My Lounge Good Mood Board

My Lounge Mood Board Video

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Decaf lows

I’ve been a bit grumpy lately as the weather has been rubbish and I’ve been trying to cut down my caffeine intake – I swear you need rehab for this!

Anyway, I feel in desperate need of a good mood board. I’ve also been thinking that my lounge is a bit blah in a bland way. I’d gone for subtle colours because it felt like it needed lightening, having been a medium blue before, but now I feel like it needs something to give it a zing.

I’ve got loads of higher priority things to get on with right now, so this may not happen for a while, but that’s the beauty of a mood board, there’s no commitment and you can build it gradually until you’re happy.

Decorate with selling in mind

Now I’m satisfied with the base colour scheme. I always say decorate how you would to sell the house and then add your individual, more subjective touches afterwards.

There are three very good reasons for this:

1.       You never know when your circumstances may change and so you may have to sell sooner than you thought and it’s well-known that the safer the colour scheme the wider the appeal and therefore easier it is to sell a house.

2.       You may get bored of the current scheme, or it could become outmoded, so the added touches you can change easily and more cheaply, but bright orange walls and carpet will be more expensive to correct!

3.

You may regret your strong choice once the hard work is done and then you’re either stuck with it or have to spend further time and money to fall in love with the room again.

Lounge base colours

So far I’ve gone for a neutral palette – yes I do as I say as well as say it – or whatever the phrase is! The wall colour is Dulux Nutmeg White, the carpet oyster, I have truffle sofas and the fabric for the curtains, which will be hung imminently, is Ashley Wilde Tate Dove.

I’ve also installed these beautiful tiles as there was a hearth missing. I noticed on the original fireplace this ageing turquoise where the copper has discoloured and this became my inspiration for my mood board.

Turquoise inspiration

So to really introduce the quickstep I’m going to make some cushions with a turquoise accent, but really varied with fantastic patterns so it looks like a smorgasbord of the same colour. I’ve chosen these, and although the orange one is a little out there it does tie in the piece of art we have as a focal point above the fireplace.

Now I will need to tread carefully, as my husband is happy with the current theme, and introduce one piece at a time so as not to shock him too much – see the restrictions I have to work with as an artiste!

Curtains and cushions

The curtain treatment I’m planning for this room will wait for another blog, but having come across this beautiful Liberty fabric at Misan – a shop on my beloved Berwick Street in London. I really want to use this to complement the plain sumptuousness of the Tate Dove as the reverse side of my take on swags and tails.

I’ll probably also make a couple of cushions out of this material too.

Furniture with finesse

We are currently using a coffee table and side tables we’ve had for a while and I’ll be honest they’ve had their day and are really not elegant enough for this room. I have already found their replacements but they need some work.

This dated nest of replica antique tables  (£20 from Hospice in the Weald) is perfect in shape, but currently hideous in finish. Having experimented with a number of colours, I’m planning to use Annie Sloan’s Provence chalk paint as the main colour, with Graphite behind and then a dry brushing of Duck Egg Blue as an accent.

I also found these napkins ages ago and have been desperate to try some decoupage with them as I love the pattern and the colours and feel like they would work really well with the turquoise. The plan is to use that on the top and of course it will be protected by the glass. I’ve up-cycled this kind of table before and it works really well and I love the flexibility that the protective glass gives you. I’ll give you details of how I do this in a future blog and vlog of course.

This box is a perfect central piece. It’s nice and low so it doesn’t cover the fireplace like the current one, but also offers useful storage. Once I have seen the side tables and cushions in place I will either paint the coffee table to match or may just sand and stain if I think it will be too much.

Lighten up

These lamps have received a mixed reaction. I bought them from Dovetails and I absolutely love them, but I really want to dry brush the Provence on sections just to tie it all in – thinking the hubby may veto this one though!!!

Living mood board

So this is my living good mood board and the great thing is that I can just gradually add more colour with each piece to make sure it’s not too OTT.

Actually the real final touch will be when I get my chaise longue to sit in the bay window – then I will really feel like I’ve made it in life!!!

If you enjoyed this you may also be interested in 3 Simple Ways to get a Kardashian Style Interior

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