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Room Tour: A Stark Living Room is Warmed With Texture and Colour
A clever design eye helped to transform a white box into this inviting seating area and reading spot
This cosy living room is a brilliant example of how not just the look, but the whole feel of a room can be altered through thoughtful design. While searching for a new home, the owners fell for this Edwardian house, but the living room felt a bit cold and unwelcoming to them. “It was a white box from floor to ceiling,” Josephine Lecouflé-Vinet of JLV Design recalls.
The couple’s friends had found Josephine through Houzz for their renovation and passed on her details. Her brief was to warm up the space, and she used several design tricks to achieve her goal. “Adding colours and textures was a priority to make it cosy,” she says. “It’s now a room where they entertain, chill and have movie nights.”
To see more great projects where the homeowner found their professional via Houzz, take a look at our Born on Houzz series.
The couple’s friends had found Josephine through Houzz for their renovation and passed on her details. Her brief was to warm up the space, and she used several design tricks to achieve her goal. “Adding colours and textures was a priority to make it cosy,” she says. “It’s now a room where they entertain, chill and have movie nights.”
To see more great projects where the homeowner found their professional via Houzz, take a look at our Born on Houzz series.
Firstly, she zoned the long room by using a chaise sofa to divide the space. Along with the two-seater sofa in the bay, it creates a cosy U shape.
The choice of seating was also because the owner was about to give birth and wanted a chaise longue where she could rest and feed her baby.
“Additionally, it serves as a comfortable spot to read a book when sunlight streams through the shutters,” Josephine says.
Cushions, Gabrielle Paris, Caravane, and Kirane.
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The choice of seating was also because the owner was about to give birth and wanted a chaise longue where she could rest and feed her baby.
“Additionally, it serves as a comfortable spot to read a book when sunlight streams through the shutters,” Josephine says.
Cushions, Gabrielle Paris, Caravane, and Kirane.
Find interior designers in your area on Houzz.
Josephine has also introduced colours that are richer without being too intense – soft grey-green paint on the walls and dusty pink and warm blue sofas – all of which blend harmoniously with each other.
“The couple wanted some colour in this room, so I sourced a turquoise corner sofa that complements the wall colour beautifully,” she says. “To balance the colours, I added a pink sofa.”
Walls painted in Pigeon, Farrow & Ball. Turquoise corner sofa, Camerich. Pink sofa (no longer available), Made.com.
“The couple wanted some colour in this room, so I sourced a turquoise corner sofa that complements the wall colour beautifully,” she says. “To balance the colours, I added a pink sofa.”
Walls painted in Pigeon, Farrow & Ball. Turquoise corner sofa, Camerich. Pink sofa (no longer available), Made.com.
The large white ottoman that originally sat in the middle of the seating area was replaced with a glass and brass coffee table that creates a more open feel.
“The chaise takes up space, so we opted for a light coffee table with a glass top that can also serve as a display and storage space for books and TV remotes,” Josephine says.
The unit in the corner is the original white one given a facelift. “For time and budget reasons, we painted the small cabinet to match the wall colour and added brass handles to coordinate with the table and mirror,” she says.
The owners have now placed a TV on this unit, but still have plenty of flowers and plants around. “They love plants and, because we were in between lockdowns [at the time], greenery was very important,” she says.
Coffee table, West Elm.
“The chaise takes up space, so we opted for a light coffee table with a glass top that can also serve as a display and storage space for books and TV remotes,” Josephine says.
The unit in the corner is the original white one given a facelift. “For time and budget reasons, we painted the small cabinet to match the wall colour and added brass handles to coordinate with the table and mirror,” she says.
The owners have now placed a TV on this unit, but still have plenty of flowers and plants around. “They love plants and, because we were in between lockdowns [at the time], greenery was very important,” she says.
Coffee table, West Elm.
There was previously one tiny greige rug in the room, so Josephine introduced two larger ones in different designs, both to zone the space and to introduce gentle colour.
“For the seating area, I was searching for a rug with subdued colours that would complement the decor without being too overwhelming,” she says. “The geometric pattern contrasts nicely with the floral cushions, adding visual interest.
“For the other side of the room [see further down], I needed something neutral that would blend with the painted white floor,” she says. “The soft pattern gives a cloud-like effect.”
Living area rug, Graham & Green.
“For the seating area, I was searching for a rug with subdued colours that would complement the decor without being too overwhelming,” she says. “The geometric pattern contrasts nicely with the floral cushions, adding visual interest.
“For the other side of the room [see further down], I needed something neutral that would blend with the painted white floor,” she says. “The soft pattern gives a cloud-like effect.”
Living area rug, Graham & Green.
Originally, there was a large, silver-framed mirror over the fireplace that was big enough to almost touch the cornice and was rather dominant. Josephine swapped it for this smaller mirror in soft gold for gentle warmth.
“I was looking for a real Victorian gilded mirror within the proportions of the fireplace and managed to find this,” she says. “Its simplicity and elegance add to this corner.”
She reinstated an ornate ceiling rose (see first photo) that’s very much in keeping with the era of the home. Because of this, she swapped the room’s glittery chandelier for a much simpler, pleated design.
“I sourced a plain lamp shade that wouldn’t overshadow the decorative ceiling rose,” she says. “Sometimes less is more.”
Large Le Klint 195 Donut pendant, Holloways of Ludlow. Antique mirror, Vinterior.
“I was looking for a real Victorian gilded mirror within the proportions of the fireplace and managed to find this,” she says. “Its simplicity and elegance add to this corner.”
She reinstated an ornate ceiling rose (see first photo) that’s very much in keeping with the era of the home. Because of this, she swapped the room’s glittery chandelier for a much simpler, pleated design.
“I sourced a plain lamp shade that wouldn’t overshadow the decorative ceiling rose,” she says. “Sometimes less is more.”
Large Le Klint 195 Donut pendant, Holloways of Ludlow. Antique mirror, Vinterior.
Thanks to a hallway that skirts the stairs, the back half of the living room is narrower than the front, and it did feel a bit like a corridor between the kitchen and living area.
Josephine styled the narrower section to create a cosy library corner. The chaise in the main seating area helps to create a little separation for this space, as does the wallpaper, which adds texture and a different feel from the painted walls at the front of the room.
“I added wallpaper to make it feel more like a room than a passageway between the living area and kitchen,” Josephine says.
There’s a large bookcase (out of shot) to complete the cosy library feel.
Tourbillon wallpaper, Farrow & Ball. IC lamp, Flos. Rug, West Elm. Calvin armchair in Champagne Pink velvet and linen, Atkin and Thyme. Matchboxes collage, Andrew Malone.
“I added wallpaper to make it feel more like a room than a passageway between the living area and kitchen,” Josephine says.
There’s a large bookcase (out of shot) to complete the cosy library feel.
Tourbillon wallpaper, Farrow & Ball. IC lamp, Flos. Rug, West Elm. Calvin armchair in Champagne Pink velvet and linen, Atkin and Thyme. Matchboxes collage, Andrew Malone.
The finished room has so much more personality and gentle warmth – and the owners are unsurprisingly delighted, commenting on her Houzz profile, “[Josephine] is very creative and had an amazing sense of style to guide us and draw out what we were looking for in our dream home. She then found the pieces and colour schemes for us to bring that to life.”
Tell us…
What do you like best about the design ideas Josephine brought to this project? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Tell us…
What do you like best about the design ideas Josephine brought to this project? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Who lives here? A family who, at the time of the renovation, had a toddler and a baby on the way
Location Strawberry Hill, south-west London
Property An Edwardian house
Room dimensions Around 30 sq m
Designer Josephine Lecouflé-Vinet of JLV Design
Project year 2020
Photos by Matt Gamble Photography
Josephine made no structural changes to the room and kept the white floor, but she used a number of design tricks to make it look and feel more inviting.