As people who spend their time scrolling daft.ie and myhome.ie apps perhaps more than they scrolls social media, the potential to move house is always on our mind. Working day in day out with interiors is wonderful – we consider ourselves very lucky – but one not-so-wonderful side-effect is that we consume countless ideas for style and decor, that we wind up fed up with our own living spaces. We get ‘grass is greener’ syndrome, blaming our own homes, when really it’s just our eye that’s bored.
Recently, we worked with DFS to give a Dublin living room a fuss-free spruce-up and we realised once again the power of the right furniture in the right space, the importance of changing things up – even if it’s just your cushions and the addition of a few new house plants – and how quickly your room can feel brand new.
We swapped out a lacklustre and pretty uncomfortable sofa, which were paired with two leather chairs, for a selection of furniture that fills out the room in the right way. If you have a big space, work with it. Something too small will get lost in the room; the same goes for hanging a small wall print or mirror on a large wall. You need to work with the proportions. What’s more, if your room is long, and it serves two functions (dining area as well as living room), don’t be afraid to cut across the space with some seating, to help zone the room better. Contrary to what you might expect, this will make the room feel bigger. Also don’t be afraid to have different sofas and armchairs put together; it will look and feel more organic and less staged.
Here we have married the beautiful Hoxton sofa from DFS in grey – we particularly love the wooden frame – with the Hackney sofa and Hackney armchair, also from DFS. The neutral grey pairs perfectly with the rich butteriness of the Hackney’s brown leather. All three pieces have legs, meaning your eye continues right under the sofa, further adding to the illusion of spaciousness; there is no visual disruption at floor level and for whatever reason, this is a trick that the human eye seems to love.
Check out the before and after below. We styled each piece with some scatter cushions (press them down to give them a dimple) to give them a fuller appearance, and a sheepskin throw which provides a gorgeous textured contrast to the leather. To finish, some house plants to frame the Hoxton and in a matter of minutes (from getting the furniture delivered) you have an entirely new living room. That’ll keep us off the house-hunting apps for a while anyway.
Shop the Hackney here at DFS. Shop the Hoxton here at DFS.
BEFORE
AFTER
