Annabel Vita

I just thought I’d pop up two old pictures of the first ever gallery wall I made in my bedroom at my mum’s house. We re-decorated this room five years ago. I’d just graduated and was living at home while job-hunting (sound familiar?) so Mum and I decided to get rid of my teenage boudoir (there was a lot of lilac, clutter, fake flowers, posters and blue trim) and create a room that was still ‘mine’ but also nice to enough to be a peaceful spare room. We finished it all up and then two weeks later I got a job and was off to London! So this time now is actually the longest I will have spent living there.

You’ve already seen the magnet photo board we put up and the wallpaper-backed shelves, now here’s the gallery wall.

The dreamy bow-fronted chest of drawers was one grandmother’s, the green glass vanity set was the others. The bed was a present for my 18th birthday… I thought I’d have it forever, but circumstances changed. The chandelier was a present for my 21st (I now think it’s hung too high, but that’s another story).

In the time since these photos were taken I’ve updated the pictures (there’s no Mr V in these, so we had to remedy that!) I’ve also massively decluttered the top of the dresser – the candlestick and flowers started to feel messy to me. The tiny shoes are from (left) Dubai (hi z!) and (right) Morocco.

I put these up looong before I started reading design blogs or magazines, so I didn’t make templates or anything fancy like that. I just started with the mirror in the centre and worked outwards. I did paint some of the frames, but that was just because some looked a bit matchy matchy. They’re a mix of charity shop and Ikea.

(With apologies for the poor picture quality. It was a rainy day and I didn’t take enough time over these.)