Old fashioned charm

This stunning Resene paint and wallpaper combo – a look epitomised by the feminine, all-matching schemes of the 1970s and ’80s – is making a comeback, but this time with a fresh, modern twist that has dispensed with some of the former fussiness. This delightful room has been styled for a young girl but the treatment is flexible and would particularly suit traditional or classic-style homes where decorative trims and features are already at play.

The wallpaper

The ticking striped wallpaper makes a great base for the feature wall behind the bed, covering the lower 1.4 metres of the wall to form a traditional dado. A second wallpaper, a cute rose pattern, sits above it. For a burst of freshness, we used a lovely soft green on the dado rail (Resene Karen Walker Half Washed Green) and painted some of the furniture to match. On the other walls, we chose a third wallpaper from the same range and in the same colours but in a slightly busier pattern. We also gave an old bookshelf a new look by painting it and applying the wallpaper to the back of the shelves for some added interest.

Floor painted in Resene Walk-on in Karen Walker Paints Buttery White; dado rail, table and bookshelf in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Karen Walker Paints Half Washed Green; picture frames and coat rack in Resene Lustacryl in Tempt, from Resene ColorShops.

Styling the room

As the Resene wallpaper is the main feature, it was important to keep the other elements quite plain. The soft green has been carried through to the quilt and bed cushions, while the pink from the wallpaper roses reappears on the coat rack, picture frames, cushions and accessories, neatly tying the look together.

DIY wallpaper flowers

To give the room a cute, handmade touch we got creative with some Resene wallpaper offcuts, turning them into flowers which we attached to the wall. We cut out our wallpaper flowers using a simple template found online, which came in two sizes. Then we glued the smaller flower to the bigger one, leaving the petals unglued. To finish the blooms, a circle of wallpaper in a complementary pattern was added to the centre of each. After folding the petals inwards to create a 3-D effect, the flowers were ready to stick on the wall with a little Blu-Tack.