[Image: ‘Colour Recipes for Painted Furniture’ by Annie Sloan, published by CICO Books. Photography by Christopher Drake]
This is my bed at my house in France. It’s a French Napoleonic bed, which I painted in Chalk Paint™ in Antibes Green. I gilded the classical laurel leaves and shield in the bedhead. The bed now has an outrageous pomposity about it, even though the overall look of the room is not at all ostentatious. You’ll see I painted the mud walls in Chalk Paint™ too – I used Old White for those. The side table is painted in a mix of Antibes Green and Louis Blue. With the simplicity of the rest of the room, the focus remains on the bedhead.
If you love the look of this bed (and it really is simple to achieve), I wrote step by step instructions for painting, waxing and gilding a bed in this style in my book ‘Colour Recipes for Painted Furniture and More’ (CICO Books 2013).
[Image: ‘Room Recipes for Style and Colour’ by Annie Sloan and Felix Sloan, published by CICO Books, photography by Christopher Drake]
The classic Victorian brass bed in this typically English cottage is quite a contrast to my French Napoleonic bed! I came across this home when I was working on my last book. The house is set in an idyllic village in the English countryside and the interiors speak of nostalgia and the romance of the past. This bedroom is floral and vintage, with colours that have faded over time. The owner, Madeleine Tomlinson, has painted the panelling on the walls and the beams in the ceiling in soft whites, as the rest of the space is filled with Victorian and Edwardian floral prints and patterned quilts.
Image: Janice Issitt
In contrast to the muted palette of Madeleine Tomlinson’s cottage, Janice Issitt’s bedroom (above) demonstrates how florals can also be used to create a bohemian look. Janice painted the side table next to her bed in a vibrant boho palette of hot pink and clashing blues and greens, to echo the colours on her bedding. She created the pink colour by mixing together my Emperor’s Silk and Henrietta colours. Country Grey and Old White provide a neutral background to frame the rest of the cupboard – a similar effect being reflected with the interspacing of neutrals in the bed linen, too.
Image: ‘Room Recipes for Style and Colour’, by Annie Sloan and Felix Sloan, published by CICO Books, photography by Christopher Drake
Alex Russell-Flint’s lives and works in a rambling former schoolhouse in France. It’s an unusual space – certainly elegant, with a romantic and rustic tinge. This living space is laid out very simply with the beautiful wood panelled walls in the background painted in a lightened version of my colour Provence. The wrought-iron daybed is most likely an old hospital bed. The wood burner is cast iron and has a simple, elegant design.
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