Everyone wants to be nosey, just a little bit. So I always like to show a before and after of a project so people can satisfy that nosiness but also it gives a bigger sense of what I've done if you can see what the starting point was.
A recent living room project I worked on was tricky in the sense that the room was very large, which you would think would be easy but in fact in can be quite the opposite. It could be tempting to fill it full of stuff just because it's large, zoning the space helps but it's knowing how best to carve up the room but still make it feel connected as a whole room that's the challenge.
For this specific room, it was large but also long with lots of doors so configuring the layout was a challenge and after much deliberation the client agreed the current layout worked best but we adapted the zones to suit the needs of their lifestyle and updated all furniture, lighting and added some muted contemporary colours.
With an extensive collection of books I designed a large bookcase to not only home these and give them a designated place but also this helped zone the far end of the room. Before it was not used and was slightly cornered off by a shelving unit. By changing how this space was used brought it into the room more but also gave this area a sense of purpose.
With large rooms it can be tempting to add more furniture, however the client was very specific about it not feeling cluttered and rightly so. Instead balance and proportion was key in selecting furniture, fewer yet larger statement pieces were used and all served a purpose. There was a place for everything and some space for displaying personal artifacts.
The colour scheme was key to ensuring the space felt contemporary but also cosy and inviting. I didn't want it to feel stark and cold, this was not what was asked of me. I chose to use a soft warm white for the walls which brightened the room from the previous beige. By painting the woodwork an off white/beige gave a nice contrast. Textiles were kept muted in greys and blues and the sofas were in a deep blue to give some depth to the room. The show stopper armchairs in the mustard velvet added just the right amount of drama to the room without taking over or being too dominating.
Every detail was considered, so updating the doors to these contemporary oak panel ones again made such a difference to the room. The original sliding doors were solid, so the frosted glass replacements offered more light and matched in with the other new doors.
Comfort was at the forefront of this design, even though it had some quality pieces of furniture it had to feel like you could sit in it comfortably, the large squashy sofas just made the room feel so welcoming and the abundance of cushions added that homely lived in feeling.
Thanks for reading.
NB x