E7

Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan

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Depressing.

A word which immediately sprung to mind when we stopped by this bothersome bedroom for the very first time. Cobbled together by John and Bill, an urban couple with all the decorating prowess of a style deprived spinster aunt, the room's aesthete said more about 'maximum security twilight home' than it did cool inner city pad. But we had a plan.

And thank God we did ... because John and Bill, clearly, did not.

We regularly - and proudly - proclaim we can fix anything. We believe there's no job too big or too small for our restorative prowess. There exists no home which can't be saved from the brink of decorative neglect courtesy of our considered attentions.

Indeed all it takes to beautify the less than beautiful is a ponderous peek into our crystal ball.

But first things first; before positioning the dumpster to free up this room, we called Habitat For Humanity to remove everything we wouldn't need. In our world we prefer to limit waste and if someone else can gain from that which we don't require then all the better.

And so it came to pass that, with the room's contents dispatched to needy points across the city, we moved forward.

Down came those ill-conceived ceiling beams and their weird wobble-edged brackets.

And into the linen closet went the bedding set, a threadbare affair which looked like it had been pillaged from the set of Little House on The Scary. Sorry, Prairie.

What we did save, however were the cute wee steps cunningly employed to allow George, our homeowners pet Pug, to clamber up on that holier than thou patchwork.

OK, so they don't feature in our after shot but they're still there, off camera, at the other side of the bed.

Wallpaper

Sometimes, as you know, we'll use wallpaper as an accent on perhaps one or two area but, due to the low-key design of this particular paper, we papered every wall. The reason it works is because the background and the foreground of our chosen design are relatively similar in colour. Big contrast wallpapers can overpower so bear this in mind when selecting and appraising the proportions of your project.

Carpet

We love thick pile luxe carpet, and find it particularly suitable for bedrooms where its touchy feely nature is particularly welcome. Just imagine your tootsies sinking into that generous tufting as another cold Canadian morning dawns. With tastes recently turned towards wooden floors, we're finding carpet suppliers working all the harder to generate good pricing structures and, therefore, there are some tremendous deals available.

Bed

Mindful of the fact we spend as much as a third of our lives under the duvet it made sense to invest in a good quality mattress to underpin this project. We're constantly impressed by the range at Sleep Country and, as such, specified a wonderful bed by Serta which was originally designed, interestingly enough, to cosset the athletes competing in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, an event which is proudly sponsored by Sleep Country.

Bedhead

If we can't find what we need in store, our next port of call is usually to consider custom and, working as we do with a host of quality makers and artisans, we always know where to go for everything we need. Our preferred upholsterer, Canadian manufacturer N'Shape Design, will make and ship anywhere in Canada and it's their detail work which sets them aside from others. Together with Frank, the company's MD, we drew together a plan of attack. Don't worry about providing schematic diagrams and don't think that bespoke upholstery is necessarily much more expensive than store-bought design. Depending on fabric choices and build, a tailor-made headboard can cost from as little as three hundred bucks.

Bedside tables

As this room is decorated in predominantly slate and graphite tones, we lightened the mood with mirrored furniture. These reflective lovelies have their roots in Venetian design yet have been afforded a modern twist with black detailing and smooth sliding drawers; light reflecting and elegant they add a wonderful extra visual layer.

Window treatment

Our first step, simple wooden blinds, provide crisp lines and allow controllable light levels to filter into the space as and when required. Most of the larger DIY multiples carry stock of this type of product, but some of the best value kit, we reckon, comes from Rona.

Centre pendant

Five years back, when these shaded chandeliers first started to make a mark, you might easily have paid around $500 apiece.

These days, however, with much stiffer competition, you can pick one up for just a little over a quarter of that price. We guess it's simply competition in the market place but if that means quality product at reasonable prices then everyone's a winner.

Drawer update

We love a spot of reversioning and this little drawer set project was as easy as any. Originally mid-brown in colour it was sanded, primed, repainted black, and then left to dry.

To decorate, sections of faux snakeskin wallpaper were measured and glued into each of the drawer fronts and then pinned around with nickel upholstery studs. Finally, new hard wares were added to further personalise the now beautiful piece. Not bad, eh, for a $170 'scratch and dent' item salvaged from The Brick?

Television

We LOVE projects like this. As a means by which to visually enhance a regular flat screen TV we designed a clever lightweight framework, lipped at the rear, to slot over the TV's perimetre edge. With precise measurements provided, we called upon the services of a picture framer to create our sketch.

When tackling a project like this, ensure that any new framework doesn't get in the way of air and heat venting, built in speakers, control buttons or remote beam signal. Otherwise you're good to go!

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Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan are the hosts of HGTV's Colin & Justin's Home Heist (Saturdays at 2 and 7 p.m.) and the authors of Colin & Justin's Home Heist Style Guide, published by Penguin Group (Canada).