room and that duvet is LUSH. Off to purchase now and you've given me an idea for adding details to our walls too. x
This is stunning! I love what you've done with the bulldog clips hanging pictures from the wall – such a simple but really clever idea.
I love this room – especially the wall as everything is changeable with a quick unclipping – GENIUS!
Great room. I love the lights.
I love this room so much – makes me think I need to do something quick to our bedrooms! The lights are gorgeous.
Oh love this room tour. I've spotted this bedding on another blog and it's great value! We have some cable and cotton lights too and love them. great job!
What a gorgeous room!
Oh his room looks great. I need to tidy all my kids rooms (groan!). I love how you used the wall trofast on it's side for books. The cowboy bunting is genius! x
Wilko's have some great bedding don't they! we got a similar duvet for us from there. Also love his prints! x
Lovely wall displays and a great book collection, lucky Ben! I do like those lights too, remember seeing a lot of them last time I was in Brighton.
Wow I really love his room – first of all the radiator covers are lovely and the use of space is great – smart storage – love it. Plus how amazing is the Wilkinson geometric bedding – I want. Love all the books – very homely – perfectLaura x
Such a cool room for a cool little dude. The lights are great, love the colours you went for! x
Your wall display looks brilliant!
What an amazing room. I adore your style. The map on the wall is fantastic. The crochet blanket on the bed whisked my straight back to my childhood too as I used to have one oh so similar. I just love it.
Beautiful room!And you've made such good use of the space 🙂 Love it. Karen x