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…

WIYB HQ - East London

This is What's in your bedroom's, bedroom – sort of. I did for a moment think that I was going to reveal my bedroom, but as I started to take the pictures, I decided apart from this glimpse, my bedroom will still remain unseen.
I do, however, have two bedrooms that I will be putting up over the next two weeks. Both were found on new years day at a party in East London. So, keep your eyes out for new year posts, or you can follow me on Twitter for updates @Your_Bedroom

Josh & Sam - East London

Here live the festive fools, Josh, Sam, and their pet rabbit, Henry. After a hard pre-Christmas graft of general merry frolics, they are taking a well-earned break.

As Josh says he sees the bedroom as a place of rest and Sam agreed, saying, “My bedroom meant more to me at Uni, but now I live with Josh, the living room is where I spend most of my time.” She laughs and says, “The bedroom is the place for the three S’s: sex, sleep and sickness. In no particular order, obviously.”

When I asked them both what they would save if their bedroom were on fire, Josh said, “Sam, wallet, iphone and my picture from above the bed – it’s called A Night at the Museum, by John Wilson, my Mum and Dad gave it to me last Christmas.”

Sam said, “Apart from Josh (he needs saving regularly) I would take my Tiffany necklace and ring.”

And in case you are wondering about Henry… they didn’t seem too worried, insisting she would be able to run fast enough to get away with them.

So, when Josh, Sam and Henry find the energy to re-emerge, they will be putting on a bit of Wham and jingling their bells to the chrimbo sounds of Last Christmas…

Merry Christmas Everyone

Andrew - Northampton

Lucky for me that Andrew Collins, writer and 6music radio presenter regularly took pictures of his bedroom and kept a diary when he was growing up, as a picture of a teen’s bedroom pre 1990 whatever is a rarity compared to today’s constant stream of digital documentation. I love this glimpse into Andrew's teenage bedroom, it reminds me of some of the boys bedrooms I spent time in when I was growing up. It was taken in 1982 when Andrew was 16 going on 17.
He said,  “My bedroom was in Northampton, where I grew up. I'd shared a bedroom with Simon, my younger brother, for 14 years and in 1981 my parents had an extension built which meant I got my own room for the first time: a massive deal! I loved it because it was still relatively new, and it was mine. We were never allowed to have locks on our doors as teenagers, but there was an unspoken etiquette about knocking before entering. So although it wasn't exactly private, it was still a sanctuary of sorts, and I had been allowed to paint a mural on my door, which you can't see in the photograph, but was basically a life-size cartoon of me, which seems pretty narcissistic looking back! It was not a huge bedroom, but I could set up my drum kit at the end of the bed, and did, occasionally, much to the chagrin of our neighbours, no doubt.In the early 80s, twelve-inch vinyl was all the rage, and extended remixes, so I would have danced to one of them: Sound Of The Crowd by the Human League, or Nowhere Girl by B-Movie, either would have gone well with hair spraying my enormous fringe into place.
My younger brother, Simon, and his friend Kevin, two years below me at school, used to sneak into my room and play my records at lunchtime. I discovered their treachery when I found my stack hi-fi still switched on when I got home from school one day. This is the fate of all older brothers. I shopped Simon to my parents and they told him off. In retrospect, I admire him for doing it. I became good friends with Kevin after Simon had gone off, at 16, to join the Army. We bonded over a love of The Cure.”
When I asked what he would save if his bedroom were on fire in 1982, he said, “I would have wished I could save my drum kit, but that's impractical, so it would have been my 1982 diary, which I still have and offers a fascinating insight into the life of a provincial 17-year-old obsessed with the opposite sex and pop music.”

I discovered these pictures during my day job as Assistant Picture Editor for the Radio Times. Andrew wrote a feature about Marilyn Monroe and the new film My Week With Marilyn – it was my job to find the pictures for the piece. In the feature he mentions the 22 pictures of Marilyn he had on his bedroom wall when he was a teenager - as shown above. You can read the Radio Times feature here.

P-ta - SE London

P-ta is the lead singer of the surrealistic, Pseudo Nippon – see the picture above of his rice ball hat, he wears when he is performing. 
I text him to say ‘I’m outside’ and within moments he was there to greet me and take me into the the squatted former print shop. Two people sat downstairs, smoking and chatting. We walked up stairs to the old office area. Someone had set-up a washing line in the hallway. Further down we walked, and then he said, “Here we are, this is my room.” I looked down, and there was the door, like something out of Alice in Wonderland, it was the tiniest bedroom door I had ever seen. Cut out of a large piece of stained wood, that P-ta had built, there was an arched shaped door - just big enough to fit a body on all fours through. He leant forwards and opened the door by pulling an orange plastic crab handle, “After you” he said, so I bent down and looked into a pinkish light. I threw my tripod through the small tunnel and crawled in. Seconds later, I pushed myself up into a boxed size bedroom space. A mattress on the floor, covered with a brightly coloured blanket, and a shrine to the left. P-ta's shrine to fish. He said, “I’m really into folk art, the different objects represent different Gods – some people give them to me and others are ones I have collected – I know as soon as I see something, that it’s right for the shrine. I also collect fish books, books about the ocean. One day I would like to have a fish book library. I particularly like the books from the 1970’s – the saturated colours and the style of the photography.” Tongue firmly in cheek, he says this all stems from his ‘made-up’ religion, Pork Tai Chi. He says the fish represent calmness and the sea represents the unknown.

When he moved here a few months ago, the space was open plan. He decided to make the door the size it is, build a shrine in there and paint the wall pink. There is nothing conventional or practical about this room, but for it’s novelty value, it is great. It feels like a secret cave near an unknown ocean. I can almost picture him stood on a mound rocks, looking out to sea, playing his Shakuhachi.

When I asked P-ta what he would save if his bedroom, sorry I mean shrine, were on fire, he said, “I couldn’t choose which item to take, each one is as important as the other. I would leave everything and go.”

The Girl of Stuff - East London

On a dark, damp, November night, I walked through the streets of Bethnal Green and wondered is this really worth it – I sometimes wonder this when I am on my way to do a bedroom.

Off the beaten track and into the maze of one of East London's many housing estates, I looked up to the inky high-rise, then went through the security system and into the stark metal lift. As it juddered up to the top floor I contemplated the thought of being at home, in the warmth, eating beans on toast, in the company of Attenborough. Then the lift opened and I stepped out onto the landing of the classic 1960's high-rise block, where the front doors to the flats are on an exterior shared balcony, almost replicating a typical terraced street. Right at the far end stood a waving, bright and sparky, Girl of Stuff – at that moment, the beans on toast and Attenborough disappeared over the balcony and I knew it was worth it. She wore electric pink leggings and a jumper with what looked liked the flash of fireworks all over it – a mirror of the brightly coloured 'stuff' she is in to.

She is a maker of things – a result of the recession and having a fondness for childlike, old school craft; she makes pom poms, cards and bunting. Massively inspired by bloggers Candy Castle and Hello Sandwich... who drew her attention to MT tape, and now is pretty obsessed, buying it in bulk when she spots some in the Sales.

When living in shared accommodation, she says she has always made her bedroom feel like home, disguising the standard landlord decor of magnolia paint and choice flooring, by distracting the eye with her interesting bits. She says, "My Dad was in the army – we moved eight times before I was ten. It has always been important to make each bedroom my own – surrounding myself with all my lovely things, that makes me feel happy."

I asked her what she would save if her bedroom were on fire, and she said, “My gold ring, it was my Mum's 21st birthday present from my Grandparents – I love wearing it. And my birth certificate, I really like the red stamp on it, and I know if I lost it I wouldn’t get a replacement that looked anywhere near as good.” 

Find The Girl of Stuff on Twitter @thegirlofstuff