A New Living Area {FT.Wayfair}

Changing this space has brought so much joy. I have found myself quite besotted with it and hadn't even imagined that this change would affect me so. Working with WAYFAIR has been so inspiring. I have had such a good time designing and setting it up, I just coudn't wait to share it with you.

Once I got thinking about what I needed to do I decided that grey was going to be an important feature. I had spent so much time looking on the website that I picked out a sofa and a rug, both of which I thought would match and bring a very sophisticated grey theme into the house. Against the white walls it would look crisp and that was what I wanted. Little did I know that as these plans started to come together I changed my mind. One thing I never deterred from though was the sofa. A lovely, dark grey three-seater; a sleek long piece that had a slight Scandinavian feel. It was very minimal and looked so smart and grown-up for me. We'd had a soft, in fact super soft sofa before, the very traditional style with big arms, lots of cushions and it suited us but I knew in my head I wanted to have a minimal piece that didn't detract from the room.

What I wanted was slim, simple to look at with the button back design and that's what I got, the exact thing. Simple, sleek and just the right shade of grey.

The rug was the next key piece. I have never had a rug in this area or even wanted to but I wanted a big change, something I hadn't styled before and this has *possibly* become my favourite piece! I picked out a really nice grey one with a cream pattern running through it, but when it arrived and I opened it excitedly I realised that just picking out grey items doesn't mean it will all just go. This grey was a blue grey in comparison to the sofa and quite instantly I knew this was not going to be right. Rug 2, well I ended up choosing a cream rug, of all things, with two children! But to be honest, it was the best choice to make, it sits AMAZINGLY well and is a beautiful shaggy texture and just is so comfy to sit on. As soon as I got it down in place the grey pattern running through it was picked out by the sofa and I knew it was right. One thing I didn't do though was stop there, I got a second rug! It sounds so random I know but I really love the idea of sheepskin and I decided that I wanted to layer the rug with a solid grey sheepskin. Needless to say what I wanted was sold out but I got a sheepskin, space grey wool rug which I think is the children's favourite piece. This sits ideally across a corner and the kids constantly pick it up and move it about. It is also like having a stool or something; it has become the movable piece!

This is exactly what I wanted, I want to be able to create depth and warmth in the space especially going into the autumn and especially as I was removing an armchair from the room.

The coffee table was the one thing that I thought would be questioned because I wanted a gold and glass table. Is this a good idea with children around? Surely glass and metal is the worst combination to bring into a family home, yes? Well what I have found is actually, where we are in life, no, it is not. What I have found in this is a perfect example of me being able to have what I want but actually not putting my children in any kind of danger. We have had a coffee table here all of their lives. It was a wooden one but still, I can't really remember any hip banging or injuries caused by it and I have found that because it looks fancier, we aren't eating there and it is keeping the area just how I wanted it; a separate space to the dining area.

Gold and grey go together so surprisingly well. In fact I think it's one of those colour combinations that isn't ever really thought of but as soon as you see them together you think 'why do we not have more gold and grey tones together!' Dark grey especially because it really makes the gold pop.

In our kitchen when we decorated it with all the lovely marble finishing, we added gold handles to all the cupboards, it made such a lovely difference to the usual silver or even white ones that you would find. My pink sideboard had cream and gold added to it to give a bit of drama and so I felt that from the kitchen all the way through to the living area I wanted the colours to flow.

This coffee table is perfect for doing that and it really suits this space.

With gold in mind the last piece of furniture that I wanted to get to change the room was a floor lamp. I've always had lamps sitting on the sideboards, bedside tables or even small side tables and had never really considered a floor lamp. I thought they took up too much room but actually now I have one I see that it's not taking up room but giving you more room.

Without having a side table to clutter or to gather dust the floor lamp stands proudly against the beautiful green plants and becomes a piece of art of his own.

I love the Anglepoise shape, I love that it has the three parts and that you can move all independently and I love another little salute to the gold shade.

Finding a giant one wasn't difficult on WAYFAIR, they had a selection and silvers, bronzes, coppers and gold which I went through until I found the one I wanted. It sits really well in the corner and with all the green plants I have found that it brings a lovely detail to the room.

I honestly find it quite unbelievable that this is in our house. It seems so together and so smart, but that's what I wanted. With the children going to school I knew I wanted the space that was more grown-up for me, as I was the one who is going to be spending the most time there and it was important that I felt comfortable. It's the first time in years that I've been able to recreate an area for me. Before now it was always children's bedrooms and nurseries and this is the most recent one where I really feel that I am able to make my choices just to satisfy my needs!

The wonderful thing about this sitting area is that the reality is it is for the whole family and what I've done is make sure that the style of everything suits us all.

I would love the pink sofa. My parents got one last year and I've been so jealous but the reality is a pink sofa wouldn't have suited us with a four and six-year-old. I need something that looks more grown-up but still could live happily with a family of four. The cream rug {surely that was a bad idea} is so fluffy and shaggy that I feel that any marks will be hidden quite easily against the texture of it. And after all, having my second grey sheepskin style rug will enable me to move it over any awful marks! The reality is this will never happen {fingers crossed} as the dining table will be the main area where we would consume food and this area will purely be for relaxing. Let's see how long that lasts, hey!

I know I said this in my last post about the area but I just wanted to reiterate how easy it was choosing from one location. Buying everything from WAYFAIR made it really easy for me to build up an idea in my mind.

Before I finished I just wanted to show you the exact items with links to them so that you could clearly see what I had.