Vintage/boudoir bedroom ideas?

Former Member

Ok so I've just moved back home and have permission to decorate my room. It is currently a plain cream colour with boring dark cream carpets (that are throughout the house as it is new build). I want to paper the back wall thats against my bed and also put some shelves up. The furniture is sort of your classic mid colour pine (that are about as old as I am) so very staple spare bedroom. I really love the vintage/boudoir thing and have ALWAYS wanted to have a vintage/boudoir themed bedroom but I don't know where to start?? Can anyone point me in the direction of some good places to find nice stuff that isn't overly expensive?

Former Member

For wallpaper you might want to try Laura Ashley for the boudoir look and for paint Crown do a nice range in deep and sensuous colours.

Furniture-wise, a combination of Ikea bedsteads and Freecycle wardrobes might give a bit of chabby chic. Our living room has a similar theme and all our stuff is other people's leftovers nobbled together.

Former Member

It's also worth checking out local auction places. You can get some good furniture there for the same price as Ikea thats in a different league quality wise.

Beyond that, i'm not exactly sure what vintage boudoir looks like.

Former Member

black gloss paint and scumble glaze.

Black gloss paint on furniture makes it look really expencive and chic (if done neatly!!), and scumble glaze gives it that shabby chic feel - its normally white, and cracks to make it look really old.

You're probably best going for purples, reds, dark greens, dark blues. Fabrics wise think velvets, brocades, satins, silks, lace.

If you have an emmaeus charity shop or similar, they often have nice vintage furniture thats a little tatty but with a lick of paint would look great.

How about some pin-up pictures? Nice glass objects are always good as well - vases, atomisers, carafes.

Think about setting up a dressing table with a nice three part mirror. I wanted a screen - like a dressing screen, and a dress makers dumbie to put outfits on to see what it looked like together before putting them on. Thats possibly a little bit more expencive, but try Ebay and freecycle.

Lighting is important, might be nicer to have several lamps instead of one overhead light and a bedside lamp.

Accessories-wise, look for things like elbow length gloves, pearls, in sales or charity shops. Even lace dollies and fancy perfume bottles might add to the effect.

Hope that helps!

Former Member

Thank you so much! Purple is my favourite colour so will be leaning towards the rich purples/plumbs. I already have a dressing table with a mirror standing on it but I am quite pushed for space, I have a double bed but theres only enough room to walk around the bed with a fair amount of space to the side of the room where you walk in. This should be interesting! I'm not going OTT, just some wallpaper, new bedsheets and curtains and the odd picture/general decor for the room because if I ever do find a job in the field I want to go into, I'll have to move away. However with the way things are at the moment it looks like I'm going to be stuck at home scanning food for posh people for the time being