How To Create A Room In A Shoe Box (Cath Kidston Style)

last month I heard about a really exciting competition. Not only was it a fabulous skill based competition that required plenty of creativity, but it was also run by the fabulous Cath Kidston.

Given how much I love both a creative competition & everything Cath Kidston when the two elements are combined I just have to grab a piece of the action. This latest competition was extra special! You gad to create a ‘Cath Kidston’ inspired room in a shoe box with the use of everyday items you would find in and around the home. You could design any room in the house you wanted and the winner would receive Cath Kidston gift vouchers to create their designer room for real. Hearing this it was my plan to design my daughter Alice-Sara a bedroom fit for a girly princess. Excited, I found myself eager to get started on the project and here’s what I produced.

So, this is it! A bedroom fit for a princess. Filled with pretty fixtures and fittings with lots of inspiration taken from Cath Kidston.

I chose to wallpapered my box in this pretty pink rose craft paper.The floor has been painted in a antique white acrylic paint. Once dry I gave it a couple of coats of clear glossy vanish to give it that shiny finish. however, it still didn’t feel girly enough. My solution was to then cut some glittery baby pink card into small squares and then stick them to the painted floor as to create a sparkly mosaic effect.

The bed has been created with scraps of cardboard and then covered in a layer of paper mâché to make it strong and durable. I later painted the bed in the same colour as the floor and once dry I dressed it up to give it a super girly chic feel.

Blue hole punched paper has been used to create a pretty valence sheet, while odd scraps of Cath Kidston material were used to create the bedding set. The pillow has been stuffed and sewed and I’ve added some red ribbon and a bow to give it a pretty finishing touch. The last thing added was the cute little heart cushion which is a little wooden embellishment I hand painted red.

My blind for my window has been created with the use of some crinkled cardboard that I took from the inner box of a packet of micro chips. I cut it down to the required size then jazzed it up by painting it in a really pretty pinkish red colour. I finally finished by adding some Pic-Tixx red glitter.

To create the rest of my window dressing, I made a curtain pole by wrapping a small thin straw in hot pink ribbon then adding two clear beads at either end as to create curtain pole finals. I then used some more odd scraps of Cath Kidston material for the curtains which I fitted to the pole with the use of double sided tap before tying each one with pretty pink ribbon to finish.

Both my wardrobe and chest of draws were created from empty small boxes that I covered in paper mâché to give them durability. To get the panel effect on the wardrobe door I used a small thin straw cut up into four small pieces. I taped these in place on the door before adding the paper mâché mix. Once dry I painted them both, adding detail with a black deco maker. To finish them off and give them a certain edge I added some pretty touches as to create a French inspired shappy chic look. This was done by using scarp book embellishments and sticky gems.

One of my favourite items in my ‘Room In A Shoe Box’ is that of the dressing table.This was so simple to make, yet extremely effective. I started with the oval lid from an empty liquid detergent bottle.This was then painted with a few coats of paint. I then used strong cardboard to create the top of the dresser. This was painted in the same colour as the lid. Once both we’re fully dry I added some silver cooking foil to the top section as to create a mirror. I then used a sharp craft knife to make a slit at the top back of the lid so that I could slot and fit the two sections together. Marker pen and lots of embellishments were used to give it that same shabby chic feel as the rest of the furniture.

Of course my dresser needed a stool to make it complete! I used white clay to mould the shape of a stool before baking it in the oven for around 15 minutes at 160’c. Once cooled I glued some Cath Kidston material to the seat of my stool.

I got really creative when it came to the floor lamp. For this I used a small piece of white clay, one small straw, one empty metal cake tin, gem stones and some paint.