A Dark Grey And Red Boy's Room With Annie Sloan Paint

Our son has wanted a new look room for so long; having turned 12 his last bedroom felt too young (it was decorated when he was 7). The main issue was the cabin bed that he had grown to hate, wanting instead a bed on the floor. But the room is small, so we had put off the change for a long time, feeling a bed would take over the room. All changed in Lockdown, when he turned 12; all he wanted to do was watch TV in bed so of course floor space didn’t matter! His only ask, on top of a bed on the floor was that he wanted the walls black. Black! I refused (even though I spent many years as a goth as a teen myself!) and settled on a dark grey paint. Huge thanks to Annie Sloan who once again stepped in to offer us her graphite wall paint (gifted) which is the perfect colour for our boy’s room and as near to black as I was willing to go!

(Before anyone tells me off for describing this as a boy’s room – this would work for a girl too! It is just this is our boy’s room!)

A Dark Grey A Red Boy's Room With Annie Sloan Paint

I lie – he had another ask which pained me greatly and that was no vintage. NO VINTAGE! After my heart dropped to the floor, I accepted that while we love vintage, he doesn’t. So out went the 1950s atomic hooks, the giant Swatch watch clock and other cute bits. He even told me the Coke crate had to go (which I of course snuck back in!)

I convinced him to paint the giant vintage letters in reds, blacks and greys which he agreed to. The bedside table is a vintage industrial set of drawers which is perfect for him to keep all his small bits and pieces in. The lamp is a 1990s Anglepoise which is here until he finds a light he prefers. The last piece of vintage is a the retro fabric Star Wars cushion which is more sentimental than anything. Oh and the shade is 1960s. So basically as you can see, I didn’t totally listen to the no vintage rule!!

However everything else is modern. The bed, wardrobe and red unit all come from IKEA. The bed is great as has four large drawers and 2 shelves underneath plus storage space under the mattress.

The bedding is from John Lewis and Argos – we got a set in red and a set in grey to mix and match. The flooring was from B&Q and is a grey oak effect; which is a firm favourite as looks old and works perfectly with the granite walls.

It turns out a 12 year old doesn’t need much “stuff” preferring tech over tat! We kept up the old rusty signs on his door (the skull sign we found in a Polish flea market last year) and added a metal pin board from IKEA and his favourite Yungblud poster. Anyone that has a tween/young teen knows it is all about the LED strip lights so the tech wall has these around the edges. It looks fab when it is dark!