Janet Martin, 45, an author and content creator, lives in a two-bedroom flat in Deptford, south London, with her husband Wari Orumbie, 48, and their two daughters. “This flat was originally Wari’s bachelor pad – all blokey brown leather and minimalist decor,” laughs Janet. “I moved in when I was eight months pregnant with our daughter Jasmine. She’s nine now, and her sister, Roselyn, is eight, and we’ve slowly redecorated almost every room over the years.”
But life got in the way of making over the couple’s bedroom. “We concentrated on the kids and work, and our room slipped down the list of priorities. It was never given any love,” says Janet. “Whenever we needed more storage, we just added another piece of furniture without any real thought, meaning nothing matched; and we never seemed to have enough room. There was stuff on top of the wardrobe, clothes spilling from laundry baskets, shoes everywhere – but we didn’t have the time or headspace to sort it out.”
Then came lockdown, which made matters worse. “Wari, who’s a manager with the NHS, started working from home, and our bedroom became his office,” says Janet, who also used the room for work calls. “We panic-bought a small fold-up table for £20 from eBay to use as a temporary desk – we had no idea he’d still be using it almost two years later. It turned out to be bad for his back so he started balancing his laptop on a chest of drawers so he could stand up to work.”
The set-up was impractical and invaded every aspect of life. “Wari often uses three monitors, and there were work papers and wires everywhere. An extension lead even snaked under my pillow.
“I tried creating a little area where I could unwind by reading or using an aromatherapy diffuser for meditation. But the clutter made it impossible to switch off. It was the first thing I saw in the morning and the last thing at night. Something had to change.”
To bring about that change, Janet sat down with IKEA’s interior design team so she and Wari could find a way to make their multifunctional room work better. “I talked to them about what we wanted from the space, as well as the colours and styles I liked; and they translated this into a fantastic plan,” she says.
The plan recognised that we demand a lot from our homes these days, with many of us using them for work, exercise, rest and play. Yet because less than half of us feel our homes meet our work-related needs, according to IKEA’s 2021 Life at Home report, that can result in stress and frustration.
IKEA believes that every home should be a sanctuary, and its research shows that to achieve this a property needs to deliver on three levels: function – whether a room works as you need it to; emotional stability – whether the room makes you feel happy and calm; and space – even a small room can feel spacious when properly designed.
When IKEA’s experts looked at Janet’s room, it was clear it was falling short on all three counts. “When you’re planning a room like this, you obviously want to consider how to maximise the space, but you also have to consider your needs and dreams, as well as the functionality – how you want to live in the room,” says IKEA designer Clotilde Passalacqua, part of a team taking on three makeovers for the Guardian Labs over the next few months to show how homes can become sanctuaries.
“Janet and Wari needed somewhere they could work comfortably, but also somewhere they could relax and switch off at night.”
The team’s first suggestion was to move the bed. “There’s rarely only one possible combination of furniture for a room,” says Clotilde. “Sometimes it’s a matter of looking at it afresh. In Janet’s case, switching the bed to the opposite side of the room freed up a longer wall for more useful storage.”
For Janet, this simple tweak made a huge difference: “It’s amazing how much bigger the room looks,” she says. “It really opened up the space.”
The next step was to tackle the couple’s clothes. Clotilde felt that IKEA’s Platsa wardrobe and storage system would be perfect. “Not only can it be customised to fit any sized space, it’s aesthetically beautiful too, so you can fit in a lot of storage without the furniture visually overwhelming the room,” she says. “People tend to think the size of your wardrobe is what matters, but what’s more important is how well it’s organised inside; if you’ve only got one rail for hanging and pile all your shoes at the bottom, it will never feel big enough. With the Platsa, we could include different height rails, shelves, laundry bags and storage baskets tailored to Janet’s needs, so that everything has a home and is easy to access.”
The IKEA team created a bank of storage with two wardrobes, two Malm chests of drawers, a high-level shelf and a cabinet. “Rather than a full wall of floor-to-ceiling storage, we’ve broken it up visually,” says Clotilde. A half-depth Platsa wardrobe on a previously unused wall at the room entrance provides a home for coats; wall hooks give Janet somewhere to hang her dressing gown and clothes for the day ahead; while the bed has storage underneath. “It’s a really practical solution – you can neatly stash larger items such as bed linen and duvets,” says Clotilde.
The results are transformational, Janet says. “There’s a home for absolutely everything now – it’s phenomenal. The high new wardrobes give us plenty of room inside for clothes, with shoes at the bottom, and shelves and baskets overhead.”
With clutter tamed, attention turned to Wari’s desk. “The team created a little home office area in the corner, facing the window so we can look at the trees,” says Janet. “The desk is particularly clever as it can be raised to become a standing desk at the push of a button. It’s big enough that Wari can spread out for work, but at the end of the day he can tidy everything away thanks to the Eket cabinets above the desk and a wall-mounted tidy. Even our wires have been hidden in a wicker basket – it’s all very pleasing to the eye and so different from before.”
Lighting and soft furnishings were next on the list. “We hadn’t given much thought to lighting beyond the central ceiling pendant,” says Janet. “But now we have so many options to create different moods, including two bedside lamps and a natural daylight lamp. We can control the temperature and brightness of the LEDs using a remote – the light casts a beautiful glow in the evening, making it so much easier to unwind in here. I hadn’t realised how much of a difference lighting would make – I actively want to spend time in the room now.”
Among Janet’s favourite items are the sheer, muted blue curtains. “They’re opaque, but you can still see movement and light outside. I love the way they sway when there’s a breeze – they’re stunning.”
A big surprise for Janet and Wari was how much they enjoyed the process of creating a room that truly serves their needs. “It was great seeing the space in a different way, with fresh eyes,” says Janet. “I’m amazed at how some of the smallest details – like the wall hooks and the labelled containers in our wardrobe for sportswear and holiday clothes – have immeasurably improved the ambience and the way we use the room.
“Now there’s no more clutter, I feel my brain can function better. Working here, we can think without distractions. I used to be embarrassed making Zoom calls at our old desk, but I’m never going to blur my background again – this room needs to be shown off.
“It’s incredible what upgrading your existing space can do for the way you live. Instead of making me depressed, I now walk in the room and instantly feel calm. It truly is the sanctuary we needed.”
With inventive solutions for everything from clutter busting to lighting and decor, IKEA is on a mission to turn every home into a sanctuary. To find out more, go to IKEA.co.uk/designservice
