Get the Look: An Abercrombie & Fitch Inspired Bedroom

Owing to the popularity of my Hollister Bedroom post, I have decided to also put a quick “how to” for their ever-so-similar competitor store, Abercrombie & Fitch. I might point out, this is not a like-for-like copy of their Store decoration but rather an inspired piece – simply using Abercrombie and Fitch as a bouncing off point: if you’re keen on the shops and the style they sell, you might like this style too. So, on with the scheme:

I think a nice deep blue wall colour is appropriate to create that Aladdin’s cave feel, something like Hague Blue by farrow and ball could do the trick. I’ve used this colour in a bedroom before and it’s delicious – rich and deep, yet mellow in tone. Marry this with Vivienne Westwood’s tartan wallpaper by Cole & Son, in homage to a lumberjack style shirt.

The Furniture could be a real eclectic range:

• A slatted modern type bed like the Zanzibar bed by Willis & Gambier
• A rustic Armoire, antique or replica
• Rather than two matching bedsides, how about a drawer chest to one side, with tall legs elevating it from the floor for variation
• Tan leather armchair, like the Hugo from Graham & Green
• This compilation rug by The Rug Company pulls inspiration from many styles, for an almost flea market mixture of patterns and colour but with a luxurious feel under foot.
• To go for the store look, why not integrate an open clothes rail to show off some of your favourite and most worn garments.

Now, something which all the American youth stores remind me of is Taxidermy – though of course I don’t recommend you mount a real stags' head above your bed. However, there are lots of ways to represent this within your interior. There are loads of taxidermy inspired pieces on the market at the moment and Graham & Green have some of the best, including these Rhino Wall Lights.

Moooi (That’s Danish for Beautiful, with an extra “o” to make it Very Beautiful didn’t you know) launched the Rabbit lamp a while back and would make an excellent bedside light. In fact, Next have done a copycat design available for 1/10^th of the price, a snip at £35 and a nice feature piece. Finish the scheme with wood: wood venetians and wood floor, either a walnut or cherry for best effect.

Moving House: a New Beginning

Finally, the reason I started a blog is almost upon us: the contracts have been exchanged and we’re now awaiting confirmation of the moving-in date. AND I’M SO EXCITED! Partly because its bigger than our current abode, partly because it’ll be our very own home rather than a rented house, but mostly because I can finally get my teeth into refurbishing the damn place to my liking (something very frustrating about renting).

So, is it a complete fixer upper I hear you ask? Erm, no, not exactly. In fact, we’ve been very lucky in finding a place which is good enough to move straight into (high priority with a little baby in tow) but it’s not going to feature in any home-design magazines anytime soon. The current owners are in their late 60’s, so that should give you a good idea of the décor. And guess what? I’ve already drawn up the whole house in sketchup and have gone through at least 5 different designs and layouts for each room already. Did I mention I’m fickle? Yup, I get fed up of styles/colours/patterns very quickly, so really need to be happy with something before I make the plunge and decorate.

So here you are, as I’m sure you’re desperate to take a peek, a few teasers of the house. To preserve the current occupiers privacy, I am just showing the fixed decoration elements which I will be replacing on a rolling programme.

Living room

A nice size with extension at the back, solid wood floor in Oak and currently a feature wallpaper around the chimney breast. A basic electric fire and mantle will be remaining.

Kitchen

Not my favourite space: It’s long and thin and the unit doors are a Beech vinyl, with a red granite-effect laminate worktop. Tiles are beige and carcasses are white so a facelift will be the cheapest solution in here. The oven is staying but all other appliances must be acquired.

Master Bedroom

I quite like this space: it’s got duel aspect windows so the room will bet both the morning and evening sunlight. A floral wallpaper currently dominates the space but all other walls remain white. No quirky features apart from the new ensuite which has pebble flooring (!)

Other rooms…                                                                                          

My main concern is the Hallway which is the first impression people will get when they enter the house, so this really needs to represent the style running throughout: All rooms lead off from this so it needs to compliment without appearing cluttered or themed. It’s ultimately going to set the trend for all the rooms so I want it to be fairly neutral and tasteful.  Also, the Nursery is a must do. The little’un will be staying in our room for a few more months until she sleeps right through the night, so it would be best to tackle this first. Also, I’ve not even thought about the gardens – as we’re looking at and Autumn/Winter move, its not really a concern until Spring but there are a few things which we’ll need to do as general maintenance eg. Protecting the Decking.

Stay tuned for the Refurbishment posts. I intend to keep a record of the improvements and will be including useful hints and tips alongside a few tutorials on home-made elements. Oooh, can't wait!