Living room planning; Part One.

Planning the living room kinda started from the moment I saw it.

Photobombed by an estate agent.

My bestie Jen, hungover and struggling to cope with my excitement.

The height, the bay window, the architectural detail, the streaming sunlight, all provided so many exciting possibilities for someone who was used to living in small apartments with very little architectural interest, or even light. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my old apartments, but for someone with a love of Interior Design, this place was an absolute dream come true. Although I had made the conscious decision to decorate the bedroom first, in my head, I was always planning the living room. I knew what I wanted, and wanted to be sure I got it right. Thank you Pinterest!

Unfortunately, the style I wanted wasn’t going to come cheap…

 Parisian apartment bathroom on Decoholic via Pinterest

Okay, obviously I didn’t want it to look like a bathroom, I just loved the dark walls, big fireplace and huge mirror.

Herringbone floor on Flemarie via Pinterest

And a herringbone floor wouldn’t go amiss either.

The two certainties in my plan were the fireplace and the floor. As part of the bones of the building, I was keen to get these in place, so that I could start thinking about furniture… because, if you don’t know already, I’m impatient and want everything NOW.

This is where the crossover happens. Alongside fucking up the bedroom (see here), I was destroying the living room fireplace (here). I had found the (bargain) surround for my grand Parisian style fireplace (I have aspirations) and work was well underway creating the sitting room of my dreams.

So, whilst hating everything that was happening in the bedroom, I was also doing something that I actually liked. Yay for that!

This is where we left off, and this is where we will pick up today. Kinda…

THERE’S NOW A HERRINGBONE FLOOR!! After saving so much on the fireplace, I decided to splurge on the floor that I wanted…

Then I saw sense and did a little ebay shopping…

Engineered herringbone planks in ‘Schoolhouse Oak’ finish. An absolute bargain at £27.99m2. Less than half of what I would have paid at a high street store. Not as cheap as carpet, but it should be in here forever.

FOR. EVER.

 The Actual Living Room Plan

From these new additions, sprung ‘the plan’. Having upgraded the bones of the room, I now had a clear idea of how the rest of the living room would evolve. Neutral colours against a sophisticated grey backdrop and natural materials such as marble, brass, steel, wood, wicker and wool to add texture, pattern and interest. Contrast would be provided through the eclectic mix of traditional, classic pieces against simple contemporary shapes. Even throwing a bit of mid-century modern in there too.

I know a lot of folk will be thinking ‘that’s a lot of grey’, but I really love tone-on-tone schemes, working with one colour and layering it. Soft cream accents will lighten the overall effect and the Schoolhouse Oak floor will add warmth. The introduction of plants, be they faux or real, will also give it a bit of life. Also, I envisage the walls being a fair bit darker than in this rendering.

For those of you that follow my blog posts, you’ll have caught a glimpse of the grey already (here). I’ll be writing more about the colour in a future post, but what I can say is that it is perfect, during the day and at night. If it wouldn’t be overkill to the paint the whole house this colour, I would. It would be pretty boring for you guys though.

Now, there’s a whole ‘nother side to the room that I’ll go into next time but a wee heads-up; It involves another money saving IKEA hack. YAY!