Having painted our main living room fairly soon after moving into our home almost four years ago, I never really felt that I’d accomplished the look I was after in there. With an old piano and some other ‘brown’ wood furnishings handed down to us or upcycled in some fashion over recent years, it was all feeling a little heavy in comparison to the rest of the house.
Our living room has a dual aspect, with windows facing out over the front and back gardens due south and north respectively, therefore it was crying out for an airier feel to it. It’s a lovely bright room all year round, but I wanted it to feel cosy, too, as we hibernate in there by the fire during the winter months.
For a while, I’d been playing about with the idea of an all white room, but wasn’t convinced it would have the cosiness I was after, especially with it being a sizeable room. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago in true ‘Keira’ fashion, I decided to start ripping off the old wallpaper in the room, which to my delight (and relief!), came off easily enough. By the next day, I was ready to start redecorating onto the bare plaster walls.
Just to remind you, here’s a ‘before’ shot of the room. I had used Farrow & Ball Cornforth White on the walls, however it seemed too flat a grey in this room.
I was just never 100% happy with how the room looked, too many brown pieces of furniture were weighing it down and with the grey sofa and curtains it lacked a little something.
I decided to refresh the walls with a warm, creamy, white, and after trialling a few samples, found that Farrow & Ball Wimborne White ticked all the boxes. My only concern was the size of the room. I felt it needed something to frame the white walls and add a little more interest, so I had a root around the garage and found a half-used tin of satin paint in another Farrow & Ball colour, Mole’s Breath, that I’d used for our front door. I thought it would be perfect to continue this colour through to the woodwork in the living room…
Here’s how the room looks now with a fresh lick of paint on the walls and woodwork. I kept the little gallery wall above my pair of Ercol chairs the same, just adding a handy tray table from IKEA to finish off this area.
I love the winter light streaming in here during the day… the Habitat bistro table (just seen) is lovely to sit and work at or enjoy a few pages of my book with a coffee, enjoying the warm sunlight. I also changed up my vintage trolley, setting it up as a bar cart ready for some festive entertaining. I think I’ll decorate it for Christmas soon with some sparkle and lights!
I removed the G plan unit/bookcase from one corner of the room to make a new space for the piano (seen further down). This left a good area of wall space in the other corner, to which I added a set of IKEA bookshelves and styled them up with heavier books, trinkets and of course, some greenery to soften.
The glass ceiling lights are original to the house, so almost 85 years old. They add such character, however one of them is broken, so I will have to replace them down the line, with something more modern, yet classic and in fitting with the house. I look forward to decorating the mantelpiece with some seasonal greenery and twinkly lights, but for now, I’m keeping it simple with these Scandi style candle houses and some dried seedheads from the garden.
This is the piano/music corner of the room, where I covered the piano stool with a piece of plain woven fabric to tone better with the rest of the room. Just need to add a trim around the edge of the seat to conceal the ugly staples. I set the stool onto a round jute rug I’ve had for a while to add some texture. And as you can see, the Monstera plant is continuing to grow like crazy!
I’m delighted with how the room has come together – it turned into a bigger job than I previously anticipated, but then again, what decor job doesn’t?! I suppose all the hard graft makes it more worthwhile in the end :)
Here are a few key pieces I have used (or similar) to achieve the Scandi / midcentury look here…
- Rug / La Redoute / from £79
- Cushion cover / H&M / £19.99
- Velvet cushion cover / H&M / £6.99
- Armchair / IKEA / £179
- Tealight House / The White Company / £12
- For sheepskin rugs, try IKEA or Dunelm
- Side table / IKEA / £15
- Floor lamp / Wayfair UK / £86.99
- Shelf unit / IKEA / £69
What do you think – a good change? x
