Living Room Makeover Reveal {Scandi-Boho-Chic}

If you tuned in to my inspiration post a couple of weeks ago then you will know that I was on a mission to transform my living room. Little did I know that the makeover would bring with it bucketloads of blood, sweat and tears. (Ok so maybe not bucketloads, and no actual blood was shed, but my lovely boyfriend Rich did ensure that the process was pretty stressful. Find out more below).

The look I was going for was a contemporary, Nordic feel with lots of texture and greenery, loosely based on a vintage Vogue cover which Adam has captured in one of the images below. I knew I wanted a crisp, white base, and to add in some natural elements, soft texture and delicate pattern, whilst keeping it minimalist because the room isn’t very big. 

The Space

The area in question is the lounge part of an open plan kitchen/lounge. It’s a funny old shape – well I say funny but it’s actually just a long rectangle – and for that reason it has been a pain in the bum to find furniture that works with the way we wanted to use the room. Rich would love to have a big old rectangular dining table – this one from John Lewis was top of his list – however we also wanted a sofa to sit on so we could look out over the garden/watch TV/have an area for Lyra to read books on whilst one of us is cooking dinner. So we compromised and bought a circular dining table which doesn’t intrude into the space and leaves loads of room for the sofa.

The Sofa

Our last sofa was a deep grey which, although hellish practical, seemed to make the room a whole lot darker. As the room doesn’t get much light I knew that a beige or pale grey sofa would work much better. So when an email dropped in from the lovely people at DFS asking if we could collaborate I jumped at the chance to pick a complimentary sofa. (Love my job). The Zinc sofa from the French Connection range has been blimming perfect. I agonised over which colour to choose – I was torn between cream and light grey – and after much consultation via Whatsapp with Lauren I decided to go for the cream fabric sofa. I know, I know, I’m an idiot to go for a beige sofa with a muddy-pawed cat, a nearly-three-year-old and a new baby on the way, but how much better does it look than our last one which just seemed to suck all light from the room? Plus, it gives me an excuse to buy more blankets.

The fact that it’s a corner sofa also works so much better in the space than the last sofa. I love curling up in the corner with a magazine/Lyra on my lap, and it sounds silly but it’s made the room much more sociable. When we’ve got friends over they can sit and chat whilst I’m getting them a cup of tea without having to perch at an awkward angle.

The Accessories

When we stripped the wallpaper from the wall behind the TV and took it back to white I knew that I would need to incorporate lots of greenery, texture and wooden accessories to add warmth. Step in Rich and his drill-happy ways. I asked him to hang some curtains…he managed to drill through an electric cable. Cue a Saturday evening with no power and an expensive call out to an emergency electrician. Just what you want when you are trying to cook a tired two year old their dinner!

The following weekend I asked Rich to hang the plain white shelves (which he’d sawn and I’d painted so they are nice and narrow and you don’t bang your head on them) and planters. He did a fab job with the shelves and the first hanging planter which you can see above the TV. However, when drilling a hole for a second planter which I had wanted to put next to the ivy, he hit a water pipe. Cue a snowy Sunday evening and Monday morning with no heating or hot water! And this was all a mere three days before Adam was due to come and take photos. Thank God for plumbers, parents-in-law and Rich’s mate Matt, a plasterer who is going to get a big crate of beer the next time we see him.

Anyway, enough about the stress, and more about the pretty bits…

I’m a big fan of macramé and picked up the wall hanging that’s behind the dining table from The People Shop. You can find similar here. I am also a proud crazy cushion lady and would quite happily spend most of my wages on cushions if I had the chance. I love the way they can bring in layers of textures and warmth. This bobbly one was from John Lewis and is possibly my favourite thing in the house, and the others are from Dunelm and H&M. Another H&M find was the watering can (how cute?)…they also sell it in gold.

The planter and the lamp were from Liv Furniture, a gorgeous interiors shop in Solihull. They don’t seem to sell the lamp online but John Lewis do a similar floor lamp which I’m considering buying and putting behind the belly baskets.

The Tokyo print is by David Ehrenstrahle and the bike print, which was previously in our bedroom, is from Yellowstone Art Boutique. I’ve tried to follow a monochrome, white and wood palette and printing off a load of black and white photos of Lyra was an easy and budget-friendly way of sticking to this colour scheme and adding interest and a bit of art.

So there you have it, my living room makeover reveal. I know I’m biased but I’m pretty happy with the transformation. And I’ll never admit it to Rich but all the stress of his DIY disasters were worth it. What do you reckon and how are your Rock My Room challenges going?

I received my DFS sofa free of charge but you know me, I only talk about the things I like. Opinions are all mine.

{STEAL LISA’S STYLE}