Get the look of Soft English Meadows in this Spring Bedroom Makeover

Fill your bedroom with the romance of a soft spring meadow with our design expert Charlie Douglass. This week’s makeover uses soft greens muted by English rain, and the russet brown of boxing hares. All accessorised with cornflower blues and cow parsley white.

Spring freshness

Spring is a time for new beginnings after the grey awfulness of winter. A spring look is feminine and understated, with pastel colour tones and delicate fabrics. Using real wood furniture and hints of geometry will add masculinity, ensuring that our room isn’t too girly.

Meadowsweet bower

To create your meadow, cover a wall with Ralph Lauren’s Fern Toile wallpaper in Meadow (£67), with a repeating pattern of green ferns, birds and fruits inspired by English hedgerows and meadows. Match the paper with Pale Green acorn paint from Little Greene (£45). Dress your windows with a sheer voile panel to allow morning light to seep through. Frame these with heavy chenille curtains ready to draw in the autumn.

Choose light furniture with a period feel in white or a light coloured wood. We love the Sienna range by Feather & Black, especially the bed with its chic rattan headboard and French styling.

Dress your bed with down pillows and a duvet wrapped in soft linens. Linen is a natural breathable fabric that keeps us cool in the summer and warm in the winter, so it is the perfect bedding choice for changeable spring. Complete your bed with a super-soft mohair throw (£110) and cushions (£55) in forest green or eucalyptus and a luxury cashmere cushion (£35) in cable knit marl natural, all from Feather & Black.

Place a sheepskin by the side of your bed to sink your toes in first thing in the morning. Or if you feel that your room needs a masculine touch choose a Stenlille geometric rug from Ikea (£60). Place a Feather & Black Henrietta blanket box (£625) at the end of your bed in which to banish your winter clothes. For spring hats and scarves choose a selection of ceramic coat hooks from These Please (£7.95 each).

Good nights: how to choose the perfect mattress.

No matter how beautiful your boudoir, you will not get a good night’s sleep if your mattress is old or ill suited. You should replace your mattress every eight to ten years, or sooner if you are not sleeping well due to pressure on your hips, shoulders or back.

When buying a mattress get the best that you can afford – we spend a third of our lives in bed so a good mattress is a worthy investment! Cheap mattresses are made by slipping a spring unit into a pre-made cover. The more expensive mattresses are hand made, with fillings laid individually into pocketed spring units. The border of the mattress will then be sewn around to make sure that the mattress keeps it shape, and the top and bottom covers are sewn on by a mobile sewing machine. The mattress will then be tufted to make sure that all the fillings stay in place.

The springs within the mattress support us while we sleep, while the fillings provide comfort. When lying on a mattress, on your side, your spine should be in the same position as it is when you are standing.

When choosing a mattress lay on them first. If your hand slides easily into the arch in the small of your back he mattress is too firm. If you struggle to manoeuvre your hand beneath you, the mattress is too soft. You are looking for a mattress that is in between the two. Of course your partner is probably a different shape and size to you entirely so you need to try out different mattresses to find one that works for both of you. Bed specialists Feather & Black offer “bed fitting” appointments at their stores, to help mattress buyers in their quest for a perfect night’s sleep. You’ll not regret it!

Mattress care

Mattresses have got to last us a long time so it’s important to look after them. To maintain the integrity of the springs, and ensure that wear is even, turn your mattress around, and turn over, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. You should also avoid sitting on the edge of your bed. Brush your mattress regularly and turn down your duvet each day to allow your mattress to air.

Spring light

Perfectly invoking the translucent seed pods of wild honesty plants, the Lombok Pharaoh lamp (£350) will cast a warm summer-like glow into your bedroom. Match with a quatrefoil design mirror from Artisanti (£359), a stunning sun shaped focal point perfect for our meadow theme. Light your bedside with a pair of simple white terracotta lamps from Feather & Black (£120).

Nature trail

Vases of flowers are an obvious accessory for our room. But keeping up appearances with fresh bouquets can be expensive so try a collection of single buds in small vases, we like the Esterban and Durdle vases from Habitat (£30). Alternatively, use arrangements of dried flowers, grasses and seedpods. Choosing blooms and accessories in pastel shades are a perfect way of invoking a sense of early spring.

A collection of bell jars showcasing natural finds and pretty things will add interest to a dresser top (there’s a good selection of bell jars at Maisons du Monde from £3.59. We love this one for £45.99). Try fir cones and feathers, balls of natural twine, twigs, stones and seashells.

To add a modern element to our room, add some photography, Get creative outdoors taking pictures of spring buds and wildflowers, or choose some contemporary art. We love this piece ‘The Visitor – Blue Edition’ by Gemma Compton (£85). It’s a silkscreen signed, numbered print finished with Silver Leaf and Acrylic and from a Limited Edition of 6. It encompasses Compton’s detailed and intricate style using ideas and themes of love, life and the beauty of nature with images of birds and flowers against a bold blue backdrop with additional silver leaf and varnish. We think it beautifully evokes spring mornings in the English countryside.

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