Displaying posts labeled "Living Room"

“Donhead House is a handsome Grade II listed building with a complicated history. A house existed on the site in the 17th century, although nothing above ground now exists thereof. In the early 18th century the house was rebuilt and then saw subsequent phases of alteration in the late 18th century, early and late 19th century; each phase has added something of interest to this palimpsest.”

The current owner Dame Nathalie Massanet has set about an ambitious programme of work with
Archer Humphryes Architects ( in collaboration with Donald Insall for conservation and Philip Joseph as interior designer) to create a ‘single family dwelling suitable for contemporary life’. Repair, restore, refurbish and reimagine this building for the 21st century.

“A comprehensive interior design of three independent tourist apartments located in one building, each with an area of 80 m2. Each apartment has a living room with a kitchen and dining room, a bathroom and two bedrooms upstairs. We created the facility for guests who value serenity and relaxation in the countryside surrounded by nature. Mainly natural materials were used to produce equipment and finish the apartment: wood, stone, steel, concrete, linen and woollen fabrics.”

With its traditional wood frame technology and ecologically friendly materials such as hemp concrete (hempcrete) and recycled clay bricks to the mix of bespoke pieces and classic furniture, these zen-like guest spaces are the perfect balm for body and soul. Country Guesthouse by Loft Kolasiński.

Photography by Michał Szałkiewicz of NeNo

“A nod to the architectural history of this 1925 home came to mind when designing spaces in this home. Preserving original elements and details of the home was a lovely juxtaposition with it’s newly designed kitchen and layers of upholstery. We reconfigured the layout to suit the family’s lifestyle, transforming imposing spaces into the large open plan living and dining room that works comfortably for daily use and entertaining.”

Antique furniture mixed with beautiful yet functional textiles, stone and glass, stripe and gingham. Cosy and casual with a timeless take on family living. Wallaroy Rd by Pheobe Nicol.

“As soon as you walk into this home you feel at ease. Every surface tells a subtle story and goes beyond the norm of a traditional home. The warmth of the exposed brick, Blackbutt timber joinery, textured rendered walls and the array of handmade tiles makes the home feel heavily considered and undoubtedly harmonious. We drew inspiration from Spanish villas and farmhouses; the raw materiality, the minimalistic nature of them and the saturation of texture and fluidity of indoor/outdoor living.”

Warm, and contemporary with a timeless twist in the Sydney beachside suburb of Curl Curl by Folk Studio.

Photography by Jacqui Turk

The lovely folks of Expand Furniture reached out to me recently about their products and I have to say after all of these years of blogging not much surprises me anymore…but this company sure did. As their name may suggest, their specialty is space saving, multi-functional furniture, and creating space in your home that you did not know you had. And they have such unique ways of saving space that my mind is literally blown. I could not get over the options they offer. How about the Wall bed Revolving Bookcase Table – a bookcase that hides a dining table and revolves to uncover a murphy bed! WHAT?!?! A mirror that stores your dining table extensions! A bunkbed couch transformer! A sofa bookcase murphy bed combo! A wall desk that converts into bunk beds! An ottoman that stashes away stools! One that I think is super-handy in this era of working from home is the coffee table that converts into a desk so you can work from the sofa. I could go on and on they have so many unique options. It’s really incredible what they have come up with and the multi-functional needs they service. Such amazing small space furniture options.

With just my husband and I in a reasonable sized 4 bedroom house and with a staircase with a 180 degree corner that makes bulky/long items near impossible to get up the stairs, I opted to go simple and try out one of Expand Furniture’s modular sofas. I chose the Migliore modular love seat with an ottoman for our tiny media room that we have created out of one of our spare bedrooms.

When they arrived I got a little nervous about the size of the boxes but fear not! Everything made it up the stairs easily. This was one of the most exciting unboxings I’ve done in a long time 🙂

I also need to commend them on great packaging. Thick boxes (that I of course recycled), then tightly wrapped in bubble wrap with the sharp leg edges covered in fabric and taped up (the legs were removed and packaged up in bundles).

With a house filled with cats I was ecstatic over this grey fabric I chose. It’s really thick and durable and a gorgeous shade of grey. The weight of the cushions are substantial and they’re memory foam topped with goose feathers. It is so freaking comfortable that even my husband has been commenting how much he loves it. And I love knowing that in the future if we move it to the much bigger living room we can purchase additional pieces from this line to suit the space. It’s a winner!

I love that for each major cushion there’s velcro and a sort of microfibre panel so you can put each cushion exactly where you want them and nothing slides around.

I took out the old sofa, put in the new, and tried it out for a week or so and fell in love with it. But the room needing a makeover. The blue and white walls weren’t living up to the expectations the new sofa now set. So I went to work on a little project.

The Farrow & Ball Inchyra Blue is such a unique colour and I really love it so I decided to wrap the room in stripes in that colour as well as Drop Cloth. And despite it being a pain in the butt and time consuming I love how it turned out and I could not love the room more. It really makes the new sofa pop.