our living room
When we bought the house, the only room I had a really clear vision for was the living room. We got to work straight away as we wanted a space we could chill out in that felt our own. I don’t have any “before” snaps (though they are on my interiors Instagram @annaelerihome) but to summarise; it was in real need of TLC. The walls were white, the woodwork was a dark charcoal grey that made the whole room feel cold and bar the windows we wanted to start again. So here’s what we did…
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Structurally, the room is in pretty good condition. The windows are being replaced very soon, sadly the current ones are rotten and it worked out almost the same cost to replace as it would to repair. We have had the roof over the bay window replaced as damp was coming through, and the whole house was infested with carpet moths so that needed sorting before we could consider decorating - but luckily the carpet itself in here was pretty unscathed. When I type this all out it feels like more than it is - bottom line is it was a fairly easy room to get started with.
The first thing we did was add cabinetry and a picture rail. The ceiling is 9 foot high, and without a rail the room felt lofty and it was impossible to make it feel cosy which was important to me. The cabinetry was added in shaker style to the corner so we had something to put the TV on, we used a company called H D Bespoke who I recommend. They were made from MDF which I was a bit worried about at first, but as they were an awful lot cheaper than wood we went for it. Now they’re painted I’m thrilled, you really can’t tell and it saved us quite a bit. We found the handles from a dealer at Sunbury Market, who is also on eBay here.
Paint colour wise, I already had the colour we went for before we moved in. I knew I wanted Lick Green 09 somewhere and thought it would be good for a living room as it’s pretty serene and calming. We did test a few other paints, but this one just worked. Others were too dark, too aqua-like - the Lick really was perfect. We coupled it with a “warm white” from Lick, called White 03. The woodwork paint is the same throughout the house; Craig & Rose, Craftman's White. For the fireplace I wanted a “stone” colour and tried hundreds, eventually going with Farrow & Ball, London Stone.
We already had our sofa from our old house as some of you might remember. It’s from Love Your Home and is their Ottilie Sofa with a custom sized ottoman. The fabric is from their Artisan Weave range, in Sourdough. I was really worried how the sofa would look in the new room as we had it sized for the old place, but it’s absolutely perfect.
I get asked a lot about wear and tear on a white sofa, and it’s good. We did pay to have ours additionally stain proofed by a local provider for safe keeping - and Love Your Home have a cost effective accidental damage insurance scheme which was really encouraging.
I fluff up the pillows probably once a week when I clean the room, and we bought the “coffee tray” on the Ottoman to mean we can use it properly as a table. We got it from Sunbury Market, from a dealer called Daniela Lichters who’s Instagram is here. She specialises in Scandinavian pieces - the tray is an 1800s Swedish baking tray and cost £70.
Matisse print, John Lewis / candlesticks, H&M (old) / candle, Diptyque
The green armchair is from Swoon Editions, sourced second hand through eBay for £250. A steal compared to the typical retail, which I had to pay for the second (albeit with a first purchase discount) and wait over 12 weeks for… I’ve done a separate post on how I use eBay as so many pieces from my home are via the auction site as there are other resellers who regularly sell Swoon, Made, John Lewis and Loaf items. This armchair took me a while to find, but as soon as it came up I snuck an offer in and got it. In case you want to get it too, the armchair is called the Sutton Chair and is in Fern Easy Velvet.
Art wise, we currently only have one print in the room. I originally intended to put a mirror above the fireplace but then I found this Matisse print from John Lewis. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend and I did find the same print available on the usual sites but now having seen it I am so glad I spent the money. The framing is gorgeous and it’s completely changed the room.
Matisse print, John Lewis / candlesticks, H&M (old) / candle, Diptyque
Soft furnishings wise, I wanted the Elizabeth Scarlett Olive cushions as soon as sorted the paint colours; I’ve had my eye on them ever since they came out. With the others, I found the green linen ones at H&M here and the larger light green ones that are a kind of wool fabric are from the Dusk sale for £7 (there’s also a matching throw which I bought too) find them here. A lot of the accessories for the room are H&M or antique markets - with the exception of the little footstool which I bought from Home Barn.
The rug wasn’t supposed to end up in this room, it was bought for a bedroom but it works quite well. The carpet will at some point need to be replaced but we don’t quite have the budget, so for now a big rug is the answer. This one is from the ANYDAY collection at John Lewis which hasn’t let me down at all - everything I’ve bought from this range has been great.
Curtains wise, this is the only room we spent real money on them. I saw the Croft Collection from John Lewis almost as soon as we moved in and bought them straight away. I bought them in shade “Putty” because I thought whatever colour we did the room it would match. They’re perfect as they are sort of half way between the sofa colour and the walls (which has beige undertones). Annoyingly for me, but great for you, they’re now heavily discounted in the sale here.
One thing that’s been really nice about the move is we both finally have space for all our books. I love a coffee table book, in fact we didn’t do a wedding list - instead we asked guests to buy us a book. We also have the Aromatherapy Associates wireless atomiser* in here, it moves around the house (I’d been working in here when I shot this). We love this, particularly with their “Sleep” scent which we’re trying to get in the habit of using every evening.
Fragrance is a really big thing for us both, so this room has a couple of special candles. Diptyque Feu De Bois was a housewarming gift and our diffuser is incredible from Cire Trudon - you can smell it from upstairs. It’s very woody with eucalyptus, I absolutely love it. It was a gift from the London Candle Store. The other candles in the green ceramic pots are from H&M, I use the pots for salt and pepper in the kitchen, and in the bathroom for odds and sods when they’re finished.
The only things we haven’t quite nailed are the electrics/lighting in here. As with every room in this bl**dy house it’s not straight forward. We’re waiting for an electrician to change all the switches and sockets to antique brass ones from Soho Lighting (the Charterhouse Collection) as they we quite “corporate” chrome and white which I really didn’t like.
This room is the only one in the house with a central light rather than spotlights (don’t… it still upsets me, every room looks like a dentist surgery) so we want something really beautiful for in here. We have an interim one from IKEA at the moment but I’m not convinced - I’ve been looking at this one from Made.com so watch this space.
I found the brass lamps from Homesense, an absolute steal by Ralph Lauren Home. The other one’s base was from John Lewis in the sale (link is here just in case) and then the shade was an Etsy find, in a William Morris print here.
diffuser, Cire Trudon* / candle, H&M / elephants, gift
So thats all, folks! This interiors stuff is all very new for me, so thank you for reading. I’m enjoying it more than I thought, I really love the research and hunting that goes into making a house a home. Hope you are finding it all helpful.
lamp, homesense / armchair, swoon editions / cushion, elizabeth scarlett / rug, john lewis