Styling a kids room with a space theme
Giving a kids room a little makeover can sometimes feel daunting. Often, we put it off because of the associated cost and time that a makeover needs. Most of us are not great DIY-ers and the prospect of applying wallpaper on a wall or painting walls seems like a big task. But here at Seasons in Colour we have a quick and easy solution for you, that is cost effective and which not only THEY will love but you will too!
When I set out to give the Seasons son's bedroom a mini makeover for the new year, I sat him down to understand what he really liked of late (and by the way, between the makeover and writing this post he may well have changed his mind again! That's life when you're 8).
One of the key themes that kept coming back to him was space and planets, and all thanks to the latest episode of STAR WARS which we had seen just before Christmas.
I was not immediately sold on the space theme - I was pretty aware that kids bedding can be a little tacky when it comes to space themes, until I came across the Christy Junior bedding range (we were already using Christy towels at home).
Star Wars as a franchise is going to be around for quite some time so I am hopping that with another 2 episodes (if not more) coming out every couple years, I should be ok for some time. Scroll down to see some ideas for making the room feel more grown up after 2 years time.
What I used for this makeover:
Bedding from the Christy Junior range called 'Infinity and Beyond".
Vinyl Wall stickers from Inkmill Vinyl, and from their Robots and Space collection available here.
Christy’s new Junior Collection caters to all children who want their adventures to continue. They have two brand new designs bringing the outdoors indoors, enabling playtime to never stop! From woodland trails, to space themed bedding, this collection has something for everyone.
Made with 100% Cotton, this luxury range provides the perfect backdrop and resting ground for all explorers. Besides, who says that adventures should begin and finish outside? With that in mind, I chose the 'infinity and Beyond' collection.
The duvet cover I went for was the "Galaxy" in teal (available exclusively on John Lewis and on the Christy website). This design is pretty minimalistic: just teal background with dark blue spots. As Junior reads a lot in his bed, I got an extra pillow case, in Speckles Jersey Indigo. This one is very soft (jersey) and would also look amazing in girls rooms with pink blush bedding. Just saying!
The quilt is the 'Cosmos' (currently £88 from £110) and it is covered in embroidered constellations. it has a fun mustard yellow border and it is also reversible. There's a matching square cushion as well (30cm x 30 cm) and they are both crafted from gorgeously soft jersey and cotton.
"Cosmos' quilt with embroidered constellations and featuring a reversible design and a yellow border. By Christy, available here.
Christy Ticket To The Moon Embroidered Cushion, available here.
Christy Galaxy Spot Print Cotton Duvet Cover and Pillowcase Set, Single, you can buy it here.
The room colour scheme
As this is a mini makeover, I planned around the existing colour scheme: blue - red - white. The main wall behind the bed is painted in a deep blue, which is the Steel Symphony 1 by Dulux. Let's have a look at some similar colours:
No huge difference there! Left: Stiffkey Blue by Farrow & Ball; Middle: Steel Symphony 1 and right: Breton Blue by Dulux
I thought this would make the perfect backdrop to white letters as a quote on the wall. George and I agreed to a Toy Story line: "To infinity and beyond". This also happens to match the name of Christy's latest bedding collection.
The wall is Steel Symphony 1 by Dulux and the lamp is the Mini Type 75 Anglepoise in 'Alpine'. Scatter cushions, bedspread by Christy. Vinyl letters from Inkmill Vinyl. Kid: stylist's own.
The vinyl letters
The vinyl letters were gifted by Inkmill Vinyl for the purpose of this makeover (thank you so much guys for the very quick turnaround!). Vinyl stickers are not something I had used before; I was extremely apprehensive of getting the stickers off the paper and onto the wall as I tend to do everything by eye and never use measure tapes.
I feared that the letters would end up not straight - and a couple of them did (I am the only one to blame of course). The good thing was that they have a very forgiving sticky back which means you can remove and reapply them (who knows, I may be trying sticky wallpaper next!).
To create your own text with Inkmill Vinyl, visit this page.
The vinyl rocket
This one was chosen by Junior himself and we customised the size on the Inkmill Vinyl website to give it some proper impact. One think I really liked was indeed the fact you can play with sizes and colours to match your interior decor.
The process to find the ideal stickers for this project was definitely easy and Inkmill Vinyl's website was so user friendly that you can order quickly and securely without having to really interact with someone on the phone.
The products were all received in a tube, ensuring they were in perfect shape to immediately apply onto the wall. A little plastic card (credit card size) was also provided to help you push the stickers firmly on the wall while removing any trapped air. There are instructions too although for smaller size stickers you should not really need them.
To see all of their space themed wall stickers, try this page.
Kallax chest of drawers, IKEA | Leather handles, Etsy | Anglepoise lamp, Mini Type 75 | Blox Rug, The Rug Seller | Shark Chair, Made.com | Truman Orange floor lamp, Made.com | Wall colour: Steel Symphony 1 and Steel Symphony 4 both by Dulux.
Ok, so when the kid is 10-11 and feels all too grown up for rockets and stars, how can I update his room again? Well first of all, you can create your own bespoke wall sticker by designing and uploading your own artwork. An alternative would be 'grown up' style prints like these from ETSY.
I would love to hear whether you would consider bedding as an affordable and easy way to give a room a mini-makeover and what you think of the vinyl wall stickers I have used here!
