Autumn Accents

I am loving this season change from Summer to Autumn and feel ready to change up my decor to reflect it.  Obviously I'm not going to make major changes for every season but it occurred to me a few years ago that we have decorations that we bring out for December, but why only December?!  I'm not talking about anything so major as Christmas trees but a few changes to make the decor feel new are always nice.

For me, Autumn is about getting the candles and snuggly blankets out and getting ready for winter.  It's a time for eating home made soup by the fire.  I just love it!

Thinking about how few autumn decorations I have (by now I am usually fully focussed on Christmas) I thought I'd put together a few ideas for Autumn Accents.

This is just a selection of items from a wander around the internet.  I feel like October time is a good time to introduce a few gold cushions - they can stay right through to Christmas (or all year if you don't get easily bored of decor like me) and keep you safe from of terracotta and orange overload.

Of course with Autumn comes harvest and Halloween so I like this reference to a pumpkin (available on etsy).  As I said before I love candles and blankets.  I also think that changing up the artwork would be fun and a good chance to get the kids involved.

I fell in love with Autumnal wreaths but I'm not sure the UK is on board with wreaths for anything other than Christmas.  I might be standing a wreath up beside my fireplace rather than on my front door!!

Disney Snow White themed home office

Heigh-ho-heigh-ho it's off to work we go so it might as well be reminded of Snow White. 

Minnie Mouse (Red) Bedroom

This week I wanted to put together a Minnie Mouse themed bedroom, once again, nothing too permanent and for an older Disney fan.  There are loads of Minnie Mouse bedroom furnishings for children, but I wanted something less childish. To avoid the more childish designs I stuck to the red and white outfit rather than the pink outfit that Minnie wears sometimes.

I think there are some brilliant quotes associated with Walt Disney and from the films, perfect for a teen or young adult to be inspired by.  These look great framed and again, cheap and easily changed.

The dressing table is plain white but I would replace the knobs with cute red and white polkadot ones for a Minnie themed room - available in DIY stores or online quite cheaply.

While my husband would argue that a Dooney & Bourke bag isn't really a bedroom necessity........I'll leave that decision to the girls!

Disney Mickey Mouse Theme College Room

This themed room is for a room where you can't make permanent changes, maybe rented or college room.  To hand art or even the clock, look no further than 3M Command strips. 

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Real Home Interior Design - Theming 'Disney Style' - Disneyland Paris

Following on from my post about the interior design theming from Walt Disney World Resort Hotels, I wanted to share a few more themed hotels, this time from Disneyland Paris.

Having been to Disneyland Paris and stayed in 3 of their hotels I started to write this thinking there will be lots to write about, lots of theming, but then I looked back through photos and realised that the rooms aren't very themed, it is the public areas and exteriors that have the most theming.  My favourite is Hotel Cheyenne, 

Hotel Cheyenne - what Cowboy or Cowgirl wouldn't want to stay here?

But there are still some ideas to be taken from hotels at Disneyland Paris.

Firstly, from Newport Bay Club nautical themed photos and frames and a Mickey nautical headboard for all the little sailors out there.

The photo frames could easily be created from a circular frame, painted to look like a porthole.  The headboard would take far more skill, but could be painted for a similar effect.

This next photo is from the ceiling in the Sleeping Beauty Suite at the Disneyland Hotel.  If you look closely amongst the clouds you can see the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather flying above you.  I think this is a cute detail and wouldn't it be nice to have the good fairies watching over you as you sleep?

So the next 2 aren't Disney hotels, they are partner hotels at Disneyland Paris so I'm including them, also they take theming to an amazing level!

Firstly, at Vienna International Magic Circus hotel, a family room.  I just love the 'big top' curtain around the bunk beds, and if your clown or acrobat wants a big top bedroom this would be really easy to recreate.  

Use a curved shower rail or other ceiling hung curved curtain rail, make a red card (or fabric if you can) and hang a circus themed curtain from the rail. This fabric is very big top, and if you want to go the extra mile, paint stripes to match the curtains on the wall behind the bed.  You could also use circus themed wall stickers.

If you don't want a curtain around the bed, you could make curtains behind the bed and have the same striped bedding to give a similar effect.

The next is Algonquin's Explorers Hotel and your little adventurers would be right at home in this jungle.  I don't usually like a wall mural but this one is just so good that I can't resist, especially with the hammock between the trees.  If you wanted to create a jungle wall mural and don't have the skills to paint one, to the budget to pay an artist, there are some ready made wallpaper murals available, I quite like this one. 

Real Home Interior Design - Theming 'Disney Style'

So you've probably have guessed by now, I love a theme, but I'm also boringly practical.  

I adore Disney, and I am really inspired by the theming in Disney hotels, but even I couldn't live with that much theming full time.  So I'm going to look at ways to bring that theming to real life.

In this post, I will focus on a few Walt Disney World hotels for different reasons....Animal Kingdom, Art of Animation and Saratoga Springs.  Animal Kingdom for full on but still quite grown up theming, Art of Animation - Little Mermaid Rooms for 'drop you straight into the film' theming and Saratoga Springs as an example of just a few hints of a theme.

So firstly, Animal Kingdom Lodge, where you are transported to the the African Savannah, complete with Animals outside the window.  Since I can't help you get a giraffe into your garden, I'm going to concentrate on the interiors.

The first thing to mention in the lounge area of the room is the dark furniture, which is balanced by light walls and carpet.  I love the bench by the wall and a small, slightly simplified version would be a great eating area at home.  The plates on the wall above the bench are a really simple way of bringing the theme together too and definitely could be used in a real room at home.

The TV cabinet is great and really adds to the theme although I know I don't have the woodwork skills to create it, maybe some of the tribal style designs could be painted onto some existing furniture if you wanted to create this look. I'd probably decorate a wardrobe in this way rather than a TV cabinet.

Another really fun way to add to this African Savannah theme is to add frames and art or maybe help your child to create their own African style art?










This carving in the headboard is super cute and could be recreated in paint at home for a Lion King theme.

Next to the Art of Animation - Little Mermaid Rooms, these are pretty extreme theming, it would be an amazing child's bedroom, and if money was no object, I'd recreate something similar for a child who loves Ariel.
However, reality kicks in and I'm not really sure that any child would want this for a number of years, so I'm going to pick out some simple elements that will translate to a real home.

The beds are amazing, and the headboard is definitely something that could be bought or made reasonably inexpensively.  Create the headboard easily by buying a shell shaped headboard,  trimming with pearl effect trim or if you are feeling more artistic, paint a wooden one.  Bedding is another item which obviously can be changed easily to keep with a theme.
While I'm not usually a fan of painting, some wall decals could look fab on a pale blue wall.  For more effort and more expense, a full wall mural would be amazing.




Another brilliant feature in the Little Mermaid Rooms at the Art of Animation is the hanging space, I would translate this to a real room by painting the inside of a wardrobe.  Obviously the outside of the wardrobe could be painted but I think in reality the inside would be just as fun for the child and they would not get bored of it so quickly.  I'd also get a light fitting like this for inside the wardrobe to really show off the design. To make it a bit more fun, I'd use the inside of the doors to make a scene complete with attached painted boxed which would be used to store all the little mermaid toys.

The Little Mermaid bathroom is an excellent example of quite an ordinary room being made extraordinary with some very simple theming.  The mirror is a simple and non-permanent item to change for a themed frame and the shower curtain is also really inexpensive and easy.  

And finally, Saratoga Springs, which to be honest isn't my style at all.  What I can appreciate, and the reason I chose this resort as an example is the theming.  The themes here are Victorian and Equestrian but neither are over the top.

I want to focus on the equestrian theme, at a first glance at the Studio room, there isn't a theme screaming out to me.   The first hint at a theme are the pictures on the wall, equestrian themed prints, nothing too eye-catching but a nice detail.  

The next themed item i noticed were the cushions - a much more obvious theme here, but on a smaller item like a cushion, you can be a bit more bold with a theme.  

This is definitely something that would translate easily into a "real" home.  I think it would be a good idea if the reverse of the cushion was plain so you can flip them over if you fancy a change or if, like me, you have visitors that just don't appreciate Disney or your particular theme.

The next detail is probably my favourite from the whole room, it is the bedside lamp bases.  Again, much more obvious theming but still quite small in the room so it would work in real life. There are similar equestrian themed lamp bases available, or many other animals if you have a different favourite you want to include!

So I hope those 3 examples have given you some ideas, I think I'm going to go and make a little mermaid headboard! 

Disney's Frozen inspired home decor

I've watched Frozen more times than I should admit in the last few weeks, and it has inspired me to put together a home decor scheme for a living room with a Frozen theme.

Frozen Living Room

The pictures in the back (aside from the one of Elsa) are all from Design Seeds which I love, I picked out these wintery themed ones as the kind of schemes for Frozen.  As this scheme involves lots of white, blue and silver it could really easily feel cold (kinda the idea but not great for day to day life). So to warm it up, I've added the dark blues and texture, lots of texture. 

I love the texture of the rug even though it is such a cold colour.  I'd also add a white chunky knit throw or cushions to the sofa but I haven't found any I like yet - job for grandma's knitting talents!!

The candles will also help to warm up the cold theme.  An open fire would be even better but not always possible.  

This scheme could easily translate to the bedroom with white bedding and a blue throw, lots of mirrors and silver lamps would be fab.  

Frozen Child's Bedroom

I've also put together this scheme for a child's bedroom.  I know there are some out there that are 100% Disney Frozen products, with wall murals and bedding and they are amazing.  But I'm a bit too practical-minded to go the whole way, it may be Frozen mania this week, but it could easily be Planes or Princesses next.  I prefer to keep a child's room with neutral walls and use some key accessories to add a theme when desired. (I sound like such a boring Mum!) On the mood board, the furniture is white, that doesn't mean I'd buy new furniture unless the furniture needed replacing anyway.  Maybe a darker wood could create more of a 'log cabin' Frozen theme?

Obviously, the age of the child will make a big difference to the scheme, I designed this for a 7 year old girl.  I've included similar "icy" colours with white, silver and blue.  

I am a big fan of wall decals as they really hall bring a theme to a room but peel off easily afterwards when you want a change.  I also have plain white picture frames (mine were from Ikea - click here for a link) and I change the picture with the theme of the room.  It's such a cheap way to change the look of a room.  Sometimes I use posters in the frames, sometimes wrapping paper, sometimes our own artwork, just whatever I fancy at the time.  For a Frozen theme, how about pictures of Anna, Else and Olaf? 

The lights are Christmas lights really but the snowflakes really work for this scheme, maybe draped around a desk or the window.  Any type of fairy lights would work and there are lots of Christmas snowflake garlands which could be used like bunting.

Let me know in the comments if you have any other Frozen decor ideas.