Fancy cosying up your lounge? Here's my tips...
My favourite room in my little house is by far, my lounge. I have quite a large bedroom which I do love, but my lounge just feels like the heart of my home. I love how cosy it is in there and that I can just get snuggled up on my sofa when I'm working (especially in this cold!) or on an evening with some Netflix binging. I'm not really doing much to it these days as I feel like it's pretty much complete. There are some things I'd like to swap out, like the sofa, my light shade and my TV unit... I'd also like to add a sideboard by the window at some point, but these are all things I will probably save up for and gradually swap out over time. For now, I'm happy with how it looks and I just love the cosiness. I thought I'd share a few snaps of the room on here as I've mostly been sharing my house on insta so far, and neglecting my blog. I'll be sharing a few tips along the way for creating a warm, cosy lounge!
This was my lounge when I first moved in... all the walls were just painted white so I only had the floors to put in and then I could crack on with styling! It's not your typical home transformation as I was fortunate to be given an empty, neutral space to work with, but it was still quite the task converting it from a cold and bare shell into a cosy and inviting home. I sometimes wish I'd opted for a different flooring choice, something maybe a bit lighter and warmer - however my lounge isn't that big... and with the huge rug in the middle of the floor and all of the furniture, it would be such a waste of money to change the flooring now as you hardly see it anyway! I love the big rug in the middle of the floor, it's from Wayfair and it really brightens up the space and the contrast between it and the dark wood floors is lovely. I love hard wood/laminate flooring but adding a rug always gives it that cosiness.
If you follow me on instagram, you'll probably have already noticed how often I mix things up. Moving plants, restyling the fireplace, adding blankets, different flowers to the coffee table... but that's the best bit about styling a home isn't it?! It took me ages to find a coffee table I liked, that and the fact that I kept putting off spending on one as I had other bits in the house to sort. I also liked the big space on the rug as it was a fab place for Ru to be able to play, but since I added one he loves playing on it and also has his own little corner of the room with his own table - where he can make as much mess as he likes! My coffee table is from La Redoute, it's the Nottingham one in metal & pine herringbone parquet. I am absolutely obsessed with it, I just love the herringbone design and think it was so good for the price. I got 40% off I believe so I got an amazing deal! I love adding a mixture of light fabrics and wooden tones to a room, I think both together keep it from getting it too dark, and just create that lovely warmth. I love brass and gold for adding warmth too!
I'm a HUGE lover of side tables. I have a bigger (actually a coffee table) circular one by my living room window, which as mentioned before is Ru's little corner so that's 'his' table. It's this one from Amazon. I also have a dark wood one from JYSK that was super cheap by my TV unit with a big vase and candles on, and then I have a marble and gold one that I bought ages and ages ago, next to my sofa. It initially had a vase of flowers on, but now it's got a table lamp and some books so it looks cute. Tables are just fab. They fill little corners but also give you extra surfaces to put vases, candles, ornaments, whatever you like on. What's not to love? I also love filling my coffee table with fresh flowers, books and candles. I think anything homely and personal to you that you place around you living room will make it feel extremely warming and cosy.
Patterns can look great too to fill in bland areas, the best damask fabric can really help to bring in some of your personal taste and elegance.
Adding prints and pretty trinkets is a good way to fill empty spaces I think, I much prefer a busy home to a simple one. For the ultimate cosiness I added a faux fireplace which you can read all about in this post - and it's still one of my favourite aspects of my house. I love lighting all of my candles on an evening and just feeling so at home! Candles are always an essential in a home I feel. I originally filled my mantle with lots of trinkets, but I recently went into Homesense and found a gorgeous print in a frame that I've since replaced them with. I think it fills that side of the room a lot more as the white wall is so bare. I do think that corner between the fireplace and the sofa could do with something else though, I'm just not sure what. Maybe a taller plant in the corner or some hanging planters! For more advice on making your lounge more cosy, https://accidentalhipstermum.com/ has some great tips.
Do you love a cosy lounge? What would be your top tip?
