Pete – East London

Pete lives in Bethnal Green with his dog Patti. His bedroom is submerged in the basement of his live work home on a traditional muse fronted East End street. He is a composer and also writes music for games.

WIYB: Pete, what does your bedroom mean to you?

Pete: Not sure really. It’s more of a studio with a bed in it.

WIYB: Do you like working from home?

Pete: I love it. But working from home can sometimes be a bad thing, like when ideas come to me in the middle of the night I have to get up. But on the other hand I haven’t got the rush hour commute to do everyday. Which is great.

WIYB: I like the partition. There are lots of good bits to look at on there.

Pete: Yeah, the Polaroid 600SE takes beautiful pictures but it weighs a tonne… and I found that old accordion in the bin outside. It doesn’t work, but the keys make an interesting sound.

WIYB: So if your bedroom were on fire what would you save?

Pete:  The dog. And secondly my computer – it has all of my work on it.

Gemma & James – South London

Gemma is a designer and James is a Digital Archivist. They have both lived in their garden flat in Peckham for three years. He’s tidy and she’s not. She loves a bit of thrift and has found lots of the stuff in their home at car boot sales.

WIYB: What does your bedroom mean to you?

Gemma: I’ve lived in house shares for years. Well since leaving my parents home. I used to have everything in my bedroom, you know, all my stuff and my TV - like when you’re a child. When James and I moved in together we spread our things out into the rest of the flat. Because this is our first proper home together, I didn’t want any clutter in the bedroom, despite the clothes on the chair.

James: Yeah, I agree really. That’s pretty much the same for me.

Gemma: James is a lot tidier than I am. He has put all of his CD’s in alphabetical order where as I’m not bothered about things like that. I know the clothes lump in the bedroom annoys him, but over the years I have really tried hard to consider him and curtail my messy habits. We met at Uni when I was at the height of my messiness. Literally couldn’t see the floor in my bedroom. Once I smashed a glass and rather than pick it up I just placed a piece of paper over the top of it. I don’t know what he must have thought of me?

James: I didn’t care.

WIYB: That’s love…

Gemma: Yeah!

WIYB: Have you always been a tidy person?

James: Hmm, suppose I have. My brother and me shared a bedroom right up until my late teens, my Mum would constantly tell us off for being untidy. But it wasn’t me; it was my brother who was incredibly messy. And it wasn’t until I finally got my own room that my Mum believed me.

WIYB: So maybe you’re subconsciously avoiding being told off?

James: Ha, yeah, maybe.

WIYB: What would you save if your bedroom were on fire?

James: Nothing. There is nothing in there that I would want to save.

Gemma: I feel embarrassed about this. Not sure I really want to admit it…I would save my comfort blanket.

WIYB: Lots of people have got comfort blankets. Does it bother you James?

James: No.

Gemma: I’ve had four blankets since the age of two. They eventually end up disintegrating. My last one ended up the size of a postage stamp... I like a rough silky type fabric... It started with a blanket I had in my cot - wool with a silky edge. It’s funny because my mum said ‘You won’t be able to have that when you have a boyfriend’ I said ‘Yes I will’

WIYB: Ha, I used to have one until I was 19, the boyfriend at the time suggested that I get rid of it, so I did. Do you have a name for it?

Gemma: Well this is another embarrassing thing because I’ve always called it Bitty. And obviously Little Britain ruined that!

As I was leaving I noticed how nice the chair looked that the clothes lump lives on.

WIYB: Nice chair…

Gemma: Yeah my sister treated me to it from a car boot sale. £12.

WIYB: £12!? Bargain.

Peter – NW London

Before I met Peter I was told that he looks like Chris Martin of Coldplay. I was like, oh right, that's good, maybe he will make a good portrait then – not thinking too much of it. But when Peter opened the door, on that cold and dark night, I thought ‘blimey’; he really does look like Chris Martin, so much so that after chatting for a while, I said, "You could make good money out of being a look-a-like" he laughed and said "Yeah I get the Chris Martin thing quite a lot. Even my flat mates have stuck a picture of him on my bedroom door" I said "Well I bet the ladies like it?" he smiled and said, "It helps"

Peter is a style blogger and musician. He started his blog because of his continuing obsession with clothes and a recent trip to New York, he said, "Me and my mates realised that all we seem to talk about is clothes. And when I bought a camera in New York last year and started taking pictures of people on the street, of what they were wearing and stuff, one of my friends suggested that I should set-up a blog, so I did. Ha, but I seriously wasn’t aware of how many style blogs there are out there. But it doesn’t matter, I do it because I love it”

When he’s not obsessing about his blog ‘Send A Raven’ he writes and records music > listen > here. Peter grew up with music. His Mum and Dad met when they were in a covers band in 1966, The Yellow Pages – as seen in the framed black and white pictures on his wall. And no, that isn’t a young Griff Rhys Jones (bottom left) it’s another look-a-like.

Peter has lived here for three years. He shares the flat with a married couple and says it doesn’t bother him living with a couple, but he likes to give them their space and that it is important for him to make his bedroom as comfortable as possible ­– a private space where he can chill out.

When I asked Peter what he would save if his bedroom were on fire, he said, “Well I’d have to save the pictures of my Mum and Dad in the band, I think they’re the only ones in existence, so my Dad would kill me if anything happened to them. My Granddads watch, and my signed Paulo Di Canio autobiography”

Find Peter on Twitter @SendaRaven

Nancy – North London

Nancy lives at the top of a three storey terraced house in a handsome street in Tufnell Park, the sort of street, that when the night draws in it is perfect for having a good gander at the interiors of peoples homes. She says, “Being at the top of the house with this big bed, makes it feel like the Princess Tower – it’s the sort of bedroom I wished I had when I was eight years old”

Her bedroom is a cosy affair and nicely so, seeing as though her job as Arts Commissioner for The Times means she doesn’t get home till late. She says, “I don’t spend a huge amount of time at home. Because of work, I have a busy social life, and when I’m not working I catch up with friends”

She previously lived in the mixed up madness of Dalston, and after six years decided enough was enough – seeking a quieter life. She has gone from having her own place to sharing with her friend. She doesn’t mind as her bedroom feels like her own space. And although she owns none of the furniture she has got plenty of her personal objects that make the bedroom her own, including a Michael Craig-Martin that she says is the first piece of art that she bought, and a photograph by Guy Gormley.

Surprisingly, when I asked Nancy what she would save if her bedroom were on fire, she did not mention the art, “I honestly don’t think I’d be thinking about what to save, apart from my skin. I’d get out of bed, put on my dressing gown, or I’d be naked in the street”

Find Nancy on Twitter @NancyDurrant

Styx – East London

As I mentioned in the previous post I had the opportunity to do two bedrooms on new years day at a party in East London. So after photographing Rich’s bedroom I stepped over the hallway and into Styx’s room, shutting the party off behind me. Bright and girly, Styx’s bedroom is a massive contrast to Rich’s – like a dressing up box with a bed in the corner, not too dissimilar to the bed in the film Amelie.

Styx says “My bedroom is about: bed, clothes and music. There is always music in my room; I think it feels empty without it. One of my favourite things to do is stay in bed on Saturday mornings listening to 6music or my new record player – my vinyl collection is a work in progress, so depending on my mood, I’ll put on either: T-Rex, The Doors or Leena Horne. I love clothes and I like the fact that I have plenty of space to keep them and try them on.”

When I asked her what she would save if her bedroom were on fire, it was no surprise that one of the items was clothing “I’d save my Alexander McQueen black leather studded shoe boots. And my pale blue ottoman that I purchased on eBay when moving into the house, it was an absolute bargain and the colours set the room off nicely, it’s also useful if people are in my room as they have somewhere to sit – looks good and it’s functional. I would definitely save that one."

Rich – East London

It was the 1st of January and it was cold and rainy in London Town - making my hangover feel all the more heavy. I needed something to lift my spirits and top up the spirits from the night before, so with the promise of a couple of bedrooms, off I went to a party in Hackney.
Rich has lived here for a few months with his flatmate, Styx. He played music in the living room whilst I carried on in his bedroom. I was pretty surprised to see how tidy his bedroom was, considering it was the day after news year's eve. His bedroom felt quiet and deserted - like it was missing out on the party, well I suppose it was. It is a completely functional space and does what it says on the tin; in terms of the appearance, it is the absolute opposite to his flatmates. As he says, “I only really use my bedroom for sleeping, working, oh and sex when I can actually get it.”
When I asked him what he would save if his bedroom were on fire, he said, “I'd probably die trying to save too much, but in order it would go: Mac, clothes, then camera. I'd then run to the lounge and try and save all my records, but there's quite a few - they weigh a lot and I'm small. Oh and I suppose I'd have to wake Styx up because she sleeps through everything.”
More of Styx later…