Grandpa creates an amazing Beauty and the Beast themed room
A grandpa transformed a room in his home for his granddaughter and created a Beauty and the Beast themed hideaway for £2,000.
Robert Rideout, 49, of Greenock, Scotland, used his skills to transform the empty room in his house for Disney crazy granddaughter Harriet McConway, six.
The self-employed carpenter got the idea when he took Harriet to see the Beauty and the Beast musical and she kept talking about it.
So he scoured salvage yards, Facebook Marketplace, and even saved some items from a dumpster to make sure everything used in the room was second-hand — turning it into a magical palace fit for a princess as a surprise.
Robert lives with wife Lynn, 54, who owns a hair salon, in an 1870s villa and she helped furnish the bedroom.
Robert Rideout, 49, transformed a room in his home for his granddaughter, Harriet McConway, six
Robert created a Beauty and the Beast themed hideout for just £2,000 for Harriet
The £2,000 price tag also includes all furniture, flooring, paneling and blinds, curtains, cushions and bedding.
Robert said: ‘We had taken Harriet to see the Beauty and the Beast musical in Edinburgh and we had the idea of creating something magical for her in one of our guest rooms when she comes to stay.
“She stays with us at least once a week, maybe more depending on the circumstances, so we wanted to make something really special for her to remember, as she loves all things Disney – especially Beauty and the Beast.”
“Everything is either second-hand or finds from a salvage yard that I’ve made on my travels.
‘The room is quite small, but it has a high ceiling height and my original plan was to build a kind of French-looking fake window with mirrors to make the room look bigger than it actually is.
“Part of my day job is restoration work, and I frequent salvage yards and antique shops.”
The Rideouts bought their house in Greenock, Inverclyde four years ago and have also renovated the rest of the villa using Robert’s skills.
Previously, the bedroom was used to store clutter in their home in Greenock, Inverclyde
Robert took Harriet (pictured) to see the Beauty and the Beast musical in Edinburgh and he got the idea to create something magical for her
The room took several months to complete – with Harriet asking her grandpa why he had to make it “so fancy.”
The idea came to life when Robert found two matching pediments removed from another old house.
They were painted a hideous brown color and were quite beat up, but had beautiful details, so he set about restoring them to place them above the doors of the room.
“I remember taking them home and hiding them in the room so my wife wouldn’t see them as they were in pretty bad shape and I paid a few hundred pounds for them,” he joked.
“I just knew they would be fantastic with some TLC.”
He then made a window plinth from MDF and used two old glass doors to create a mirrored feature before adding an architrave around the edges.
Robert lives with wife Lynn, 54, who owns a hair salon, in an 1870s villa and she helped furnish the bedroom
Robert said Harriet was amazed when she saw her new bedroom and loved her new beautiful bed
“I really got a feel for the room at this stage and felt more creative the more I did,” said Robert.
“I had some mirrored glass cut to fit each of the two door openings and found some French-style handles to complete the look.
“I added an old ceiling rose that was broken and salvaged from a dumpster, thinking it would look good painted under the doors.”
He added columns on either side of the doors, paneled the walls and added a pelmet above the window which he made from MDF.
‘I also installed a baroque cornice and a plaster ceiling rose and chandelier and finally got the idea to make a French style bed canopy by cutting off the top of an old, damaged cabinet and mounting it to the wall with ornate cast-iron brackets.’
The exaggerated predicaments were painted a horrible brown color and beaten up, but had beautiful details, so he started restoring them to add them above the doors of the room
The idea came to life when Robert found two matching pediments removed from another old house
He then made a window plinth from MDF and used two old glass doors to create a mirrored feature before adding an architrave around the edges.
Robert even added some ostrich feathers to the top of the bed using the centerpiece of an old chandelier before hand-painting it and adding gold leaf accents throughout the room
The couple restored and painted the door a green and cream color and even added a large clunky set of keys to the door for an extra Beauty and the Beast accent
Robert even added some ostrich feathers to the top of the bed using the centerpiece of an old chandelier before hand-painting it and adding gold leaf accents throughout the room.
A student artist who had to do a painting for her courses painted the murals on some of the walls.
All the rest of the furniture was found for free or cheap on Facebook Marketplace, and they added B&Q parquet flooring to replace an ugly orange carpet.
The bed was about £100, the bedside tables £200 and the console was £300.
A student artist who had to do a painting for her courses painted the murals on some of the walls
Little Harriet was over the moon with her princess-inspired bedroom in her grandfather’s house
Lynn then added blinds, curtains and bedding.
The couple even added a big clunky set of keys to the door for an extra Beauty and the Beast accent.
Robert said Harriet was amazed when she saw her new bedroom.
“She couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“It was amazing to see how happy she was and how worth every minute of work.”