‘Our room is so much brighter and happier now’

A coat of white paint inspired Jannine Newman and her husband, Steve, to embark on a full bedroom makeover, mixing earthy colours and artistic touches

- Jannine Newman

Despite having lived in their Victorian terraced house in North London for seven years, Jannine Newman and her husband, Steve, had never got their own bedroom quite right. They painted the walls grey soon after moving in, then concentrated on working their way through the rest of the house, fitting a new kitchen and two bathrooms, rewiring, replumbing and replastering, as well as sorting the bedrooms for their twin sons, Aubrey and Bertie, now 21. ‘Everything else was great, but our bedroom never gave me the same feeling,’ says Jannine. The couple needed to work out why the existing décor wasn’t working for them so they could finally create the welcoming atmosphere they wanted.

STEP INSIDE.

WHO LIVES HERE? I'm Jannine Newman, 53, a photographer (@underthecloth), and I live here with my husband, Steve, 66, a voice actor, and our twin sons, Aubrey and Bertie, 21. We've lived in our Victorian terraced house for seven years.

WHAT WAS UPDATED? Our bedroom needed a fresh look, so we painted the walls white, replaced some furniture and added new accessories in warm tones.

WHY THE CHANGE? The room's previous grey colour scheme felt dull, so we wanted to make the most of the natural light with white walls and neutral hues.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE? It took us around a month in total, from painting the walls to adding the finishing touches.

THE PROJECT

When lockdown hit, and the couple were spending all their time at home, Jannine finally realised what the problem was. ‘We’d