My original intention was to share a post on how I basically swapped lots and lots of things around in my home over my break. I often shop my own house when I’m itching for some change and the start of the new year, after the Christmas decor has come down, is normally peak itchiness (well, that metaphor has gone horribly wrong.) Anyway, that was what I wanted to do but it’s just so dark this time of year and trying to get nice bright shots in every room was pretty much impossible.
So, instead, I’m just going to share the living room today. Sorry sorry. This is what it’s sometimes like blogging in the North of England in the middle of winter. The sun rises at around 8:15am and sets around 4pm and in between, it’s just about barely over the horizon before it starts making its way back down again. Meh. But hey, perhaps my living room will give you the impetus to give your home a little shake up this January too?
I told you the other day that I woke up one morning at some ridiculous hour and suddenly thought about swapping the rugs in my living and dining room. I have had the white cowhide in my living room for something like 5 years (!) and it’s still in amazing condition. And yes, that’s with us using the room almost constantly along with our gang of furry children. The good quality cowhides can really take a beating and they are so easy to just hoover up. On the odd occasion that it’s needed more than just a vacuum (hello sick animals… yeah, that happens), I use a tiny bit of washing up liquid with warm water and a sponge, let it dry, vacuum and it’s perfect again. So I knew the white one would be fine under the dining room table where it may be subjected to slightly more abuse.
I love the way the white one brightens the dining room and I’ll share that with you hopefully if we get a sunny enough day soon to take some photos but the darker black and white speckled one that had been in the dining room just totally changed the look of the living room, making it a much moodier, cosy space, perfect for winter. It was so easy to do as well and it didn’t cost a thing – these are my favourite types of room refreshes – the ones that are super quick and FREE!!
After that, I decided to swap out a few things, refresh the vignettes in the room and I added a gorgeous cushion that I got in the Boxing Day sales from Anthropologie. That plus a book I’d received for Christmas were the only things I actually added to the room – everything else was either already here or from somewhere else in the house. You might remember the deep burgundy cushions and goat hair throw from my Christmas living room but I decided to leave those in place as they look so lovely playing off the pinks and burgundies in the wallpaper.
Now one thing to bear in mind when you are mixing patterns is that it’s always best to pay attention to the scale of the pattern itself. The rug has a lot more ‘movement’ in it due to the speckled pattern so I needed to calm down some of the other patterns in the space to make it all gel together. The wallpaper is fine in here because it’s a really large pattern so the comparatively smaller pattern in the rug doesn’t fight for your attention. But the smaller pattern on the Halsted cushions I had just didn’t really work as the size of the pattern was so similar to the rug. So instead, I used my gold sequinned cushion (purchased years ago from H&M Home) on the chair.
I also wanted to open the room up a little bit so I moved one of the hoop chairs to my office (to replace the hanging chair temporarily while I look for something suitable for that space) and this whole area under the bay window just felt a little airier with my fiddle leaf fig and my vintage glass and brass table.
Of course, the other vignettes got an update. On my coffee table, I added one of the books I’d received for Christmas called The Finer Things by Christiane Lemieux* It’s a beautiful tome with a gorgeous gold patterned cover (and so much glorious inspiration within its pages – yes, I’ve already read it nearly cover to cover) that worked perfectly with the warm brass that’s everywhere in here. A plant, a few other bits and I called it a day.
On the wallpapered chest of drawers (see the DIY of that one here), I added a faux plant and faux flowers because ain’t nothin’ growing in that alcove at this time of year. So I make do with faux. Actually, has anyone else had all their plants seemingly committing mass suicide all at once? I have so many plants right now on their last legs and I’m not sure they are going to survive the winter. It seems to happen every year. The lack of light has a lot to answer for!
So that’s my living room this winter. It’s a little darker, a little moodier and I quite like it.
Have you had any room refreshes for winter? Do tell.
Looks lovely! I do love those cowhides.
I know exactly what you mean about plants. I’ve got three or four (or had) that I have owned since my uni days which have survived every move with me, and even getting cats (though they did their best to finish them off) and were all quite a good size, but in the last couple of years since moving to Yorkshire they have all very slowly died. One is still hanging on, but it’s only a matter of time, but I can’t bring myself to throw it until it is well and truly dead, in case of some respite. I am now looking at only buying faux, which saddens me, but at least I can still have a hint of green in my home! x
I’ve been thinking of a few spots where I’m probably going to have to go faux for now as well! It’s breaking my heart though seeing my plants die in very specific locations (normally the areas which don’t get much natural light) as soon as winter comes so I hear ya! And I’m the same, hate throwing them away just in case they somehow manage to survive the winter ;) xx
Think the issue with the plants is the central heating too. It can make the air really dry and that combined with low light levels can be hard for some plants to survive. Living in the north of the UK can be really challenging at this time of year… Your space looks beautiful though and very inspirational.
Aww thanks Afa! That’s such a good point about the humidity! The problem of course is magnified living in an old house where higher humidity levels are bad for the house (ie you’ll start to get damp problems!) but it’s rubbish for my plants. I might try misting them a bit more often in winter – that could actually help! xx
Looks great. Are there any retailers you recommend for good quality cow hides? I’m looking for a brown or gold (!) one for my bedroom. We have a solid based rustic wooden bed, so my theory is that the asymmetrically of a hide will off set that (I’ve tried a rectangular rug at the bottom of the bed before and it just looked too boxy, and I’m not up for spending a load of money on a massive rug that goes under the whole bed). What do you recon? Do you think the hide will work?
I have three cowhides in my home but only two which have really done remarkably well in terms of quality (which of course, means they cost me a lot more – the cheap ones are clearly a false economy)! The white one was from The French Bedroom Company and the speckled one was from Hide and Seek London – both companies I’d highly recommend and have really high-quality hides :) Hope that helps!
And yes, I think a large cowhide would be perfect for softening a room and adding some curves! I’d place the rug between 1/3 to 2/3 under the bed and the rest in front of it – that normally looks the best rather than the whole thing under the bed or outside of it. So just the bottom feet are on top. Kind of like this: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/452119250075159636/
Hope that makes sense! ;) xx
I love the look of your living room and am feeling inspired to go swapping a few things around my home to freshen up without the spend!! I am looking for a similar coffee table to yours-where did you get yours from? Thanks!
Ahh thank you Ruth! Pleased you found it inspiring! Yay! The coffee table is from West Elm although I’m not sure if they still have that particular one but worth having a look if they have something similar :) Hope that helps! xxx
Your front room looks really good. Small changes make such a big difference. I mist my plants through the winter, as for light this weather we are having now is just no good, bring on Spring xxx
Such a difference with just a rug swap, love the moodier feeling especially in these darker months! Know what you mean about the plants. After 2 winters in this house, I now know which plants are really easy and are surviving without much effort from me through all seasons and I’m sticking to just these easy plants. Shall write a blog post on them when I get around to it!
Wow, love it. Can I ask where you got your coffee table as been searching for one..? A
Thanks so much Ann! I got the coffee table from West Elm although it was a couple of years ago now so not sure if they still stock it! Hope that helps xx
i love it!