Make a smaller room inside the larger one
The sofa and chairs form a close group around the table. The building keeps its generous proportions, but the people sitting in it do not have to speak across the whole floor.
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ROOM 100 · Living Room
A room for staying up
Published
A converted schoolhouse with tall classroom windows and a generous rectangular living room
Tall windows are a gift. A conversation spread across a former classroom is less appealing. This room pulls pink velvet and citron chairs into a close group, leaving the schoolhouse its height and giving the evening somewhere to settle.
See the product sourcesTHE DESIGN
Large rooms tempt furniture towards the walls. That preserves an impressive empty centre, but can leave the people around it strangely isolated. Here the seats make their own smaller arrangement. Two broad chairs face towards the sofa, with a low table close enough to serve the group. The rest of the floor belongs to moving through the room.
The colour is unapologetic. Plum covers the tall plaster walls and reveals, pink velvet occupies the long sofa, and citron gives the chairs a sharper presence. Buttoning and tailored edges recur across the upholstery, though the seats are different shapes. A red patterned rug gathers those colours beneath the furniture rather than adding more competing detail to the walls.
The clover-shaped table interrupts the straight sofa edge with rounded lobes and pale marble. Brass floor lamps light the occupied part of the room, while a low bookcase and red-ground figurative collage bring attention back to eye level. The windows remain the architectural event. Everything nearer the floor is concerned with a more ordinary pleasure: staying for another conversation.
WHY THE ROOM WORKS
Let the building be grand; bring the conversation closer.
Colour palette
- Plum
- Pink velvet
- Citron
- Cherry red
- Cream marble
- Mocha
Keep the route outside the conversation
Space behind the sofa provides a way through. Passing from the door to the windows need not cut between someone’s feet and the coffee table.
Give the tall walls a settled colour
Plum continues into the deep window reveals. It makes the considerable wall area feel coherent, while the daylight keeps the pink and citron upholstery distinct.
Let the rug carry the busy pattern
The patterned rug defines the seating area beneath mostly plain upholstery. Its red and rose tones relate to the sofa and artwork, so the pattern has connections beyond its own border.
Bring the details down to the seats
The lamps sit beside the furniture and the picture hangs above a low bookcase. Neither has to compete with the window height. Their job is to make this part of the room inviting.
WHAT TO BORROW
Before filling a large room, arrange the seats for the people who will use it. Keep their conversation close and let circulation happen around the outside.
THE PIECES BEHIND THE DESIGN
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The design began with these pieces from our Shop. Open each product for its exact size, finish and retailer details.
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Rena Pink Velvet 3 Seater Sofa
Living With Luxury
£1,199.95
Esme Pistachio Green Button Tufted Armchair
Living With Luxury · 2 used in this room
£859.95
Muturi Floor Lamp
Antique Brass
Nkuku · 2 used in this room
£365.00
Midnight Jazz in New Orleans
ArtFab · Black (5/8″ Depth) · 24"x36"
Big Wall Decor
Example option: US$165.00
Check availability at retailer