A place to lounge, a place to live.

Hey folks. Its been ages since my last formal post. We had a very busy social calendar from November to January with a lot of guests vising and trips abroad. All in all super fun but quite tiring, and no time for blogging sadly. So today after working the weekend I just wanted to dedicate a post to the most nearly finished room, and the one that we spend most time in. The lounge/living room, for a few before pictures see the previous blog post here. Living with dark green on the walls is fantastic. The colour is so rich and it transforms during the day and along the year with different lights on it and creates a real sense of depth and cosiness. My Norwegian friends would call it koselig. As always there are still things pending to be done. Our TV unit has been on order since October and is currently on route to the UK via the Suez Canal - keep tuned for more updates on the Ziggy. And I want some fabulous half moon lampshades for the lights as even though they are dimmable I prefer not being able to directly look at bulbs when they are in my line of sight... is it just me?

Anyway, I could natter away about all sorts of crap for ages. but here are the photos which I've taken with an SLR as my phone is on the verge of dying and also the SLR allows for better low light photos. Hope you enjoy.

I love this view with full length french doors onto the patio looking down the gardens. Cant wait for the garden to spring back to life. To hide the TV in plain sight, place it against a dark wall, and abracadabra .... its gone.

Inky green, balanced off by touches of brass and hints of pink

I do love a gallery wall, especially hanging non traditional pieces. Such as the brass Moroccan table top and the framed glass bowl of a typical street scene from Malta.

Bouncing light around is so important in dark themed interiors. Reflective surfaces such as mirrors and metallics not only create a sense of warmth and luxury but also reflect light on spaces where it wouldn't necessarily exist.

I love pairing antique and vintage pieces with more modern and off the shelf practical items. Here my partners bureau with its honey coloured inlaid rose wood is a great place to store random bits and highlights the green excellently.

Views are also very important. I like considering the different vistas that once can experience in the room. Here is the first thing you see when looking through the door, the side profile of the sofa with its plump cushions the bureau, the radiator cover and the architectural coving.

The light in the room is balanced off with one white wall. This reflects light onto the rest of the room. I personally also like differently shaped sofas as it creates an eclectic and curated look.

I wanted to try highlight the soft sweetheart shape at the top of the sofa by mimicking it in the way the art in the gallery wall hung above.

Creating social seating spaces are so important. A lot of living rooms have furniture facing the TV, but I tried to move away from this by creating seating that faces each other to create a sense of dialogue. This allows people to sit and speak to each other by being able to look at one another, but also can be flexible by turning the chair around to allow all seats to watch a movie together. Its important to spend time without the TV and speaking to each other. From a colour point of view I chose a rose pink Persian rug to inject some warmth and this is also reflected in the polished copper plate I inherited from my mother.