Edwardian Semi Living Room - Final Reveal
Yep, it’s another Edwardian! I started working on this project in March last year. The house is located in Halifax, just down the road from where I live. It’s also very close to my Edwardian Terrace project and it shares many of the same style original features. The lovely clients, who live here with their teenage son and daughter, had recently had a new kitchen fitted and had decorated their dining room but needed help with their lounge and hallway. After the initial consultation, they decided to go ahead with full room designs for both spaces and they took care of the project management themselves. I’m excited to share the final reveal of the lounge with you today!
Before
The room has lovely proportions and is south-facing with big bay windows. South-facing rooms are the easiest to decorate because they have a lovely warm natural light for most of the day (apart from on the day I took my ‘after’ photos - I’ve never in my life seen such a dark day as that one). Because the clients use this room mainly in the evenings, they were keen to explore the option of going dark for a cocooning feel.
The things that were staying in the room were:
the wood flooring which the clients had had fitted throughout the ground floor
the existing fireplace
the built in cupboard that houses the TV, which really suits the style of the space
The Interior Design Scheme
Concept Design
It’s always important to ensure there’s a nice flow throughout the whole house. This can be achieved in many ways, for example by painting all of the woodwork the same colour or by including the same accent colours in each room. Because the clients had used different shades of blue throughout the house (the dining room is painted in Farrow and Ball’s Oval Room Blue and the kitchen features De Nimes), we decided to continue the blue theme through to the lounge. The warm oak floor and bright accessories provide contrast.
Detailed Design
After looking at samples of many different blues, we eventually decided on Gentleman’s Gray by Benjamin Moore. It’s a lovely dark, deep blue with a hint of green. The clients decided to treat themselves for the main sofa - this is the Truffle from Loaf. It’s not cheap at £2,515 for the large size in Lagoon Clever Velvet but I managed to save them quite a bit with my trade discount and it’s SO comfy. I’m a tiny bit jealous. Sofas are one of the things I advise people to spend a bit more on where budget allows - you spend a lot of time on them so you want them to be comfortable and you want them to last. For the second sofa, we went for the Ariana 2 seater by Made. It’s not used as often and it’s much more affordable at £669.
Before
Because the room is quite big, it felt a little empty and it needed softening.
After
The rug has really helped to create a much softer, cosier feel. I’m a bit in love with the radiator which was sourced from local company, Vintage Cast Iron Radiators. Because the bay window is straight on the left-hand side, we went for roman blinds rather than curtains so that they don’t encroach on the TV area. It feels a lot more balanced.
Before
Although there was some colour in the red sofas, the walls were a neutral grey - the space felt like it needed an injection of different colours and all-important accessories to bring things to life.
The warm yellow and pink accents contrast with the deep blue of the walls and woodwork. Guess where the floral cushions are from?? Only M and S! They’ve got a fantastic selection of cushions in at the moment.
The gallery wall behind the sofa is a combination of photos and prints that mean something to the clients. Using a glass coffee table creates a lighter feel and is great for use with patterned rugs because you can still see the pattern through it.
Painting the walls dark is a great way of disguising the TV. The accessories next to it and the artwork above also give the eye something else to focus on. I love these wall prints by Max Made Me Do It. And the curved chimney breast is such a lovely original feature.
Do you like the antique Victorian chest of drawers?! I found it on eBay. The dark oak contrasts nicely with the light oak tones of the floor. Lots of people think you have to stick to just one wood tone in a space but combining different wood tones creates a more layered look and adds interest.
Before
After
This room feels like a completely different space now. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
I’m a Halifax based interior designer and I cover surrounding areas, including Leeds and Manchester. I also provide online interior design services. If you’re starting a project and need some help or inspiration, please get in touch.
